Echizen Kaneshige (fss-859)

Echizen Kaneshige (fss-859)

by | Jan 31, 2020

Echizen Kaneshige (fss-859) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale Item description: Echizen Kaneshige was a member of the Echizen Seki school. He was one of many swordsmiths who moved to Echizen province from Seki in Mino province around the middle of the 17th century. They were most active during the years 1658 through 1680. They worked in what we call the Shinto tokuden tradition that was fashionable at the time, as well as their original Mino tradition. Besides Kaneshige, the following smiths are classified as being part of the Echizen Seki school.Shigetaka,Kanenaka,Kanetane,Kanenori, Kanenori, Kanemasa, Kanetoshi, Kanetaka, Hirotaka, Yoshitane, and Kanenori. This is a very nice well forged tanto in the Echizen style. It is ubu with one mekugi-ana. the sword is in a very nice older polish with some slight staining. The hamon is gunome midare with a notarish feel. The hada is an itame mokume blend with lots of chikei and ji-nie abounds. The boshi is maru with a longish turnback.A fine example of an Echizen smith at the pinnacle of his work. During the Momoyama period, it was Toyotomi Hideyoshi who sent Tokugawa Ieyasu’s son Hidetada, to govern Echizen province. It is sometimes seen as a banishment rather than any kind of reward, the main object of which was to dilute or fragment the ever-growing power and influence of the Tokugawa.However, it was this branch of the family, called the Matsudaira, which attracted many swordsmiths and tsuba makers. As the country settled down after the Senogoku-jidai and swordsmiths sought patronage, many moved to the great martial provinces. Principally, swordsmiths going to Echizen were from Seki...
BUNGO NORIYUKI (fss-858)

BUNGO NORIYUKI (fss-858)

by | Jan 31, 2020

BUNGO NORIYUKI (fss-858) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale A beautifully crafted sword with outstanding hada in a rare shape with longish kissaki, this blade is signed ” BUNGO JU FUJIWARA NORIYUKI”.  The blade is a longish wakazashi which is ubu with one hole and signed. A signed Shinto wakazashi that has a hoso-suguha hamon with hataraki. A nice well worked mokume with much ji-nie.  A good blend of activity can be seen and appreciated within this blade in the Shinto fujiwara takada tradition. The Nakago is a very nice Iriyama-gata in shape. There is a silver foil habaki  This blade comes with a paper from the nthk authenticating the age and maker.  It is in an older polish with a very high end Japanese shirasaya accentuated with horn throughout with an ivory mekugi trim. The pictures do not do justice to this sword and is striking in hand.  It has some hataraki and ko-nie appear.  The hada is well forged with an appearance  of mokume with Ji-nie. The boshi is ko-maru and a bit longish . This wakazashi has an elegant shape and is very well balanced. It is very rare to find an U-no-kobu-zukuri of this length.  This sword would be a good project sword to mount in fittings some day. A great family of Takada smiths whose blades were once sought after by many samurai. They were collectively known as the 3 “YUKI’S”. A family lead by the grandfather Sadayuki then to the father Masayuki and most prolifically the son Noriyuki who is the creator of this blade. A rare shape and reminds one of the Hizen works which greatly influenced this group of smiths. “In Shinto times the...
Edo Period Katana (fss-856)

Edo Period Katana (fss-856)

by | Jan 30, 2020

Edo Period Katana (fss-856) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale The work on this sword is very elegant. The hamon is a saka-choji with profuse nie peppering the entire surface. In the hamon you can see tsunagashi and kinsuji with a well defined habuchi with much ko-nie to frost the top. The hada is well forged and beautiful in very good shape for an older sword with longish wavy masame running here and there entwined with itame and mokume. Ji-nie appears. The style is that of shinogi-zukuri. midare-komi appears in the boshi and the sword has an older feel to it. To say the sword is covered in ji-nie is an understatement. The nie is abundant on the sword. The sword has a mino school feel to it but may also be from the owari school.  This blade should be submitted to shinsa to add more value and for an official appraisal of this sword. This sword is authentic and antique.  We guarantee that it will pass a shinsa if submitted. The mounts are of Dragonfly theme. According to legend, a dead soul can take the shape of a dragonfly, especially during Bon, the Buddhist Day of the Dead. The was fully restored in red lacquer.  The original color was very similar and dated back over a 100 yeas. The menuki are of bees. The sageo and tsuka-Ito are of a royal blue. The tsuba is of iron with dragonfly motif. The fuchi/kashira are also dragonfly themed. The habaki is a beautiful gold gilded and fluted in style as well as the seppa.   Mei: Mumei Date: Late Edo (1700’s-1800’s) Nagasa: 27-3/8...
Echizen Yasutsugu (fss-855)

Echizen Yasutsugu (fss-855)

by | Jan 17, 2020

Echizen Yasutsugu (fss-855) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale This is a good example of the 3rd generation Yasutsugu.  The quality of this sword is very good and has no flaws.  It was a family sword that was mounted in WWII for the war.  It was mounted with an antique tsuba and antique menuki.  This is not common and adds an interesting detention to the mounts.  The blade has good activity and the hada/grain is very rich and dark looking. This sword is in full polish and is in a shirasaya.  The mounts are held together with a wooden tsunagi.  The sword comes with papers from the Nihon Tōken Hozon Kai (日本刀剣保存会) ‒ NTHK from Japan (Japanese sword preservation society). Info on smith:YASUTSUGU (康継), 3rd gen., Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Musashi – “Yasutsugu nanban-tetsu o motte Bushū Edo ni oite kore o saku” (康継以南蛮鉄於武州江戸作之, “made by Yasutsugu with nanban-tetsu in Edo in Musashi province”), real name Shimosaka Umanosuke (下坂右馬助), he adopted later the first name Ichinojō (市之丞), son of the 2nd gen. Yasutsugu, he was not of age when his father died and so a succession dispute arouse which resulted in the splitting to an Edo and an Echizen branch of the Yasutsugu school, it was settled that both were allowed to call themselves 3rd gen., according to tradition he was fully trained by his uncle and he worked later for the bakufu, we know date signatures from the third year of Kanbun (1663) to the third year of Enpō (延宝, 1675), he worked in the style of the 2nd gen. but did not reach his quality, he...
(Yasakuni) Yasunobu (fss-853)

(Yasakuni) Yasunobu (fss-853)

by | Dec 30, 2019

(Yasukuni) Yasunobu (fss-853) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale An Impressive Yasukuni Shrine sword by the swordsmith Yasunobu. His full name Murakami Yasunobu and given name is Ensaku from Yamagata prefecture.According to the translation by Kenji Mishina for the JSS:He became a member of the NTKF ( Nihonto Tenren Kai Foundation ) 10/15/33 which made approx. 1000 swords.Given his Yasukuni smith name on 1/11/39 by War Minister, Itagaki Seishiro.Left 8/15/45 after the defeat by the Allied Forces.Donated a sword to the Yasakuni shrine 2/39.Donated a sword to the festival for the 700th anniversary of retired-Emporer Gotoba 3/39.Won the Chairman Award at the 2nd Gunto Tenran Kai 12/21/44His lineage: Ikeda Yasumitsu ( Ikko or Kazumitsu )He was making agricultural tools under the tutelage of Ikeda Ikko in Yamagata prefecture. This impressive blade is in pristine condition. The polish is outstanding and truly shows off the magnificence of the Yasukuni smiths workmanship. As most Yasukuni blades this is a brilliantly controlled Sugu-ha with a very tight Ko-Itame / Ko-Mokume Hada. The boshi is in Maru with no flaws to be found. The Habaki is finished in copper. And not to understate this completed with a wonderfully done Shira-saya of Honoki.Anyone interested in owning a truly perfect example of a Yasukuni Shrine blade by a noted Yasukuni Shrine Smith should own this sword or add it to their collection. This is a link to information about the Yasakuni shrine.  It has a long and extensive history and is a place that that the Japanese people visit regularly.   YASAKUNI SHRINE Mei: Yasunobu Date: Showa era Nagasa: 24-5/8 inches Sori: 15.0 mm Width at...