This is a katana by Nagachika, a Shin-Shinto era smith. The blade measures 77.4cm and is described as having excellent sharpness. It comes with both a koshirae and a shirasaya.
NihontoWatchmei · Tenpo (1830-1844) · nagasa 77.4cm · sori 1.8cm
Wakimono · Izumo · around 1830-1860
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
2 pieces on the market now
Where Naganobu 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
Wakimono · Izumo
2 pieces on the market now
The Unshū grouping gathers smiths of Izumo province (Unshū), and the blades carrying this attribution do not form one continuous lineage so much as two widely separated moments in the province's work. The earlier is Unshū Tadazane, a signed katana placed around the Eishō era (1504 to 1521) in the late Muromachi period. The later is Takahashi Naganobu, also recorded as Unshū Naganobu and Takahashi Rihei, a late-Edo smith dated by his own inscriptions to Ansei 3 (1856) and Man'en 1 (1860). Naganobu styled himself the seventeenth-generation successor of Wakasa Fuyuhiro; around the close of the Tenpō era he went to Edo and studied under Chōunsai Tsunatoshi, and after gaining recognition he served as a retained smith (kakae-kō) of the Matsudaira house of Matsue in Unshū until his death in Meiji 12 (1879). Because the two hands belong to different centuries and different stylistic worlds, the group reads as a provincial wakimono gathering rather than a school of fixed transmission. Across these blades the shared ground is a tightly forged ko-itame-hada with ji-nie adhering, after which the two hands diverge. Tadazane's ko-itame packs closely and flows toward the edge with masame mixed in, carrying a wide suguha mingled with small gunome, ashi and yō entering well, ko-nie and sunagashi, and a subdued (shizumi) nioiguchi; his bōshi runs straight to ko-maru with a long kaeri, and the overall effect was read by the NBTHK as sharing features with the Bizen smiths Kiyomitsu and Tadamitsu.
Naganobu instead builds bold, long sugata of wide mihaba with little taper, his ko-itame often taking on an almost plain (muji) look with abundant chikei. His preferred temper is neatly aligned chōji mixed with gunome in nioi-deki, though one of his katana hardens a flamboyant gunome-midare of round heads with a deep, bright nioiguchi and yubashiri. The most reliable signpost to his hand lies in the nakago: reverse ō-sujikai filemarks with keshō, named in the setsumei as a characteristic feature. For kantei the group resolves to its named smiths rather than a collective signature. Tadazane is recognized by his Bizen-leaning suguha-gunome and subdued nioiguchi, his example preserved with a Higo-style shuhen-nuri handachi koshirae. Naganobu is identified through his reverse ō-sujikai tang finishing, his Tsunatoshi-derived chōji, and on occasion a vigorous midare whose assertive spirit the setsumei likens to superior works of the Yamaura lineage; his commissioned blade names Tomono Shigenari of the Matsujō domain and records its making at Kōji Street in the eastern capital. The standing of the group rests on these two distinct workmanships, each documented within the records of its own province. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Naganobu長信 | 1830-1860 | 2 |
| Tadasada忠貞 | 1492-1501 | 1 |
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
For two and a half centuries of peace the sword was the warrior’s legal badge rather than his weapon. Each great city developed its own manner, Edo’s tested strength against Ōsaka’s polished brilliance, until demand thinned in the era’s last decades.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
Please 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 Nagachika, a Shin-Shinto era smith. The blade measures 77.4cm and is described as having excellent sharpness. It comes with both a koshirae and a shirasaya.
NihontoWatchmei · Tenpo (1830-1844) · nagasa 77.4cm · sori 1.8cm
Wakimono · Izumo · around 1830-1860
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
2 pieces on the market now
Where Naganobu 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
Wakimono · Izumo
2 pieces on the market now
The Unshū grouping gathers smiths of Izumo province (Unshū), and the blades carrying this attribution do not form one continuous lineage so much as two widely separated moments in the province's work. The earlier is Unshū Tadazane, a signed katana placed around the Eishō era (1504 to 1521) in the late Muromachi period. The later is Takahashi Naganobu, also recorded as Unshū Naganobu and Takahashi Rihei, a late-Edo smith dated by his own inscriptions to Ansei 3 (1856) and Man'en 1 (1860). Naganobu styled himself the seventeenth-generation successor of Wakasa Fuyuhiro; around the close of the Tenpō era he went to Edo and studied under Chōunsai Tsunatoshi, and after gaining recognition he served as a retained smith (kakae-kō) of the Matsudaira house of Matsue in Unshū until his death in Meiji 12 (1879). Because the two hands belong to different centuries and different stylistic worlds, the group reads as a provincial wakimono gathering rather than a school of fixed transmission. Across these blades the shared ground is a tightly forged ko-itame-hada with ji-nie adhering, after which the two hands diverge. Tadazane's ko-itame packs closely and flows toward the edge with masame mixed in, carrying a wide suguha mingled with small gunome, ashi and yō entering well, ko-nie and sunagashi, and a subdued (shizumi) nioiguchi; his bōshi runs straight to ko-maru with a long kaeri, and the overall effect was read by the NBTHK as sharing features with the Bizen smiths Kiyomitsu and Tadamitsu.
Naganobu instead builds bold, long sugata of wide mihaba with little taper, his ko-itame often taking on an almost plain (muji) look with abundant chikei. His preferred temper is neatly aligned chōji mixed with gunome in nioi-deki, though one of his katana hardens a flamboyant gunome-midare of round heads with a deep, bright nioiguchi and yubashiri. The most reliable signpost to his hand lies in the nakago: reverse ō-sujikai filemarks with keshō, named in the setsumei as a characteristic feature. For kantei the group resolves to its named smiths rather than a collective signature. Tadazane is recognized by his Bizen-leaning suguha-gunome and subdued nioiguchi, his example preserved with a Higo-style shuhen-nuri handachi koshirae. Naganobu is identified through his reverse ō-sujikai tang finishing, his Tsunatoshi-derived chōji, and on occasion a vigorous midare whose assertive spirit the setsumei likens to superior works of the Yamaura lineage; his commissioned blade names Tomono Shigenari of the Matsujō domain and records its making at Kōji Street in the eastern capital. The standing of the group rests on these two distinct workmanships, each documented within the records of its own province. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Naganobu長信 | 1830-1860 | 2 |
| Tadasada忠貞 | 1492-1501 | 1 |
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
For two and a half centuries of peace the sword was the warrior’s legal badge rather than his weapon. Each great city developed its own manner, Edo’s tested strength against Ōsaka’s polished brilliance, until demand thinned in the era’s last decades.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
Please 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.
