This is a magnificent katana by Onizuka Kuro Minamoto Katsukuni, a smith unrecorded in existing mei-kan, forged with soul at Hachiman-gu Shrine in Mito in 1860 when he was 29 years old. It features a wide body, thick kasane, and a powerful form with a pointed gunome hamon. The blade comes with a kin-mushikui-nuri saya hantachi koshirae, likely made by a Mito kinko artist, and has passed the 2024 Tokubetsu Hozon Token examination.
NihontoWatchmei · Shin-shinto · nagasa 71.9cm · sori 1.5cm
For two and a half centuries of peace the sword was the warrior’s legal badge rather than his weapon. Each great city developed its own manner, Edo’s tested strength against Ōsaka’s polished brilliance, until demand thinned in the era’s last decades.
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 siteDomestic: items may be returned within 7 days in original condition for a full refund (buyer covers transport). Overseas orders: no-refunds, no-returns.
This is a magnificent katana by Onizuka Kuro Minamoto Katsukuni, a smith unrecorded in existing mei-kan, forged with soul at Hachiman-gu Shrine in Mito in 1860 when he was 29 years old. It features a wide body, thick kasane, and a powerful form with a pointed gunome hamon. The blade comes with a kin-mushikui-nuri saya hantachi koshirae, likely made by a Mito kinko artist, and has passed the 2024 Tokubetsu Hozon Token examination.
NihontoWatchmei · Shin-shinto · nagasa 71.9cm · sori 1.5cm
For two and a half centuries of peace the sword was the warrior’s legal badge rather than his weapon. Each great city developed its own manner, Edo’s tested strength against Ōsaka’s polished brilliance, until demand thinned in the era’s last decades.
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 siteDomestic: items may be returned within 7 days in original condition for a full refund (buyer covers transport). Overseas orders: no-refunds, no-returns.