NihontoWatchSakai Ikkansai Shigemasa (real name: Sakai Hiroshi) was born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1905 as the third son of Sakai Yasujiro. Yasujiro was the younger brother of the tosho Miyaguchi Masatoshi. In 1921 (Taisho 10), at the age of 16, Hiroshi aspired to become a tosho and traveled to Tokyo to enter the school of the master Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu, who strove for the restoration and transmission of nihonto forging methods. Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu was a tosho who served as an early instructor at the Nihonto Denshu-jo operated by Kurihara Hikosaburo, and was a person who trained many tosho, including the later Ningen Kokuho Miyairi Akihira. After more than 10 years of training under Shigetsugu as a tosho of the Bizen-den, Hiroshi was granted the character "Shige" by his master and began to use the name Shigemasa. In 1932 (Showa 7), Shigemasa became independent, and from the following year, he began making swords at the Yasukuni Jinja Nihonto Tanren-jo. Then in 1941 (Showa 16), Shigemasa was appointed as a Rikugun Jumei Tosho, and in 1944 (Showa 19), he also received appointment as a Kaigun Jumei Tosho. After the war, Shigemasa changed his name to Shigemasa (繁政) and vigorously produced swords, and in 1981 (Showa 56), he was recognized as Mukansa by the Nippon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai. Shigemasa's works are characterized by beautiful jigane due to his skillful forging, and a prominent hamon. Additionally, Shigemasa was famous as a master of toshin chokoku, and left behind many masterpieces with elaborate horimono applied to grand toshin. Shigemasa, who produced swords in Tokyo for a long time, moved his residence to Saitama in his later years and vigorously produced swords until he passed away in 1996 (Heisei 8) at the age of 91.
NihontoWatchOffered by Ayakashi
4 on the market
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
around 1926-1989
4 pieces on the market now
Shōwa to the present: destruction and revival
The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
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¥150,000