Perry’s arrival in 1853 unraveled the Tokugawa peace and created the first mass demand for working swords in two centuries. Kiyomaro, called the Masamune of Yotsuya, died on its eve; Munetsugu and Yukihide carried the boom to the end.
Tokubetsu Hozon Token 『 Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku Ansei sannen hachigatsu hi 』 Token Type 『Katana』 Mei 『Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku Ansei sannen hachigatsu hi』 『Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku』 Certificate 『Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai Tokubetsu Hozon Token』 NBTHK 『Tokubetsu Hozon Paper』 Era 『Ansei sannen』 Production age 『1857』 Minamoto no Masao (Suzuki Jiro Minamoto no Masao) was a prominent student of Minamoto Kiyomaro, a master swordsmith of the late Edo period. He was a master who most closely resembled his teacher Kiyomaro, and boasted the best skill among Kiyomaro's disciples. The fact that he signed "Masao" suggests that he was a disciple since Kiyomaro signed "Masayuki," and he is thought to be a veteran member of the school. He became independent in Kaei six and lived in Shitaya Okachimachi, Edo. His style inherits that of his teacher, but it is characterized by the low waist of the *gunome*, and the *mei* is in a fluent cursive style. This work features large *gunome midare* with deep *nie*, a bright and clear blade, *sunagashi* and *kinsuji* frequently running through the heads of the *gunome*, and from the *monouchi* it takes on a Soshu-den style with rough *nie* and violent *midare*, with layers of *kinsen* and a bright and clear *nioiguchi*. It is the best work of Masao, and a masterpiece that is in no way inferior to the masterpieces of Minamoto Kiyomaro. It is a rare sword that maintains the best condition from the perspective of soundness. 『Shape』Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, the *mihaba* is normal and does not drop to the *saki*, there is little *hiraniku*, there is a feeling of *fumbari*, the *sori* is deep, and the *o-kissaki* is elongated. 『Kitae』Ko-itame hada flowing with *mokume*, thick *ji-nie*, rough *ji-nie* in places, *jikei* enters well, well-forged and beautiful, with moisture in the *ji*. 『Hamon』Large *gunome midare* with deep *nie*, a bright and clear blade, *sunagashi* and *kinsuji* frequently running through the heads of the *gunome*, and from the *monouchi* it takes on a Soshu-den style with rough *nie* and violent *midare*, with layers of *kinsen* and a bright and clear *nioiguchi*. 『Boshi』Shallow *midarekomi*, the *omote* *saki* is violently *midare* and swept vigorously, the *ura* *saki* is flame-like and swept finely with a pointed tendency. 『Nakago』Ubu, *saki-kurijiri*, *yasurime* *sujikai*, *mekugi ana* 1, large *tagane* and bold cursive *mei* in the center of the *omote* and *ura*. 『Habaki』Gold-clad double 『Size』 Nagasa (Blade length) 69.7cm Ni shaku san sun, Sori 2cm Width of moto 3.1cm, Width of saki 2.5cm, Thickness of moto 0.7cm Thickness of saki 0.55cm
Certificate reading — 銘 武州住源正雄作 安政三年八月日
NihontoWatchmei · Shin-shinto · nagasa 69.7cm · sori 2cm
Shinshinto · Musashi · around 1844-1857
Fujishiro Jo-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
3 pieces on the market now
Yamaura Masao was born in Bunka 1 (1804) in Akaiwa village, Komoro, Shinano Province, the eldest son of the rural samurai Yamaura Nobukaze and elder brother of the celebrated Kiyomaro. Together with Kiyomaro, he studied under the Ueda domain smith Kawamura Toshitaka, signing early works as Kanri and Toshimasa before adopting the name Masao, then Shin'o, and finally Toshinaga in his later years. He used art names including "Tennenshi," "Yushaken," and "Yuunsai," and died in Meiji 7 (1874) at seventy-one.
His stylistic trajectory followed that of his brother: beginning with choji in the manner of Toshitaka, then shifting decisively toward Soshu-den. The setsumei consistently note a forging of itame-hada with thick ji-nie and conspicuous chikei, and a tempering of gunome mixed with ko-notare, richly laden with nie, kinsuji, and sunagashi. His finest katana (Juyo, 58th Session) is described as possessing "a powerful forging -- thick with ji-nie and heavily interwoven with chikei" in which "kinsuji and sunagashi activities are richer than usual even for this maker's work." Yet the NBTHK observes that "in comparison with Kiyomaro, his work tends to show fewer chikei in the ji and fewer sunagashi and kinsuji within the hardened area, and the overall quality does not reach Kiyomaro's level."
Despite this candid assessment, Masao's designated works demonstrate a smith of real accomplishment, particularly in the Soshu-den mode where nie is vigorously expressed and his shobuzukuri wakizashi display the sharp fukura-kare profile he favored. His output spans both katana of bold construction and wakizashi of refined character, and his commissions from named patrons attest to the regard in which he was held during the shinshinto era.
Where Masao 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinshinto · Musashi
14 pieces on the market now
The Kiyomaro school gathered in the workshops of Yotsuya in Edo around the middle of the nineteenth century, its founder Yamaura Kiyomaro (清麿) born in Bunka 10 (1813) at Akaiwa village in the Komoro district of Shinano, the second son of the country gentry-warrior Yamaura Nobukaze. He learned forging first under the Ueda-domain smith Kawamura Toshitaka, signing his early blades Masayuki, went up to Edo in Tenpo 6 (1835) under the patronage of the military scholar Kubota Kiyone, and in the autumn of Koka 3 (1846) settled at Iga-cho in Yotsuya and changed his signature to Kiyomaro; he died by his own hand at forty-two in Kaei 7 (1854). Around him moved his elder brother Yamaura Masao (真雄/正雄), who took the same instruction from Toshitaka and walked the same course from choji into Soshu-den, and the pupils who entered the Yotsuya forge in its final years: Kurihara Nobuhide (信秀), a mirror-maker from Sanjo in Echigo whom the published sources place nearest the master's hand; Saito Kiyondo (清人) of Dewa, who afterward settled his teacher's sword debts and carried the manner into early Meiji; and the wider circle of associates and patrons through which the line passed. The shared vocabulary of the school is a powerful Soshu-revival manner. Over an itame that flows and stands a little, well packed and at times opening into mokume and o-itame, the smiths lay thick ji-nie with frequent chikei, the steel clear and without utsuri, for this is a late hand reaching back five centuries to Sagami rather than a Bizen revival. The temper is an o-midare or gunome-midare mixed with ko-notare, the ashi and yo entering, the nie thick and gathering coarse in clusters of ara-nie, with long kinsuji and streaming sunagashi running through nearly every blade; the boshi answers in a midare-komi turning pointed with hakikake. A Bizen-leaning side survives from the early years in the residual choji that shades into the mature work. Within this common ground the hands diverge. Kiyomaro's is read as the overwhelming one, his Soshu-den reaching the upper transmission with the Shizu vein as his forte of fortes, the NBTHK calling his work 「覇気に満ちている」, filled with commanding spirit.
Masao's grounded forging is candidly weighed against his brother's, the texts noting that his chikei, sunagashi, and kinsuji run fewer and the quality does not reach Kiyomaro's level. Nobuhide is named the closest approach to the master and is alone in the school for his carving, a mirror-maker's hand that set kurikara, dragons, and bonji into blades the others left plain. Kiyondo holds the round-headed gunome-midare at full strength and adds a manner of his own, a bright suguha aligned with the Yamato tradition that Kiyomaro never worked. To kantei the school, read first the imposing shape particular to the Yamaura line: a wide body with little taper, the sori toward the point, a chu-kissaki extended or run to an o-kissaki whose fukura is allowed to wither for a sharp impression, often a shobu-zukuri or kanmuri-otoshi wakizashi. Read then the nie, thick in ji and ha, the chikei and the conspicuous kinsuji and sunagashi that mark the force of the steel rather than any borrowed pattern. Carving narrows the field to Nobuhide; a Yamato suguha narrows it to Kiyondo. Kiyomaro stands at the head of the line, ranked by the published sources as high as Kotetsu and named without question the leading master among the shinshinto, the smith called the Yotsuya Masamune (四谷正宗). His extant work is scarce and closely held, passing through documented hands such as the Iwasaki family and the Seikado Bunko, and reaches the market only from time to time and at the very top of it. The pupils and the elder brother offer the more attainable face of the circle, signed and dated blades that come to a collector with patience; a signed example of any of these hands is a document of the moment when Soshu was reborn in Edo. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kiyomaro清麿 | 1839-1854 | 52 |
| Nobuhide信秀 | 1857-1867 | 34 |
| Kiyondo清人 | 1848-1868 | 8 |
| Masao真雄 | 1844-1866 | 6 |
| Masanao正直 | 1865-1868 | 3 |
Bakumatsu: the last war market
Perry’s arrival in 1853 unraveled the Tokugawa peace and created the first mass demand for working swords in two centuries. Kiyomaro, called the Masamune of Yotsuya, died on its eve; Munetsugu and Yukihide carried the boom to the end.
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 siteWhen the item reaches you, please check immediately for damage and that it matches your order. We bear the shipping cost for a return; please send it freight-collect. Costs other than the item price cannot be refunded.
¥3,300,000
Tokubetsu Hozon Token 『 Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku Ansei sannen hachigatsu hi 』 Token Type 『Katana』 Mei 『Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku Ansei sannen hachigatsu hi』 『Bushu ju Minamoto no MASAO saku』 Certificate 『Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai Tokubetsu Hozon Token』 NBTHK 『Tokubetsu Hozon Paper』 Era 『Ansei sannen』 Production age 『1857』 Minamoto no Masao (Suzuki Jiro Minamoto no Masao) was a prominent student of Minamoto Kiyomaro, a master swordsmith of the late Edo period. He was a master who most closely resembled his teacher Kiyomaro, and boasted the best skill among Kiyomaro's disciples. The fact that he signed "Masao" suggests that he was a disciple since Kiyomaro signed "Masayuki," and he is thought to be a veteran member of the school. He became independent in Kaei six and lived in Shitaya Okachimachi, Edo. His style inherits that of his teacher, but it is characterized by the low waist of the *gunome*, and the *mei* is in a fluent cursive style. This work features large *gunome midare* with deep *nie*, a bright and clear blade, *sunagashi* and *kinsuji* frequently running through the heads of the *gunome*, and from the *monouchi* it takes on a Soshu-den style with rough *nie* and violent *midare*, with layers of *kinsen* and a bright and clear *nioiguchi*. It is the best work of Masao, and a masterpiece that is in no way inferior to the masterpieces of Minamoto Kiyomaro. It is a rare sword that maintains the best condition from the perspective of soundness. 『Shape』Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, the *mihaba* is normal and does not drop to the *saki*, there is little *hiraniku*, there is a feeling of *fumbari*, the *sori* is deep, and the *o-kissaki* is elongated. 『Kitae』Ko-itame hada flowing with *mokume*, thick *ji-nie*, rough *ji-nie* in places, *jikei* enters well, well-forged and beautiful, with moisture in the *ji*. 『Hamon』Large *gunome midare* with deep *nie*, a bright and clear blade, *sunagashi* and *kinsuji* frequently running through the heads of the *gunome*, and from the *monouchi* it takes on a Soshu-den style with rough *nie* and violent *midare*, with layers of *kinsen* and a bright and clear *nioiguchi*. 『Boshi』Shallow *midarekomi*, the *omote* *saki* is violently *midare* and swept vigorously, the *ura* *saki* is flame-like and swept finely with a pointed tendency. 『Nakago』Ubu, *saki-kurijiri*, *yasurime* *sujikai*, *mekugi ana* 1, large *tagane* and bold cursive *mei* in the center of the *omote* and *ura*. 『Habaki』Gold-clad double 『Size』 Nagasa (Blade length) 69.7cm Ni shaku san sun, Sori 2cm Width of moto 3.1cm, Width of saki 2.5cm, Thickness of moto 0.7cm Thickness of saki 0.55cm
Certificate reading — 銘 武州住源正雄作 安政三年八月日
NihontoWatchmei · Shin-shinto · nagasa 69.7cm · sori 2cm
Shinshinto · Musashi · around 1844-1857
Fujishiro Jo-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
3 pieces on the market now
Yamaura Masao was born in Bunka 1 (1804) in Akaiwa village, Komoro, Shinano Province, the eldest son of the rural samurai Yamaura Nobukaze and elder brother of the celebrated Kiyomaro. Together with Kiyomaro, he studied under the Ueda domain smith Kawamura Toshitaka, signing early works as Kanri and Toshimasa before adopting the name Masao, then Shin'o, and finally Toshinaga in his later years. He used art names including "Tennenshi," "Yushaken," and "Yuunsai," and died in Meiji 7 (1874) at seventy-one.
His stylistic trajectory followed that of his brother: beginning with choji in the manner of Toshitaka, then shifting decisively toward Soshu-den. The setsumei consistently note a forging of itame-hada with thick ji-nie and conspicuous chikei, and a tempering of gunome mixed with ko-notare, richly laden with nie, kinsuji, and sunagashi. His finest katana (Juyo, 58th Session) is described as possessing "a powerful forging -- thick with ji-nie and heavily interwoven with chikei" in which "kinsuji and sunagashi activities are richer than usual even for this maker's work." Yet the NBTHK observes that "in comparison with Kiyomaro, his work tends to show fewer chikei in the ji and fewer sunagashi and kinsuji within the hardened area, and the overall quality does not reach Kiyomaro's level."
Despite this candid assessment, Masao's designated works demonstrate a smith of real accomplishment, particularly in the Soshu-den mode where nie is vigorously expressed and his shobuzukuri wakizashi display the sharp fukura-kare profile he favored. His output spans both katana of bold construction and wakizashi of refined character, and his commissions from named patrons attest to the regard in which he was held during the shinshinto era.
Where Masao 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinshinto · Musashi
14 pieces on the market now
The Kiyomaro school gathered in the workshops of Yotsuya in Edo around the middle of the nineteenth century, its founder Yamaura Kiyomaro (清麿) born in Bunka 10 (1813) at Akaiwa village in the Komoro district of Shinano, the second son of the country gentry-warrior Yamaura Nobukaze. He learned forging first under the Ueda-domain smith Kawamura Toshitaka, signing his early blades Masayuki, went up to Edo in Tenpo 6 (1835) under the patronage of the military scholar Kubota Kiyone, and in the autumn of Koka 3 (1846) settled at Iga-cho in Yotsuya and changed his signature to Kiyomaro; he died by his own hand at forty-two in Kaei 7 (1854). Around him moved his elder brother Yamaura Masao (真雄/正雄), who took the same instruction from Toshitaka and walked the same course from choji into Soshu-den, and the pupils who entered the Yotsuya forge in its final years: Kurihara Nobuhide (信秀), a mirror-maker from Sanjo in Echigo whom the published sources place nearest the master's hand; Saito Kiyondo (清人) of Dewa, who afterward settled his teacher's sword debts and carried the manner into early Meiji; and the wider circle of associates and patrons through which the line passed. The shared vocabulary of the school is a powerful Soshu-revival manner. Over an itame that flows and stands a little, well packed and at times opening into mokume and o-itame, the smiths lay thick ji-nie with frequent chikei, the steel clear and without utsuri, for this is a late hand reaching back five centuries to Sagami rather than a Bizen revival. The temper is an o-midare or gunome-midare mixed with ko-notare, the ashi and yo entering, the nie thick and gathering coarse in clusters of ara-nie, with long kinsuji and streaming sunagashi running through nearly every blade; the boshi answers in a midare-komi turning pointed with hakikake. A Bizen-leaning side survives from the early years in the residual choji that shades into the mature work. Within this common ground the hands diverge. Kiyomaro's is read as the overwhelming one, his Soshu-den reaching the upper transmission with the Shizu vein as his forte of fortes, the NBTHK calling his work 「覇気に満ちている」, filled with commanding spirit.
Masao's grounded forging is candidly weighed against his brother's, the texts noting that his chikei, sunagashi, and kinsuji run fewer and the quality does not reach Kiyomaro's level. Nobuhide is named the closest approach to the master and is alone in the school for his carving, a mirror-maker's hand that set kurikara, dragons, and bonji into blades the others left plain. Kiyondo holds the round-headed gunome-midare at full strength and adds a manner of his own, a bright suguha aligned with the Yamato tradition that Kiyomaro never worked. To kantei the school, read first the imposing shape particular to the Yamaura line: a wide body with little taper, the sori toward the point, a chu-kissaki extended or run to an o-kissaki whose fukura is allowed to wither for a sharp impression, often a shobu-zukuri or kanmuri-otoshi wakizashi. Read then the nie, thick in ji and ha, the chikei and the conspicuous kinsuji and sunagashi that mark the force of the steel rather than any borrowed pattern. Carving narrows the field to Nobuhide; a Yamato suguha narrows it to Kiyondo. Kiyomaro stands at the head of the line, ranked by the published sources as high as Kotetsu and named without question the leading master among the shinshinto, the smith called the Yotsuya Masamune (四谷正宗). His extant work is scarce and closely held, passing through documented hands such as the Iwasaki family and the Seikado Bunko, and reaches the market only from time to time and at the very top of it. The pupils and the elder brother offer the more attainable face of the circle, signed and dated blades that come to a collector with patience; a signed example of any of these hands is a document of the moment when Soshu was reborn in Edo. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kiyomaro清麿 | 1839-1854 | 52 |
| Nobuhide信秀 | 1857-1867 | 34 |
| Kiyondo清人 | 1848-1868 | 8 |
| Masao真雄 | 1844-1866 | 6 |
| Masanao正直 | 1865-1868 | 3 |
Bakumatsu: the last war market
Perry’s arrival in 1853 unraveled the Tokugawa peace and created the first mass demand for working swords in two centuries. Kiyomaro, called the Masamune of Yotsuya, died on its eve; Munetsugu and Yukihide carried the boom to the end.
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 siteWhen the item reaches you, please check immediately for damage and that it matches your order. We bear the shipping cost for a return; please send it freight-collect. Costs other than the item price cannot be refunded.
¥3,300,000
