Description

It has arrived, it has arrived—a precious masterpiece has appeared, featuring a *soe-mei* (supplementary inscription) as a "Choujuken" (Sword of Longevity) celebrating the long life of the swordsmith Hosokawa Masayoshi, famous as one of the great masters of the Bakumatsu period. Hosokawa Masayoshi was a brilliant talent under Suishinshi Masahide, the founder of the Shinshinto movement. He served as a *hanko* (domain smith) for the Matsudaira family of the Sakushu Tsuyama Domain (100,000 koku), a *shinpan* (progenitor) branch descending from Yuki Hideyasu, the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He is a famous swordsmith who put his master Suishinshi Masahide’s "Fukko-to" (restoration sword) theories into practice. He was the successor to Suishinshi Masahide and stands as a peer to the great Taikei Naotane. This sword is a special-order *tachi* of extraordinary length (*cho-chosun*). It was crafted in Tenpo 5 (1834) (191 years ago), exactly at the time when the Roju Mizuno Tadakuni was carrying out the Tenpo Reforms—dissolving the "Kabu-nakama" guilds blamed for the wealth gap, and banning the "Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels" (which ordered firing on any foreign ship) after the Qing Dynasty's defeat in the Opium War. This was the era when the master smiths of the Bakumatsu, starting with Minamoto Kiyomaro, appeared like a constellation of stars. This work was produced when Hosokawa Masayoshi was 49 years old, at the peak of his vigor. Because Hosokawa Masayoshi was a *hanko* for the Tsuyama Matsudaira family, although he is a famous smith, he did not need to sell to the general public compared to someone like Taikei Naotane (who was not a domain smith), as he received a rice stipend from the Matsudaira clan. Since he worked almost exclusively for the high-ranking officials of the Tsuyama Matsudaira Domain, his production numbers are extremely low, making this sword an incredibly rare find. This sword truly recreates the work of Nagamitsu, the head of the Osafune smiths in Bizen during the Kamakura period. The *sugata* is long, exhibiting a magnificent Kamakura-period Bizen *tachi* form with a slight *koshi-zori* and a distinct difference between the *moto-mihaba* and *saki-mihaba*. The *jigane* is forged in *ko-itame hada*, and the *ji* displays a stunningly vivid *utsuri* that looks as if it were pressed by a thumb. The *hamon* is in *nioi-deki* with *ko-nie*, firing a *gunome-midare* in the style of Nagamitsu; it is an excellent recreation of the Bizen master Nagamitsu. The *soe-mei* "Choujuken," celebrating longevity, is precious and adds further splendor to this blade. On this occasion, an elderly connoisseur has entrusted us with this piece, saying, "I have grown old myself and have obtained the *kanteisho* (appraisal papers), so please pass this on to someone who will cherish it." Therefore, we are offering it at a special, exceptionally low price. Please enjoy this precious masterpiece by Hosokawa Masayoshi.