The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
This is a modern katana by the smith Shigeyuki (本名: Utaka Tokio), known for making swords suitable for iaido. It features a wide body and thick kasane, giving it a substantial weight of 871g for the blade alone. The blade exhibits a beautiful jigane with flowing itame and masame, and a high-low choji-midare hamon with thick ashi, indicating good cutting ability. It comes with a koshirae featuring modern fittings, a thick tsuka, and a round openwork tsuba, housed in a black roiro saya.
NihontoWatchmei · Heisei (1989-2019) · nagasa 73.6cm · sori 1.8cm
Settsu · around 1989-2019
2 pieces on the market now
Shōwa to the present: destruction and revival
The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
Please contact us promptly after the item's arrival. Except where the item is defective, we cannot accept returns. For returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. In the case of a defective item, we bear the cost.
