Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
This is a wakizashi made by Omi no Kami Fujiwara Tsuguhiro in Echizen province during the Shinto period. The blade features a small ko-itame hada with masame in the shinogiji and yakiba, and a bright nioiguchi with large ara-nie and sunagashi. It comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon certificate and a shirasaya.
Certificate reading — 銘 近江守藤原継広 越前住
NihontoWatchmei · Shinto · nagasa 53.62cm · sori 1.34cm
Echizen · around 1661-1673
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 60%
5 pieces on the market now
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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.
This is a wakizashi made by Omi no Kami Fujiwara Tsuguhiro in Echizen province during the Shinto period. The blade features a small ko-itame hada with masame in the shinogiji and yakiba, and a bright nioiguchi with large ara-nie and sunagashi. It comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon certificate and a shirasaya.
Certificate reading — 銘 近江守藤原継広 越前住
NihontoWatchmei · Shinto · nagasa 53.62cm · sori 1.34cm
Echizen · around 1661-1673
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 60%
5 pieces on the market now
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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.
