This kozuka features a bold carving of Fukurokuju holding a scroll, crafted by the renowned Yokoya Somin, a master of machibori. Made during the mid-Edo period in Musashi province, it showcases Somin's skill in katakiribori and delicate hair carving on an oborogin ishimeji ground. The piece comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon certificate from the NBTHK.
NihontoWatchmei · Yokoya · Edo
Yokoya Somin
Edo
Musashi
Signed
Tokuho (NBTHK)
Machibori · Edo
1 piece on the market now
Yokoya Somin (横谷宗珉), born in Edo in Kanbun 10 (1670) under the personal name Tomotsune, was the third-generation master of the Yokoya family, the largest metalworking lineage of the Edo period. His grandfather, the first-generation Yokoya Soko, had studied under the Goto house and served the Tokugawa shogunate as an official metalworker. Somin likewise entered shogunal service and trained in the hereditary iebori manner, but — finding the convention-bound idiom of the Goto house unsatisfying and "influenced as well by the tastes of the time" — he resigned his stipend and entered the independent sphere. There he "exercised his abilities to the fullest, achieved great success, and came to be called the founder of machibori." He cultivated a close friendship with the Kano-school-trained painter Hanabusa Iccho, from whom he "received guidance regarding designs and pictorial conceptions." He also studied with Kano Tan'yu, deepening his art by working from painters' designs. He used the common name Chojiro (later Jihei), the art name Ton'an, and was first called Sochi before adopting the name Somin after his father's death. He died in Kyoho 18 (1733) at the age of sixty-four.
Somin's manner "may broadly be divided into two principal modes": richly modeled takabori with polychrome metal inlay (iroe) in gold, silver, and shibuichi, and katakiribori, "a technique he originated." In the former mode, his carving displays "an overwhelming abundance of modeled volume[[c:1]]" (nikuoki) with "bold rises and falls in the flesh, producing a forceful and crisply articulated carving manner" that "clearly reveals both Somin's Goto lineage and the thoroughness of his training." In the latter, his chisel work shows "pronounced modulation" and "decisive" strokes, "alternating depth and shallowness at will," with "modulations of speed and emphasis that recall ink painting." His command of nanako-ji grounds in shakudo, polished shibuichi surfaces, and techniques such as sukidashi-bori, kebori, and yobori was comprehensive. Among his most distinctive inventions are the "Yokoya lions" (shishi) — rendered with such immediacy that "one experiences the illusion that the lion might spring forth from the kozuka itself" — and his innovative vertically oriented tatezu compositions for kozuka, depicting lions, tigers, horses, and other subjects "from the front or from behind." His menuki employ in'yo-ne roots, kukuridashi, and chikara-gane, while his tsuba demonstrate a mastery of negative space, "unfolding a weighty subject with an unforced expansiveness."
The NBTHK setsumei consistently characterize Somin as an artist of supreme technical authority, describing his work as displaying "the very quintessence of Somin's artistry" and "outstanding technical mastery[[c:3]]." His ability to harmonize deliberately contrasting ground treatments and carving methods within a single composition is called "an exceptionally difficult task" in which "Somin's outstanding technique is displayed to its fullest." His chisel handling is praised as "at once delicate and boldly expressive," possessing "a severity and awe-inspiring intensity that other craftsmen could not rival[[c:2]]." His influence is described as having "exerted a major influence on later generations of metalworkers" — a phrase that appears in virtually every NBTHK assessment. Whether working in the high-relief takabori iroe of his Goto heritage or in the freely modulated katakiribori he pioneered, Somin "opened a new direction through freer, life-sketch-based realism," establishing a tradition that fundamentally reshaped the world of Edo-period sword fittings.
Where Somin 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.
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Machibori · Edo
105 pieces on the market now
The Yokoya school was the largest metalworking lineage of the Edo period, founded in the early seventeenth century when the first-generation Yokoya Soyo -- sometimes distinguished as "Sofu Soyo" or "Ko-Soyo" -- studied under Goto Injo Mitsutomi and established an independent atelier in Edo. The school's trajectory was decisively shaped by the third-generation master Somin (1670--1733), who trained in the hereditary iebori manner of the Goto house but, finding its convention-bound idiom unsatisfying, resigned his shogunal stipend and entered the sphere of independent work. There he "exercised his abilities to the fullest, achieved great success, and came to be called the founder of machibori" -- the town-carver tradition that would fundamentally reshape the world of Edo-period sword fittings. Somin cultivated a close friendship with the Kano-school-trained painter Hanabusa Iccho, from whom he received guidance regarding pictorial conceptions, and also studied with Kano Tan'yu, deepening his art through direct engagement with painters' designs. His adopted son and successor Soyo (1700--1734) faithfully continued the atelier's methods, while Soju (1651--1734), a disciple connected with both the first-generation Soyo and Somin, contributed rigorously unified daisho koshirae that exemplify the school's commitment to integrated, thematic ensembles. The Yokoya school's collective technical achievement divides broadly into two principal modes, both originated or perfected by Somin and transmitted through successive generations. The first is richly modeled takabori with polychrome metal inlay (iroe) in gold, silver, and shibuichi on shakudo nanako-ji grounds, where the carving displays an overwhelming abundance of modeled volume -- bold rises and falls in the flesh producing a forceful and crisply articulated manner that clearly reveals the school's Goto lineage and the thoroughness of its training. Soyo's works in this mode are described as possessing "both the capability and the dignity expected of Somin's successor," while Soju's takabori on shakudo nanako-ji achieves a dignified and well-ordered atmosphere across complete, unified fitting suites.
The second mode is katakiribori, a single-edge chisel technique that Somin originated, in which pronounced modulation and decisive strokes alternate depth and shallowness at will, producing modulations of speed and emphasis that recall ink painting. Soyo inherited this specialty with excellent technique, deftly alternating chisels of varying widths to combine bold katakiribori with delicate kebori linework. Among the school's most distinctive inventions are the celebrated "Yokoya lions" -- shishi rendered with such immediacy that one experiences the illusion that the lion might spring forth from the kozuka itself -- and Somin's innovative vertically oriented tatezu compositions depicting lions, tigers, horses, and other subjects from unconventional angles. The Yokoya school's enduring significance lies in its having opened a new artistic direction through freer, life-sketch-based realism that broke decisively with the formalized conventions of the Goto house while retaining that lineage's technical rigor. Somin's command of nanako-ji grounds in shakudo, polished shibuichi surfaces, and techniques such as sukidashi-bori, kebori, and yobori was comprehensive, and this breadth of technical vocabulary was transmitted intact to his successors. Soju's hereditary daisho mounting of the Uesugi family of Yonezawa Domain exemplifies the school's integrative vision -- every component sustaining a single coherent theme across the entire suite -- while Soyo's takabori works, described as "extremely rare," lend special value to surviving matched sets. Whether working in the restrained monochrome palette of polished shakudo or introducing touches of color through kinhira-zogan accents and gold iroe, the Yokoya masters consistently achieved what the NBTHK characterizes as a severity and awe-inspiring intensity that exerted a major influence on later generations of metalworkers, establishing the machibori tradition as the dominant creative current of Edo-period sword fittings. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Somin宗珉 | — | 50 |
| Soyo宗與 | — | 13 |
| Soju宗壽 | — | 3 |
| Yoshisada宜貞 | — | 0 |
| Genchin元珍 | 1670 | 1 |
A Hozon-certified fitting of notably superior craftsmanship and condition, often with signature or workmanship of high reference value.
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, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.
