Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
This wakizashi is by Arihira, the second son of Kaga Kanewaka. It features a flamboyant hamon with gunome midare, niju-ba, and sunagashi, set against a clear ko-itame jigane. The blade is accompanied by a luxurious koshirae with a black roiro saya and fittings depicting scenes from the Tale of Genji, including a tsuba by Murasaki Shikibu and menuki of Hikaru Genji.
NihontoWatchmei · Kaga Kanewaka · Kanei (1624-1644) · nagasa 45.8cm · sori 0.6cm
Kaga · around 1624-1644
Tōken Taikan top 60%
1 piece on the market now
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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 siteIf the item is not to your liking, please feel free to return it for any reason. Return shipping is the customer's responsibility. After the item arrives and we confirm it is in the same condition as at the time of sale, we transfer the refund to your designated account the same day. Purchases made at the store are outside the scope of cooling-off.
This wakizashi is by Arihira, the second son of Kaga Kanewaka. It features a flamboyant hamon with gunome midare, niju-ba, and sunagashi, set against a clear ko-itame jigane. The blade is accompanied by a luxurious koshirae with a black roiro saya and fittings depicting scenes from the Tale of Genji, including a tsuba by Murasaki Shikibu and menuki of Hikaru Genji.
NihontoWatchmei · Kaga Kanewaka · Kanei (1624-1644) · nagasa 45.8cm · sori 0.6cm
Kaga · around 1624-1644
Tōken Taikan top 60%
1 piece on the market now
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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 siteIf the item is not to your liking, please feel free to return it for any reason. Return shipping is the customer's responsibility. After the item arrives and we confirm it is in the same condition as at the time of sale, we transfer the refund to your designated account the same day. Purchases made at the store are outside the scope of cooling-off.
