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 katana is signed by Bishu Osafune Kaneto, dated August Heisei 12 (2000). It features a honzukuri iorimune construction with an ubu-nakago, and a grain pattern of itame-hada mixed with masame-hada, showing ji-nie. The hamon is gunome-midare with togari-ba mixed in, having a slightly deep nioi-guchi with ko-nie, ashi, kinsuji, and sunagashi. The blade comes with a kuro-ro-nuri uchigatana koshirae.
NihontoWatchmei · Osafune · Gendaito · nagasa 71.8cm · sori 1.7cm
Bizen · around 1980-2020
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.
Within one week of the item's arrival (cooling-off is possible within Japan only). For defects that differ from the purchase conditions, we will accept the return and refund the payment. For other cases such as overseas, we will consult separately.
¥380,000
