Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis katana is the work of the fourth generation Tadayoshi of the renowned Hizen sword making tradition, who signed his blades Hizen Koku Ju Omi Daijo Fujiwara Tadayoshi. He was born in 1667 as Hashimoto Gensuke, the son of the third generation Tadayoshi, Mutsu no Kami, and the grandson of the celebrated second generation Tadahiro. He received extensive training under his grandfather, Tadahiro, and is known to have produced numerous swords on his behalf as daisaku. Being entrusted with such work demonstrates both his ability as a swordsmith and the confidence placed in him within the Hashimoto family workshop. In 1700, during the Genroku era, he received the prestigious court title Omi Daijo (近江大掾), after which he used the signature seen on this katana. Like many works of the Hizen tradition, his swords were commonly signed in tachi mei, while dates were often omitted from the nakago. This katana has a particularly attractive and commanding shape, constructed in shinogi zukuri with an iori mune. The curvature is more pronounced than is commonly encountered in Hizen works, giving the blade a bold and dynamic profile. This is likely due to the sword being made in a Keichō Shintō style shape. The blade feels substantial in hand, while the overall balance of its width, thickness, curvature and point gives it an especially pleasing and dignified form. The jigane is an exceptionally fine and beautifully controlled konuka hada, one of the defining characteristics of the Hizen tradition. The grain is extremely tight and refined, displaying the characteristic fine, almost rice bran like texture for which the finest Hizen blades are admired. More importantly, this quality is maintained with remarkable consistency throughout the entire length of the blade. This consistency is particularly noteworthy. Among Hizen swords, one of the qualities that can distinguish an excellent blade from a more ordinary example is not simply the presence of konuka hada, but the degree to which the smith was able to maintain its refinement and uniformity throughout the jigane. On lesser examples, there are usually weakspots. On this blade, however, the hada remains extraordinarily fine and controlled from beginning to end, giving the steel a remarkably clean and harmonious appearance. It is an excellent demonstration of the highly disciplined forging for which the mainline Hizen Tadayoshi school became renowned. The hamon is chū suguha, executed with the restraint and precision characteristic of the Hizen tradition. The temperline is composed of extremely fine, bright nie, producing a clear and elegant boundary against the beautifully refined jigane. Rather than relying upon an overly flamboyant temper pattern, the workmanship derives its appeal from precision, clarity and consistency, the quiet sophistication that is so characteristic of high quality Hizen work. The condition of the blade is equally exceptional. It is in sublime condition. Perfect, I’d say, with an exceptionally clean surface that allows the quality of both the jigane and hamon to be appreciated without distraction. Its preservation gives the impression of a blade that has been carefully protected throughout its long history. The nakago remains ubu, preserving the sword in its original form with a single mekugi ana. Combined with its excellent state of preservation, substantial shape, beautifully uniform konuka hada, and finely executed chū suguha, the blade presents the workmanship of the fourth generation Tadayoshi with exceptional clarity. The blade is accompanied by a very nice Edo period koshirae, complete with a full suite of matching fittings executed in a unified dragon theme. The theme is carried throughout the mounting, even extending to the kurigata, which itself features a dragon motif. The saya is finished in elegant black lacquer, with a distinctive section of kizami on the upper portion of the saya, adding texture and character while complementing the overall aesthetic of the koshirae. This is a particularly desirable full package, combining an impeccable condition, high quality katana with a very nice and complete Edo period koshirae. Fine and bright Nie
Offered by Toukentakarado
2 on the market
As written by the shop
Shinto · Hizen · around 1688-1704
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 37%
2 pieces on the market now
Where Tadayoshi 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.
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Shinto · Hizen
107 pieces on the market now
The Hizen school began with a single domain commission. In Keicho 1 (1596) the Nabeshima of Hizen ordered Hashimoto Shinzaemon, the smith who would sign Tadayoshi, up to Kyoto with the carver Munenaga; there he entered the gate of Umetada Myoju and studied forging while Munenaga learned the chisel. The two returned to the province in Keicho 3 (1598), and Tadayoshi settled in the castle town below Saga, where under the domain's patronage the line grew into the dominant sword-making house of Kyushu. His own work runs from Keicho 5 (1600) to his death in Kan'ei 9 (1632); in Genna 10 (1624) he received the court title Musashi Daijo, changed his name to Tadahiro, and shifted his clan name from Minamoto to Fujiwara, so that the late Musashi Daijo blades are the founder under a second name. From him the house became a true generational institution: his son the second-generation Omi Daijo Tadahiro carried it forward as its most prolific hand, the third-generation Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi returned its highest finish, and a Tosa no Kami branch took the founder's signature when he set it aside. Around this main line grew a circle of disciples and collateral hands, the waki-Hizen or Soba-Hizen smiths, several of them, like Yoshiie and Hironori, working as daisaku substitute makers whose own signed pieces are therefore scarce. The school's signature is its steel. Over a ko-itame forged so tightly it shows no slackness, fine ji-nie gathers in minute particles until the surface takes on the rice-bran konuka-hada (also written komenuka-hada) that no other school produces, fine chikei entering throughout and the ji notably clear and bright.
The orthodox temper laid upon it is a chu-suguha or hiro-suguha, sometimes tinged with a shallow notare and ko-gunome, the nioiguchi deep with finely clustered ko-nie and tightened to a bright clarity, the boshi running straight to a quiet ko-maru. The founder aimed this suguha toward the Rai school yet departed from it, his nioiguchi tighter and his forging carrying more vigor; the third generation refined it to what the published sources call the strongest and most precise hand of the first three generations. Against that calm register the house also worked a showier one, the Hizen choji-midare mixing gunome, long ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi, a manner the published sources already find more often in the founder's late Musashi Daijo work than in his Tadayoshi years, and one the second generation made his own. The branches pushed further from the suguha standard: Tadakuni of the Ogi domain ran sunagashi more conspicuously than any other Hizen hand and reached toward old Ichimonji in his o-choji; Masahiro and Yukihiro favored a flamboyant long-ashi choji over the calm main line; and the Iyo no Jo Munetsugu line worked apart in the Soshu-den, building a midareba on notare with a pointed togariba and a jihada that tends to stand and tone slightly blackish. A collector seeks Hizen-to first for that steel, and reads it the same way the appraiser does: a bright suguha lying over a clear, tight konuka-hada identifies the school before the signature is consulted, and the quiet ko-maru boshi on the ura-signed tang confirms the main-line practice. Generation and branch are then told within that frame, the third generation's powerful sugata recalling not his father but his grandfather, the waki-Hizen hands set apart by their irregular temper, their sujikai file marks and a sashi-ura signature, the Munetsugu line by its Soshu togari. The main line, made in real numbers across so long a span, reaches the market more readily than any Kamakura master, so a papered example is within reach of a patient collector, while the founder's own work and the finest konuka-suguha of the third generation come to open hands only from time to time. Provenance runs back through the house the school served, blades recorded to Nabeshima Katsushige and Nabeshima Naomoto and passing onward to the Owari Tokugawa, the Satake and the Imperial families; documentary inscriptions sharpen the picture further, a Myoju soemei attesting the founder's discipleship, Umetada carving adding flowers to brocade on his late blades, and the gold-inlaid cutting tests of Yamano Kanjuro and Yamano Ka'emon, rare on Hizen work, naming the edge as well as the hand. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1596-1632 | 155 |
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1660-1686 | 61 |
| Tadahiro忠廣 | 1633-1693 | 133 |
| Tadakuni忠國 | 1648-1652 | 32 |
| Masahiro正廣 | 1624-1655 | 30 |
Hizen: a domain enterprise
Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
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 siteWe offer a three-day inspection period. To initiate a return, you must notify us within three days of the package being delivered. Once we confirm your request, you have seven days to ship the item back to us. The item must be returned in its original condition, including all accompanying documents, certificates, and packaging materials. The buyer is responsible for covering the shipping costs and insurance for the return shipment.
¥2,000,000