The divided-courts war impoverished the court society that had sustained Kyōto’s most refined work. With the last Rai masters the classic line effectively closed, while Hasebe and Nobukuni carried the new Sōshū manner into the capital.
This is an unsigned Katana attributed to the Echizen Rai school, active around the late Nanbokucho period (circa 1400). It features a slightly wide blade with Mitsumune and a slightly long kissaki, displaying the distinctive jigane characteristic of the Echizen Rai school with finely woven chikei. The blade comes with both a shirasaya and a koshirae, and is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate.
Certificate reading — 無銘（越前来）
NihontoWatchmumei · Chiyozuru · Nanbokucho · nagasa 68.6cm · sori 1.2cm
Yamashiro-den · Echizen
5 pieces on the market now
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Echizen越前 | 1312-1317 | 1 |
Yamashiro in the Nanbokuchō period
The divided-courts war impoverished the court society that had sustained Kyōto’s most refined work. With the last Rai masters the classic line effectively closed, while Hasebe and Nobukuni carried the new Sōshū manner into the capital.
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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
