This is a katana by Chounsai Tsunatoshi, a prominent Shin-Shinto smith from 1846. The blade features a deep curvature and fine Ko-itame jigane, with a bright Nioi-based gunome-choji hamon. It comes with a koshirae including an iron tsuba, phoenix-design fuchikashira, and a flower cart menuki, and is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate.
Certificate reading — 銘 長運斎作之（綱俊） 弘化三年八月吉日
NihontoWatchmei · Tenpo (1830-1844) · nagasa 71.2cm · sori 2cm
Shinshinto · Musashi · around 1830-1844
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 37%
6 pieces on the market now
Tsunatoshi was originally from Yonezawa in Dewa Province; his personal name was Kato Hachiro, and he used the art name Chounsai. He served as a domain smith for the Uesugi clan, later going to Edo and taking up residence in Azabu. He died in Bunkyu 3 (1863) at the age of sixty-six. His active career is documented through dated works spanning the Tenpo era, with productions from Tenpo 9 (1838) through Tenpo 12 (1841) among those that have received Juyo designation.
Tsunatoshi's workmanship primarily followed the Bizen tradition. His specialty was a choji temper mixed with gunome in nioi-deki, with long ashi entering and the nioiguchi tending toward tightness; in addition, he produced suguha and toran-midare. The toran-flavored mode achieves a large o-gunome midare with tama-yaki, nie adhering somewhat unevenly, and hakikake at the boshi. Across all styles, his forging is characteristically a tightly compacted ko-itame that tends toward a muji-like appearance -- the plain, featureless-looking steel common in shinshinto work, though in Tsunatoshi's case worked with particular density and carrying ji-nie. His horimono are noteworthy: bo-hi with accompanying soe-bi, bonji, shinkurikara, gomabashi, and claws, at times executed by the smith's own hand as documented by tang inscriptions stating the carvings were by the maker himself.
Tsunatoshi's extant designated works include katana, wakizashi, and a matched daisho pair -- the survival of which as a set makes it "especially useful reference material" in the NBTHK's assessment. His productions range from imposing katana of 75.5 cm with extremely deep sori to hira-zukuri wakizashi with elaborate carving, and one piece retains its original payment receipt addressed to the commissioning patron, providing documentary evidence of the domain smith's working practice.
Where Tsunatoshi stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinshinto · Musashi
75 pieces on the market now
At Hamachō in Edo, in the closing decades of the eighteenth century and the opening ones of the nineteenth, Suishinshi Masahide[[c:1]] gathered the school that would turn Japanese swordmaking back toward its medieval models. Born Kawabe Gihachirō at Akayu in Dewa in 1750, signing first as Suzuki Takahide and then Eikoku, he studied under the Shitahara smith Yoshihide of Musashi, took the name Masahide in An'ei 3, and served the Akimoto house of Yamagata before settling in Edo, where he worked for nearly fifty years. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Naotane直胤 | 1801-1837 | 40 |
| Masahide正秀 | 1777-1817 | 28 |
| Sukemasa助政 | 1804-1825 | 8 |
| Jirotaro Naokatsu直勝 | 1805-1858 | 6 |
| Masayoshi正義 | 1791-1860 | 5 |
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
NBTHK official siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
This is a katana by Chounsai Tsunatoshi, a prominent Shin-Shinto smith from 1846. The blade features a deep curvature and fine Ko-itame jigane, with a bright Nioi-based gunome-choji hamon. It comes with a koshirae including an iron tsuba, phoenix-design fuchikashira, and a flower cart menuki, and is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate.
Certificate reading — 銘 長運斎作之（綱俊） 弘化三年八月吉日
NihontoWatchmei · Tenpo (1830-1844) · nagasa 71.2cm · sori 2cm
Shinshinto · Musashi · around 1830-1844
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 37%
6 pieces on the market now
Tsunatoshi was originally from Yonezawa in Dewa Province; his personal name was Kato Hachiro, and he used the art name Chounsai. He served as a domain smith for the Uesugi clan, later going to Edo and taking up residence in Azabu. He died in Bunkyu 3 (1863) at the age of sixty-six. His active career is documented through dated works spanning the Tenpo era, with productions from Tenpo 9 (1838) through Tenpo 12 (1841) among those that have received Juyo designation.
Tsunatoshi's workmanship primarily followed the Bizen tradition. His specialty was a choji temper mixed with gunome in nioi-deki, with long ashi entering and the nioiguchi tending toward tightness; in addition, he produced suguha and toran-midare. The toran-flavored mode achieves a large o-gunome midare with tama-yaki, nie adhering somewhat unevenly, and hakikake at the boshi. Across all styles, his forging is characteristically a tightly compacted ko-itame that tends toward a muji-like appearance -- the plain, featureless-looking steel common in shinshinto work, though in Tsunatoshi's case worked with particular density and carrying ji-nie. His horimono are noteworthy: bo-hi with accompanying soe-bi, bonji, shinkurikara, gomabashi, and claws, at times executed by the smith's own hand as documented by tang inscriptions stating the carvings were by the maker himself.
Tsunatoshi's extant designated works include katana, wakizashi, and a matched daisho pair -- the survival of which as a set makes it "especially useful reference material" in the NBTHK's assessment. His productions range from imposing katana of 75.5 cm with extremely deep sori to hira-zukuri wakizashi with elaborate carving, and one piece retains its original payment receipt addressed to the commissioning patron, providing documentary evidence of the domain smith's working practice.
Where Tsunatoshi stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinshinto · Musashi
75 pieces on the market now
At Hamachō in Edo, in the closing decades of the eighteenth century and the opening ones of the nineteenth, Suishinshi Masahide[[c:1]] gathered the school that would turn Japanese swordmaking back toward its medieval models. Born Kawabe Gihachirō at Akayu in Dewa in 1750, signing first as Suzuki Takahide and then Eikoku, he studied under the Shitahara smith Yoshihide of Musashi, took the name Masahide in An'ei 3, and served the Akimoto house of Yamagata before settling in Edo, where he worked for nearly fifty years. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Naotane直胤 | 1801-1837 | 40 |
| Masahide正秀 | 1777-1817 | 28 |
| Sukemasa助政 | 1804-1825 | 8 |
| Jirotaro Naokatsu直勝 | 1805-1858 | 6 |
| Masayoshi正義 | 1791-1860 | 5 |
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
NBTHK official siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
