NihontoWatchA wide o-hira-zukuri wakizashi is housed in this wakizashi koshirae, which has the feel of a sword worn by a sumo wrestler. The kuro-urushi-nuri saya has a wood-grain pattern emerging, and wrinkles caused by the contraction of the lacquer have appeared, giving it an antique look. The fuchi-kashira are gin ishime-ji, the triangularly pointed kojiri is suaka ishime-ji, and the tsuba is suaka migaki-ji; all are mumon, but the texture of the materials is utilized to create an elegant effect. The brown yorito on the tsuka has a vivid rope-like pattern, and it is wrapped differently on the front and back, with katate-maki on the omote and tsumami-maki on the ura, and the hanakago-zu menuki are lovely. The habaki, which depicts sun, moon, and clouds in gin hira-zogan and kebori on a suaka migaki-ji, is also in harmony. What catches the eye is a daisho-kagara of the kind that was Moriyuki in the Momoyama period. On the suaka ishime-ji, a rod-shaped tool of unknown purpose is depicted in gin takabori; both ends are bifurcated, one side is thin, and a wedge is driven into the side that widens thickly. This tool, which reminds one of a tuning fork used in music, might be a daily utensil, a musical instrument, or perhaps a flower vase. The creator likely never dreamed that this design would puzzle us hundreds of years later. The accompanying wakizashi is a powerful work exhibiting the characteristics of Kyushu-mono. The jitetsu, which is deeply refined with itame, moku, and faint masame, is slightly hada-tachi, with thick ji-nie, and a mist-like utsuri rises from near the hamachi, giving the texture a sticky and gentle feel. The hamon of hoso-suguha has ko-nie and a bright nioiguchi, with nie appearing inside the ha, slight kinsen and sunagashi near the monouchi, and the boshi returns in o-maru style. The deeply rusted nakago is mumei but almost ubu. The kiwame is shinshinto Kaifu, but it is a work that could be mistaken for the Higo Enju school of the Muromachi period.
NihontoWatchKaifu School海部派
Offered by Choshuya
10 on the market
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Wakimono · Awa
10 pieces on the market now
The Kaifu group (Kaifu-ha, 海部) takes its name from the Kaifu district of Awa Province on Shikoku, in the region of present-day Tokushima. The Kotō Meizukushi and the Kokon Meizukushi place the founder as Kaifu Tarō Ujiyoshi (海部太郎氏吉), set around the Kōryaku era (1379-1381), and record a second strand said to descend from a pupil of Naminohira around the Ōan era (1368-1375) who signed with the single character Fuji (藤). No blade securely traces back to those origins, and the setsumei are consistent that the group's documented activity belongs to the Muromachi period, growing conspicuous from its latter half. The smiths who appear by name on the designated blades are Ujiyoshi (氏吉), Ujishige (氏重), Yasuyoshi (泰吉) with a Daiei 5 (1525) example, and Yasunaga (泰長), placed around the Daiei era; one tantō by Ujishige is read as the earliest of the line, end of Nanbokuchō into early Muromachi. A shintō continuation survives in Fujiwara Ujiyoshi of Kaifu in Ama district, working in the Kyōhō era (1716-1736), whose hand the setsumei describes as late kotō in appearance, his ancestors' manner carried forward without absorbing other provinces' shifts. Forging across the group runs to ko-itame or itame that often flows and inclines toward masame near the edge, with ji-nie and chikei that the setsumei repeatedly call subdued or lacking strong brilliance; shirake-utsuri and a faintly blackish kanairo recur. The temper is most often a suguha base, from a narrow line on the tantō to a broad suguha mixed with ko-notare, gunome, and midare, the nioiguchi frequently hazy and oceanic (bōyō) rather than tight, with ko-nie, kinsuji, and sunagashi; bōshi turn back in ō-maru with long kaeri or run midare-komi with a togari tendency.
The signature Kaifu form is the hira-zukuri tantō of wide mihaba and slight uchizori, carrying a bonji with suken and gomabashi cut as deep kaki-nagashi grooves, the long mei boldly chiselled in thick strokes. The setsumei also note the kiriba-zukuri wakizashi known as Kaifu mountain swords (Kaifu no yamatō), and a high, thick build of utilitarian character; a flowing masame-tinged jigane with hazy temper and a coarse, bōbō nie reads as the group's ordinary signature, while finer pieces in the same idiom step above it. For kantei, a deeply tempered suguha-based blade whose ko-itame carries dense ji-nie can at a glance suggest Go Yoshihiro, and the group's drift toward a Naminohira manner and the old saying that Kaifu work "changed into E" mark the lines along which it is read. The standing of these smiths rests on cutting character: the meibutsu Iwakiri Kaifu, a katana by Ujiyoshi recorded in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō, takes its name from its sharpness, was held by the Miyoshi of Awa with whom Miyoshi Nagayoshi is said to have won martial exploits, and passed thereafter to the Kuroda of Fukuoka. The Ujishige tantō once in the collection of Itō Miyoji is published in the Kōzan Oshigata; a katana by the later Yamato Daijō Ujishige stands at Hiromine Shrine; and two wakizashi by Fujiwara Ujiyoshi were given to the Imperial Household Agency by volunteers from Tokushima. Signed Kaifu blades are few, which makes each named example reference material for the group as a whole. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Ujiyoshi氏吉 | 1492-1501 | 3 |
| Yasunaga泰長 | 1521-1528 | 1 |
| Yasuyoshi泰吉 | 1504-1521 | 1 |
| Ujiyoshi氏吉 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Ujishige氏重 | 1655-1658 | 2 |
The Shinshintō revival
Around 1800 Suishinshi Masahide argued in his writings that the craft must return to the old masters’ methods: the fukkotō revival. His greatest successor Naotane worked convincingly in Bizen and Sōshū manners that had been dead for centuries.
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.
NBTHK official siteIf, 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.
¥900,000