This wakizashi is attributed to Yukinaga of the Takada school in Bungo province, active during the early Edo period around 1658. It features a wide body, thick kasane, and a robust form with a well-forged itame-hada and a bright gunome-midare hamon. The blade comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate and is housed in a shirasaya with a gold foil habaki.
NihontoWatchmei · Takada · Edo · nagasa 40cm · sori 0.75cm
Bungo · around 1658-1661
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 60%
1 piece on the market now
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.
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).
