It’s here, it’s here! Famous from Touken Ranbu, this is a sword by the Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Masakuni. Oyama Samanosuke, also known as Dotanuki Kozuke-no-suke, originally signed with the *mei* Kunikatsu, but after being granted the character "Masa" (正) by Kato Kiyomasa, he changed his name to Masakuni, and later to Dotanuki Kozuke-no-suke. This sword is an extremely famous *meito* from ancient times as a work by Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Fujiwara Masakuni, who received the character from Kato Kiyomasa. Unfortunately, almost no swords with the *mei* of Dotanuki Masakuni exist today, making this sword a historically and documentarily precious *meito*. This sword was made around the Tensho era at the end of the Muromachi period (1588, 438 years ago), exactly around the time the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu fought Takeda Katsuyori at Nagashino. The *sugata* shows a magnificent late Muromachi style with little difference between the *moto-mihaba* and *saki-mihaba*, and an extended *kissaki*. The *jigane* is *itame-hada* mixed with *masame-hada*, displaying a large *o-hada* that can be called a textbook specimen of Dotanuki, forged into a *jigane* that feels very antique. The *hamon* is a *nie*-laden *notare-midare*, actively mixed with *kinsuji* and *sunagashi* within the blade, and is admired for its extreme sharpness. It is truly a masterpiece famous as a *wazamono*. The popularity of this Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Masakuni skyrocketed due to Kinnosuke Yorozuya’s famous "Kozure Okami" (Lone Wolf and Cub), and it is well known as the sword that became the most expensive in the post-war era. Even in Touken Ranbu, the popularity of this Masakuni is soaring and remains ultra-popular. We must be grateful just for the fact that it comes with a *koshirae* featuring a *kuro-ro* (black lacquer) *saya*. This time, we received this Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Fujiwara Masakuni from an old family who has cherished it for generations. As they have grown old, they asked us to pass it on at a low price to someone who will treasure it. Therefore, we are offering this wonderfully rare and precious *meito* by Dotanuki Masakuni at an ultra-low price. Please enjoy it.
NihontoWatchMuromachi · nagasa 69.8cm · sori 1.9cm
Bizen-den · Higo · around 1573-1592
1 piece on the market now
Where Masakuni 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Bizen-den · Higo
16 pieces on the market now
The Dōtanuki (同田貫) line took shape in Kikuchi District of Higo Province toward the close of the Muromachi period and carried its activity forward into the shintō era, spanning the Momoyama transition into early Edo. The setsumei of the group's own blades name several of its hands: Ueno no Suke, whose dated work runs from Tenshō through Keichō and who is therefore described as a maker active across the divide between old and new traditions; Fujiwara Masakuni, treated as a leading smith of the school; Masahiro, whose naginata the register notes is absent from the meikan and so supplements that omission; and Matahachi. The accounts further list Samanosuke, Hyōbu, Matahachizaemon, and Kunikatsu among the line's signing smiths. The group is repeatedly framed as a representative Kyūshū lineage of the period, working in the domain that would become the ground of Higo's later military culture. The shared vocabulary of the setsumei is plain and consistent. The sugata is described as sturdy and uncompromising, bukotsu, with wide mihaba, thick kasane, and ample hiraniku, and little difference between base and tip width; on swords the sakizori can be pronounced and the chū-kissaki extended, while the spears and large naginata show flaring, full heads. The kitae is itame, often with nagare and mokume mixed in and a tendency toward hada-dachi, with ji-nie adhering and chikei at times visible.
The hamon moves between two registers: a notare base mixed with ko-gunome, ko-chōji, and ko-togariba, and a quieter suguha with ko-ashi and yō; across both the nioiguchi tends to be tight, nie gathers densely, and sunagashi, kinsuji, tobiyaki, and muneyaki recur. The hand is recognized by this combination of robust unrefined build and a midareba whose tight nioiguchi and clustered nie read as rustic rather than ornamental. The register notes a shizumi-gokoro, a subdued tendency in both ji and ha, that lends a restrained austerity. " The setsumei return again and again to cutting power: the sharpness of these blades is highly praised, and they are recorded as practical weapons carried into use. Provenance survives in mounted form, including a naginata by Masakuni accompanied by a black lacquer mounting with gold maki-e judged contemporary with the blade, and a Matahachi naginata with its black-lacquered pole mounting. Within the line, individual works are singled out as superior examples that convey the school's character, the Ueno no Suke katana of Keichō 16 being read as exceptionally fine among its peers. The register places Dōtanuki as a Higo lineage whose unadorned strength and cutting reputation hold a recognized standing in the shintō-period record. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kozukenosuke上野介 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Muneharu宗春 | 1865-1868 | 0 |
| Kunikatsu國勝 | 1558-1570 | 0 |
| Kagemasa景和 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Matahachi又八 | 1573-1592 | 1 |
Muromachi Osafune was an export industry: the Ming tally trade carried some 128,000 Japanese blades abroad, and Sengoku armies bought at home. Custom orders, often inscribed with the patron’s own name, were forged beside the bundle swords of the ranks.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
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 siteFor returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. For returns due to our mis-shipment or a defective item, we bear the cost.
It’s here, it’s here! Famous from Touken Ranbu, this is a sword by the Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Masakuni. Oyama Samanosuke, also known as Dotanuki Kozuke-no-suke, originally signed with the *mei* Kunikatsu, but after being granted the character "Masa" (正) by Kato Kiyomasa, he changed his name to Masakuni, and later to Dotanuki Kozuke-no-suke. This sword is an extremely famous *meito* from ancient times as a work by Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Fujiwara Masakuni, who received the character from Kato Kiyomasa. Unfortunately, almost no swords with the *mei* of Dotanuki Masakuni exist today, making this sword a historically and documentarily precious *meito*. This sword was made around the Tensho era at the end of the Muromachi period (1588, 438 years ago), exactly around the time the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu fought Takeda Katsuyori at Nagashino. The *sugata* shows a magnificent late Muromachi style with little difference between the *moto-mihaba* and *saki-mihaba*, and an extended *kissaki*. The *jigane* is *itame-hada* mixed with *masame-hada*, displaying a large *o-hada* that can be called a textbook specimen of Dotanuki, forged into a *jigane* that feels very antique. The *hamon* is a *nie*-laden *notare-midare*, actively mixed with *kinsuji* and *sunagashi* within the blade, and is admired for its extreme sharpness. It is truly a masterpiece famous as a *wazamono*. The popularity of this Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Masakuni skyrocketed due to Kinnosuke Yorozuya’s famous "Kozure Okami" (Lone Wolf and Cub), and it is well known as the sword that became the most expensive in the post-war era. Even in Touken Ranbu, the popularity of this Masakuni is soaring and remains ultra-popular. We must be grateful just for the fact that it comes with a *koshirae* featuring a *kuro-ro* (black lacquer) *saya*. This time, we received this Kyushu Higo Dotanuki Fujiwara Masakuni from an old family who has cherished it for generations. As they have grown old, they asked us to pass it on at a low price to someone who will treasure it. Therefore, we are offering this wonderfully rare and precious *meito* by Dotanuki Masakuni at an ultra-low price. Please enjoy it.
NihontoWatchMuromachi · nagasa 69.8cm · sori 1.9cm
Bizen-den · Higo · around 1573-1592
1 piece on the market now
Where Masakuni 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Bizen-den · Higo
16 pieces on the market now
The Dōtanuki (同田貫) line took shape in Kikuchi District of Higo Province toward the close of the Muromachi period and carried its activity forward into the shintō era, spanning the Momoyama transition into early Edo. The setsumei of the group's own blades name several of its hands: Ueno no Suke, whose dated work runs from Tenshō through Keichō and who is therefore described as a maker active across the divide between old and new traditions; Fujiwara Masakuni, treated as a leading smith of the school; Masahiro, whose naginata the register notes is absent from the meikan and so supplements that omission; and Matahachi. The accounts further list Samanosuke, Hyōbu, Matahachizaemon, and Kunikatsu among the line's signing smiths. The group is repeatedly framed as a representative Kyūshū lineage of the period, working in the domain that would become the ground of Higo's later military culture. The shared vocabulary of the setsumei is plain and consistent. The sugata is described as sturdy and uncompromising, bukotsu, with wide mihaba, thick kasane, and ample hiraniku, and little difference between base and tip width; on swords the sakizori can be pronounced and the chū-kissaki extended, while the spears and large naginata show flaring, full heads. The kitae is itame, often with nagare and mokume mixed in and a tendency toward hada-dachi, with ji-nie adhering and chikei at times visible.
The hamon moves between two registers: a notare base mixed with ko-gunome, ko-chōji, and ko-togariba, and a quieter suguha with ko-ashi and yō; across both the nioiguchi tends to be tight, nie gathers densely, and sunagashi, kinsuji, tobiyaki, and muneyaki recur. The hand is recognized by this combination of robust unrefined build and a midareba whose tight nioiguchi and clustered nie read as rustic rather than ornamental. The register notes a shizumi-gokoro, a subdued tendency in both ji and ha, that lends a restrained austerity. " The setsumei return again and again to cutting power: the sharpness of these blades is highly praised, and they are recorded as practical weapons carried into use. Provenance survives in mounted form, including a naginata by Masakuni accompanied by a black lacquer mounting with gold maki-e judged contemporary with the blade, and a Matahachi naginata with its black-lacquered pole mounting. Within the line, individual works are singled out as superior examples that convey the school's character, the Ueno no Suke katana of Keichō 16 being read as exceptionally fine among its peers. The register places Dōtanuki as a Higo lineage whose unadorned strength and cutting reputation hold a recognized standing in the shintō-period record. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kozukenosuke上野介 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Muneharu宗春 | 1865-1868 | 0 |
| Kunikatsu國勝 | 1558-1570 | 0 |
| Kagemasa景和 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Matahachi又八 | 1573-1592 | 1 |
Muromachi Osafune was an export industry: the Ming tally trade carried some 128,000 Japanese blades abroad, and Sengoku armies bought at home. Custom orders, often inscribed with the patron’s own name, were forged beside the bundle swords of the ranks.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
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 siteFor returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. For returns due to our mis-shipment or a defective item, we bear the cost.
