(Famous through Touken Ranbu) According to the sayagaki by the renowned Tanobe Michihiro Sensei, this katana is praised as a magnificent and superior masterpiece, possessing a robust build with a yakiba that resembles the famous blades of Sue-Bizen. In Higo Kumamoto, the Dotanuki school flourished during the Sengoku period. Dotanuki Uemon was a descendant of the Enju school, specifically the Maga clan. Around the Tensho era (1580) (439 years ago), it is said that during the Bunroku Campaign, the Dotanuki school crossed the sea with Kato Kiyomasa and forged swords in that land. This school is also famous for the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, where the Dotanuki sword took the world by storm, leading to immense post-war popularity and prices that rose without ceiling. This katana exhibits a gousou (magnificent/grand) sugata with a wide motohaba and sakihaba, and a slightly extended kissaki. The jigane is a powerfully forged itame-hada. The hamon is a masterfully executed fukushiki gunome choji-ba that resembles the work of Sue-Bizen Yosozaemon-no-jo Sukesada, resulting in a blade overflowing with haki (spirit). Katana with a mei by Dotanuki Uemon are currently very few in number and extremely precious. As this is the first time this blade has appeared on the market in an "ubu" (raw/fresh) state, we are offering it at a special discount price. Please enjoy this masterpiece by Higo Dotanuki Uemon of Kyushu.
Certificate reading — 銘 九州肥後同田貫右衛門
NihontoWatchKeicho (1596-1615) · nagasa 70.8cm · sori 2cm
Bizen-den · Higo · around 1573-1611
Tōken Taikan top 60%
6 pieces on the market now
Where Dotanuki 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.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Bizen-den · Higo
18 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dotanuki同田貫 | 1573-1611 | 2 |
| Kozukenosuke上野介 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Muneharu宗春 | 1865-1868 | 0 |
| Kunikatsu國勝 | 1558-1570 | 0 |
| Matahachi又八 | 1573-1592 | 1 |
The Momoyama period (1573 to 1615)
Three unifiers ended the century of war, and the sword became an instrument of the new order: the 1588 sword hunt made it the warrior’s badge, famous blades passed between houses like treaties, and appraisal ever after divides the craft here, kotō from shintō.
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 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.
Price on request
(Famous through Touken Ranbu) According to the sayagaki by the renowned Tanobe Michihiro Sensei, this katana is praised as a magnificent and superior masterpiece, possessing a robust build with a yakiba that resembles the famous blades of Sue-Bizen. In Higo Kumamoto, the Dotanuki school flourished during the Sengoku period. Dotanuki Uemon was a descendant of the Enju school, specifically the Maga clan. Around the Tensho era (1580) (439 years ago), it is said that during the Bunroku Campaign, the Dotanuki school crossed the sea with Kato Kiyomasa and forged swords in that land. This school is also famous for the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, where the Dotanuki sword took the world by storm, leading to immense post-war popularity and prices that rose without ceiling. This katana exhibits a gousou (magnificent/grand) sugata with a wide motohaba and sakihaba, and a slightly extended kissaki. The jigane is a powerfully forged itame-hada. The hamon is a masterfully executed fukushiki gunome choji-ba that resembles the work of Sue-Bizen Yosozaemon-no-jo Sukesada, resulting in a blade overflowing with haki (spirit). Katana with a mei by Dotanuki Uemon are currently very few in number and extremely precious. As this is the first time this blade has appeared on the market in an "ubu" (raw/fresh) state, we are offering it at a special discount price. Please enjoy this masterpiece by Higo Dotanuki Uemon of Kyushu.
Certificate reading — 銘 九州肥後同田貫右衛門
NihontoWatchKeicho (1596-1615) · nagasa 70.8cm · sori 2cm
Bizen-den · Higo · around 1573-1611
Tōken Taikan top 60%
6 pieces on the market now
Where Dotanuki 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.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Bizen-den · Higo
18 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dotanuki同田貫 | 1573-1611 | 2 |
| Kozukenosuke上野介 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
| Muneharu宗春 | 1865-1868 | 0 |
| Kunikatsu國勝 | 1558-1570 | 0 |
| Matahachi又八 | 1573-1592 | 1 |
The Momoyama period (1573 to 1615)
Three unifiers ended the century of war, and the sword became an instrument of the new order: the 1588 sword hunt made it the warrior’s badge, famous blades passed between houses like treaties, and appraisal ever after divides the craft here, kotō from shintō.
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 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.
Price on request
