Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchSince ancient times, the first generation Nobukuni has been called a pupil of Soshu Sadamune, with his era transmitted as Kenmu, but among extant works there are no ninki from Kenmu or its vicinity at all, and works that can be appraised as going back that far are also not found; furthermore, since the style of the oldest extant Nobukuni works with Enbun and Joji ninki connects directly with Sadamune, the common theory today is to regard the Enbun and Joji era smith as the first generation. According to densho, he is recorded as the son or grandson of Ryo Hisanobu (son of Ryokai), and the fact that suguha, a tradition of the Rai school, is seen in works with Enbun 3 and Koan 1 ninki, and that the kitae flows regardless of whether the hamon is suguha or midareba, makes the tradition convincing. At the end of the Nanbokucho period, there were succeeding generations of Nobukuni, and further, among the Nobukuni school after entering the Oei era, the two smiths Shikibu-no-jo Nobukuni and Saemon-no-jo Nobukuni are famous as representative smiths, and there are other swordsmiths who signed with a niji-mei of Nobukuni; since all of them cut Oei ninki, they are referred to as "Oei Nobukuni". It is not clear how many people used the same mei, but as expected of a prestigious lineage of Kyo smiths, excellent works are seen among the pieces by swordsmiths who took the name Nobukuni. The style of the first generation Nobukuni mainly consisted of two types: suguha showing the tradition of Kyo-mono and notareba inheriting the Sadamune style, but from the succeeding generations of Nobukuni at the end of the Nanbokucho period through to "Oei Nobukuni", a style of gunome-style midareba was newly added to the aforementioned styles. This work, even among o-mi-yari exceeding a hacho of 1 shaku, is an extremely rare piece carved with a ninki of Bunmei 13; its tsukurikomi, such as the pentagonal and long-extending kerakubi, the imposing sugata where the difference in width between the moto and saki is large and becomes wider toward the point, and the ordinary tension of the fukura, truly symbolizes the strength of the mid-Muromachi period. A sankoken horimono is applied to the kerakubi, and a wide hi with kadodome is placed on the hirachi, inside of which a ryu is carved with skillful technique; it can be called a masterpiece that conveys the breath of a master smith, possessing high artistry despite being a weapon. The jigane is itame-hada well-kneaded with chikei and flowing in masame, the hamon has a bright and clear nioiguchi, based on suguha with shallow notare and mixed with gunome, sunagashi appears everywhere along the habuchi, and within the ha, ever-changing hataraki emerge following the hada, drifting with the deep dignity unique to old yari. The boshi is sugu, returning in maru while accompanied by active sunagashi here as well, showing careful work down to the fine details. Furthermore, this yari appears to have actually run through many battlefields; the step at the machi around the kerakubi which has become low due to togiberi, the ryu-bori whose face and scales are disappearing due to wear, and the homare-kizu remaining as ha-kobore speak of its realistic history as a weapon to the present day. Although it is currently in furu-togi, by applying a high-quality polishing, the clarity of the ji-ha will stand out even more, and its true value as an o-mi-yari of the Bunmei era will surely manifest. It is a famous yari possessing both history and beauty, perfect as both practical historical material and as a sword for appreciation.
Offered by Toushin
Nobukuni is a name with Jūyō-designated work, and we couldn’t find current papers for this piece. Treat the name as unproven until papers say otherwise. Its older green papers are largely disavowed by the NBTHK today. — Hoshi Ask me first
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Yamashiro-den · Yamashiro · around 1469-1487
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku
Where Nobukuni 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.
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Yamashiro-den · Yamashiro
20 pieces on the market now
Few Kyoto houses bridged two traditions as deliberately as Nobukuni (信国), the Yamashiro-den lineage whose work runs from the Nanbokucho period through Muromachi and on, in a western branch, into the shinto age. The first generation, the smith the NBTHK counts as shodai, is the master of the Enbun, Koan and Joji years; the older registers placed a founding Nobukuni back in the Kenmu era, but the published sources set that legend aside, since no work survives so early and the style of the oldest dated blades connects directly with that of Sadamune. Two inheritances meet in him. By blood he belongs to the Ryokai line, recorded as son or grandson of Ryo Hisanobu and therefore of Rai descent; by training he is said to have studied under Soshu Sadamune, counted among the Sadamune Santetsu, the three brilliant pupils. The name then passed on: a change-of-generation Nobukuni with Eitoku, Shitoku and Meitoku dates stands at the close of Nanbokucho, and in early Muromachi come the so-called Oei Nobukuni, Saemon-no-jo and Shikibu-no-jo, conventionally the third generation. The published commentary keeps these hands apart and notes that several smiths of the same signature appear within the Nanbokucho period alone. Through Muromachi the line moved to Buzen and then Chikuzen, where it served the Kuroda house of Fukuoka as retained smiths and flourished as the Chikuzen Nobukuni group of Yoshisada, Yoshimasa, Yoshitsugu, Yoshikane and Shigekane. A single steel underlies the whole school. The jigane is an itame mixed with mokume that flows toward the ha and stands into masame, with thick ji-nie and chikei entering frequently; on the finer-forged pieces a streak-like nie-utsuri rises, and that masame-tinged surface is read as the visible token of the Ryokai pedigree.
Over it the temper divides into the manners the sources name together: a suguha expressing the Kyoto tradition, refined in ko-nie with fine hotsure and a niju-ba tendency, carried on tanto and ko-wakizashi; and a ko-notare mixed with gunome inheriting the Sadamune style, laid thick in nie, with kinsuji, sunagashi, hotsure and conspicuous yubashiri, on the most flamboyant pieces stringing into a two-tiered ha. From the late Nanbokucho succession into the Oei generation a third range enters, a gunome-led midare whose tell is paired gunome linked across the valleys by a low ko-notare into a yahazu, arrow-notch, profile, with muneyaki, tobiyaki and niju-ba on the liveliest blades. Above all stands the carving the sources call the house art, the horimono of bonji, kurikara, suken, gomabashi, sanko-ken and the invocation of Hachiman Daibosatsu, often layered one over another in kasanebori; few smiths of the age are so consistently identified by what they carved. The Chikuzen branch carried the masame-leaning itame forward and added a choji-midare with midare-utsuri, Yoshikane reaching toward Soshu-den with deep nioi and thick nie, Shigekane ranked highest in skill within his group and noted as a copyist of meibutsu who emulated Fudo Kuniyuki at the Hama Palace. To kantei Nobukuni is to read the Kyoto traces that part him from Sadamune: the nie-utsuri, the niju-ba, and the hada that drifts into masame along the ha. Within the long succession the shodai remains the touchstone, his dated work the standard against which unsigned blades and generation questions are resolved, the reversed left-form kuni marking the Oei Saemon-no-jo, the yahazu the daigawari hand. The best members rank Jo-jo saku under Fujishiro, and the carving reputation is the constant thread, distinguishing these blades from the plainer utilitarian grooving of contemporary Bizen. Provenance runs through the great houses: the Kuroda wakizashi once carried by Kuroda Nagamasa, a Hongan-ji meibutsu held to have been cherished by Rennyo Shonin, the signed Arao Nobukuni descended in the Asano of Geishu, pieces in the Sanada, Tosa Yamauchi and Tamura families, and a tachi bestowed on the Owari Tokugawa. Examples rest today in the Tokugawa Art Museum, the Kyoto National Museum, shrines such as Atsuta and Ise, and long-held private collections, with the Chikuzen smiths' shogunal-command pieces preserving the historical episodes that produced them. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Nobukuni信國 | 1356-1368 | 70 |
| Nobukuni信國 | 1383-1392 | 33 |
| Nobukuni信國 | 1394-1428 | 44 |
| Yoshikane吉包 | 1661-1686 | 6 |
| Masanobu正信 | 1356-1361 | 4 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
This work carries older NBTHK “Kichō”-era papers, which the NBTHK no longer issues and largely disavows today. To confirm the attribution, submission to an official Japanese examination body (such as the NBTHK or NTHK) for modern certification could be considered.
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¥660,000
Certificate reading — 銘 信國 文明十三年十二月日