NihontoWatchSummary This blade was signed by Hizen Koku Tadayoshi (肥前国忠吉) or Hizen no Kuni Tadayoshi. The maker’s name Tadayoshi lasted nine generations during the Edo period. According to its NBTHK’s appraisal, it was made by the 8th- gen Tadaysohi (八代忠吉) during the Tenpo era (1830-1844). Among other generations of Tadayoshi, the eighth-gen was a renowned figure and mastered a high level of craftsmanship passed down from the previous generations. All the generations of Tadayoshi served Nabeshima clan, which controlled Saga domain (Today’s Saga prefecture). The 8th-gen Tadayoshi was born as the son of Furukawa family in Saga domain in 1801. He was eventually adopted by the 7th-gen Tadayoshi, and he changed his name to Hashimoto Shinzaemon (橋本新左衛門). He took over Tadayoshi school from the 7th-gen in the 13th year of the Bunka era (1816). The domain acknowledged his skill, and he played a vital role in modernizing the weaponry of Saga domain. In 1850, he was in charge of making a cannon for the domain because of his refined blacksmithing. He died at 59 in the 6th year of the Ansei era (1859). The swordsmiths in the Hizen province worked under the auspices of the Nabeshima clan like Tadayoshi. They could produce beautiful blades with Konuka Hada, whose steel surface is very smooth. This Hada is one of the most well-known characteristics of the blades produced in Hizen province. The swordsmiths also used and mixed carbon steel made in western countries. Since Hizenkoku had been flourishing through international trading, it had easy access to western carbon steel. The first-gen Tadayoshi The first-gen Tadayoshi was born and raised in the Saga domain. In 1596, under the domain’s order, he went to Kyoto to learn the sword-forging technique from Umetada Myojyu (埋忠明寿), one of the greatest swordsmiths in the early Edo period. He improved his craftsmanship and returned to the Saga domain two years later (1598). The first head of the Nabeshima clan, Nabeshima Katsushige, appreciated the work of the first-gen Tadayoshi very much. Then, Katsushige appointed him as his Okakaekaji, a swordsmith who exclusively forged swords for a specific domain or clan. Moreover, he founded Hizen Tadayoshi school, which trained more than 100 swordsmiths during the Edo period. It is appraised as a Tokubetsu Hozon Token (特別保存刀剣) issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai:日本美術刀剣保存協会). *Please keep in mind that there is a blak rust on the mune of this blade. Tsuka and Menuki For this Menuki, two combinations which are related to weapons and tools of Samurai are used. The first, the upper Menuki, is the combination of Yumi (弓, bow) and Utsubo (弓靭 or 空穂, an arrow quiver), and the second, the lower Menuki, is the combination of Naginata (薙刀, Japanese halberd) and Saihai (采配, a tool made by attaching strips of cloth or paper to the end of a stick so that it could be seen from a distance). The bow and arrow called Yumi-Ya (弓矢) was once one of the classical primary weapons for Samurai. Therefore, we could imagine that this motif reminded them of battlefields. Also, as an arrow goes straight forward, lots of Samurai loved the arrow pattern. Additionally, each home displayed decorated arrows wishing that it would exorcize evil spirits in the house. This talisman is called Hamaya (破魔矢) in Japanese, and this custom is still kept today. And, the other side is Kabuto (Samurai helmet) theme. Naginata is a traditional Japanese pole sword and it was once a primary weapon like Yumi-Ya; this trend changed during the Samurai period. Also, Naginata has a longer history than Katana has as a weapon, and this weapon was highly valued among Samurai families because of its history, which led them to believe it was an excellent weapon. The Saihai (采配) is a tool made by attaching strips of cloth or paper to the end of a stick so that it could be seen from a distance. It began to be used around the end of the Muromachi period (室町時代, 1336-1573) and is also written as 采幣, 再拝, or 采 in Japanese. This item initially comes from the Sai (旄), a tool used to call a tamed falcon, and its name influenced the name of Saihai. Those who could use a Saihai were limited to the commander of the Ashigaru (足軽, foot soldier) or above or Samurai warriors who had notable military exploits. Being allowed to possess this tool meant commanding a unit, and it was a convenient tool. At the same time, it also had a strong meaning of showing the rank and authority of a military commander. In an actual battle, the movement of the troops was controlled in detail by swinging the Saihai, such as using it as a signal to advance. The signal from this tool differs depending on each military commander, and there is no set pattern. Therefore, it was necessary for the soldiers who received the order to understand the content of the signal perfectly. A theory says that warlords chose their Saihais according to their preferences in the Warring States period. However, in the Edo period, when battles were abolished, this tool became more meaningful than ever as a symbol of authority. The Tokugawa (徳川) family, who ruled the Edo Shogunate, restricted the ownership of these tools based on social status. Saihais were generally made of paper or yak tail hair. Since the Saihai attached to this armor is made of paper, it is the one which was often used on battlefields. Since a Meniki adds a little flair to the Japanese sword, it is said that using the design of Samurai related items such as the bow and arrows was based on the wishes of warlords hoping to become stronger than anyone else. Tsuba and Habaki The theme of this Tsuba is the Unryu Zu (雲龍図). It is a combination of dragons (龍) and clouds (雲). Initially, dragons were imaginary creatures found in ancient foreign traditions or myths. Furthermore, it is regarded as a symbolic beast of auspicious signs. Its body is likened to nine animals: antlers are deer, the head is a camel, eyes are demons, the neck is a snake, the belly is the Mizuchi (蛟, a mythical animal in Japan that looks like a snake and has a horn and four legs), scales are fish, claws are falcons, palms are tigers and ears are cows. It was thought that the dragon would reign at the top of all animals because of its odd-looking appearance. Regarding the cloud pattern, clouds bring blessed rain and snow, and their movements significantly affect the day’s weather. Due to its supernatural power, a theory says that gods, spirits, and dragons dwell in the clouds. In Japan, there is a belief that worships dragons as water gods. Since rice cultivation has flourished in this country, people always treat water as an essential resource. We imagine some people wished for a plentiful harvest in the Unryu theme. From such a religious aspect, we could infer that dragon designs were familiar to people. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on May 31st in the 6th year of Reiwa (2024). They appraised it as Tokubetsu Hozon Touken, the blade especially worth preserving for Japanese society.
Offered by Samurai Museum
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Shinto · Hizen · around 1830-1844
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The Hizen school began with a single domain commission. In Keicho 1 (1596) the Nabeshima of Hizen ordered Hashimoto Shinzaemon, the smith who would sign Tadayoshi, up to Kyoto with the carver Munenaga; there he entered the gate of Umetada Myoju and studied forging while Munenaga learned the chisel. The two returned to the province in Keicho 3 (1598), and Tadayoshi settled in the castle town below Saga, where under the domain's patronage the line grew into the dominant sword-making house of Kyushu. His own work runs from Keicho 5 (1600) to his death in Kan'ei 9 (1632); in Genna 10 (1624) he received the court title Musashi Daijo, changed his name to Tadahiro, and shifted his clan name from Minamoto to Fujiwara, so that the late Musashi Daijo blades are the founder under a second name. From him the house became a true generational institution: his son the second-generation Omi Daijo Tadahiro carried it forward as its most prolific hand, the third-generation Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi returned its highest finish, and a Tosa no Kami branch took the founder's signature when he set it aside. Around this main line grew a circle of disciples and collateral hands, the waki-Hizen or Soba-Hizen smiths, several of them, like Yoshiie and Hironori, working as daisaku substitute makers whose own signed pieces are therefore scarce. The school's signature is its steel. Over a ko-itame forged so tightly it shows no slackness, fine ji-nie gathers in minute particles until the surface takes on the rice-bran konuka-hada (also written komenuka-hada) that no other school produces, fine chikei entering throughout and the ji notably clear and bright.
The orthodox temper laid upon it is a chu-suguha or hiro-suguha, sometimes tinged with a shallow notare and ko-gunome, the nioiguchi deep with finely clustered ko-nie and tightened to a bright clarity, the boshi running straight to a quiet ko-maru. The founder aimed this suguha toward the Rai school yet departed from it, his nioiguchi tighter and his forging carrying more vigor; the third generation refined it to what the published sources call the strongest and most precise hand of the first three generations. Against that calm register the house also worked a showier one, the Hizen choji-midare mixing gunome, long ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi, a manner the published sources already find more often in the founder's late Musashi Daijo work than in his Tadayoshi years, and one the second generation made his own. The branches pushed further from the suguha standard: Tadakuni of the Ogi domain ran sunagashi more conspicuously than any other Hizen hand and reached toward old Ichimonji in his o-choji; Masahiro and Yukihiro favored a flamboyant long-ashi choji over the calm main line; and the Iyo no Jo Munetsugu line worked apart in the Soshu-den, building a midareba on notare with a pointed togariba and a jihada that tends to stand and tone slightly blackish. A collector seeks Hizen-to first for that steel, and reads it the same way the appraiser does: a bright suguha lying over a clear, tight konuka-hada identifies the school before the signature is consulted, and the quiet ko-maru boshi on the ura-signed tang confirms the main-line practice. Generation and branch are then told within that frame, the third generation's powerful sugata recalling not his father but his grandfather, the waki-Hizen hands set apart by their irregular temper, their sujikai file marks and a sashi-ura signature, the Munetsugu line by its Soshu togari. The main line, made in real numbers across so long a span, reaches the market more readily than any Kamakura master, so a papered example is within reach of a patient collector, while the founder's own work and the finest konuka-suguha of the third generation come to open hands only from time to time. Provenance runs back through the house the school served, blades recorded to Nabeshima Katsushige and Nabeshima Naomoto and passing onward to the Owari Tokugawa, the Satake and the Imperial families; documentary inscriptions sharpen the picture further, a Myoju soemei attesting the founder's discipleship, Umetada carving adding flowers to brocade on his late blades, and the gold-inlaid cutting tests of Yamano Kanjuro and Yamano Ka'emon, rare on Hizen work, naming the edge as well as the hand. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1596-1632 | 155 |
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1660-1686 | 61 |
| Tadahiro忠廣 | 1633-1693 | 133 |
| Tadakuni忠國 | 1648-1652 | 32 |
| Masahiro正廣 | 1624-1655 | 30 |
The Shinshintō revival
Around 1800 Suishinshi Masahide argued in his writings that the craft must return to the old masters’ methods: the fukkotō revival. His greatest successor Naotane worked convincingly in Bizen and Sōshū manners that had been dead for centuries.
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 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.