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Description

This listing is for a katana made by Harumitsu, a smith from the late Muromachi period. Known for creating robust and excellent swords that could withstand intense combat, Harumitsu's works were highly trusted by Sengoku-era warlords. This particular blade is dated to the 5th year of Daiei (1525).

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Swords›Bizen-den›Osafune›Sue-Bizen›Harumitsu›Katana: Bizen ju Osafune Harumitsu saku, Daiei 5th year, 2nd month
katana
Osafune Harumitsu

Katana: Bizen ju Osafune Harumitsu saku, Daiei 5th year, 2nd month

mei · Muromachi

SOLD
Osafune Harumitsu — 1 of 2
Osafune Harumitsu — 2 of 2
1 / 2
1 / 2
Osafune Harumitsu — 1 of 2Osafune Harumitsu — 2 of 2
Measurements & details
Smith
Osafune Harumitsu
Type
Katana
School
Osafune
Period
Around 1521–1532(Kyoroku)
Province
Bizen
Signature
Signed(100% of this smith's designated works are signed)
Description

This listing is for a katana made by Harumitsu, a smith from the late Muromachi period. Known for creating robust and excellent swords that could withstand intense combat, Harumitsu's works were highly trusted by Sengoku-era warlords. This particular blade is dated to the 5th year of Daiei (1525).

About the maker

Harumitsu

治光

Bizen Osafune (Sue-Bizen) · Bizen · around 1521-1532

Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 23%

2 pieces on the market now

›

Osafune Harumitsu signed his blades 治光 and styled himself Jirobei-no-jo, and the published sources place him by name within a documented Sue-Bizen line: the son of Jirozaemon-no-jo Katsumitsu and the father of Jurozaemon-no-jo Harumitsu, with dated work surviving across the Eisho, Daiei and Kyoroku eras of the early sixteenth century. He belonged to the Osafune workshops in their late-Muromachi phase, the period the trade calls Sue-Bizen, when the smiths of the village worked in a shared idiom and signed with the day and month of their making. His own dated pieces are concrete: a katana of Daiei 5, a slender katana of Daiei 8, a broad katana of Daiei 4, a great naginata of Kyoroku 2, and a moroha-zukuri tanto of Daiei 7 made jointly with his father. Fujishiro rates him at the Jo-saku level.

His recognized hand is the waist-opened gunome of the Sue-Bizen group. Over a wide, strongly saki-zori uchigatana the published sources describe a broadly tempered gunome-midare with its bases opened, the koshi-no-hiraita pattern that gives the row its rhythm, mixed with slightly pointed elements and with faint yo appearing within the ha. On the slender Daiei 4 katana and on the joint tanto that opened pattern breaks further, the temper heads splitting to form the fukushiki midare the sources name as the structure peculiar to the group, with ko-ashi and yo and sunagashi running through. It is a quieter, more legible version of the same midare that the Sukesada masters were carrying to a brilliant pitch in the same decades, and it is the first thing by which his blades are known.

The forging is an itame hada, on the broad katana and the naginata standing in the grain with ji-nie adhering, on the finer blades a ko-itame packed tightly and thoroughly consolidated, mixed at times with ko-mokume. The naginata carries the fullest work of all, its ji-nie thick and chikei entering, the large gunome-midare richly covered with nie so that yubashiri and tobiyaki appear, sunagashi gathers in places, kinsuji enters and the mune is tempered. The boshi follows the temper: a midare-komi turning back, on the broad katana deeply with a shimaba at the point and an ichimai-like return, on the tanto in ko-maru, on the naginata with a pointed tendency. There is no utsuri in his work, and the kantei rests instead on the opened gunome, the tightly forged steel and the nie that gathers most strongly on his fullest blades.

The published sources draw more than one face within this single hand. On the broad Daiei 5 katana they read the koshi-opened gunome as abundant in variation and, with the blade's good preservation, call it 「同作中の出色の一口」[[c:1]], an especially outstanding example among the smith's works. On the slender Daiei 4 katana they find the temper of a smaller pattern than is typical for him and note that it 「応永備前風が遺存」[[c:2]], preserving something of the older Oei-Bizen manner, so that the slim, tachi-like sugata reaches back a century into the Bizen past. The Daiei 8 katana shows yet another facet, a broad suguha in which yo are engaged, its ko-itame strongly felt, which the sources call 「地刃健全な治光の佳作」[[c:3]], a fine work of Harumitsu sound in both ji and ha. The naginata of Kyoroku 2 carries his boldest intention, and the sources observe that he also made katana of broad width and emphatically flamboyant temper, so that the two together let one glimpse the aim behind his style.

Harumitsu is best understood beside his father. The joint tanto's commentary counts Katsumitsu among the most skillful Sue-Bizen masters alongside Munemitsu and Tadamitsu, and singles him out as the smith who 「互の目の中に丁子を交えて一段と華やかな出来口」[[c:4]], mixing choji into the gunome for a distinctly more florid and brilliant result than the plainer compound gunome general to the group. Harumitsu works within that broader group manner rather than at his father's most ornate pitch, but the published sources judge the great naginata, in ji and ha alike, a typical example of the output of the school, and they value the father-and-son joint signature as documentary material of its own. The same sources record that large naginata are not infrequently met with in Sue-Bizen, the famous one being the piece Katsumitsu forged with Yosaburozaemon-no-jo Sukesada for Ukita Noie, the lord of Bizen, which sets Harumitsu's own stout naginata within a recognized local type.

Harumitsu's surviving designated record is small and entirely signed, five blades among the Important Sword sessions from the 27th through the 44th, with no National Treasures among them, and a designation factor that places him in the middle ranks of Osafune rather than at its summit. None carries a recorded daimyo provenance, and only one has a holder of record, an institutional collection. The blades range across the wide uchigatana, the slender saki-zori katana that reads as a tachi, the stout great naginata and the moroha-zukuri tanto signed with his father, so that the small body of work shows the full breadth of his forms. He is the kind of named Sue-Bizen hand a collector encounters from time to time rather than rarely, the joint Katsumitsu-Harumitsu tanto the most documentarily interesting of the group and the great naginata the most striking, the published sources reserving for the best of them the phrase 「末備前中傑出の出来映え」[[c:5]], an outstanding level of workmanship among the works of Sue-Bizen.

Historical importance

Where Harumitsu 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.

随一
Foremost
屈指
Leading
有数
Major
著名
Notable

Select a lens to see how it's measured.

Designation record
5 designated works
Jūyō
5
2 works by Harumitsu on the market→
Harumitsu — full profileBizen Osafune (Sue-Bizen) school

Dated Works

Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades

Active period
1521–1529Editorial estimate: 1521–1532
5 of 5 designated works carry a date
1520
1530
1540
About the school

Osafune

長船

Bizen-den · Bizen

Phase: Sue-Bizen末備前· 1441–1596

222 pieces on the market now

›

The last great chapter of Osafune unfolds in the Eisho and Tenbun years of the late Muromachi, when the riverside workshop turned its accumulated craft toward an age of constant war. Where Oei-Bizen had looked backward, reviving the tachi shape and the choji temper of the Kamakura masters under Yasumitsu and Morimitsu, Sue-Bizen faces forward into Sengoku demand. Learn more →

113 recorded smiths2013 designated works
Leading smiths
SmithEraDesignated
Mitsutada光忠1238-123960
Nagamitsu長光1274-1304244
Kagemitsu景光1303-1336144
Kanemitsu兼光1323-1370233
Sanenaga眞長1299-130964
Explore the Osafune school →
Warning — certificate not found

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.

Seller
C
Choshuya
🇯🇵Ships from Japan
›
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Return policy

If, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.

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Description

This listing is for a katana made by Harumitsu, a smith from the late Muromachi period. Known for creating robust and excellent swords that could withstand intense combat, Harumitsu's works were highly trusted by Sengoku-era warlords. This particular blade is dated to the 5th year of Daiei (1525).

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Swords›Bizen-den›Osafune›Sue-Bizen›Harumitsu›Katana: Bizen ju Osafune Harumitsu saku, Daiei 5th year, 2nd month
katana
Osafune Harumitsu

Katana: Bizen ju Osafune Harumitsu saku, Daiei 5th year, 2nd month

mei · Muromachi

SOLD
Osafune Harumitsu — 1 of 2
Osafune Harumitsu — 2 of 2
1 / 2
1 / 2
Osafune Harumitsu — 1 of 2Osafune Harumitsu — 2 of 2
Measurements & details
Smith
Osafune Harumitsu
Type
Katana
School
Osafune
Period
Around 1521–1532(Kyoroku)
Province
Bizen
Signature
Signed(100% of this smith's designated works are signed)
Description

This listing is for a katana made by Harumitsu, a smith from the late Muromachi period. Known for creating robust and excellent swords that could withstand intense combat, Harumitsu's works were highly trusted by Sengoku-era warlords. This particular blade is dated to the 5th year of Daiei (1525).

About the maker

Harumitsu

治光

Bizen Osafune (Sue-Bizen) · Bizen · around 1521-1532

Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 23%

2 pieces on the market now

›

Osafune Harumitsu signed his blades 治光 and styled himself Jirobei-no-jo, and the published sources place him by name within a documented Sue-Bizen line: the son of Jirozaemon-no-jo Katsumitsu and the father of Jurozaemon-no-jo Harumitsu, with dated work surviving across the Eisho, Daiei and Kyoroku eras of the early sixteenth century. He belonged to the Osafune workshops in their late-Muromachi phase, the period the trade calls Sue-Bizen, when the smiths of the village worked in a shared idiom and signed with the day and month of their making. His own dated pieces are concrete: a katana of Daiei 5, a slender katana of Daiei 8, a broad katana of Daiei 4, a great naginata of Kyoroku 2, and a moroha-zukuri tanto of Daiei 7 made jointly with his father. Fujishiro rates him at the Jo-saku level.

His recognized hand is the waist-opened gunome of the Sue-Bizen group. Over a wide, strongly saki-zori uchigatana the published sources describe a broadly tempered gunome-midare with its bases opened, the koshi-no-hiraita pattern that gives the row its rhythm, mixed with slightly pointed elements and with faint yo appearing within the ha. On the slender Daiei 4 katana and on the joint tanto that opened pattern breaks further, the temper heads splitting to form the fukushiki midare the sources name as the structure peculiar to the group, with ko-ashi and yo and sunagashi running through. It is a quieter, more legible version of the same midare that the Sukesada masters were carrying to a brilliant pitch in the same decades, and it is the first thing by which his blades are known.

The forging is an itame hada, on the broad katana and the naginata standing in the grain with ji-nie adhering, on the finer blades a ko-itame packed tightly and thoroughly consolidated, mixed at times with ko-mokume. The naginata carries the fullest work of all, its ji-nie thick and chikei entering, the large gunome-midare richly covered with nie so that yubashiri and tobiyaki appear, sunagashi gathers in places, kinsuji enters and the mune is tempered. The boshi follows the temper: a midare-komi turning back, on the broad katana deeply with a shimaba at the point and an ichimai-like return, on the tanto in ko-maru, on the naginata with a pointed tendency. There is no utsuri in his work, and the kantei rests instead on the opened gunome, the tightly forged steel and the nie that gathers most strongly on his fullest blades.

The published sources draw more than one face within this single hand. On the broad Daiei 5 katana they read the koshi-opened gunome as abundant in variation and, with the blade's good preservation, call it 「同作中の出色の一口」[[c:1]], an especially outstanding example among the smith's works. On the slender Daiei 4 katana they find the temper of a smaller pattern than is typical for him and note that it 「応永備前風が遺存」[[c:2]], preserving something of the older Oei-Bizen manner, so that the slim, tachi-like sugata reaches back a century into the Bizen past. The Daiei 8 katana shows yet another facet, a broad suguha in which yo are engaged, its ko-itame strongly felt, which the sources call 「地刃健全な治光の佳作」[[c:3]], a fine work of Harumitsu sound in both ji and ha. The naginata of Kyoroku 2 carries his boldest intention, and the sources observe that he also made katana of broad width and emphatically flamboyant temper, so that the two together let one glimpse the aim behind his style.

Harumitsu is best understood beside his father. The joint tanto's commentary counts Katsumitsu among the most skillful Sue-Bizen masters alongside Munemitsu and Tadamitsu, and singles him out as the smith who 「互の目の中に丁子を交えて一段と華やかな出来口」[[c:4]], mixing choji into the gunome for a distinctly more florid and brilliant result than the plainer compound gunome general to the group. Harumitsu works within that broader group manner rather than at his father's most ornate pitch, but the published sources judge the great naginata, in ji and ha alike, a typical example of the output of the school, and they value the father-and-son joint signature as documentary material of its own. The same sources record that large naginata are not infrequently met with in Sue-Bizen, the famous one being the piece Katsumitsu forged with Yosaburozaemon-no-jo Sukesada for Ukita Noie, the lord of Bizen, which sets Harumitsu's own stout naginata within a recognized local type.

Harumitsu's surviving designated record is small and entirely signed, five blades among the Important Sword sessions from the 27th through the 44th, with no National Treasures among them, and a designation factor that places him in the middle ranks of Osafune rather than at its summit. None carries a recorded daimyo provenance, and only one has a holder of record, an institutional collection. The blades range across the wide uchigatana, the slender saki-zori katana that reads as a tachi, the stout great naginata and the moroha-zukuri tanto signed with his father, so that the small body of work shows the full breadth of his forms. He is the kind of named Sue-Bizen hand a collector encounters from time to time rather than rarely, the joint Katsumitsu-Harumitsu tanto the most documentarily interesting of the group and the great naginata the most striking, the published sources reserving for the best of them the phrase 「末備前中傑出の出来映え」[[c:5]], an outstanding level of workmanship among the works of Sue-Bizen.

Historical importance

Where Harumitsu 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.

随一
Foremost
屈指
Leading
有数
Major
著名
Notable

Select a lens to see how it's measured.

Designation record
5 designated works
Jūyō
5
2 works by Harumitsu on the market→
Harumitsu — full profileBizen Osafune (Sue-Bizen) school

Dated Works

Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades

Active period
1521–1529Editorial estimate: 1521–1532
5 of 5 designated works carry a date
1520
1530
1540
About the school

Osafune

長船

Bizen-den · Bizen

Phase: Sue-Bizen末備前· 1441–1596

222 pieces on the market now

›

The last great chapter of Osafune unfolds in the Eisho and Tenbun years of the late Muromachi, when the riverside workshop turned its accumulated craft toward an age of constant war. Where Oei-Bizen had looked backward, reviving the tachi shape and the choji temper of the Kamakura masters under Yasumitsu and Morimitsu, Sue-Bizen faces forward into Sengoku demand. Learn more →

113 recorded smiths2013 designated works
Leading smiths
SmithEraDesignated
Mitsutada光忠1238-123960
Nagamitsu長光1274-1304244
Kagemitsu景光1303-1336144
Kanemitsu兼光1323-1370233
Sanenaga眞長1299-130964
Explore the Osafune school →
Warning — certificate not found

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.

Seller
C
Choshuya
🇯🇵Ships from Japan
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✓Verified dealerwww.choshuya.co.jp
✓Ships worldwide✓English support
Return policy

If, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.

View all of Choshuya’s listings→View this item on the dealer’s site→

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Eirakudo
Hozon
Tanto - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Harumitsu - Hozon TokenTanto - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Harumitsu - Hozon Token

Tantō

ByOsafune Harumitsu
¥380,000
Aoi Art
Hozon
Katana - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Kuni ju Osafune HarumitsuKatana - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Kuni ju Osafune Harumitsu

Katana

ByOsafune Harumitsu
Starting Bid¥1,900,000

Previously sold by Osafune Harumitsu

Swords of Japan
Tanto - by Osafune Harumitsu - Jurozaemon no Jo Harumitsu morobaTanto - by Osafune Harumitsu - Jurozaemon no Jo Harumitsu moroba
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Tantō

ByOsafune Harumitsu
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Asahi Token
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Osafune Jirobei Jo HarumitsuKatana - Tokuho - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Osafune Jirobei Jo Harumitsu
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Katana

ByOsafune Harumitsu
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Token Oranda
Hozon
Katana - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Mumei Osafune Harumitsu Katana Late Muromachi Period (Sue-Bizen) NBTHK HozonKatana - Hozon - by Osafune Harumitsu - Mumei Osafune Harumitsu Katana Late Muromachi Period (Sue-Bizen) NBTHK Hozon
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Katana

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Aoi Art
Katana - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Kuni ju Osafune HarumitsuKatana - by Osafune Harumitsu - Bizen Kuni ju Osafune Harumitsu
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Katana

ByOsafune Harumitsu
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More Sue-Bizen works

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Tozando
Hozon
Katana - Hozon - by Sukesada - Bishū Osafune Sukesada - NBTHK Hozon Token Certified, Dated Eiroku 8 (1565)Katana - Hozon - by Sukesada - Bishū Osafune Sukesada - NBTHK Hozon Token Certified, Dated Eiroku 8 (1565)

Katana

BySukesada
¥1,620,000
Aoi Art
Hozon
Wakizashi - Hozon - by Osafune Norimitsu - Bishu Osafune Norimitsu. A date in August, 1465.Wakizashi - Hozon - by Osafune Norimitsu - Bishu Osafune Norimitsu. A date in August, 1465.

Wakizashi

ByOsafune Norimitsu
Starting Bid¥2,500,000
Aoi Art
Hozon
Tanto - Hozon - by Sukesada - Bishu Osafune Sukesada Saku (1583)Tanto - Hozon - by Sukesada - Bishu Osafune Sukesada Saku (1583)

Tantō

BySukesada
¥250,000
World Seiyudo
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Sukesada - Yokoyama-Kozuke-Daijo Fujiwara SukesadaKatana - Tokuho - by Sukesada - Yokoyama-Kozuke-Daijo Fujiwara Sukesada

Katana

BySukesada
¥2,200,000
Asahi Token
Jūyō
Wakizashi - Jūyō - by Sukesada - Bizen Osafune Yosazaemonjo Sukesada, a Lucky Day in February, Daiei 2Wakizashi - Jūyō - by Sukesada - Bizen Osafune Yosazaemonjo Sukesada, a Lucky Day in February, Daiei 2

Wakizashi

BySukesada
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Hyozaemon
Tokuho
Wakizashi - Tokuho - by Osafune Munemitsu - Sakyō-no-shin MunemitsuWakizashi - Tokuho - by Osafune Munemitsu - Sakyō-no-shin Munemitsu

Wakizashi

ByOsafune Munemitsu
¥2,900,000
Sanmei
Tokuho
Tanto - Tokuho - by Sukesada - Double-Edged Tanto: Osafune SukesadaTanto - Tokuho - by Sukesada - Double-Edged Tanto: Osafune Sukesada

Tantō

BySukesada
¥1,200,000
Hyozaemon
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Kiyomitsu - A masterpiece by Magoemonjo Kiyomitsu, a prominent smith of Sue-Bizen.Katana - Tokuho - by Kiyomitsu - A masterpiece by Magoemonjo Kiyomitsu, a prominent smith of Sue-Bizen.

Katana

ByKiyomitsu
¥3,800,000

More from the Osafune school

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Aoi Art
Jūyō Bijutsuhin
Daisho - Jubi - by Osafune Nagamitsu - Dai Sho: Katana (Important Art Object): Mumei (Den Nagamitsu) / Wakizashi: Mumei (Sekishu Naotsuna)Daisho - Jubi - by Osafune Nagamitsu - Dai Sho: Katana (Important Art Object): Mumei (Den Nagamitsu) / Wakizashi: Mumei (Sekishu Naotsuna)

Daishō

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Eirakudo
Tokuho
Tachi - Tokuho - by Osafune Sanenaga - Sanenaga Tachi: Tokubetsu Hozon TokenTachi - Tokuho - by Osafune Sanenaga - Sanenaga Tachi: Tokubetsu Hozon Token

Tachi

ByOsafune Sanenaga
¥7,500,000
Iida Koendo
Jūyō
Tachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Shigezane - Bishu Osafune ju Shigezane, Enbun 3rd year, 12th monthTachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Shigezane - Bishu Osafune ju Shigezane, Enbun 3rd year, 12th month

Tachi

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¥33,000,000
Aoi Art
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Osafune Motomitsu - Mumei (Attributed to Osafune Motomitsu)Katana - Tokuho - by Osafune Motomitsu - Mumei (Attributed to Osafune Motomitsu)

Katana

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Starting Bid¥1,200,000
Nihonto.com
Jūyō
Tanto - Jūyō - by Osafune Kagemitsu - Juyo Tanto by Bizen KagemitsuTanto - Jūyō - by Osafune Kagemitsu - Juyo Tanto by Bizen Kagemitsu

Tantō

ByOsafune Kagemitsu
¥89,500
Iida Koendo
Jūyō
Tachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Nagamitsu - Bizenkoku Osafune ju Sakonshogen Nagamitsu tsukuru, Einin Gannen Junigatsu Hi (December 1293)Tachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Nagamitsu - Bizenkoku Osafune ju Sakonshogen Nagamitsu tsukuru, Einin Gannen Junigatsu Hi (December 1293)

Tachi

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¥55,000,000
Iida Koendo
Jūyō
Tachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Nagamitsu - NagamitsuTachi - Jūyō - by Osafune Nagamitsu - Nagamitsu

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¥33,000,000
Goushuya
Jūyō
Katana - Jūyō - by Osafune Kanemitsu - Kanemitsu with Gold Inlay InscriptionKatana - Jūyō - by Osafune Kanemitsu - Kanemitsu with Gold Inlay Inscription

Katana

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Eirakudo
Jūyō
Tachi - Jūyō - by Fukuoka Ichimonji School - Fukuoka Ichimonji - Juyo TokenTachi - Jūyō - by Fukuoka Ichimonji School - Fukuoka Ichimonji - Juyo Token

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Tsuruginoya
Jūyō
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Hyozaemon
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Eirakudo
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Jūyō
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¥9,500,000
Eirakudo
Jūyō
Katana - Jūyō - by Motoshige - Motoshige - Juyo TokenKatana - Jūyō - by Motoshige - Motoshige - Juyo Token

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Nihonto Antiques
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Samurai Museum
Tokuho
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Wakizashi

ByOsafune Kagemitsu
¥20,234

Swords

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Fittings

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  • Tokujū
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