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.
An excellent Katana by Yasushige from the Kii Ishido school, dated to the Kanbun era (1661-1673). The blade features a very straight Chu-suguha hamon and comes with both shirasaya and a bright red lacquered koshirae. It is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate.
NihontoWatchmei · Kii Ishido · Kanbun (1661-1673) · nagasa 70.7cm · sori 2cm
Kii · around 1661-1673
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 siteA$12,500
An excellent Katana by Yasushige from the Kii Ishido school, dated to the Kanbun era (1661-1673). The blade features a very straight Chu-suguha hamon and comes with both shirasaya and a bright red lacquered koshirae. It is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate.
NihontoWatchmei · Kii Ishido · Kanbun (1661-1673) · nagasa 70.7cm · sori 2cm
Kii · around 1661-1673
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 siteA$12,500
