This is a wakizashi by Sano Sadayuki from the Aki province, dating to the early Nanbokucho period (around 1347). It features an O-kissaki and Shinogizukuri shape. The blade is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate, indicating its high quality and authenticity.
NihontoWatchmei · Nanbokucho · nagasa 57.1cm · sori 0.75cm
Soshu-den · Chikuzen · around 1350-1352
Tōken Taikan top 18%
1 piece on the market now
Sadayuki belonged to the Sa school of Chikuzen Province, a lineage that emerged in the early Nanbokucho period and broke decisively from the classical styles previously characteristic of Kyushu workmanship. Traditionally regarded as a student of Yukihiro, with an alternative transmission placing him under Yasuyoshi, Sadayuki is recorded with an extant date of Shohei 12 (1357) in the Umetada Oshigata, placing his activity squarely at the zenith of the Nanbokucho period. One theory holds that he later relocated to Aki Province. Signed works are few, and the overwhelming majority of attributions rely on kinzogan-mei appraisals, including examples authenticated by Hon'ami Koshitsu.
The designated pieces exhibit the unmistakable technical vocabulary of the Sa lineage in both jihada and hamon. The forging shows itame mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, with fine hada-dachi, thickly applied ji-nie, and abundant chikei, producing a bright and luminous jigane. The hamon is characteristically founded on a shallow ko-notare mixed with gunome, ko-gunome, and togariba, with strongly adhering nie and frequent hataraki including kinsuji, sunagashi, and intermittent yubashiri at the yakigashira. The boshi enters midare-komi and turns back with a pointed tendency, often showing hakikake. Where the nie is particularly thick, nie-kuzure appears along the habuchi, lending the temper a vigorous and expressive character.
Sadayuki's works preserve the heroic proportions of their era: wide mihaba, extended chu-kissaki, and generous hiraniku in the long blades, and sunnobi hira-zukuri forms in the shorter pieces. Both ji and ha are consistently bright and clear, confirming the Sa school's refined sensibility, and the sound condition of these blades attests to the enduring quality of Sadayuki's forge craft.
Where Sadayuki 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.
Soshu-den · Chikuzen
Phase: Sue-Sa末左· 1338–1450
11 pieces on the market now
When the single character 左 passed from the founder's hand to those of his pupils and sons, the Sa workshop of Chikuzen entered the chapter the sword books gather under the name Sue-Sa. The NBTHK names the line repeatedly: Yasuyoshi, Yukihiro, Yoshisada, Kunihiro, Hiroyuki, Hiroyasu, Sadayoshi, with Kōan and Sadakuni read among them, each said to have taken up the master's manner. The succession is also a dispersal. Yasuyoshi, called a son of O-Sa, carried the style north from Chikuzen into Chōshū (Nagato), where his descendants and the smith Akikuni continued it; Hiroyasu, transmitted as a son of Yukihiro, is recorded as moving later to Aki. The dated work places this phase from the early Nanbokuchō years through Shōhei and Eiwa and on into the Ōei era of early Muromachi, by which point the Chōshū Yasuyoshi name had clearly passed to a second-generation hand whose pieces the judges separate by signature and workmanship from those of the first. The inherited idiom is the Sōshū-den manner the founder brought from Sagami, read now at a generational remove. The ground stays itame mixed with ko-itame and mokume, the grain standing (hada-dachi), carrying thick ji-nie and frequent chikei, over which the smiths temper a notare or suguha base mixed with gunome, ko-gunome, and pointed (togari) elements, with ashi and yō entering, deep nioi, thick ko-nie, and fine kinsuji and sunagashi drawn through. The bōshi thrusts up (tsukiage) to a pointed tip with hakikake and a long return, the one trait the setsumei hold to across the whole line. Against the founder, the register shifts.
Where O-Sa stands for bright, clear ji-nie, the Sue-Sa setsumei more often note a steel of darker, blackish cast and a nioiguchi tending toward shizumi (subdued). The pattern standardizes: signed work survives chiefly as tantō, and the judges remark that a strongly distinct individuality is hard to isolate among them. A Bizen lean enters at the edges, the setsumei reading in Yasuyoshi a nioi-dominant temper with bō-utsuri near the ha that mingles a Bizen character, and noting faint utsuri in several Hiroyasu blades. A collector reads Sue-Sa against the apex through the same two anchors the school is judged by, ground and point, but inverted in emphasis. Because brilliance no longer settles the matter, gunome prominence becomes the working key: the Hon'ami house long appraised the most vigorously midare blades of the "Sa ichirui" to Kunihiro, and the conspicuous-gunome mumei katana repeatedly fall to Hiroyasu, while the pointed, brushed bōshi with its long kaeri keeps the attribution within the line. The named masters anchor the phase, Kunihiro for the boldest large-pattern midare enlivened by yubashiri and tobiyaki, Yasuyoshi for the Bizen-tinged Chōshū work, Sadakuni recorded as a son of Kunihiro whose few surviving tantō approach the founder's hand, Kōan and Hiroyasu reaching across into Ōei. The provenance threads through the great houses the setsumei cite: the signed Yoshihiro tachi from the Bizen Ikeda family, a Sadakuni tantō held by the Mōri, Hiroyasu blades transmitted in the Kuroda, Takasu Matsudaira, and Hisamatsu houses, several carrying Hon'ami Kōchū and Kōon origami. For the student of Sōshū-den, Sue-Sa is the Sagami manner held one step past its Chikuzen height, transmitted, divided across provinces, and carried into the Muromachi age. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Sa左 | 1334-1338 | 73 |
| Yasuyoshi安吉 | 1346-1370 | 45 |
| Kunihiro國弘 | 1346-1370 | 48 |
| Yoshisada吉貞 | 1345-1359 | 48 |
| Hiroyasu弘安 | 1346-1370 | 24 |
Sōshū in the Nanbokuchō period
Kamakura fell in 1333, but the school’s greatest era followed: Sadamune working at his teacher’s standard, Hiromitsu and Akihiro spilling hitatsura over the whole blade, and the Sōshū manner spreading with the armies until it became, for a time, a national style.
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 siteNo cooling-off period or returns; refund only if the purchased sword is proven fake, capped at purchase price (excludes commission sales, accessories, auction items).
¥1,500,000
This is a wakizashi by Sano Sadayuki from the Aki province, dating to the early Nanbokucho period (around 1347). It features an O-kissaki and Shinogizukuri shape. The blade is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate, indicating its high quality and authenticity.
NihontoWatchmei · Nanbokucho · nagasa 57.1cm · sori 0.75cm
Soshu-den · Chikuzen · around 1350-1352
Tōken Taikan top 18%
1 piece on the market now
Sadayuki belonged to the Sa school of Chikuzen Province, a lineage that emerged in the early Nanbokucho period and broke decisively from the classical styles previously characteristic of Kyushu workmanship. Traditionally regarded as a student of Yukihiro, with an alternative transmission placing him under Yasuyoshi, Sadayuki is recorded with an extant date of Shohei 12 (1357) in the Umetada Oshigata, placing his activity squarely at the zenith of the Nanbokucho period. One theory holds that he later relocated to Aki Province. Signed works are few, and the overwhelming majority of attributions rely on kinzogan-mei appraisals, including examples authenticated by Hon'ami Koshitsu.
The designated pieces exhibit the unmistakable technical vocabulary of the Sa lineage in both jihada and hamon. The forging shows itame mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, with fine hada-dachi, thickly applied ji-nie, and abundant chikei, producing a bright and luminous jigane. The hamon is characteristically founded on a shallow ko-notare mixed with gunome, ko-gunome, and togariba, with strongly adhering nie and frequent hataraki including kinsuji, sunagashi, and intermittent yubashiri at the yakigashira. The boshi enters midare-komi and turns back with a pointed tendency, often showing hakikake. Where the nie is particularly thick, nie-kuzure appears along the habuchi, lending the temper a vigorous and expressive character.
Sadayuki's works preserve the heroic proportions of their era: wide mihaba, extended chu-kissaki, and generous hiraniku in the long blades, and sunnobi hira-zukuri forms in the shorter pieces. Both ji and ha are consistently bright and clear, confirming the Sa school's refined sensibility, and the sound condition of these blades attests to the enduring quality of Sadayuki's forge craft.
Where Sadayuki 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.
Soshu-den · Chikuzen
Phase: Sue-Sa末左· 1338–1450
11 pieces on the market now
When the single character 左 passed from the founder's hand to those of his pupils and sons, the Sa workshop of Chikuzen entered the chapter the sword books gather under the name Sue-Sa. The NBTHK names the line repeatedly: Yasuyoshi, Yukihiro, Yoshisada, Kunihiro, Hiroyuki, Hiroyasu, Sadayoshi, with Kōan and Sadakuni read among them, each said to have taken up the master's manner. The succession is also a dispersal. Yasuyoshi, called a son of O-Sa, carried the style north from Chikuzen into Chōshū (Nagato), where his descendants and the smith Akikuni continued it; Hiroyasu, transmitted as a son of Yukihiro, is recorded as moving later to Aki. The dated work places this phase from the early Nanbokuchō years through Shōhei and Eiwa and on into the Ōei era of early Muromachi, by which point the Chōshū Yasuyoshi name had clearly passed to a second-generation hand whose pieces the judges separate by signature and workmanship from those of the first. The inherited idiom is the Sōshū-den manner the founder brought from Sagami, read now at a generational remove. The ground stays itame mixed with ko-itame and mokume, the grain standing (hada-dachi), carrying thick ji-nie and frequent chikei, over which the smiths temper a notare or suguha base mixed with gunome, ko-gunome, and pointed (togari) elements, with ashi and yō entering, deep nioi, thick ko-nie, and fine kinsuji and sunagashi drawn through. The bōshi thrusts up (tsukiage) to a pointed tip with hakikake and a long return, the one trait the setsumei hold to across the whole line. Against the founder, the register shifts.
Where O-Sa stands for bright, clear ji-nie, the Sue-Sa setsumei more often note a steel of darker, blackish cast and a nioiguchi tending toward shizumi (subdued). The pattern standardizes: signed work survives chiefly as tantō, and the judges remark that a strongly distinct individuality is hard to isolate among them. A Bizen lean enters at the edges, the setsumei reading in Yasuyoshi a nioi-dominant temper with bō-utsuri near the ha that mingles a Bizen character, and noting faint utsuri in several Hiroyasu blades. A collector reads Sue-Sa against the apex through the same two anchors the school is judged by, ground and point, but inverted in emphasis. Because brilliance no longer settles the matter, gunome prominence becomes the working key: the Hon'ami house long appraised the most vigorously midare blades of the "Sa ichirui" to Kunihiro, and the conspicuous-gunome mumei katana repeatedly fall to Hiroyasu, while the pointed, brushed bōshi with its long kaeri keeps the attribution within the line. The named masters anchor the phase, Kunihiro for the boldest large-pattern midare enlivened by yubashiri and tobiyaki, Yasuyoshi for the Bizen-tinged Chōshū work, Sadakuni recorded as a son of Kunihiro whose few surviving tantō approach the founder's hand, Kōan and Hiroyasu reaching across into Ōei. The provenance threads through the great houses the setsumei cite: the signed Yoshihiro tachi from the Bizen Ikeda family, a Sadakuni tantō held by the Mōri, Hiroyasu blades transmitted in the Kuroda, Takasu Matsudaira, and Hisamatsu houses, several carrying Hon'ami Kōchū and Kōon origami. For the student of Sōshū-den, Sue-Sa is the Sagami manner held one step past its Chikuzen height, transmitted, divided across provinces, and carried into the Muromachi age. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Sa左 | 1334-1338 | 73 |
| Yasuyoshi安吉 | 1346-1370 | 45 |
| Kunihiro國弘 | 1346-1370 | 48 |
| Yoshisada吉貞 | 1345-1359 | 48 |
| Hiroyasu弘安 | 1346-1370 | 24 |
Sōshū in the Nanbokuchō period
Kamakura fell in 1333, but the school’s greatest era followed: Sadamune working at his teacher’s standard, Hiromitsu and Akihiro spilling hitatsura over the whole blade, and the Sōshū manner spreading with the armies until it became, for a time, a national style.
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 siteNo cooling-off period or returns; refund only if the purchased sword is proven fake, capped at purchase price (excludes commission sales, accessories, auction items).
¥1,500,000
