A beautifully made sword by the smith “ Yamashiro no kami Yasutsugu “. This blade is a spectacular Notare-midare with gunome And an almost Toran-ba appearance. The Nioi-guchi is deep and the blade is frosted in Ji-nie. There are bands of thick kinsuji as well as sunagashi. Nie frosts the habuchi.  The hada is a tight itame mixed with some mokume. There is  masame  in the shinogi-ji. The Yasutsugu school is famous for what has been called Echizen gane or hadadachi-gokoro. This hada consists of the tight itame/mokume mentioned above with the presence of shirake or whitish patches in the steel structure that are mixed with the real color of a darker hue. This blade is absolutely gorgeous and would be an outstanding piece for any collection.
The Koshirae is equally attractive and a true Samurai style of mounting. The saya is a black lacquer with striations from top to bottom. The fuchi/kashira and tsuba are of a group of men and or scholarts in a golden robes or garb. The menuki are mounted on old Same and are of galloping horses. The Ito is of gold with matching sageo. There is a rain pattern silver habaki with a plain upper portion. There is an older shirasaya with a beautiful aged patina. A wonderful sword for the discriminate collector.

Information about the school:
The first generation was Kan’ei period 1624-1644, Nagato. He lived in Nagato’s Fuchu, real name Fujishima Hayato no Suke Minomoto Yasutsugu. There was a 2^nd gen. also Nagato-Yasutsugu. There was also a 3^rd generation from Musashi- Yamato no Kami Yasutsugu, first name Sotayu, son of Yamato no kami Yasusada, he signed in early years with Yasutsugu and Yasunobu. It is said he signed after the death of his father with “ Yamato no kami Yasusada “ also. He is known for his dense itame with much ji-nie, notare or sugu-ha mixed with gunome and sunagashi.