Fujishiro: YUKIMITSU KASHU [KUNBUN 1661 ETCHU] SHINTO CHÛJÔSAKU

He lived in Etchu Toyama, and at the command of Toyama Taisho (governer), he became a pupel of Ishido. Mr. Ueno Kabei says he is korekazu. (Wazamono)

Signatures: YUKIMITSU
Omi No Daijo Fujiwara Yukimitsu

From the Mino Gokkaden The kashu school flourished in Kaga province. It was there that a castle town was built by Maeda Toshiie who was one of Oda Nobunaga’s retainers. It was in koto times that the fujishima school started to produce swords in this area. The three schools of note from that area was the Darani, the kiyomitsu and the kaga seki. This sword has a very elegant sori and is signed with a 2 character signature of yuki mitsu.The first Yukimitsu is believed to be the son of Tomoshige. The Yukimitsu smiths show strong Soshu characteristics and also that of the Yamato school. Their tradition flourished into the Shinto era. The hada is composed of a masame-nagare with a hint of itame with ji-nie that jumps off the blade. The hamon is an erratic gunome-midare with togare-ba and much activity. The hamon is just layered with sunagashi, kinsuji ashi and yo. The boshi is so incredibly active that one can study this feature for hours, again layered with strands of nie!! The nakago-jiri is especially kashu influenced finished in Iriyama-gata style. The fujishima smiths used this nakago-jiri often as it became known as “kashu nakago”. The yukimitsu smiths used this style of nakago most of all from among the kaga group.

This fine samurai sword shows many the excellent features that are highly regarded in the Kashu school. The overall polish and condition is excellent. The hamon is loaded with beautiful activity and the hada is well forged. This is a very elegant wakazashi from the shinto era. The shape of the blade is very well balanced and is very sharp! We feel that the polish of this sword is excellent and the sword does not need to be polished but it should be place in a shirasaya some day to preserve the polish. The next important feature on this sword is its mounts. These mounts are 100% original and have never been restored or altered. This in itself is a valuable asset for this fine blade. The handle is wrapped in silk that is lacquered. The saya lacquer work is also out of the norm and stands out for its design and quality. The dragon fuchi/kashira are of great quality and the tsukashi tsuba really sets off the overall feel of this sword’s mounts. The menuki are fine looking and at the end of the saya it even has a very good iron kojire. This blade can be submitted for papers someday but if not its value will still hold strong as this smith is well known and is in exquisite mounts!