Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade was signed by Hizenkoku Jyu Hirosada(肥前国住人広貞), also known as Hizen Yoshi-Ie(肥前吉家) in the early Edo period( early 17th century). He was an apprentice of Tadayoshi, one of the greatest swordsmiths in the early Edo period. Hirosada was also Tadayoshi’s son-in-law. His real name is Hashimoto Honsouemon(橋本本惣右衛門). Hizenkoku, located in Saga prefecture, is the name of the place where Hirosada forged this blade. He first signed as Hirosada(広貞) but changed his maker’s name to Yoshiie in the second year of Genwa(1616). We believe this blade is one of the earliest works of Yoshiie before he changed his maker’s name. He often forged swords on behalf of his master, Tadahiro, which means his artistry must have been excellent. He died at the age of 80 in 1656. This swordsmith was serving for the Nabeshima clan, forging swords for the feudal family. Nabeshima clan ruled Hizenkoku during the Edo period, which indicates that Hirosada served a powerful feudal lord. The swordsmiths in the Hizen province worked under the auspices of the Nabeshima clan like Hirosada(Yoshi-Ie). They were able to produce beautiful Jigane-patterned blades, also known as Hizen To, using and mixing carbon steel made in western countries. Hizenkoku had been flourishing by international trading. The geographic location of this domain made it possible to have easy access to western carbon steel. We are confident you will appreciate Hirosada’s craftsmanship by observing this blade. It also accompanies by gorgeous sword mounting. This blade is appraised as Tokubetsu Hozon certificate issued by NBTHK. This authentication paper was only given to Japanese swords, especially worth preserving by Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai(the Society for the Preservation of the Japan Art Sword). Fuchi-Kashira A mask that is used in No play (能楽, a classical Japanese dance-drama), and some musical instruments such as Tsuzumi (鼓, a small shoulder drum played with one’s fingertips) and harp are designed for this Fuchi Kashira. This mask might be classified as Oni’s mask. Oni (鬼) is a monster with a human body, usually harmful but sometimes helpful. There are Oni who will ask for trouble. On the other hand, there are also Oni who exorcize evil spirits. Today, in Japan, we continue a traditional custom called Setsubun (節分) on February 3. People scatter roasted soybeans to drive out devils or evil spirits (the manner is different depending on area). The Oni mask that is worn at this time represents Oni, who will drive away wicked spirits. We would like to speculate that Samurai might have wanted to gain supernatural power like Oni. Tsuka and Menuki Saru (猿, monkey) is the motif of this Menuki. Generally speaking, as we know, monkeys belong to the same primates as us humans. So it is considered to be the closest animal to humans. Probably, it is why monkeys have often been personified in pictures and stories since ancient times. Please look again at monkeys of this Menuki. Each of them brings a stick-shaped object with a bundle of paper attached to it. Also, it seems they wear something like a hat. They look as if they were Shinto priests. This bundle of paper is called Gohei (御幣, also called Onbei or Onbe), a tool used in Shinto religious service. “御幣” means an offering to God. According to a theory, in China, the monkey has been regarded as a messenger of God. People believed that monkeys would protect horses so that they kept monkeys as guardians of a stable. People worshiped the monkey’s sacred power, and this animal was considered to be an auspicious existence. This idea was introduced from the continent to Japan. So we could imagine that Samurai also treated this animal motif as a kind of unique item. It is said there are not many sword mountings that the monkey is designed. We want to say that not only the quality of this Menuki is excellent, but its rarity enhances the value of this work. Tsuba and Habaki Circle-shaped Tsuba is made from iron and has Kozuka and Kougai holes. Flowers are engraved with the Sukashi-Bori (透かし彫り, openwork) technique. These flowers might be Shoubu (菖蒲, iris). It was thought the scent of iris leaves would exorcize disasters; therefore, some people used it as a talisman to protect against evils. It is said lots of Samurais favored the iris pattern to design for their war costumes because the Japanese name of iris “菖蒲 (Shoubu)” has the same pronunciation as another word “勝負 (Shoubu)” that means battle. Samurais might have put a wish for victory in this plant motif. Also, we hope you focus on the Habaki. On the silvery ground, Japanese pampas grasses that are swaying in the breeze are engraved. Moreover, the golden metal stand is piled on it. The moon is through the clouds. The combination of the full moon and Japanese pampas grass expresses a scene of an autumn night excellently. This Habaki is magnificent and makes us feel the taste of it. We hope you would enjoy this elegant work. Saya This Saya has a luxurious decorative coating with black lacquer and glittering material (it seems crushed seashell fragment). A spiral pattern is expressed as if a leech was wrapped around the Saya. This coating method might be a type of Hirumaki-Nuri (蛭巻塗). In Japan, there is a traditional ornamental technique that uses seashell; called Raden (螺鈿). Raden is a kind of decorative technique that is often used for traditional craftworks. It uses the pearl part of seashells and puts it into the engraved surface of lacquer or wood. Thanks to its iridescent luster, it gives a luxurious look to works. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on August 28th in the 9th year of Heisei (1997). They appraised it as Tokubetsu Hozon Touken, the blade especially worth preserving for Japanese society. Registration Number The Board of Education in Kyoto prefecture issued a registration paper for this sword .It is called Jyu Token Rui Torokusho(銃刀剣類登録証).
Offered by Samurai Museum
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Shinto · Hizen · around 1615-1624
Tōken Taikan top 31%
Where Hirosada 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.
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Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinto · Hizen
107 pieces on the market now
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 |
Hizen: a domain enterprise
Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
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.