Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade was forged by Bushu Shitahara Jyu Hiroshige(武州下原住広重). Bushu Shitahara is the name of the area in the Tokyo area today where he created this blade. According to NBTHK that authenticated this blade, it was forged approximately in the early Edo period. We made a phone call to them to confirm it. Hiroshige belonged to the Bushu Shitahara school, located in today’s Tokyo(Hachioji city).It is said that Yamamoto Norishige founded the school, and it thrived from the end of the Muromachi period to the late Edo period.(Late 16th century to Late 19th cetnury) Shitahara Kaji is the group of swordsmiths under the Hojo clan’s auspicious, powerful feudal line during the late Muromachi period. After the Toyotomi clan destroyed the Hojo clan in the Azuchi Momoyama period, Shitahara started to serve the Tokugawa clan as Okakae Kaji, swordsmiths exclusively working for a specific feudal family. Most of the Shitahara swordsmith’s real sir name was Yamamoto. They especially flourished during the late Muromachi period-early Edo period. They kept forging for the Tokugawa clan until the end of the Edo period. Among the Bushu Shitahara group, Hiroshige was one of the most famous ones. The maker’s name, Hiroshige, lasted for several generations. This blade is appraised as a Hozon certificate issued by NBTHK. This authentication paper was only given to Japanese swords, worth preserving by Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai(the Society for the Preservation of the Japan Art Sword). Curvature(Sori) For more detailed measurement of the blade/sword mounting Nakago Please keep in mind that the letter of the signature was half-cut due to the size adjustment in the past. Fuchi-Kashira Flowers are designed on this Fuchi Kashira, and golden metal is applied to them. Its surface is decorated with the Nanako-Ji technique. The ground was hit by the Nanako-Ji Tagane (魚子地鏨, chisel used for this technique). It makes delicate fish egg-shaped protrusions. It shows us the maker’s expert skill. If you focus on the Fuchi part, you will find the Kikusui Mon (菊水紋). It depicts chrysanthemum flowers floating in running water. Since a long time ago, the Kikusui Mon has been known as a design that represents longevity based on a Chinese legend. It says we could extend our lifespan by drinking water flowing from the chrysanthemum colony. Therefore, people treated this design as a kind of good luck motif. It is said this pattern started to be used in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). Some families used it for their family crests. Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成, 1294?-1336) is one of them. He contributed to the defeat of the Kamakura Shogunate and was given the chrysanthemum flower crest by Emperor Go-Daigo in recognition of his remarkable achievements. However, Masashige chose to use the Kikusui Mon, the water flowing in the lower half of the chrysanthemum flower. According to a theory, it was because he thought it was too presumptuous to have the same crest as the emperor. We would say this story tells us the relationship between this design and Samurai culture. Tsuka and Menuki This Menuki’s motif is the Kurikara Ken (倶利伽羅剣), and it is colored with the silvery metal. The Kurikara Ken is the sword that Fudo Myo-O (不動明王, protective god in Buddhism, notably Japanese Shingon Buddhism, it is also known as a god of wars) brings his right hand. Usually, this motif is depicted as a sword coiled with a dragon. It is said the Kurikara Ryu (倶利伽羅龍) changed its figure to the fire. The dragon itself is a prevalent motif for sword mountings. Initially, the dragon is an imaginary creature found in ancient traditions or myths. Furthermore, it is 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, belly is Mizuchi (蛟, mythical animal in Japan which looks like a snake and have 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. Tsuba and Habaki Yotsu-Mokkou-shaped Tsuba is made from iron. Mokkou Tsuba, its origin is a shape of eggs that are rest in a nest. When a quince (it is written 木瓜 in Japanese) is cut into round slices, its cross-section looks similar to this shape; therefore, it was named Mokkougata Tsuba. Yotsu-Mokkougata (a combination of four Mokkou shapes) Tsuba is often seen as this work is categorized. Vines are designed and inlaid with brass. And the Higaki Mon (檜垣文) decorates the inside of this Tsuba. It is the classic pattern in which thin plates of Hinoki (檜, Japanese cypress) are woven diagonally and alternately like Ajiro (網代, wickerwork trap, fishing gear of bamboo instead of a net). Higaki means a fence made of Japanese cypress. As Ajiro is used at the waterside, this motif might have been designed inside the current-shaped lines. Japanese cypress is quite expensive, and the stage with cypress boards is called Hinoki-Butai (檜舞台). It is said this type of stage was found only in theaters officially recognized by the government. Therefore, being on these stages meant being recognized as a first-rate actor. Then people might consider that this plant pattern as a token of the first-class. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on June 25th in the second year of Reiwa (2020). They appraised it as Hozon Touken, the blade worth preserving for Japanese society.
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Musashi · around 1624-1644
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The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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.
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