Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchOrdering Number: 26073Katana: Shirasaya with Koshirae (NBTHK Hozon Token)(NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho Token).Signature: Mumei (Unsigned)(Shitahara 下原)(Tokubetsu Kicho Den Seki Kanetomo 関兼友)Sayagaki: Old tradition, KanetomoBlade length: 2 shaku 2 sun 7 buA lucky day in December, 1971Written by Kanzan.(We divide 4 sections for each sword as Saijyo Saku, Jyojyo Saku, Jyo Saku and Regular Saku).This work is ranked as Jyojyo Saku for Mumei (Den Sekikane Tomo).Habaki: Single-layer gold foil, double-layer gold and shakudo foil.Blade Length: 68.6cm (27.01in)Curvature: 1.4cm (0.55in)Mekugi-ana: 4Motohaba: 2.97cm (1.17in)Sakihaba: 2.27cm (0.89in)Kasane: 0.72cm (0.28in)Weight: 845gEra: late Muromachi period, circa late 17th centuryShape: O-surage mumei, slightly wide blade with thick Shinogi, shallow curvature and big kissaki.Two bohi grooves are carved on the omote, and on the ura are a bonji and gomabashi engraving.Jigane: Itame and Mokume with much Chikei.Hamon: Niedeki, suguha and pointed gunome midare with tight nioikuchi.Features: In the Hozon examination, this work was attributed to the Shitahara school, and it is accompanied by an old Tokubetsu Kicho certificate attributing it to Den Seki Kanetomo. The shinogi is notably high in relation to the kasane, giving the blade a substantial and weighty feel.The Shitahara school was a group of swordsmiths active around Hachioji in Musashi Province from the late Muromachi period through the Edo period. Their workmanship is characterized by dark-toned jigane with prominent jihada and ji-nie activity, including chikei.The sayagaki by Dr. Kanzan records this blade as a work traditionally attributed to Kanetomo based on an old attribution.Koshirae:Tsuba: iron base carved with figures.Fuchi: shakudo nanako base carved with a design of a bow and arrowKashira: made of HornMenuki: carved with a design of samurai.NBTHK Hozon CertificateNBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho CertificateAoiArt estimation paper: Whole OshigataPlease note: the price does not inclu
NihontoWatchOffered by Aoi Art
This piece has sold
7 on the market
Get an email when new Shitahara School work hits the market.
Shinto · Musashi
7 pieces on the market now
The Shitahara group (下原) worked at Hachiōji in Bushū, the old province of Musashi, from the end of the Muromachi period and carried its forge on into the Edo period. The setsumei place the lineage among the swordmakers of Musashi in the kotō age and name Terushige, Yasushige, Hiroshige, and Chikashige as its leading hands, with the meikan recording Terushige across three generations: a shodai in Kyōroku, a nidai in Eiroku, and a sandai in Tenshō. " That same blade was made to order, in this case from Hagiwara Kaminao of Kōshū, marking the group as a working provincial forge serving its region. In the forging the setsumei return repeatedly to an itame-hada freely mixed with mokume that stands up rather than lying flat, the grain described as hada-datsu, often running to nagare near the edge and taking on an ayasugi-like, whorled or vortex-like cast in the jigane. The temper is a moderately undulating notare into which gunome enter, frequently in regular paired sequences, with pointed togariba, a chōji-like feeling at times, and ko-nie clinging along a nioiguchi that can settle into a subdued shizumi tone; sunagashi and ashi appear within the ha, and the bōshi tends to run midare-komi and turn back in maru. One katana sets gunome, ō-midare and angular elements into a notare, its bōshi sweeping off in hakikake.
The setsumei read this hand as a synthesis drawing on late Sōshū and the Muramasa line together with late Mino tendencies, which together account for the standing grain and the paired gunome. For kantei the markers are consistent: the risen mokume with its ayasugi turn, the regularly paired gunome, and a build suited to the uchigatana of the closing Muromachi years, often with pronounced sakizori and an extended chū-kissaki. Carving recurs, including bō-hi, bonji, gomabashi, and a deeply cut kurikara-ryū whose coiling tail the NBTHK singles out as characteristic. Named and dated pieces anchor the group: the Yamamoto Genjirō Terushige naginata, uncommon as a double-edged ryōba form, and a Terushige katana appraised between Eiroku and Tenshō that the register calls the hakubi of the school. The setsumei note that Shitahara work survives in number into the shintō period while outstanding examples remain few, which sets these designated blades apart within the lineage. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Terushige照重 | 1558-1570 | 2 |
| Terushige照重 | 1596-1615 | 1 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1558-1570 | 1 |
| Morishige盛重 | 1661-1673 | 0 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1661-1704 | 0 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
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 you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.