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Description

This is a katana by Tango no Kami Kanemichi, designated as a 45th Juyo Token. The blade features a toran-style gunome-midare hamon with deep nioi and abundant ko-nie, showing long ashi and active hataraki. The jihada is a finely packed ko-itame with mokume, displaying thick ji-nie and faint utsuri.

NBTHK Setsumei

Jūyō-Tōken, 45th Session — Designated October 29, 1999 Katana, mei: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (丹後守兼道) Measurements Nagasa 76.05 cm, sori 2.05 cm, motohaba 3.15 cm, sakihaba 2.25 cm, kissaki-nagasa 3.8 cm, nakago-nagasa 22.6 cm, nakago-sori slight Description Keijō: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune; wide mihaba and slightly long in overall proportion; noticeable taper from base to tip; comparatively wide shinogi-haba for the blade width; thick kasane; with a sense of funbari; deep curvature with sakizori; chū-kissaki with a tendency toward kissaki-nobi. Kitae: Tight ko-itame-hada with mokume mixed; fine ji-nie (surface martensite) adheres; fine chikei (dark steel lines) appear. Hamon: Suguha yakidashi; above that, in a rather wide tempering width, a small ko-notare is interposed, and alternating groups of paired gunome and triple gunome are repeated to form a tōran (rolling-wave) style; ashi enter long and well; the nioi is deep, and ko-nie attaches thickly; overall, fine sunagashi (sweeping lines) runs throughout, and on the omote around the middle portion a long kinsuji (lightning-like line) appears; the nioiguchi is bright. Bōshi: Tempered rather deeply, running straight and turning back in ko-maru with a long return; the tip shows slight hakikake (brushed effect). Horimono: None. Nakago: Ubu; tip iriyama-gata; sujikai filemarks with keshō finish; two mekugi-ana; beneath the omote mekugi-ana, toward the mune side, there is a boldly cut five-character signature. Artisan Nidai Tango no Kami Kanemichi (二代 丹後守兼道) Era Edo period, around the Jōkyō–Genroku era (late 17th century) Explanation The second-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi was the son of the first-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi, and his common name is said to have been Kiheiji. Tradition holds that during the Genroku era he also made swords in Edo. Dated works by the second generation are few among those extant; however, examples occasionally encountered bear dates from Genroku and Hōei, which allows one to broadly discern his period of activity. The father, the first-generation Kanemichi, is commonly said to have been the second son of Kyō nidai Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and he styled himself Sanpin Kichibee. Dated works by the first generation are likewise extremely rare, with only a very small number bearing Kanbun dates. Many works by the first generation have a chrysanthemum crest and the character “ichi” cut in below the habaki; this is not seen in the second generation’s work. In addition, their styles differ: whereas the first generation frequently produced sudare-ba (“bamboo-blind” hamon) and gunome mixed with a chōji-like flavor—techniques that may be called his hallmark—the second generation took a different approach, producing (in styles not seen in the first generation) suguha-toned works with deep nioi, as well as flamboyant tōran-style gunome-midare like the present example, reflecting the vogue of Ōsaka shintō of the time. This katana is a work by the second generation. It shows a tightly forged ko-itame with the yakidashi at the base in suguha; above that, in a rather broad tempering width, a small ko-notare is inserted, and paired and triple gunome are alternated in repeated sequence, creating a rolling-wave effect. The ashi are long and enter well; the nioi is deep; thick ko-nie adheres; fine sunagashi runs overall; long kinsuji appears; and the nioiguchi is bright—together presenting a notably accomplished workmanship. As described above, a major hallmark of this smith’s tōran style lies in beginning with suguha yakidashi, then alternating paired and triple gunome (with small ko-notare interposed) and repeating this blade pattern; this sword displays precisely that style and is a textbook example, and moreover shows an especially outstanding result among his works. In addition, the blade presents a shape with wide mihaba, deep curvature, and an elongated kissaki. This type of taihai is frequently seen in the work of smiths around the Jōkyō and Genroku eras, and thus the sugata itself displays contemporaneous features. Further, the slightly long length together with a thick kasane gives an imposing, powerfully forceful impression.

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Swords›Mishina›Kanemichi›Katana: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (45th Juyo Token)
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Mishina Kanemichi

Katana: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (45th Juyo Token)

mei · Tenna (1681-1684) · nagasa 76.05cm

¥6,800,000
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Measurements & details
Smith
Mishina Kanemichi
Type
Katana
School
Mishina
Period
Around 1681–1704(Tenna)
Signature
Signed(100% of this smith's designated works are signed)
Measurements
Nagasa 76.05cm
Description

This is a katana by Tango no Kami Kanemichi, designated as a 45th Juyo Token. The blade features a toran-style gunome-midare hamon with deep nioi and abundant ko-nie, showing long ashi and active hataraki. The jihada is a finely packed ko-itame with mokume, displaying thick ji-nie and faint utsuri.

NBTHK Zufu Commentary

Juyo #45

AI translation — may contain errors

-, 45th Session — Designated October 29, 1999

, : Tango no Kami Kanemichi (丹後守兼道)

Measurements 76.05 cm, 2.05 cm, 3.15 cm, 2.25 cm, 3.8 cm, 22.6 cm, slight

Description Keijō: , ; wide and slightly long in overall proportion; noticeable taper from base to tip; comparatively wide for the blade width; thick ; with a sense of ; deep curvature with ; with a tendency toward -nobi. : Tight with mixed; fine (surface martensite) adheres; fine (dark steel lines) appear. : ; above that, in a rather wide tempering width, a small is interposed, and alternating groups of paired and triple are repeated to form a tōran (rolling-wave) style; enter long and well; the is deep, and attaches thickly; overall, fine (sweeping lines) runs throughout, and on the around the middle portion a long (lightning-like line) appears; the is bright. : Tempered rather deeply, running straight and turning back in with a long return; the tip shows slight (brushed effect). : None. : ; tip ; filemarks with finish; two ; beneath the , toward the side, there is a boldly cut five-character signature.

Artisan Nidai Tango no Kami Kanemichi (二代 丹後守兼道)

Era period, around the Jōkyō–Genroku era (late 17th century)

Explanation The second-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi was the son of the first-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi, and his common name is said to have been Kiheiji. Tradition holds that during the Genroku era he also made swords in . Dated works by the second generation are few among those extant; however, examples occasionally encountered bear dates from Genroku and Hōei, which allows one to broadly discern his period of activity.

The father, the first-generation Kanemichi, is commonly said to have been the second son of Kyō nidai Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and he styled himself Kichibee. Dated works by the first generation are likewise extremely rare, with only a very small number bearing dates. Many works by the first generation have a chrysanthemum crest and the character “” cut in below the ; this is not seen in the second generation’s work. In addition, their styles differ: whereas the first generation frequently produced (“bamboo-blind” ) and mixed with a -like flavor—techniques that may be called his hallmark—the second generation took a different approach, producing (in styles not seen in the first generation) -toned works with deep , as well as flamboyant tōran-style like the present example, reflecting the vogue of Ōsaka of the time.

This is a work by the second generation. It shows a tightly forged with the at the base in ; above that, in a rather broad tempering width, a small is inserted, and paired and triple are alternated in repeated sequence, creating a rolling-wave effect. The are long and enter well; the is deep; thick adheres; fine runs overall; long appears; and the is bright—together presenting a notably accomplished workmanship. As described above, a major hallmark of this smith’s tōran style lies in beginning with , then alternating paired and triple (with small interposed) and repeating this blade pattern; this sword displays precisely that style and is a textbook example, and moreover shows an especially outstanding result among his works.

In addition, the blade presents a shape with wide , deep curvature, and an elongated . This type of is frequently seen in the work of smiths around the Jōkyō and Genroku eras, and thus the itself displays contemporaneous features. Further, the slightly long length together with a thick gives an imposing, powerfully forceful impression.

About the maker

Kanemichi

兼道

Mishina school, Osaka (Tango-no-kami Kanemichi line, second generation) · Settsu · around 1681-1704

Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%

3 pieces on the market now

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A katana in the forty-first Jūyō session carries the date Genroku 14, the year 1701[[c:1]], cut on the reverse of the nakago beneath a bold five-character signature, Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, and it is one of the very few year-dated blades by which his active span can be fixed at all. This is the second-generation Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, called Kiheiji, who worked at Ōsaka about the Genroku and Hōei years and is recorded as having forged in Edo as well. The published sources transmit him as the son of the first Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, in the received account the second son of the Kyōto second-generation Tanba-no-kami Yoshimichi, and so a branch of the Mishina school that Kanemichi the Mino-Seki smith carried into Kyōto. The first Tango-no-kami, named Mishina Kihei and signing at first as Naomichi, settled in Ōsaka and was known for the sudare-ba and the chōji-tinged gunome that were the family specialty. His son took a deliberately different course, and that divergence is the spine of his identity on the blade.

Where the first generation tempered the sudare-ba and the chōji-laden gunome that the published sources call the house specialty, the second cast off the chōji and turned to a flamboyant tōran-style large gunome that mirrors the Ōsaka shintō fashion of his day. His most particular tell is constructive rather than decorative. Across the upper and lower halves of the ha he forges gunome in alternating linked sequences, two joined and then three joined, repeating one against the other so that the tōran gathers its variety from the pattern itself. Of one such blade the published sources write that 「互の目の二つ連れた刃と三つ連れた刃とが相互に交じる点に大きな特色が見られる」[[c:2]], that the great distinguishing feature lies precisely in this mutual mixing of two-joined and three-joined gunome, and of his matched daishō, on which the long and short blades reverse the order of the joined groups, that the variation shows 「彼の工夫の跡」, the trace of his own contrivance. Ashi enter thickly into this temper, the nioi runs deep, the nie lies thick and at times coarse, sunagashi and kinsuji play through it, tobiyaki appear with the mune tempered, and the nioiguchi stays bright.

The jigane beneath this showy temper is quiet and clean, the true Ōsaka steel. He forges a tightly gathered ko-itame in which the ji-nie settles dust-fine and chikei enter finely, the surface closing rather than standing, a jigane that distinguishes the second generation from the more standing itame of the older Mino-rooted Mishina work. Over it the temper opens always from a straight yakidashi at the machi, the Ōsaka shintō base from which both his manners rise, before it widens into the tōran. The bōshi answers the ha: it comes to a ko-maru, returns rather deeply, and brushes into hakikake, with a faint pointed tendency on the wider blades. The horimono, where present, are a plain bōhi run to a rounded finish with an accompanying soebi. The sugata is heavy and forceful in the Genroku taste, wide in the mihaba, thick in the kasane, with a sense of funbari, the curve deep and the kissaki extended, a build the published sources note recurs among smiths of the Jōkyō and Genroku years.

The published sources draw his work into two registers. The principal one is the tōran-style large gunome just described, the manner in which they find this smith's distinctive hand and which they tie directly to the contemporary Ōsaka taste. The second is quieter and, they are careful to note, one the first generation did not leave: a deep-nioi suguha. Here the straight yakidashi opens into a broadly tempered suguha base, shallowly notare, ashi entering vigorously, the nioi deep, the nie thick with some coarse grains, the upper half showing a two-stepped futasuji-fu effect, kinsuji and sunagashi running well. Of a blade in this register the published sources write that it 「真改風の作柄をあらわしている」[[c:3]], that it shows a workmanship in the manner of Shinkai, and the comparison is exact: it is the deep-nioi, thickly nie-laden straight temper of Inoue Shinkai, the great Ōsaka master, that this calmer face most nearly approaches. The two registers are not a chronology but a range, the same Ōsaka hand stated once as spectacle and once as restraint.

What places him is the careful distinction the published sources draw between the two generations, a distinction that is itself the kantei. The first Tango-no-kami cut a chrysanthemum crest and the character ichi below the machi on much of his work and leaned to the family sudare-ba and chōji-tinged gunome; the second carries neither crest nor character and turns instead to the deep-nioi suguha and the tōran-style large gunome that reflect the fashion of his time. His distinction is therefore best drawn by his own grounded traits rather than by his father's: the alternating joined-gunome tōran, the bright deep-nioi temper read as Shinkai's, the clean dust-fine ko-itame and the straight Ōsaka yakidashi set him apart within the Mishina line and within his own family, and of his large-gunome work the published sources say plainly that 「この工の特徴」, this smith's characteristic, is to be read in the very shape of those linked gunome. He stands as a competent and individual second generation, faithful to the Ōsaka idiom of his day while working a constructive variation that is recognizably his own.

Kanemichi is rated Chū-jō saku in the Fujishiro ranking, and seven of his blades hold the rank of Jūyō-Tōken, all of them signed, with no National Treasure or Important Cultural Property among them; his is the record of a sound and individual Ōsaka shintō master rather than a great national name. The body that survives in this designated tier is small and almost wholly signed, which for a shintō smith is itself a documentary virtue, the name fixed rather than appraised. One of his katana descends from the Aoyama house, the wardens of Ōsaka castle, and the published sources, calling it 「大坂城代青山家伝来の一口」[[c:4]], note that long blades of just this kind are repeatedly met among that house's old swords and were likely forged to its order, a thread of daimyō provenance that ties his work to the city he served. A matched daishō of his also survives, the published sources calling such a pair from the second generation extremely rare and of documentary value. For a collector his work sits among the more attainable of the Ōsaka shintō masters: most of his designated blades rest in the Jūyō tier rather than locked away as patrimony, and a signed, dated example such as the Genroku 14 katana, which fixes both the hand and the year, is the rarer and more desirable encounter, coming to light from time to time and rewarding patience.

Historical importance

Where Kanemichi 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.

随一
Foremost
屈指
Leading
有数
Major
著名
Notable

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Designation record
5 designated works
Jūyō
5
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Kanemichi — full profileMishina school, Osaka (Tango-no-kami Kanemichi line, second generation) school

Dated Works

Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades

Active period
1701Editorial estimate: 1681–1704
1 of 5 designated works carry a date

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About the school

Mishina

三品

Shinto · Yamashiro

75 pieces on the market now

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The Mishina school (三品), one of the two dominant smithing groups of early Edo Kyoto beside the Horikawa, grew from the late-Mino workshop of Kanemichi of Seki, whose dated blades run through the Tenbun, Eiroku, and Tenshō eras. During the closing decades of the sixteenth century Kanemichi came up to the capital with his four sons and settled at Nishinotōin Ebisugawa, where the eldest, Iga no Kami Kinmichi, is recorded as having greatly raised the name of the line. The brothers, Kinmichi together with Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi, Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and Etchū no Kami Masatoshi, became known collectively as the Sanpin (三品) makers, and the published sources count Kinmichi head of the Kyō go-kaji, the five Kyoto smiths. From the second generation the house held a hereditary right to recommend smiths to the court for their titles and added that by-line to its signatures. The name continued under the same appellation to the end of the Tokugawa period, throwing off branches that included the Tango no Kami line working at Ōsaka into the Genroku years, though the published record consistently holds the founding generation the most outstanding of the line. Beneath every branch lies a shared vocabulary carried up from Mino-Seki. The jigane is the constant: an itame mixed with mokume that flows into nagare-hada and tends toward masame near the mune, the grain standing, with thick fine ji-nie and frequent chikei. Over it the Mino-derived gunome and togariba are refined toward a Kyoto manner, the nie strong and at times coarse, gathering unevenly, kinsuji and vigorous striped sunagashi running throughout. Two tells bind the house. The first is the Mishina bōshi, a notare or midare run-in pointed at the tip and swept with vigorous hakikake, the form Masatoshi shows at its clearest, described as if drawn from a picture. The second is sudareba, the bamboo-blind temper in which layered sunagashi and yubashiri stripe into parallel bands; Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi devised it, and the first-generation hand keeps it a free, semi-cursive disorder where his heirs would regularize it into a fixed lattice.

The lines diverge from that common ground. Kinmichi and his younger brother Masatoshi both excelled in a Shizu manner, the large midare of Mino grafted onto Sōshū nie, with Masatoshi the most versatile, ranging across Shizu, Mino sanbon-sugi, Yamato suguha, and Sōshū hitatsura. The later Ōsaka Tanba branch held to the sudareba alone, opening from a straight yakidashi, while the second Tango no Kami Kanemichi cast off the family chōji for a flamboyant tōran-style large gunome in alternating two-joined and three-joined groups, and a deep-nioi suguha read in the manner of Inoue Shinkai. To kantei Mishina is to read these two house marks first. The pointed, hakikake-swept bōshi and the striped sudareba, set over a standing itame that flows to masame, place a blade within the line before any signature is weighed; the sunagashi, far heavier than on a Bizen ji, is the very material from which the temper is built. Within the house the founding generation sets the standard. Fujishiro grades Kinmichi and Masatoshi Jō-jō saku, the Ōsaka Tanba shodai Jō-saku, and the second Tango no Kami Chū-jō saku, the sources judging the later Kyoto and Ōsaka generations markedly inferior to the founders as the manner thinned toward a single uniform pattern. Provenance on record runs through samurai and collector hands rather than great museums: a Kinmichi katana among the cherished swords of Tani Tateki, a Yoshimichi katana made for Naitō Kuroemon and another now in the Kyoto National Museum, Masatoshi blades passing through Oda Urakusai and the Imperial household, and a second Tango no Kami katana descending from the Aoyama wardens of Ōsaka castle. The brothers' blades are signed and knowable, dated examples rare, so the manner of the mei joins the workmanship in placing them; for the Ōsaka and Kyoto branches the cut of the character 守 separates one hand from the next. Most designated work is held rather than traded, so a signed founding-generation Mishina blade comes to light only from time to time, and with it the temper in which one of the most recognizable hamon of the Shintō era was first being worked out. Learn more →

14 recorded smiths118 designated works
Leading smiths
SmithEraDesignated
Kinmichi金道1596-161523
Yoshimichi吉道1596-161536
Masatoshi正俊1596-161531
Kanemichi兼道1681-17045
Yoshimichi吉道1661-16736
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Historical context

Kyōto: the revival workshop

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The Shintō era was largely invented in Kyōto: Umetada Myōju’s workshop trained the movement, Horikawa Kunihiro raised a generation, and the Hon’ami appraisers, who held no forge, governed the meaning of famous blades.

Kyōto: the revival workshop →

NBTHK Certificate
Jūyō Tōken重要刀剣
Important Sword
›

A blade of top-grade workmanship and condition, formally judged to rank with a nationally recognized Important Art Object (Jūyō Bijutsuhin). Awarded only at the NBTHK’s competitive annual examination.

Of Japan’s roughly 2.5 million registered swords, only 12,307 (about 1 in 203) have ever attained Jūyō.

Signed: 丹後守兼道 (Mishina Kanemichi)
As written on the certificate
About the NBTHK›

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.

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¥6,800,000

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Description

This is a katana by Tango no Kami Kanemichi, designated as a 45th Juyo Token. The blade features a toran-style gunome-midare hamon with deep nioi and abundant ko-nie, showing long ashi and active hataraki. The jihada is a finely packed ko-itame with mokume, displaying thick ji-nie and faint utsuri.

NBTHK Setsumei

Jūyō-Tōken, 45th Session — Designated October 29, 1999 Katana, mei: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (丹後守兼道) Measurements Nagasa 76.05 cm, sori 2.05 cm, motohaba 3.15 cm, sakihaba 2.25 cm, kissaki-nagasa 3.8 cm, nakago-nagasa 22.6 cm, nakago-sori slight Description Keijō: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune; wide mihaba and slightly long in overall proportion; noticeable taper from base to tip; comparatively wide shinogi-haba for the blade width; thick kasane; with a sense of funbari; deep curvature with sakizori; chū-kissaki with a tendency toward kissaki-nobi. Kitae: Tight ko-itame-hada with mokume mixed; fine ji-nie (surface martensite) adheres; fine chikei (dark steel lines) appear. Hamon: Suguha yakidashi; above that, in a rather wide tempering width, a small ko-notare is interposed, and alternating groups of paired gunome and triple gunome are repeated to form a tōran (rolling-wave) style; ashi enter long and well; the nioi is deep, and ko-nie attaches thickly; overall, fine sunagashi (sweeping lines) runs throughout, and on the omote around the middle portion a long kinsuji (lightning-like line) appears; the nioiguchi is bright. Bōshi: Tempered rather deeply, running straight and turning back in ko-maru with a long return; the tip shows slight hakikake (brushed effect). Horimono: None. Nakago: Ubu; tip iriyama-gata; sujikai filemarks with keshō finish; two mekugi-ana; beneath the omote mekugi-ana, toward the mune side, there is a boldly cut five-character signature. Artisan Nidai Tango no Kami Kanemichi (二代 丹後守兼道) Era Edo period, around the Jōkyō–Genroku era (late 17th century) Explanation The second-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi was the son of the first-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi, and his common name is said to have been Kiheiji. Tradition holds that during the Genroku era he also made swords in Edo. Dated works by the second generation are few among those extant; however, examples occasionally encountered bear dates from Genroku and Hōei, which allows one to broadly discern his period of activity. The father, the first-generation Kanemichi, is commonly said to have been the second son of Kyō nidai Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and he styled himself Sanpin Kichibee. Dated works by the first generation are likewise extremely rare, with only a very small number bearing Kanbun dates. Many works by the first generation have a chrysanthemum crest and the character “ichi” cut in below the habaki; this is not seen in the second generation’s work. In addition, their styles differ: whereas the first generation frequently produced sudare-ba (“bamboo-blind” hamon) and gunome mixed with a chōji-like flavor—techniques that may be called his hallmark—the second generation took a different approach, producing (in styles not seen in the first generation) suguha-toned works with deep nioi, as well as flamboyant tōran-style gunome-midare like the present example, reflecting the vogue of Ōsaka shintō of the time. This katana is a work by the second generation. It shows a tightly forged ko-itame with the yakidashi at the base in suguha; above that, in a rather broad tempering width, a small ko-notare is inserted, and paired and triple gunome are alternated in repeated sequence, creating a rolling-wave effect. The ashi are long and enter well; the nioi is deep; thick ko-nie adheres; fine sunagashi runs overall; long kinsuji appears; and the nioiguchi is bright—together presenting a notably accomplished workmanship. As described above, a major hallmark of this smith’s tōran style lies in beginning with suguha yakidashi, then alternating paired and triple gunome (with small ko-notare interposed) and repeating this blade pattern; this sword displays precisely that style and is a textbook example, and moreover shows an especially outstanding result among his works. In addition, the blade presents a shape with wide mihaba, deep curvature, and an elongated kissaki. This type of taihai is frequently seen in the work of smiths around the Jōkyō and Genroku eras, and thus the sugata itself displays contemporaneous features. Further, the slightly long length together with a thick kasane gives an imposing, powerfully forceful impression.

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Swords›Mishina›Kanemichi›Katana: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (45th Juyo Token)
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Mishina Kanemichi

Katana: Tango no Kami Kanemichi (45th Juyo Token)

mei · Tenna (1681-1684) · nagasa 76.05cm

¥6,800,000
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Measurements & details
Smith
Mishina Kanemichi
Type
Katana
School
Mishina
Period
Around 1681–1704(Tenna)
Signature
Signed(100% of this smith's designated works are signed)
Measurements
Nagasa 76.05cm
Description

This is a katana by Tango no Kami Kanemichi, designated as a 45th Juyo Token. The blade features a toran-style gunome-midare hamon with deep nioi and abundant ko-nie, showing long ashi and active hataraki. The jihada is a finely packed ko-itame with mokume, displaying thick ji-nie and faint utsuri.

NBTHK Zufu Commentary

Juyo #45

AI translation — may contain errors

-, 45th Session — Designated October 29, 1999

, : Tango no Kami Kanemichi (丹後守兼道)

Measurements 76.05 cm, 2.05 cm, 3.15 cm, 2.25 cm, 3.8 cm, 22.6 cm, slight

Description Keijō: , ; wide and slightly long in overall proportion; noticeable taper from base to tip; comparatively wide for the blade width; thick ; with a sense of ; deep curvature with ; with a tendency toward -nobi. : Tight with mixed; fine (surface martensite) adheres; fine (dark steel lines) appear. : ; above that, in a rather wide tempering width, a small is interposed, and alternating groups of paired and triple are repeated to form a tōran (rolling-wave) style; enter long and well; the is deep, and attaches thickly; overall, fine (sweeping lines) runs throughout, and on the around the middle portion a long (lightning-like line) appears; the is bright. : Tempered rather deeply, running straight and turning back in with a long return; the tip shows slight (brushed effect). : None. : ; tip ; filemarks with finish; two ; beneath the , toward the side, there is a boldly cut five-character signature.

Artisan Nidai Tango no Kami Kanemichi (二代 丹後守兼道)

Era period, around the Jōkyō–Genroku era (late 17th century)

Explanation The second-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi was the son of the first-generation Tango no Kami Kanemichi, and his common name is said to have been Kiheiji. Tradition holds that during the Genroku era he also made swords in . Dated works by the second generation are few among those extant; however, examples occasionally encountered bear dates from Genroku and Hōei, which allows one to broadly discern his period of activity.

The father, the first-generation Kanemichi, is commonly said to have been the second son of Kyō nidai Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and he styled himself Kichibee. Dated works by the first generation are likewise extremely rare, with only a very small number bearing dates. Many works by the first generation have a chrysanthemum crest and the character “” cut in below the ; this is not seen in the second generation’s work. In addition, their styles differ: whereas the first generation frequently produced (“bamboo-blind” ) and mixed with a -like flavor—techniques that may be called his hallmark—the second generation took a different approach, producing (in styles not seen in the first generation) -toned works with deep , as well as flamboyant tōran-style like the present example, reflecting the vogue of Ōsaka of the time.

This is a work by the second generation. It shows a tightly forged with the at the base in ; above that, in a rather broad tempering width, a small is inserted, and paired and triple are alternated in repeated sequence, creating a rolling-wave effect. The are long and enter well; the is deep; thick adheres; fine runs overall; long appears; and the is bright—together presenting a notably accomplished workmanship. As described above, a major hallmark of this smith’s tōran style lies in beginning with , then alternating paired and triple (with small interposed) and repeating this blade pattern; this sword displays precisely that style and is a textbook example, and moreover shows an especially outstanding result among his works.

In addition, the blade presents a shape with wide , deep curvature, and an elongated . This type of is frequently seen in the work of smiths around the Jōkyō and Genroku eras, and thus the itself displays contemporaneous features. Further, the slightly long length together with a thick gives an imposing, powerfully forceful impression.

About the maker

Kanemichi

兼道

Mishina school, Osaka (Tango-no-kami Kanemichi line, second generation) · Settsu · around 1681-1704

Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%

3 pieces on the market now

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A katana in the forty-first Jūyō session carries the date Genroku 14, the year 1701[[c:1]], cut on the reverse of the nakago beneath a bold five-character signature, Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, and it is one of the very few year-dated blades by which his active span can be fixed at all. This is the second-generation Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, called Kiheiji, who worked at Ōsaka about the Genroku and Hōei years and is recorded as having forged in Edo as well. The published sources transmit him as the son of the first Tango-no-kami Kanemichi, in the received account the second son of the Kyōto second-generation Tanba-no-kami Yoshimichi, and so a branch of the Mishina school that Kanemichi the Mino-Seki smith carried into Kyōto. The first Tango-no-kami, named Mishina Kihei and signing at first as Naomichi, settled in Ōsaka and was known for the sudare-ba and the chōji-tinged gunome that were the family specialty. His son took a deliberately different course, and that divergence is the spine of his identity on the blade.

Where the first generation tempered the sudare-ba and the chōji-laden gunome that the published sources call the house specialty, the second cast off the chōji and turned to a flamboyant tōran-style large gunome that mirrors the Ōsaka shintō fashion of his day. His most particular tell is constructive rather than decorative. Across the upper and lower halves of the ha he forges gunome in alternating linked sequences, two joined and then three joined, repeating one against the other so that the tōran gathers its variety from the pattern itself. Of one such blade the published sources write that 「互の目の二つ連れた刃と三つ連れた刃とが相互に交じる点に大きな特色が見られる」[[c:2]], that the great distinguishing feature lies precisely in this mutual mixing of two-joined and three-joined gunome, and of his matched daishō, on which the long and short blades reverse the order of the joined groups, that the variation shows 「彼の工夫の跡」, the trace of his own contrivance. Ashi enter thickly into this temper, the nioi runs deep, the nie lies thick and at times coarse, sunagashi and kinsuji play through it, tobiyaki appear with the mune tempered, and the nioiguchi stays bright.

The jigane beneath this showy temper is quiet and clean, the true Ōsaka steel. He forges a tightly gathered ko-itame in which the ji-nie settles dust-fine and chikei enter finely, the surface closing rather than standing, a jigane that distinguishes the second generation from the more standing itame of the older Mino-rooted Mishina work. Over it the temper opens always from a straight yakidashi at the machi, the Ōsaka shintō base from which both his manners rise, before it widens into the tōran. The bōshi answers the ha: it comes to a ko-maru, returns rather deeply, and brushes into hakikake, with a faint pointed tendency on the wider blades. The horimono, where present, are a plain bōhi run to a rounded finish with an accompanying soebi. The sugata is heavy and forceful in the Genroku taste, wide in the mihaba, thick in the kasane, with a sense of funbari, the curve deep and the kissaki extended, a build the published sources note recurs among smiths of the Jōkyō and Genroku years.

The published sources draw his work into two registers. The principal one is the tōran-style large gunome just described, the manner in which they find this smith's distinctive hand and which they tie directly to the contemporary Ōsaka taste. The second is quieter and, they are careful to note, one the first generation did not leave: a deep-nioi suguha. Here the straight yakidashi opens into a broadly tempered suguha base, shallowly notare, ashi entering vigorously, the nioi deep, the nie thick with some coarse grains, the upper half showing a two-stepped futasuji-fu effect, kinsuji and sunagashi running well. Of a blade in this register the published sources write that it 「真改風の作柄をあらわしている」[[c:3]], that it shows a workmanship in the manner of Shinkai, and the comparison is exact: it is the deep-nioi, thickly nie-laden straight temper of Inoue Shinkai, the great Ōsaka master, that this calmer face most nearly approaches. The two registers are not a chronology but a range, the same Ōsaka hand stated once as spectacle and once as restraint.

What places him is the careful distinction the published sources draw between the two generations, a distinction that is itself the kantei. The first Tango-no-kami cut a chrysanthemum crest and the character ichi below the machi on much of his work and leaned to the family sudare-ba and chōji-tinged gunome; the second carries neither crest nor character and turns instead to the deep-nioi suguha and the tōran-style large gunome that reflect the fashion of his time. His distinction is therefore best drawn by his own grounded traits rather than by his father's: the alternating joined-gunome tōran, the bright deep-nioi temper read as Shinkai's, the clean dust-fine ko-itame and the straight Ōsaka yakidashi set him apart within the Mishina line and within his own family, and of his large-gunome work the published sources say plainly that 「この工の特徴」, this smith's characteristic, is to be read in the very shape of those linked gunome. He stands as a competent and individual second generation, faithful to the Ōsaka idiom of his day while working a constructive variation that is recognizably his own.

Kanemichi is rated Chū-jō saku in the Fujishiro ranking, and seven of his blades hold the rank of Jūyō-Tōken, all of them signed, with no National Treasure or Important Cultural Property among them; his is the record of a sound and individual Ōsaka shintō master rather than a great national name. The body that survives in this designated tier is small and almost wholly signed, which for a shintō smith is itself a documentary virtue, the name fixed rather than appraised. One of his katana descends from the Aoyama house, the wardens of Ōsaka castle, and the published sources, calling it 「大坂城代青山家伝来の一口」[[c:4]], note that long blades of just this kind are repeatedly met among that house's old swords and were likely forged to its order, a thread of daimyō provenance that ties his work to the city he served. A matched daishō of his also survives, the published sources calling such a pair from the second generation extremely rare and of documentary value. For a collector his work sits among the more attainable of the Ōsaka shintō masters: most of his designated blades rest in the Jūyō tier rather than locked away as patrimony, and a signed, dated example such as the Genroku 14 katana, which fixes both the hand and the year, is the rarer and more desirable encounter, coming to light from time to time and rewarding patience.

Historical importance

Where Kanemichi 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.

随一
Foremost
屈指
Leading
有数
Major
著名
Notable

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Designation record
5 designated works
Jūyō
5
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Kanemichi — full profileMishina school, Osaka (Tango-no-kami Kanemichi line, second generation) school

Dated Works

Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades

Active period
1701Editorial estimate: 1681–1704
1 of 5 designated works carry a date

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About the school

Mishina

三品

Shinto · Yamashiro

75 pieces on the market now

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The Mishina school (三品), one of the two dominant smithing groups of early Edo Kyoto beside the Horikawa, grew from the late-Mino workshop of Kanemichi of Seki, whose dated blades run through the Tenbun, Eiroku, and Tenshō eras. During the closing decades of the sixteenth century Kanemichi came up to the capital with his four sons and settled at Nishinotōin Ebisugawa, where the eldest, Iga no Kami Kinmichi, is recorded as having greatly raised the name of the line. The brothers, Kinmichi together with Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi, Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, and Etchū no Kami Masatoshi, became known collectively as the Sanpin (三品) makers, and the published sources count Kinmichi head of the Kyō go-kaji, the five Kyoto smiths. From the second generation the house held a hereditary right to recommend smiths to the court for their titles and added that by-line to its signatures. The name continued under the same appellation to the end of the Tokugawa period, throwing off branches that included the Tango no Kami line working at Ōsaka into the Genroku years, though the published record consistently holds the founding generation the most outstanding of the line. Beneath every branch lies a shared vocabulary carried up from Mino-Seki. The jigane is the constant: an itame mixed with mokume that flows into nagare-hada and tends toward masame near the mune, the grain standing, with thick fine ji-nie and frequent chikei. Over it the Mino-derived gunome and togariba are refined toward a Kyoto manner, the nie strong and at times coarse, gathering unevenly, kinsuji and vigorous striped sunagashi running throughout. Two tells bind the house. The first is the Mishina bōshi, a notare or midare run-in pointed at the tip and swept with vigorous hakikake, the form Masatoshi shows at its clearest, described as if drawn from a picture. The second is sudareba, the bamboo-blind temper in which layered sunagashi and yubashiri stripe into parallel bands; Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi devised it, and the first-generation hand keeps it a free, semi-cursive disorder where his heirs would regularize it into a fixed lattice.

The lines diverge from that common ground. Kinmichi and his younger brother Masatoshi both excelled in a Shizu manner, the large midare of Mino grafted onto Sōshū nie, with Masatoshi the most versatile, ranging across Shizu, Mino sanbon-sugi, Yamato suguha, and Sōshū hitatsura. The later Ōsaka Tanba branch held to the sudareba alone, opening from a straight yakidashi, while the second Tango no Kami Kanemichi cast off the family chōji for a flamboyant tōran-style large gunome in alternating two-joined and three-joined groups, and a deep-nioi suguha read in the manner of Inoue Shinkai. To kantei Mishina is to read these two house marks first. The pointed, hakikake-swept bōshi and the striped sudareba, set over a standing itame that flows to masame, place a blade within the line before any signature is weighed; the sunagashi, far heavier than on a Bizen ji, is the very material from which the temper is built. Within the house the founding generation sets the standard. Fujishiro grades Kinmichi and Masatoshi Jō-jō saku, the Ōsaka Tanba shodai Jō-saku, and the second Tango no Kami Chū-jō saku, the sources judging the later Kyoto and Ōsaka generations markedly inferior to the founders as the manner thinned toward a single uniform pattern. Provenance on record runs through samurai and collector hands rather than great museums: a Kinmichi katana among the cherished swords of Tani Tateki, a Yoshimichi katana made for Naitō Kuroemon and another now in the Kyoto National Museum, Masatoshi blades passing through Oda Urakusai and the Imperial household, and a second Tango no Kami katana descending from the Aoyama wardens of Ōsaka castle. The brothers' blades are signed and knowable, dated examples rare, so the manner of the mei joins the workmanship in placing them; for the Ōsaka and Kyoto branches the cut of the character 守 separates one hand from the next. Most designated work is held rather than traded, so a signed founding-generation Mishina blade comes to light only from time to time, and with it the temper in which one of the most recognizable hamon of the Shintō era was first being worked out. Learn more →

14 recorded smiths118 designated works
Leading smiths
SmithEraDesignated
Kinmichi金道1596-161523
Yoshimichi吉道1596-161536
Masatoshi正俊1596-161531
Kanemichi兼道1681-17045
Yoshimichi吉道1661-16736
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Historical context

Kyōto: the revival workshop

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The Shintō era was largely invented in Kyōto: Umetada Myōju’s workshop trained the movement, Horikawa Kunihiro raised a generation, and the Hon’ami appraisers, who held no forge, governed the meaning of famous blades.

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NBTHK Certificate
Jūyō Tōken重要刀剣
Important Sword
›

A blade of top-grade workmanship and condition, formally judged to rank with a nationally recognized Important Art Object (Jūyō Bijutsuhin). Awarded only at the NBTHK’s competitive annual examination.

Of Japan’s roughly 2.5 million registered swords, only 12,307 (about 1 in 203) have ever attained Jūyō.

Signed: 丹後守兼道 (Mishina Kanemichi)
As written on the certificate
About the NBTHK›

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.

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Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Antique Japanese Sword Katana Signed by Tango no Kami Kanemichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon CertificateKatana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Antique Japanese Sword Katana Signed by Tango no Kami Kanemichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certificate
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Katana

ByMishina Kanemichi
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Samurai Museum
Tokubetsu Kichō
Katana - Tokubetsu Kichō - by Mishina Kanemichi - Antique Japanese Sword Katana Signed by Kanemichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho CertificateKatana - Tokubetsu Kichō - by Mishina Kanemichi - Antique Japanese Sword Katana Signed by Kanemichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho Certificate
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Katana

ByMishina Kanemichi
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World Seiyudo
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tangonokami Kanemichi - Tokubetsu Hozon TokenKatana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tangonokami Kanemichi - Tokubetsu Hozon Token
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ByMishina Kanemichi
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Samurai Museum
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tango no Kami Kanemichi (2nd Gen)Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tango no Kami Kanemichi (2nd Gen)
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Tokka Biz
Tokuho
Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tango no kami KanemichiKatana - Tokuho - by Mishina Kanemichi - Tango no kami Kanemichi
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Yazawa Shokai
Wakizashi - by Mishina Kanemichi - Kanemichi - O-KissakiWakizashi - by Mishina Kanemichi - Kanemichi - O-Kissaki
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World Seiyudo
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Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Yoshimichi - Tanba-No-Kami Yoshimichi (Kyoto 4th Generation)Katana - Tokuho - by Mishina Yoshimichi - Tanba-No-Kami Yoshimichi (Kyoto 4th Generation)

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Wakizashi - Tokuho - by Mishina Yoshimichi - Antique Japanese Sword Wakizashi Signed by Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon CertificateWakizashi - Tokuho - by Mishina Yoshimichi - Antique Japanese Sword Wakizashi Signed by Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certificate

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Katana - Jūyō - by Mishina Masatoshi - Etchu no Kami Masatoshi, owned by General Tani TatekiKatana - Jūyō - by Mishina Masatoshi - Etchu no Kami Masatoshi, owned by General Tani Tateki

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Certificate Reading

Certificate reading — 銘 丹後守兼道

Certificate Reading

Certificate reading — 銘 丹後守兼道