NihontoWatchThis katana was made by Muneyoshi of Matsuyama in the late Edo period. The blade has a powerful sugata with a well-forged ko-itame hada and a wavy notare hamon with choji elements. It comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon certificate, a copper habaki, and a shirasaya.
Certificate reading — 銘 松山住宗吉造之 慶応二年八月日
NihontoWatchOffered by Toushin
Iyo · around 1868-1912
Tōken Taikan top 99%
4 pieces on the market now
Meiji: survival after the edict
The Haitōrei edict of 1876 ended sword wearing and nearly ended the craft itself. Military demand and imperial patronage kept a remnant alive, and in 1906 Gassan Sadakazu and Miyamoto Kanenori were named Artists to the Imperial Household.
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 siteReturns accepted within 3 days of delivery for defective items or significant discrepancies; customer bears return shipping and bank fees.
¥799,700