(Osaka Shinto) It has arrived, it has arrived! This wakizashi is a precious piece of evidence that influenced the famous sousho-mei (cursive script) signatures of Sukehiro and Shinkai. Ise no Kami Kuniteru is said to be the son of Ise no Kami Jirobei Kuniyoshi; he became a pupil of the first generation Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, and after his exceptional skill was recognized, he became a son-in-law and established a branch family. The first generation Kunisuke had a lineup of master disciples including the second generation Kunisuke, Higo no Kami Kuniyasu, and Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, who together built the foundation of Osaka Shinto. This wakizashi is by Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, who is called the father of the restoration; after the deaths of Sukehiro and Shinkai, it was Ikkanshi Tadatsuna and this Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru who led the Osaka Shinto world. This wakizashi is a valuable work dated Kanbun 12, August (1672) (352 years ago). With this wakizashi, Kuniteru was carving both the omote-mei and ura-mei in sousho-mei in Kanbun 12; the fact that he was carving both sides in sousho-mei earlier than Shinkai or Sukehiro clearly shows that Kuniteru was a swordsmith who exerted great influence on them, making this historically and documentarily precious. The sugata of this wakizashi features a wide moto-mihaba with a distinct difference from the saki-mihaba, resulting in a robust wakizashi form. The jigane is a finely packed, beautiful ko-itame hada, and while the shinogi-ji shows o-hada from the forging process, that is a charming proof of its construction. The hamon is nioi-deki, featuring a yakidashi created by Kuniteru leading into a yaki-notare midare-ba with high-set gunome-ba; it transitions from notare-midare to high gunome, where the high gunome-ba becomes "tama" (jewels), resulting in a hamon leading toward the toranba style associated with Sukehiro. It is an ambitious wakizashi that displays Kuniteru's ingenuity. This is a representative masterpiece that demonstrates the true value of Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, the restorer Hayato-no-shin Kuniteru. On this occasion, an old connoisseur mentioned, "I have grown old, so please pass this on to the next generation at a low price," and thus we are offering it at a special bargain price. Please enjoy this wakizashi by Kuniteru, who had a profound influence on Osaka Shinto.
NihontoWatchEdo · nagasa 48.2cm · sori 1.4cm
Shinto · Iyo · around 1661-1675
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%
3 pieces on the market now
Where Kuniteru 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
Shinto · Settsu
82 pieces on the market now
Osaka in the early-to-mid Edo period was a merchant capital, a city of commerce and capital rather than a castle town tied to a single daimyo house, and the swordsmiths who gathered there worked for a wealthy townsman clientele as much as for warriors. The grouping known as Osaka Shinto (大坂新刀) took shape in Settsu from two feeder currents. One was the Horikawa line of Kyoto: Izumi no Kami Kunisada, the elder Kunisada whom later sources call the Oya-Kunisada, came down to Osaka after the death of his master Horikawa Kunihiro in Keicho 19 (1614), and with him came Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, a late disciple of the same Kunihiro. The other was the Ishido tradition of Settsu and Ise, which had revived the koto Bizen choji in new-sword steel; the Kunisuke house traced its descent to that group, and its second generation, known as Naka-Kawachi, turned the line decisively toward the Ishido clove. From these beginnings the school grew through the Kanbun, Enpo, and Genroku years into the most coherent regional manner of the shinto age. What binds these smiths is a shared steel before any shared temper. The forging is the bright, packed Osaka ko-itame, sometimes called the Osaka-gitae, a jihada so tightly worked that the grain scarcely shows, the ji-nie adhering minutely and fine chikei threading the surface, the jigane clear and lustrous. A second constant is the start of the temper: nearly every blade opens with a straight suguha yakidashi at the base before the hamon declares its individual pattern, and a deep, bright nioiguchi runs the length above it. Within that common grammar the great hands diverge.
Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro founded the billowing toranba, the surging-wave toran-midare that became the school's most imitated signature. Inoue Shinkai, called the Osaka Masamune, tempered no wave at all but a deeply nie-laden suguha shading into shallow notare, with kinsuji and sunagashi entering vigorously, and the published sources pair the two by contrast as the school's two great champions, Sukehiro outstanding for nioi and Shinkai for fine ko-nie. Ikkanshi Tadatsuna carried the Sukehiro wave into his own sudareba, the surging temper that reads like a hanging bamboo blind, and matched it with the relief carving treasured as Ikkanshi-bori. The Echigo no Kami Kanesada line followed Sukehiro's toran so faithfully that the second generation is read as approaching the model, marking his own work with a leaning katayama-midare and three linked gunome below the yokote; Naka-Kawachi and his brothers Higo no Kami Kuniyasu and Ise no Kami Kuniteru held the rival clove wing, the flamboyant choji crowned by the fist-shaped kobushigata-choji over a beautifully ordered ji. A collector seeks Osaka Shinto for the union of bright steel and brilliant edge, an art-sword (bijutsu-token) appeal in which the jigane itself is half the pleasure. The grouping reads at kantei from its own grammar: look first for the Osaka-gitae, the lustrous near-muji ko-itame, then for the straight yakidashi opening the temper, then for the deep clear nioiguchi; the individual hand follows from the pattern above, Sukehiro's and Kanesada's and Tadatsuna's toran, Shinkai's nie-deep suguha, the Kunisuke wing's fist-shaped clove. The standing of the best members is high in the NBTHK register: Shinkai is rated Sai-jo saku, Tadatsuna and Kunisuke Jo-jo saku, and the line of the second Kanesada is held to rank immediately after Sukehiro and Shinkai, with later admirers such as the shinshinto smith Nagato no Kami Suketaka still copying the toranba a century on. Many of these blades are signed and dated, so their inscriptions double as documentary anchors for the whole tradition, and provenance, where it survives, runs through known houses and modern collectors, the Yamauchi of Tosa, the Itakura, the Imperial collection, and the Meiji sword-lover General Tani Tateki. A signed Shinkai of the Enpo prime or a dated Tadatsuna carrying his own carving is a landmark when it appears, while the productive clove masters of the Kunisuke wing offer a more attainable entry into the brightest steel and edge the early Osaka school produced. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Shinkai真改 | 1649-1682 | 79 |
| Tadatsuna忠綱 | 1673-1717 | 53 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1673-1682 | 78 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1648-1652 | 10 |
| Kunisuke國助 | 1658-1663 | 10 |
Ōsaka was the merchant capital, and its swords followed the money: luxury wakizashi for townsmen permitted no more than one, and the brilliant showpieces of Sukehiro’s tōranba and of Shinkai, called the Ōsaka Masamune. Swords made, frankly, to be looked at.
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.
(Osaka Shinto) It has arrived, it has arrived! This wakizashi is a precious piece of evidence that influenced the famous sousho-mei (cursive script) signatures of Sukehiro and Shinkai. Ise no Kami Kuniteru is said to be the son of Ise no Kami Jirobei Kuniyoshi; he became a pupil of the first generation Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, and after his exceptional skill was recognized, he became a son-in-law and established a branch family. The first generation Kunisuke had a lineup of master disciples including the second generation Kunisuke, Higo no Kami Kuniyasu, and Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, who together built the foundation of Osaka Shinto. This wakizashi is by Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, who is called the father of the restoration; after the deaths of Sukehiro and Shinkai, it was Ikkanshi Tadatsuna and this Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru who led the Osaka Shinto world. This wakizashi is a valuable work dated Kanbun 12, August (1672) (352 years ago). With this wakizashi, Kuniteru was carving both the omote-mei and ura-mei in sousho-mei in Kanbun 12; the fact that he was carving both sides in sousho-mei earlier than Shinkai or Sukehiro clearly shows that Kuniteru was a swordsmith who exerted great influence on them, making this historically and documentarily precious. The sugata of this wakizashi features a wide moto-mihaba with a distinct difference from the saki-mihaba, resulting in a robust wakizashi form. The jigane is a finely packed, beautiful ko-itame hada, and while the shinogi-ji shows o-hada from the forging process, that is a charming proof of its construction. The hamon is nioi-deki, featuring a yakidashi created by Kuniteru leading into a yaki-notare midare-ba with high-set gunome-ba; it transitions from notare-midare to high gunome, where the high gunome-ba becomes "tama" (jewels), resulting in a hamon leading toward the toranba style associated with Sukehiro. It is an ambitious wakizashi that displays Kuniteru's ingenuity. This is a representative masterpiece that demonstrates the true value of Kobayashi Ise no Kami Kuniteru, the restorer Hayato-no-shin Kuniteru. On this occasion, an old connoisseur mentioned, "I have grown old, so please pass this on to the next generation at a low price," and thus we are offering it at a special bargain price. Please enjoy this wakizashi by Kuniteru, who had a profound influence on Osaka Shinto.
NihontoWatchEdo · nagasa 48.2cm · sori 1.4cm
Shinto · Iyo · around 1661-1675
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%
3 pieces on the market now
Where Kuniteru 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
Shinto · Settsu
82 pieces on the market now
Osaka in the early-to-mid Edo period was a merchant capital, a city of commerce and capital rather than a castle town tied to a single daimyo house, and the swordsmiths who gathered there worked for a wealthy townsman clientele as much as for warriors. The grouping known as Osaka Shinto (大坂新刀) took shape in Settsu from two feeder currents. One was the Horikawa line of Kyoto: Izumi no Kami Kunisada, the elder Kunisada whom later sources call the Oya-Kunisada, came down to Osaka after the death of his master Horikawa Kunihiro in Keicho 19 (1614), and with him came Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, a late disciple of the same Kunihiro. The other was the Ishido tradition of Settsu and Ise, which had revived the koto Bizen choji in new-sword steel; the Kunisuke house traced its descent to that group, and its second generation, known as Naka-Kawachi, turned the line decisively toward the Ishido clove. From these beginnings the school grew through the Kanbun, Enpo, and Genroku years into the most coherent regional manner of the shinto age. What binds these smiths is a shared steel before any shared temper. The forging is the bright, packed Osaka ko-itame, sometimes called the Osaka-gitae, a jihada so tightly worked that the grain scarcely shows, the ji-nie adhering minutely and fine chikei threading the surface, the jigane clear and lustrous. A second constant is the start of the temper: nearly every blade opens with a straight suguha yakidashi at the base before the hamon declares its individual pattern, and a deep, bright nioiguchi runs the length above it. Within that common grammar the great hands diverge.
Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro founded the billowing toranba, the surging-wave toran-midare that became the school's most imitated signature. Inoue Shinkai, called the Osaka Masamune, tempered no wave at all but a deeply nie-laden suguha shading into shallow notare, with kinsuji and sunagashi entering vigorously, and the published sources pair the two by contrast as the school's two great champions, Sukehiro outstanding for nioi and Shinkai for fine ko-nie. Ikkanshi Tadatsuna carried the Sukehiro wave into his own sudareba, the surging temper that reads like a hanging bamboo blind, and matched it with the relief carving treasured as Ikkanshi-bori. The Echigo no Kami Kanesada line followed Sukehiro's toran so faithfully that the second generation is read as approaching the model, marking his own work with a leaning katayama-midare and three linked gunome below the yokote; Naka-Kawachi and his brothers Higo no Kami Kuniyasu and Ise no Kami Kuniteru held the rival clove wing, the flamboyant choji crowned by the fist-shaped kobushigata-choji over a beautifully ordered ji. A collector seeks Osaka Shinto for the union of bright steel and brilliant edge, an art-sword (bijutsu-token) appeal in which the jigane itself is half the pleasure. The grouping reads at kantei from its own grammar: look first for the Osaka-gitae, the lustrous near-muji ko-itame, then for the straight yakidashi opening the temper, then for the deep clear nioiguchi; the individual hand follows from the pattern above, Sukehiro's and Kanesada's and Tadatsuna's toran, Shinkai's nie-deep suguha, the Kunisuke wing's fist-shaped clove. The standing of the best members is high in the NBTHK register: Shinkai is rated Sai-jo saku, Tadatsuna and Kunisuke Jo-jo saku, and the line of the second Kanesada is held to rank immediately after Sukehiro and Shinkai, with later admirers such as the shinshinto smith Nagato no Kami Suketaka still copying the toranba a century on. Many of these blades are signed and dated, so their inscriptions double as documentary anchors for the whole tradition, and provenance, where it survives, runs through known houses and modern collectors, the Yamauchi of Tosa, the Itakura, the Imperial collection, and the Meiji sword-lover General Tani Tateki. A signed Shinkai of the Enpo prime or a dated Tadatsuna carrying his own carving is a landmark when it appears, while the productive clove masters of the Kunisuke wing offer a more attainable entry into the brightest steel and edge the early Osaka school produced. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Shinkai真改 | 1649-1682 | 79 |
| Tadatsuna忠綱 | 1673-1717 | 53 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1673-1682 | 78 |
| Kanesada包貞 | 1648-1652 | 10 |
| Kunisuke國助 | 1658-1663 | 10 |
Ōsaka was the merchant capital, and its swords followed the money: luxury wakizashi for townsmen permitted no more than one, and the brilliant showpieces of Sukehiro’s tōranba and of Shinkai, called the Ōsaka Masamune. Swords made, frankly, to be looked at.
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.
