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 signed by Bushu Jyu Yasushige (武州住康重) during the early Edo Period (Mid-Late 17th century). Yasushige lived in Bushu province, which is located in Hachioji city in today’s Tokyo, where he created this blade. The maker’s name Yasushige lasted several generations from the late Muromachi period until the end of the Edo period. This blade was forged by late-gen Yasushige, active during the early Edo period. Yasushige belonged to Bushu Shitahara school 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 century). The swordsmiths who lived in Shitahara were called Shitahara Kaji. They were the group of swordsmiths under the Hojo clan’s auspicious, powerful feudal line during the late Muromachi period first. It is said that the first-gen Yasushige was the son of Chikashige, another prominent figure in this school. The first-gen Yasushige originally signed Chikashige as his first maker’s name. However, he changed it to Yasushige after receiving 康 (Yasu) letter from Hojo Ujiyasu, a famous feudal lord he served. 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, Yasushige was one of the most famous makers. One of the most distinctive characteristics of the blades forged by Shitahara Kaji is Jorinmoku (如輪杢), which looks like a whirlpool on Hada (the steel surface of the Japanese sword). This blade 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 couple of visible Kitae Kizu on this blade. Fuchi-Kashira The plant pattern which is engraved on this Fuchi Kashira is probably the Fuji (藤, Japanese wisteria). Wisteria has strong fertility and grows being entwined with other trees. Therefore, people regarded this flower as a symbol of longevity and prosperity for future generations. Also, its Japanese name Fuji is likened to another word Fushi, written as “不死,” meaning immortality. That is why the Fujiwara (藤原) family, who reached the height of glory in the Heian period (794-1185), used this motif for their family name and family crest. A theory says that more than 100 types of wisteria-designed family crests existed in the Edo period. We could assume how this motif was popular among people. Besides, wisterias bloom downward. Its appearance was likened to a scene in which the gods or Buddha is descending to the earth. Tsuka and Menuki Seeing from the gaps of the Tsukamaki thread, we estimate the motif of this Menuki is the Hana Guruma (花車). It is the Gosho Guruma (御所車) decorated with various flowers. The Gosho Guruma is a commonly used term for the Gissya (牛車, oxcart). The Hana Guruma has the role of inviting the gods, bringing them closer, and the wish to ask for much happiness. Although most of the coloring has already faded due to aging, it seems golden paint was initially applied to this Menuki. We hope you enjoy the changes that have taken place over the years. Tsuba and Habaki This Yotsu-Mokkou-shaped Tsuba seems to be made from brass because of its color. You could find a figure of bird and bamboo grasses around it. We estimate this bird is a heron. Herons are beautiful birds with long legs and long beaks resembling a crane. In particular, white herons have been favored due to their beautiful feather color and graceful appearances. Also, some people considered this bird a metaphor for a noble personality that does not get stained with mud even in the mud. Bamboo grasses and heron, which are treated as auspicious motifs, this Tsuba combines designs with a good meaning and an elegant atmosphere. Kozuka A Kogatana (小刀, small knife) is stored in the Kozuka. On this Kozuka, you would find two bird-shaped motifs: Orizuru (折り鶴, folded paper crane). Orizurus are often made as symbols of peace, with the meanings of longevity, happiness, disaster recovery, and recovery from illness. For this reason, it is said that making paper cranes became popular among ordinary people in the Edo period. There is also a custom of making Senbazuru, which is made by folding a thousand Orizurus and connecting them as a form of wishing. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on December 14th in the 4th year of Reiwa (2022). They appraised it as Tokubetsu Hozon Touken, the blade especially worth preserving for Japanese society.
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Shinto · Musashi · around 1661-1704
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The Shitahara group (下原) worked at Hachiōji in Bushū, the old province of Musashi, from the end of the Muromachi period and carried its forge on into the Edo period. The setsumei place the lineage among the swordmakers of Musashi in the kotō age and name Terushige, Yasushige, Hiroshige, and Chikashige as its leading hands, with the meikan recording Terushige across three generations: a shodai in Kyōroku, a nidai in Eiroku, and a sandai in Tenshō. " That same blade was made to order, in this case from Hagiwara Kaminao of Kōshū, marking the group as a working provincial forge serving its region. In the forging the setsumei return repeatedly to an itame-hada freely mixed with mokume that stands up rather than lying flat, the grain described as hada-datsu, often running to nagare near the edge and taking on an ayasugi-like, whorled or vortex-like cast in the jigane. The temper is a moderately undulating notare into which gunome enter, frequently in regular paired sequences, with pointed togariba, a chōji-like feeling at times, and ko-nie clinging along a nioiguchi that can settle into a subdued shizumi tone; sunagashi and ashi appear within the ha, and the bōshi tends to run midare-komi and turn back in maru. One katana sets gunome, ō-midare and angular elements into a notare, its bōshi sweeping off in hakikake.
The setsumei read this hand as a synthesis drawing on late Sōshū and the Muramasa line together with late Mino tendencies, which together account for the standing grain and the paired gunome. For kantei the markers are consistent: the risen mokume with its ayasugi turn, the regularly paired gunome, and a build suited to the uchigatana of the closing Muromachi years, often with pronounced sakizori and an extended chū-kissaki. Carving recurs, including bō-hi, bonji, gomabashi, and a deeply cut kurikara-ryū whose coiling tail the NBTHK singles out as characteristic. Named and dated pieces anchor the group: the Yamamoto Genjirō Terushige naginata, uncommon as a double-edged ryōba form, and a Terushige katana appraised between Eiroku and Tenshō that the register calls the hakubi of the school. The setsumei note that Shitahara work survives in number into the shintō period while outstanding examples remain few, which sets these designated blades apart within the lineage. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Terushige照重 | 1558-1570 | 2 |
| Terushige照重 | 1596-1615 | 1 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1558-1570 | 1 |
| Morishige盛重 | 1661-1673 | 0 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1661-1704 | 0 |
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.
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.