Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchSummary This blade was forged by Yamato Daijyo Fijiwara Masanori(大和大掾藤原正則), who was born in Miyatsu city, Tango koku(northern Koyoto prefecture). Based on his remaining work, he was active during the early Edo period(the 13th year of Keisho-the fourth year of Keian:1608-1651). Masanori is famous for having forged extremely sharp blades and was popular among high-class Samurai. It is said that he was a descendant of Yamashiro koku Sanjyo Yoshinori(山城国三条吉則), one of the most famous swordsmiths during the Muromachi period（Prior to Edo period).After learning the sword-forging technique from his father, Norimitsu(則光) in Miyatsu city, Norimitsu, he moved to Kyoto city. Masanori eventually was noticed and supported by Matsudaira Hideyasu, the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo government. Hideysu was the feudal lord of Echizen province during the early Edo period. He then moved to Echizen province to serve the Matsudaira clan. He became an Okakaekaji for Matsudaira Tadanao(松平忠直), who was the first son of Matsudaira Hideyasu. An Okakaekaji means those who exclusively forged swords for specific Samurai or clan. It was honorable for any makers to serve this position back then. He also received an official title of Yamato Daijyo from the emperor for his excellent craftsmanship. About Echizen province Echizen Province was famous for forging razor-sharp, practically designed swords. The Edo government, run by the Tokugawa clan, ordered many blades from the swordsmiths in this province during the Edo period(1603-1868). It is appraised as a Hozon Token (保存刀剣) issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai: 日本美術刀剣保存協会). *Please keep in mind that there are a few Kitae Kizu and chip on this blade. Fuchi-Kashira This Fuchi-Kashira features a depiction of the Kikusui-mon (菊水紋), or “Chrysanthemum and Flowing Water” motif. This auspicious design combines chrysanthemums floating upon or accompanied by flowing water, creating an elegant composition long associated with longevity, purity, and refinement in Japanese art and culture. The chrysanthemum (kiku, 菊) has been revered in Japan as a noble flower symbolizing immortality, rejuvenation, and dignity. Closely associated with the Imperial family, it also represents authority, elegance, and auspicious fortune. Flowing water, meanwhile, signifies purification, continuity, and the perpetual flow of life. The combination of chrysanthemum and water derives in part from Chinese classical traditions in which chrysanthemum petals drifting upon streams were believed to bestow longevity and ward off misfortune. Also, the surface of this Fuchi-Kashira is decorated using the Nanako-ji (魚々子地) technique. Nanako-ji is a traditional metalworking technique in which countless tiny, uniform dots are meticulously punched into the surface, creating a texture resembling fish roe. Tsuka and Menuki The theme of this Memuki appears to be Karajishi (唐獅子, lion) . The Shishi (獅子) means a lion in Japanese, and the Karajishi is a lion brought from the continent to Japan in the Toh period (唐, Tang dynasty, 618-907). The Karajishi typically has curly hair for its head, neck, body, and tail, as seen on this work. In Buddhism, the Karajishi is regarded as a symbol of wisdom, and Monju Bosatu (文殊菩薩, Manjushri Bodhisattva) rides lions. According to a theory, the Karajishi is the origin of Komainu (狛犬, stone guardian dogs that exorcize evil spirits). It shows this animal motif has been familiar to Japanese people since ancient times. Tsuba and Habaki This circular iron Tsuba features the design of horses (馬, Uma). 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. Saya This saya features raden(螺鈿) craftsmanship, a traditional Japanese decorative technique. Raden involves inlaying or embedding thin pieces of shell, such as mother-of-pearl or abalone, into lacquer or other materials. The shimmering, iridescent quality of the shells creates a striking visual effect, reflecting light in a play of colors that range from soft pastels to vivid hues. This technique has been used in Japan for centuries, adorning everything from furniture to accessories and weapons, showcasing the skill and artistry of the craftsman. *This Saya shows some flaking of the lacquer and several scratches. If you would like more details about its condition, please feel free to contact us. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on April 1st in the 15th year of Heisei (2003). They appraised it as Hozon Touken, the blade worth preserving for Japanese society. Registration Number It is called Jyu Ho Token Rui Torokusho (銃砲刀剣類登録証).
Masanori正則
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Echizen Shinto (Fukui, Echizen); signing Yamato Daijo Fujiwara Masanori · Echizen · around 1596-1615
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Masanori signed his work in full as Yamato Daijo Fujiwara Masanori[[c:1]], and the earliest of his dated blades carries the year Keicho 13 (1608), with later pieces reaching Genna 2 (1616), Kan'ei 1 (1624) and Keian 4 (1651). That span sets him squarely in the first generation of Echizen smiths working at Fukui in the opening decades of the Edo period, active alongside the first and second generations of Echizen Yasutsugu. The published sources transmit, as one view only, that he descended from Sanjo Yoshinori of Yamashiro, that his native province was Miyazu in Tango, and that he afterward moved to Fukui in Echizen. They place him in the immediate orbit of Yasutsugu, perhaps as a pupil, and add that even where that cannot be shown it is difficult to deny that he came under that smith's influence[[c:2]]. The name continued through several more generations after him, but it is this first Masanori, with his long signature and his ubu nakago, whose hand the four designated blades record.
His everyday manner is read first off the jigane. Over an itame that flows and stands a little (板目 on all four blades, hada-dachi on three, with flowing grain entering on two) he lays ji-nie, and on the larger katana chikei (地景) appears; the steel is sometimes blackish. The hamon that runs above it is a midareba built from gunome, large gunome, pointed togariba and yahazu-like (矢筈) heads, with ko-nie attaching, the boshi running midare-komi to a small round turnback. What the published sources return to, however, is not any single feature of the line but the character of the nioiguchi: it tends to sink, somewhat subdued, and they sum the whole up by saying that his is a subdued-nioiguchi blade generally close to the Seki smiths, 「匂口の沈んだ刃で, 一般に関物に近い」. That sinking quality, paired with the flowing standing jigane, is the closest thing he has to a constant tell across the busier work.
Not every blade is busy. On one of the naginata the hand quiets entirely: the kitae is a fine ko-itame with only a slight tendency to stand, ji-nie appearing, and the hamon settles into a suguha (直刃) with ashi and ko-nie, the boshi straight to a ko-maru. The published sources name this suguha alongside the midareba as the other thing he often produces, and they judge the piece refined in its forging, with the ji and ha well ordered throughout, 「地鉄が精美で地刃の出来がよく整った」. It is the disciplined counterpart to the flowing midare manner, and it shows that his Echizen training carried a calmer register as readily as the showier one.
The ceiling of his work lies elsewhere again. His seventh-session designated katana, the oldest of the four on record, is the height of his ambition: a wide blade running to a large point, cut on the omote in single-bevel construction (片切刃) and on the ura in shinogi-zukuri, modeled after the so-called Kiriba-Sadamune (切刃貞宗). Above a standing itame with frequent muneyaki runs a paired so-mon in a large midare (双文大乱) mixed with gunome, ashi and yo entering freely, sunagashi running through, and the ura passing into full tempering (皆焼), the boshi thrusting up with hakikake and nie. A sankoken (三鈷剣) is carved on the omote. Of this blade the published sources write that the workmanship is excellent, very nearly reaching the first-generation Yasutsugu, and that among Masanori's own works there is none to set beside it, 「殆んど初代康継に迫るものがあり, 同作中これに比すべきものがない」. The katakiriba construction is itself a recurring trait of his record rather than a one-off, appearing on a naginata as well, but it is on this katana that the Sadamune model is named and the ambition fully realized.
What distinguishes Masanori within the crowded field of Echizen Shinto is best drawn from his own grounded features rather than by contrast with his neighbors. The flowing, standing itame and the sinking nioiguchi are the marks the published sources tie to his closeness to the Seki tradition, and they are what hold his everyday work together; against them, the katakiriba blades and the Sadamune-modeled showpiece are the reach toward an older and grander manner. The judges note on the twenty-third-session naginata that his own characteristic features show densely in the ji and ha of that piece, 「地刃に正則の特色が濃く」, and on the same blade that the carving is splendid besides. He is, in the school's reckoning, a smith whose typical work sits close to Seki yet who could, on his best day, turn out a katana that approached the founder of his own province's Shinto tradition.
Masanori's designated record stands at four Juyo blades, two katana and two naginata, every one signed in full and on an ubu nakago; his record reaches the Juyo tier and no higher, and none of the four carries a recorded line of provenance or a named owner. The seventh-session katana, the Sadamune-modeled piece the published sources rank without equal in his output, is the work by which he is best known, and the two naginata, one quiet in suguha and one densely his own, round out a small but coherent body. For the collector this is a smith whose work surfaces only occasionally and whose finest blade is a landmark when it appears; the signed Echizen katana and naginata of his hand are not beyond reach in the way a designated cultural property would be, but they come to market rarely, and a piece in which his subdued nioiguchi and flowing standing jigane are clearly present rewards patience more than it does pursuit.
Where Masanori 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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The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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.
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