NihontoWatchIt has appeared, it has appeared, a katana by Hoju has appeared. In the very old, early founding period of the origin of nihonto during the Heian period, there was the Mokusa school in Mutsu Province (Aomori, Yamagata, Morioka, Miyagi), but almost no works remain today; however, in Hiraizumi, where Chuson-ji is located—famous for its golden temple and where the Oshu Fujiwara family flourished from the early Kamakura period to the Nanbokucho period—there are extremely rare extant works of old Hoju like this katana, who are considered descendants of that school. As this katana is kiwame as a later generation Hoju, it is an o-suriage mumei katana from around the Enbun era (1356) of the Nanbokucho period (670 years ago). Regarding the sugata of this katana, it was originally a long tachi of about 2 shaku 5 sun that was shortened, showing a sharp katana sugata with a difference between the moto-mihaba and saki-mihaba and a unique kissaki like a kamasu-kissaki; the jigane is forged in itame hada with much masame hada appearing. This is a characteristic of Hoju, and the hamon is a deep nie-nioi notare-ba mixed with gunome, the ha is intricately midare, and much sunagashi appears within the ha. From the fact that the ha of the boshi is also plentiful, it can be understood that it was originally a katana with a unique, sharp sugata with a kamasu-kissaki, showing the antiquity of the period and looking magnificent. The Edo period koshirae adds even more flair to this katana. This time, a connoisseur said that since they have enjoyed it sufficiently themselves, please pass it on cheaply to someone who will cherish it in the future, so we are offering it at a special bargain price. It is a wonderful, historically precious katana kiwame as Hoju from nearly 700 years ago with few extant works; please by all means enjoy it.
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As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Wakimono · Oshu
Among the swordsmiths said by old transmitted records to have worked in Ōshū (Mutsu and the wider northeast) from the Nara and Heian periods through the Kamakura age, the setsumei repeatedly observe that, of works actually surviving today, almost the only name that can be confirmed is Hōju (宝寿). The line is set within the Maikusa (Mokusa) sphere of Ōshū smiths, a group transmitted from the early Kamakura period onward; one tachi is described as a branch of the Maikusa smiths of Mutsu, and a Nanbokuchō entry pairs Hōju with Maikusa and, after Nanbokuchō, the Gassan group. The name itself was carried across a long span, from Kamakura through Nanbokuchō and into the Muromachi Ōei era, so that "Hōju" denotes a lineage rather than a single hand. A complicating thread runs through the corpus: one blade dated Enkyō 4 (1311) is signed Yamato-kuni-jū Tōmoto Hōju, raising the question of movement between Ōshū and Yamato, with the setsumei suggesting exchange of smiths through Shugendō mountain practice. Dated survivors anchor the chronology firmly, with inscriptions of Shōchū 2 (1325), Eiwa 2 (1376), Eitoku 2 (1382), and a run of Ōei years (5, 6, 12, 14, 22, 25). The shared hand the setsumei describe is an archaic northern one. The forging is itame mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, frequently with ō-itame, the grain standing up (hada-dachi) and at times an ayasugi-like or, near the edge, masame tendency; thick ji-nie gathers and bold chikei enter, the steel inclining to a blackish tone with a whitish cast, and shirake-utsuri rising in the ground. The temper is built on suguha and suguha-chō passing into ko-midare, or a shallow notare joined with ko-gunome and ko-notare; the habuchi shows frequent hotsure, kinsuji and sunagashi run vigorously, and a yaki-otoshi often drops the hardened edge at the machi.
The nioiguchi tends to shizumi and urumi, subdued and moist rather than bright, though certain pieces run brighter. The bōshi enters midare-komi or yakizume with hakikake, and the carvings, bonji over a sankō-tsuka-ken, are rustic yet carry an elegant taste. To recognize the hand, read the standing large-grained hada, the dark steel with whitish utsuri, and the quiet nioiguchi, set against the heroic koshizori tachi form. For kantei, the diagnostic cluster is the combination of standing ō-itame with bold chikei, blackish steel under whitish utsuri, yaki-otoshi at the base, and the subdued nioiguchi with hotsure, kinsuji, and sunagashi, the whole carrying a frankly provincial character that the setsumei treat as the lineage's signature. Signature study is itself a kantei tool: the two-character Hōju mei of the Eitoku-era tachi recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection is read against an orikaeshi-mei example dated Eitoku, certified an Important Art Object, to date later works by the same chisel. Named survivors map the standing: two signed tachi recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, the kinzōgan-mei katana carrying a Hon'ami Kōchū origami of Kyōhō 7 (1722), the Shōchū 2 tachi held by Mitake Shrine, and an ubu mumei ōdachi transmitted as a hereditary treasure of the Murakami, the maritime warriors of the Seto Inland Sea. Ubu, signed, and dated Hōju, especially those not descending past early Nanbokuchō, the setsumei prize as reference material for an Ōshū tradition otherwise known largely through this one enduring name. Learn more →
The Heian period (794 to 1185)
The curved, ridged tachi took its classic form in the Heian provinces while the court refined its culture in the capital. Its patrons were the military nobility whose feuds ended in the Genpei War, and whose blades became heirlooms almost at once.
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.
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