This is an O-suriage mumei Katana attributed to Unju, active during the Nanbokucho period. It features a deep curvature, well-forged ko-itame hada with visible utsuri, and a nioi-based straight hamon with active ko-ashi. The blade is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate and is ranked as Jyojyo Saku among Unju's works.
Certificate reading — 無銘（雲重）
NihontoWatchmumei · Ugame School · Nanbokucho · nagasa 70.8cm · sori 1.5cm
Bizen-den · Bizen
8 pieces on the market now
At Ukan-no-shō in Bizen Province, a place name later written Ukai, a small group of smiths worked from the close of the Kamakura period into the first decades of Nanbokuchō, every one of them setting the character Un, the cloud, at the head of his name; for that habit the published sources know them equally as the Ukai school and as the Unrui, the cloud group. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Unsho雲生 | 1303-1306 | 72 |
| Unji雲次 | 1315-1335 | 131 |
| Unju雲重 | 1352-1375 | 60 |
| Unsho雲生 | 1317-1319 | 0 |
| Morikage守景 | 1352-1356 | 0 |
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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
This is an O-suriage mumei Katana attributed to Unju, active during the Nanbokucho period. It features a deep curvature, well-forged ko-itame hada with visible utsuri, and a nioi-based straight hamon with active ko-ashi. The blade is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token certificate and is ranked as Jyojyo Saku among Unju's works.
Certificate reading — 無銘（雲重）
NihontoWatchmumei · Ugame School · Nanbokucho · nagasa 70.8cm · sori 1.5cm
Bizen-den · Bizen
8 pieces on the market now
At Ukan-no-shō in Bizen Province, a place name later written Ukai, a small group of smiths worked from the close of the Kamakura period into the first decades of Nanbokuchō, every one of them setting the character Un, the cloud, at the head of his name; for that habit the published sources know them equally as the Ukai school and as the Unrui, the cloud group. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Unsho雲生 | 1303-1306 | 72 |
| Unji雲次 | 1315-1335 | 131 |
| Unju雲重 | 1352-1375 | 60 |
| Unsho雲生 | 1317-1319 | 0 |
| Morikage守景 | 1352-1356 | 0 |
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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
