This is a katana by Sadanori, measuring 72.1 cm. The blade dates to the early Edo period, around the Kanbun era. It comes with a koshirae and two replacement scabbards, making it suitable for iaido practice and appreciation.
NihontoWatchmei · Kanbun (1661-1673) · nagasa 72.1cm · sori 2.1cm
Shinto · Settsu · around 1661-1679
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 39%
1 piece on the market now
Suzuki Kaga no Kami Sadanori was a native of Kikuchi in Higo Province whose common name was Saemon (also given as Sayuemon). He traveled to Osaka and studied under Inoue Shinkai, one of the foremost Osaka-shinto masters. Thereafter he entered the service of the Naito family, and when the Naito were enfeoffed at Taira in Iwaki in Oshu, Sadanori accompanied them and relocated there. His signatures also confirm that he resided at Horikawa in Rakuyo (Kyoto), lending his inscriptions considerable documentary value for tracing the geographic movements of Shinkai's disciples.
His manner of work encompasses suguha, suguha with notare, and gunome patterns. The kitae characteristically shows dense ko-itame-hada with thickly formed ji-nie, and the nioiguchi is bright and clear. In his finest works, the deep nioi and thickly adhering nie call to mind the style of his master Shinkai. One particularly notable katana -- tempered in a notare mixed with large gunome, with deep nioi, ko-nie well applied, and a clear nioiguchi with slight tobiyaki -- demonstrates how closely he absorbed his teacher's approach. His tang work is also distinctive, with o-sujikai yasurime and bold, thick-chiseled long signatures, sometimes accompanied by kesho-yasuri.
Relatively few of Sadanori's works survive today; however, inheriting his teacher's style, he was recognized as a highly capable smith. The NBTHK setsumei consistently note the connection to Shinkai in both jigane and hamon, characterizing one blade as "so accomplished that it calls to mind his master Shinkai" and proclaiming it "the finest masterpiece among Sadanori's works." His dated inscriptions -- ranging from Enpo 3 (1675) through Enpo 7 (1679) -- provide valuable chronological markers for the study of the Osaka-shinto tradition and its reach into the Tohoku region through domain patronage.
Where Sadanori 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
Shinto · Settsu
78 pieces on the market now
Osaka in the early-to-mid Edo period was a merchant capital, a city of commerce and capital rather than a castle town tied to a single daimyo house, and the swordsmiths who gathered there worked for a wealthy townsman clientele as much as for warriors. The grouping known as Osaka Shinto (大坂新刀) took shape in Settsu from two feeder currents. One was the Horikawa line of Kyoto: Izumi no Kami Kunisada, the elder Kunisada whom later sources call the Oya-Kunisada, came down to Osaka after the death of his master Horikawa Kunihiro in Keicho 19 (1614), and with him came Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, a late disciple of the same Kunihiro. The other was the Ishido tradition of Settsu and Ise, which had revived the koto Bizen choji in new-sword steel; the Kunisuke house traced its descent to that group, and its second generation, known as Naka-Kawachi, turned the line decisively toward the Ishido clove. From these beginnings the school grew through the Kanbun, Enpo, and Genroku years into the most coherent regional manner of the shinto age. What binds these smiths is a shared steel before any shared temper. The forging is the bright, packed Osaka ko-itame, sometimes called the Osaka-gitae, a jihada so tightly worked that the grain scarcely shows, the ji-nie adhering minutely and fine chikei threading the surface, the jigane clear and lustrous. A second constant is the start of the temper: nearly every blade opens with a straight suguha yakidashi at the base before the hamon declares its individual pattern, and a deep, bright nioiguchi runs the length above it. Within that common grammar the great hands diverge.
Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro founded the billowing toranba, the surging-wave toran-midare that became the school's most imitated signature. Inoue Shinkai, called the Osaka Masamune, tempered no wave at all but a deeply nie-laden suguha shading into shallow notare, with kinsuji and sunagashi entering vigorously, and the published sources pair the two by contrast as the school's two great champions, Sukehiro outstanding for nioi and Shinkai for fine ko-nie. Ikkanshi Tadatsuna carried the Sukehiro wave into his own sudareba, the surging temper that reads like a hanging bamboo blind, and matched it with the relief carving treasured as Ikkanshi-bori. The Echigo no Kami Kanesada line followed Sukehiro's toran so faithfully that the second generation is read as approaching the model, marking his own work with a leaning katayama-midare and three linked gunome below the yokote; Naka-Kawachi and his brothers Higo no Kami Kuniyasu and Ise no Kami Kuniteru held the rival clove wing, the flamboyant choji crowned by the fist-shaped kobushigata-choji over a beautifully ordered ji. A collector seeks Osaka Shinto for the union of bright steel and brilliant edge, an art-sword (bijutsu-token) appeal in which the jigane itself is half the pleasure. The grouping reads at kantei from its own grammar: look first for the Osaka-gitae, the lustrous near-muji ko-itame, then for the straight yakidashi opening the temper, then for the deep clear nioiguchi; the individual hand follows from the pattern above, Sukehiro's and Kanesada's and Tadatsuna's toran, Shinkai's nie-deep suguha, the Kunisuke wing's fist-shaped clove. The standing of the best members is high in the NBTHK register: Shinkai is rated Sai-jo saku, Tadatsuna and Kunisuke Jo-jo saku, and the line of the second Kanesada is held to rank immediately after Sukehiro and Shinkai, with later admirers such as the shinshinto smith Nagato no Kami Suketaka still copying the toranba a century on. Many of these blades are signed and dated, so their inscriptions double as documentary anchors for the whole tradition, and provenance, where it survives, runs through known houses and modern collectors, the Yamauchi of Tosa, the Itakura, the Imperial collection, and the Meiji sword-lover General Tani Tateki. A signed Shinkai of the Enpo prime or a dated Tadatsuna carrying his own carving is a landmark when it appears, while the productive clove masters of the Kunisuke wing offer a more attainable entry into the brightest steel and edge the early Osaka school produced. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Shinkai真改 | 1649-1682 | 79 |
| Tadatsuna忠綱 | 1673-1717 | 53 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1673-1682 | 78 |
| Kunisuke國助 | 1658-1663 | 10 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1648-1652 | 10 |
Ōsaka: swords for the merchant capital
Ōsaka was the merchant capital, and its swords followed the money: luxury wakizashi for townsmen permitted no more than one, and the brilliant showpieces of Sukehiro’s tōranba and of Shinkai, called the Ōsaka Masamune. Swords made, frankly, to be looked at.
A blade of top-grade workmanship and condition, formally judged to rank with a nationally recognized Important Art Object (Jūyō Bijutsuhin). Awarded only at the NBTHK’s competitive annual examination.
Of Japan’s roughly 2.5 million registered swords, only 12,307 (about 1 in 203) have ever attained Jūyō.
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 sitePlease contact us promptly after the item's arrival. Except where the item is defective, we cannot accept returns. For returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. In the case of a defective item, we bear the cost.
This is a katana by Sadanori, measuring 72.1 cm. The blade dates to the early Edo period, around the Kanbun era. It comes with a koshirae and two replacement scabbards, making it suitable for iaido practice and appreciation.
NihontoWatchmei · Kanbun (1661-1673) · nagasa 72.1cm · sori 2.1cm
Shinto · Settsu · around 1661-1679
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 39%
1 piece on the market now
Suzuki Kaga no Kami Sadanori was a native of Kikuchi in Higo Province whose common name was Saemon (also given as Sayuemon). He traveled to Osaka and studied under Inoue Shinkai, one of the foremost Osaka-shinto masters. Thereafter he entered the service of the Naito family, and when the Naito were enfeoffed at Taira in Iwaki in Oshu, Sadanori accompanied them and relocated there. His signatures also confirm that he resided at Horikawa in Rakuyo (Kyoto), lending his inscriptions considerable documentary value for tracing the geographic movements of Shinkai's disciples.
His manner of work encompasses suguha, suguha with notare, and gunome patterns. The kitae characteristically shows dense ko-itame-hada with thickly formed ji-nie, and the nioiguchi is bright and clear. In his finest works, the deep nioi and thickly adhering nie call to mind the style of his master Shinkai. One particularly notable katana -- tempered in a notare mixed with large gunome, with deep nioi, ko-nie well applied, and a clear nioiguchi with slight tobiyaki -- demonstrates how closely he absorbed his teacher's approach. His tang work is also distinctive, with o-sujikai yasurime and bold, thick-chiseled long signatures, sometimes accompanied by kesho-yasuri.
Relatively few of Sadanori's works survive today; however, inheriting his teacher's style, he was recognized as a highly capable smith. The NBTHK setsumei consistently note the connection to Shinkai in both jigane and hamon, characterizing one blade as "so accomplished that it calls to mind his master Shinkai" and proclaiming it "the finest masterpiece among Sadanori's works." His dated inscriptions -- ranging from Enpo 3 (1675) through Enpo 7 (1679) -- provide valuable chronological markers for the study of the Osaka-shinto tradition and its reach into the Tohoku region through domain patronage.
Where Sadanori 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
Shinto · Settsu
78 pieces on the market now
Osaka in the early-to-mid Edo period was a merchant capital, a city of commerce and capital rather than a castle town tied to a single daimyo house, and the swordsmiths who gathered there worked for a wealthy townsman clientele as much as for warriors. The grouping known as Osaka Shinto (大坂新刀) took shape in Settsu from two feeder currents. One was the Horikawa line of Kyoto: Izumi no Kami Kunisada, the elder Kunisada whom later sources call the Oya-Kunisada, came down to Osaka after the death of his master Horikawa Kunihiro in Keicho 19 (1614), and with him came Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, a late disciple of the same Kunihiro. The other was the Ishido tradition of Settsu and Ise, which had revived the koto Bizen choji in new-sword steel; the Kunisuke house traced its descent to that group, and its second generation, known as Naka-Kawachi, turned the line decisively toward the Ishido clove. From these beginnings the school grew through the Kanbun, Enpo, and Genroku years into the most coherent regional manner of the shinto age. What binds these smiths is a shared steel before any shared temper. The forging is the bright, packed Osaka ko-itame, sometimes called the Osaka-gitae, a jihada so tightly worked that the grain scarcely shows, the ji-nie adhering minutely and fine chikei threading the surface, the jigane clear and lustrous. A second constant is the start of the temper: nearly every blade opens with a straight suguha yakidashi at the base before the hamon declares its individual pattern, and a deep, bright nioiguchi runs the length above it. Within that common grammar the great hands diverge.
Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro founded the billowing toranba, the surging-wave toran-midare that became the school's most imitated signature. Inoue Shinkai, called the Osaka Masamune, tempered no wave at all but a deeply nie-laden suguha shading into shallow notare, with kinsuji and sunagashi entering vigorously, and the published sources pair the two by contrast as the school's two great champions, Sukehiro outstanding for nioi and Shinkai for fine ko-nie. Ikkanshi Tadatsuna carried the Sukehiro wave into his own sudareba, the surging temper that reads like a hanging bamboo blind, and matched it with the relief carving treasured as Ikkanshi-bori. The Echigo no Kami Kanesada line followed Sukehiro's toran so faithfully that the second generation is read as approaching the model, marking his own work with a leaning katayama-midare and three linked gunome below the yokote; Naka-Kawachi and his brothers Higo no Kami Kuniyasu and Ise no Kami Kuniteru held the rival clove wing, the flamboyant choji crowned by the fist-shaped kobushigata-choji over a beautifully ordered ji. A collector seeks Osaka Shinto for the union of bright steel and brilliant edge, an art-sword (bijutsu-token) appeal in which the jigane itself is half the pleasure. The grouping reads at kantei from its own grammar: look first for the Osaka-gitae, the lustrous near-muji ko-itame, then for the straight yakidashi opening the temper, then for the deep clear nioiguchi; the individual hand follows from the pattern above, Sukehiro's and Kanesada's and Tadatsuna's toran, Shinkai's nie-deep suguha, the Kunisuke wing's fist-shaped clove. The standing of the best members is high in the NBTHK register: Shinkai is rated Sai-jo saku, Tadatsuna and Kunisuke Jo-jo saku, and the line of the second Kanesada is held to rank immediately after Sukehiro and Shinkai, with later admirers such as the shinshinto smith Nagato no Kami Suketaka still copying the toranba a century on. Many of these blades are signed and dated, so their inscriptions double as documentary anchors for the whole tradition, and provenance, where it survives, runs through known houses and modern collectors, the Yamauchi of Tosa, the Itakura, the Imperial collection, and the Meiji sword-lover General Tani Tateki. A signed Shinkai of the Enpo prime or a dated Tadatsuna carrying his own carving is a landmark when it appears, while the productive clove masters of the Kunisuke wing offer a more attainable entry into the brightest steel and edge the early Osaka school produced. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Shinkai真改 | 1649-1682 | 79 |
| Tadatsuna忠綱 | 1673-1717 | 53 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1673-1682 | 78 |
| Kunisuke國助 | 1658-1663 | 10 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1648-1652 | 10 |
Ōsaka: swords for the merchant capital
Ōsaka was the merchant capital, and its swords followed the money: luxury wakizashi for townsmen permitted no more than one, and the brilliant showpieces of Sukehiro’s tōranba and of Shinkai, called the Ōsaka Masamune. Swords made, frankly, to be looked at.
A blade of top-grade workmanship and condition, formally judged to rank with a nationally recognized Important Art Object (Jūyō Bijutsuhin). Awarded only at the NBTHK’s competitive annual examination.
Of Japan’s roughly 2.5 million registered swords, only 12,307 (about 1 in 203) have ever attained Jūyō.
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 sitePlease contact us promptly after the item's arrival. Except where the item is defective, we cannot accept returns. For returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. In the case of a defective item, we bear the cost.
