Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade bears the signature Ashū-jū Minamoto Yoshihiro, oite Buzen Kokura saku (阿州住源吉広於豊前小倉作) and is dated to the first year of the Genji era (1864), near the end of the Edo period. The inscription is translated as: “Made in Kokura, Buzen Province, by Minamoto Yoshihiro, a resident of Ashū.” Ashū was another name for Awa Province, now Tokushima Prefecture, while Kokura in the former Buzen Province is now part of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture. The inscription therefore records that Yoshihiro, who was based in Awa, forged this blade in Kokura in 1864. The Yoshihiro lineage is believed to have begun with the first-generation smith, who worked in Ise-Yamada during the Enpō era (1673–1681). The Yoshihiro name was subsequently passed down through successive generations until the closing years of the Edo period, and a later generation is thought to have relocated to Awa Province. Background This sword was forged in the twelfth of Genji 1(元治元年, 1864), at the close of a year marked by major upheavals during the Bakumatsu (幕末)—the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1864, the Shinsengumi(新選組), a samurai force charged with maintaining order in Kyoto, raided the Ikedaya inn, where activists advocating loyalty to the emperor and the expulsion of foreign powers had gathered. That same year, forces from the Chōshū domain fought troops from Aizu, Satsuma, and other domains near Kyoto’s Imperial Palace in the Kinmon Incident. Following Chōshū’s defeat, the shogunate launched its first punitive expedition against the domain, further deepening Japan’s political divisions. Military conflict also unfolded near Kokura, where this sword was made. In response to Chōshū’s attacks on foreign shipping, a combined fleet from Britain, France, the United States, and the Netherlands attacked the coastal batteries at Shimonoseki, across the Kanmon Strait. As an important gateway between Kyushu and Japan’s main island of Honshu, Kokura stood close to where domestic unrest and confrontation with foreign powers converged. In 1866, during the shogunate’s second expedition against Chōshū, warfare reached Kokura itself. As Chōshū forces advanced, Kokura’s defenders set fire to their own castle and withdrew. Even as firearms changed the nature of warfare during these turbulent years, the Japanese sword remained both a weapon carried by samurai and a treasured symbol of their status and pride. Preserved to this day, this blade offers a tangible connection to the world of the samurai at a pivotal moment in Japan’s history. Appraisal This Katana blade was appraised as a Tokubetsu Hozon Token (特別保存刀剣). It was issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai:日本美術刀剣保存協会). This authentication papers were only given to authentic Japanese swords, well preserved and high quality with artistic value. *Please keep in mind that there are a couple of Kitae Kizu as well as some Hike Kizu (scratch) on the blade. Fuchi-Kashira This fuchi-kashira is decorated with dragon and Tsuno Daishi motifs. Like the other sword fittings in this mounting, the fuchi features a dragon (ryū, 龍), creating a sense of visual unity. The kashira, meanwhile, depicts Tsuno Daishi (角大師, Horned Great Master), the demon-like form of Ryōgen (912–985), an eminent Buddhist monk also known as Ganzan Daishi. According to tradition, Ryōgen assumed this fearsome, horned appearance to drive away disease and evil spirits. Images of Tsuno Daishi have therefore long been used in Japan as protective talismans intended to ward off misfortune and epidemics. Tsuka and Menuki The theme of the Menuki is the dragon (龍, Ryū). The dragon is an imaginary creature that originated in ancient Chinese mythology and has long been regarded as an auspicious symbol associated with power, wisdom, and good fortune. According to traditional descriptions, its body combines the characteristics of nine different animals: the antlers of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a Mizuchi (蛟, a Japanese mythical serpent-like creature with horns and four legs), the scales of a fish, the claws of a falcon, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of a cow. Because it embodies the finest qualities of many creatures, the dragon was believed to reign supreme over all animals. These menuki are further enhanced with gold inlay (kin-zōgan, 金象嵌), a decorative technique in which gold is carefully inlaid into the surface of the metal. This refined craftsmanship not only highlights the dragon’s dynamic form but also reflects the high level of artistry found in Japanese sword fittings. In Japan, dragons have also been revered as water deities through the tradition known as Ryūjin Shinkō (竜神信仰, Dragon God Worship). As rice cultivation has always depended on a stable water supply, dragons came to symbolize rain, rivers, fertility, and prosperity. For this reason, dragon motifs have remained one of the most popular and auspicious designs in Japanese sword mountings for centuries. Tsuba and Habaki The theme of this Tsuba is Unryū (雲竜), a stylized depiction of a dragon emerging from or surrounded by clouds. Unryū combines two auspicious motifs: the dragon and clouds. In Japanese tradition, dragons are revered as deities associated with water, rain, and rivers, while clouds symbolize the life-giving rain essential for agriculture. Because rice cultivation has long been central to Japanese society, water was regarded as one of the most precious natural resources. As a result, the Unryū motif came to symbolize prayers for abundant rainfall, prosperous harvests, and good fortune, making it a popular decorative theme on sword fittings and other works of art. Kougai This item is an antique Kougai (笄), which was used to arrange or fix the hairstyle of Samurai. The Kougai is usually stored in the Kougai Hitsu. The Kozuka (小柄) is often stored at the other side of the scabbard. This kougai also features a design of Dragon (龍, Ryu) . Saya This scabbard is covered with black lacquer. Due to its high waterproof effect, lacquer has been used since ancient times in Asia. The blade of a Japanese sword is made of iron, and moisture is the greatest enemy of iron. For the purpose of carrying the blade without degrading it, people devised a method of coating the scabbard with lacquer. To prevent not only moisture but also rain and snow from penetrating the inside of the scabbard, it was necessary to apply multiple layers of lacquer. The Nushi (塗師, lacquerers) was born precisely because advanced techniques were required to handle the complicated processes. The design features a horse (馬, Uma) design. For samurai, the horse was not only an essential companion in battle but also held significant cultural meaning in Japan. The horse symbolizes strength, nobility, and loyalty, reflecting qualities that were highly valued by the samurai. In Japanese culture, the horse is also seen as a symbol of grace, freedom, and connection to nature, often appearing in various forms of art and tradition. Authentication Paper NBTHK,, also known as Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai (the Society for the Preservation of the Japan Art Sword), is one of the oldest Japanese sword appraising organizations in modern-day Japan. They authenticated the Katana blade on February 16th in the 8th year of the Reiwa (2026) . It means the blade worth preserving for Japanese society. Registration Number The Board of Education in Hyogo prefecture issued a registration paper for the Katana blade.
Offered by Samurai Museum
3 on the market
Shinto · Hizen · around 1652-1655
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 37%
3 pieces on the market now
Where Yoshihiro stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
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Shinto · Hizen
105 pieces on the market now
The Hizen school began with a single domain commission. In Keicho 1 (1596) the Nabeshima of Hizen ordered Hashimoto Shinzaemon, the smith who would sign Tadayoshi, up to Kyoto with the carver Munenaga; there he entered the gate of Umetada Myoju and studied forging while Munenaga learned the chisel. The two returned to the province in Keicho 3 (1598), and Tadayoshi settled in the castle town below Saga, where under the domain's patronage the line grew into the dominant sword-making house of Kyushu. His own work runs from Keicho 5 (1600) to his death in Kan'ei 9 (1632); in Genna 10 (1624) he received the court title Musashi Daijo, changed his name to Tadahiro, and shifted his clan name from Minamoto to Fujiwara, so that the late Musashi Daijo blades are the founder under a second name. From him the house became a true generational institution: his son the second-generation Omi Daijo Tadahiro carried it forward as its most prolific hand, the third-generation Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi returned its highest finish, and a Tosa no Kami branch took the founder's signature when he set it aside. Around this main line grew a circle of disciples and collateral hands, the waki-Hizen or Soba-Hizen smiths, several of them, like Yoshiie and Hironori, working as daisaku substitute makers whose own signed pieces are therefore scarce. The school's signature is its steel. Over a ko-itame forged so tightly it shows no slackness, fine ji-nie gathers in minute particles until the surface takes on the rice-bran konuka-hada (also written komenuka-hada) that no other school produces, fine chikei entering throughout and the ji notably clear and bright.
The orthodox temper laid upon it is a chu-suguha or hiro-suguha, sometimes tinged with a shallow notare and ko-gunome, the nioiguchi deep with finely clustered ko-nie and tightened to a bright clarity, the boshi running straight to a quiet ko-maru. The founder aimed this suguha toward the Rai school yet departed from it, his nioiguchi tighter and his forging carrying more vigor; the third generation refined it to what the published sources call the strongest and most precise hand of the first three generations. Against that calm register the house also worked a showier one, the Hizen choji-midare mixing gunome, long ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi, a manner the published sources already find more often in the founder's late Musashi Daijo work than in his Tadayoshi years, and one the second generation made his own. The branches pushed further from the suguha standard: Tadakuni of the Ogi domain ran sunagashi more conspicuously than any other Hizen hand and reached toward old Ichimonji in his o-choji; Masahiro and Yukihiro favored a flamboyant long-ashi choji over the calm main line; and the Iyo no Jo Munetsugu line worked apart in the Soshu-den, building a midareba on notare with a pointed togariba and a jihada that tends to stand and tone slightly blackish. A collector seeks Hizen-to first for that steel, and reads it the same way the appraiser does: a bright suguha lying over a clear, tight konuka-hada identifies the school before the signature is consulted, and the quiet ko-maru boshi on the ura-signed tang confirms the main-line practice. Generation and branch are then told within that frame, the third generation's powerful sugata recalling not his father but his grandfather, the waki-Hizen hands set apart by their irregular temper, their sujikai file marks and a sashi-ura signature, the Munetsugu line by its Soshu togari. The main line, made in real numbers across so long a span, reaches the market more readily than any Kamakura master, so a papered example is within reach of a patient collector, while the founder's own work and the finest konuka-suguha of the third generation come to open hands only from time to time. Provenance runs back through the house the school served, blades recorded to Nabeshima Katsushige and Nabeshima Naomoto and passing onward to the Owari Tokugawa, the Satake and the Imperial families; documentary inscriptions sharpen the picture further, a Myoju soemei attesting the founder's discipleship, Umetada carving adding flowers to brocade on his late blades, and the gold-inlaid cutting tests of Yamano Kanjuro and Yamano Ka'emon, rare on Hizen work, naming the edge as well as the hand. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1596-1632 | 155 |
| Tadayoshi忠吉 | 1660-1686 | 61 |
| Tadahiro忠廣 | 1633-1693 | 133 |
| Masahiro正廣 | 1624-1655 | 30 |
| Tadakuni忠國 | 1648-1652 | 32 |
Hizen: a domain enterprise
Hizen swords were a domain enterprise: the Nabeshima sent Tadayoshi to study under Umetada Myōju around 1596, then built a licensed school around him. Nine generations carried its famously consistent konuka-hada work into the Meiji era.
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 siteReturns/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.
¥1,650,000