After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade is attributed to Fujishima (藤島), which is a prestigious school, especially flourishing during the Muromachi period (late 14th- late 16th century) in Kaga province (Today’s Ishikawa prefecture). The school was founded by the first-gen Fujishima Tomoshige during the early Nanbokucho period. This maker’s name lasted several generations, from the early Nanboku period to the end of the Edo period (Early 14th-Late 19th century). It is said that the first-gen Tomoshige was an apprentice of Rai Kunitoshi, one of the most famous swordsmiths in Yamashiro province (Today’s Kyoto) during the late Kamakura-early Nanbokucho period. The first-gen Tomoshige originally lived in Fushima village in Echizen province (today’s Fukui prefecture). And later on, he moved to Kaga domain and founded the school. When this blade was forged, there were many rivalries and wars between regional feudal lords to expand their land or gain political control. This time is called Sengoku Jidai. Background – Sengoku period The late Muromachi period overlaps with the Sengoku period (戦国時代, “Warring States Period”), a time marked by ongoing military conflict and political fragmentation across Japan. In this turbulent era, the samurai class played a central role as both warriors and political actors. Swords were vital to the samurai not just as weapons but also as symbols of personal honor and status. A well-forged sword was regarded as an extension of the samurai’s soul, used in both battle and ceremonial practices. As warfare intensified, demand for high-quality blades grew rapidly. Feudal lords (大名, daimyō) sought to equip their armies with superior weapons, turning to renowned swordsmiths like Moritaka for craftsmanship that combined functionality with aesthetic value. This blade is appraised as a Hozon Token (保存刀剣) issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai:日本美術刀剣保存協会). *Please keep in mind that there are a couple of noticeable Kitae Kizu on the blade. Koshirae The theme of this koshirae is consistently centered on the dragon (ryū, 龍), with dragon motifs appearing throughout the various fittings to create a unified and harmonious design. In East Asian tradition, the dragon is a revered mythical creature associated with power, wisdom, protection, and good fortune. Unlike the dragons of Western folklore, which are often portrayed as destructive beasts, East Asian dragons are generally regarded as benevolent beings that bring blessings and prosperity. According to traditional lore, the dragon embodies the characteristics of nine different animals: the antlers of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a mizuchi (a horned water serpent), the scales of a fish, the claws of a hawk, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of an ox. Because it combined the finest qualities of many creatures, it was considered the supreme being among all animals. In Japan, dragons have long been worshipped as water deities through a tradition known as Ryūjin Shinkō (竜神信仰, Dragon God Worship). As rice cultivation depended heavily on a stable water supply, dragons came to be associated with rain, rivers, and agricultural abundance. For this reason, dragon imagery has occupied an important place in Japanese art and culture for centuries. Saya This Saya is covered with black lacquer. Due to its high waterproof effect, lacquer has been used since ancient times in Asia. The blade of a Japanese sword is made of iron, and moisture is the greatest enemy of iron. For the purpose of carrying the blade without degrading it, people devised a method of coating the scabbard with lacquer. To prevent not only moisture but also rain and snow from penetrating the inside of the scabbard, it was necessary to apply multiple layers of lacquer. The Nushi (塗師, lacquerers) was born precisely because advanced techniques were required to handle the complicated processes. *Please keep in mind that there are a few damages and trace of restoration due to the aging. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on February 16th in the 8th year of Reiwa (2026). They appraised it as Hozon Touken, the blade worth preserving for Japanese society.
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Yamashiro-den · Kaga
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Among the provincial lineages of the Hokurikudo, the Fujishima school took its name and its base from the village of Fujishima in Kaga province, where Tomoshige stands as founder and the name he set down passed through several generations from the close of the Nanbokucho period across the Muromachi and on into the early-modern Shinto era. The members place the chronological anchor with care: the earliest firmly dated work is a tanto of Oei 2 (1395), and the NBTHK finds nothing among the surviving blades that goes back earlier than Nanbokucho. Old documentary tradition reads the first generation as a pupil of Rai Kunitoshi of Yamashiro, alternatively of Kashu Sanekage or Rai Toshimune, but the published sources doubt each reading in turn, finding no stylistic tie to Rai Kunitoshi and a chronological impossibility with Sanekage; judging from the make and the nakago finish, they settle by elimination toward the Yamato tradition, close to the Yamato Shikkake hand. A tachi held at Atsuta Shrine and a two-character ken read as the oldest surviving piece bracket the early end of the line. The recognition of the school lives in its jigane. The members agree on a board-grained itame that mixes in mokume and runs to nagare, standing somewhat open (hada-dachi), the surface gathering ji-nie and chikei, the steel carrying a distinct blackish cast named kan'a-iro and tied directly to the northern provinces as hokkoku-hada; a faint whitish shirake-utsuri rises quietly against this dark ground rather than a bright Bizen reflection. Over that ji the school tempers a gunome-midare into which box-shaped (hako-ba), pointed and angular (togariba) teeth enter together with notare and ko-notare, the ashi running rather long, the ha nie-laden with sunagashi sweeping it and kinsuji entering, small tobiyaki and muneyaki scattered here and there.
The NBTHK reads the feel of it as a make in which Bizen temperament and Mino flavor coexist, the boshi running straight or midare-komi into a ko-maru, often swept with hakikake or running to yakizume. The members also mark the short blades apart: on the tanto the hand can quiet to a ko-itame and a narrow hoso-suguha or low ko-gunome with ko-nie, the nioiguchi sometimes clouding to urumi, the boshi turning jizo-like or returning deep, this the simplest face of the Yamato base while the dark steel keeps its northern mark. To kantei a Fujishima blade the eye works the conjunction rather than any single trait: the standing dark ji read together with the box-and-pointed midare and the constant sunagashi names the school where a clean Bizen choji or a true Yamashiro ko-itame would not. The members note works read variously toward an Aoe air, toward Naoe Shizu and Sekishu Naotsuna, the Mino and northern lines the school sits between, kin in feel to the Etchu and Echizen smiths of the same region. Among the membership Tomoshige carries the name and the standing; Fujishiro rates the founder Chu-jo saku and places others among the middle ranks of the koto smiths, and the most highly regarded work falls in the Oei generation while the Muromachi work survives most often. The single finest piece is a great spear (o-mi-yari) signed Fujishima Tomoshige and carved with a sanko-ken and the deity-name Myoken Daibosatsu, which the published sources judge not merely the best spear of the school but one of the representative famous spears of its age; surviving naginata by the line are noted as rare, their ubu-nakago valued as dating evidence. Provenance gathers around named houses recorded in the blades themselves, an Oei katana descended in the Inaba daimyo house and a tanto recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, heritage pieces in long-standing hands; yet the line is not among the unattainable names, and a Juyo Tomoshige remains a realistic if uncommon encounter for the patient collector, valued for the way a single dark-steeled blade carries the whole northern school in its ji. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoshige友重 | 1394-1428 | 15 |
| Tomoshige友重 | 1346-1370 | 5 |
| Tomoshige友重 | 1324-1326 | 5 |
| Fujishima藤島 | 1394-1428 | 4 |
| Yukimitsu行光 | 1340-1346 | 0 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
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 siteReturns/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.
Certificate reading — 無銘（藤島）