NihontoWatchThis daishô pairs a katana by first-generation Masahiro of Hizen, made around the Kan’ei era, with a wakizashi by Osafune Sanemitsu dated to the eighth month of Ôei 13 (August 1406). Two blades, two traditions, more than two centuries apart. That was exactly the fashionable move in the Shintô period: a new katana matched with an old Kotô wakizashi, a choice that spoke to the owner’s taste and discernment. Both blades hold NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, the Edo period daishô koshirae holds its own NBTHK Hozon, and the two tôrokusho were issued on the same day in 2012 with consecutive numbers – these swords have long been kept together as a pair. Masahiro, grandson of the grandmaster Tadayoshi, adopted his name in Kan’ei 2 (1625) and received the title Kawachi Daijô in 1628. He is regarded as the finest of the Waki-Hizen smiths, and Nabeshima Katsushige, lord of Saga domain, retained him as a private smith. His signature gunome-chôji-midare is in full bloom here, with kawazu-no-ko-chôji, bright nioiguchi, yô and sunagashi set against a dense konuka-hada glittering with ji-nie, rising to a flame-like kaen bôshi. Sanemitsu worked in the Morimitsu line of Ôei-Bizen, Osafune’s golden run of peacetime production, when its blades were a principal export in Ashikaga Yoshimitsu‘s new trade with Ming China. The wakizashi is ubu, showing midare-utsuri and chikei, and its bo-hi still carries traces of carved invocations to Marishiten and Daihi Tamonten, guardian deities worshipped by warriors. The koshirae is highly classical, tuxedo-like in its formality, and follows the dress code for attending castle ceremonies: glossy black lacquered saya, white samegawa under black ito, and shakudô nanako fuchi-kashira by Yokoya Terushige, later the third-generation Yokoya Eisei, whose gold onagadori birds are echoed on the gold menuki. The iron Higo tsuba carry scattered kuyô-mon, the nine-planet crest of the Hosokawa family, hinting at an owner of real standing in the domain. The katana’s saya has mellowed to a reddish tone beside its partner, decades of sunlight written into the lacquer, and the open kozuka slot on the wakizashi invites the new owner to add a piece of their own choosing. A tsuba from Higo, a katana from Hizen and a wakizashi from Bizen: three provinces, three traditions, one daishô ready for its next steward.
Offered by Unique Japan
As written by the shop
Bizen-den · Bizen · around 1394-1428
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 26%
1 piece on the market now
Where Sanemitsu 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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Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Bizen-den · Bizen
Phase: Ōei-Bizen応永備前· 1390–1441
186 pieces on the market now
The Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths represent the resurgence of the Osafune school in Bizen Province during the early Muromachi period, an era in which a conscious revival of Kamakura-period aesthetics transformed the character of Bizen swordmaking after the bold, expansive forms of the Nanbokucho period. The school's foremost representatives are Yasumitsu and Morimitsu, described by the NBTHK as the "twin pillars" of Oei-Bizen, both active around the Oei era (1394--1428). Morimitsu is held by one tradition to have been the son of Moromitsu, a representative smith of the late Nanbokucho ko-zori group, and his earliest dated works bridge the transitional character of his father's generation and the fully developed Oei-Bizen idiom. The name Yasumitsu was successively inherited through as many as five generations, while the succeeding Eikyo-Bizen phase -- centered on the fourth-generation Norimitsu and his contemporary Sukemitsu -- carried the tradition forward into the mid-Muromachi period. Related smiths such as Tsuneie of the Hatakeda branch worked in a manner so closely aligned with Osafune production that the NBTHK observes there are "no grounds -- whether in workmanship, the character of the signature, or any other point" by which their work could be distinguished from the main line. Within the Oei-Bizen manner, two principal modes of tempering are recognized. " In both modes the school's identity is revealed through shared forging characteristics: itame-hada mixed with mokume in which the grain stands out conspicuously, with dark lines resembling chikei entering the jihada and midare-utsuri or bo-utsuri standing prominently in the ground. " The boshi assumes the idiosyncratic form popularly termed the "candlewick" (rosoku no shin), becoming pointed at the tip -- a diagnostic hallmark of the school.
A further point of connoisseurship is the finishing of bo-hi with rounded ends (maru-dome) above the machi. The transition from Oei-Bizen to Eikyo-Bizen is marked by Norimitsu's development of a somewhat intermediary character, retaining the koshi-biraki gunome and bright nioiguchi of the earlier masters while introducing tighter grain and elements that point toward the eventual Sue-Bizen style. Moromitsu's earlier production establishes the bridge from the opposite direction, his ko-zori period works showing "signs foreshadowing the style of Oei-Bizen" in their more flamboyant midare passages. The ideal pursued by the Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths "appears to have been a revival of the Kamakura period," visible in their elegant tachi proportions and in the deliberate re-creation of choji tempering that had fallen out of favour during the Nanbokucho period. Yet the NBTHK consistently emphasizes that the school's own distinctive character is always discernible beneath this revivalist surface. " Both masters' works are consistently described as kenzen -- sound and well-preserved -- with a jigane of superior quality possessing an urumi richness. The school's influence pervaded early Muromachi sword production, and the Eikyo-Bizen continuation through Norimitsu ensured that the Osafune tradition maintained vitality and refinement well into the fifteenth century. Whether in the commanding vigour of the large-pattern choji-midare or in the quiet classical elegance of the suguha mode, the Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths collectively represent one of the most accomplished chapters in the long history of Bizen swordsmithing. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsutada光忠 | 1238-1239 | 60 |
| Nagamitsu長光 | 1274-1304 | 254 |
| Kagemitsu景光 | 1303-1336 | 142 |
| Sanenaga眞長 | 1299-1309 | 68 |
| Kanemitsu兼光 | 1323-1370 | 235 |
Bizen in the Muromachi period
Muromachi Osafune was an export industry: the Ming tally trade carried some 128,000 Japanese blades abroad, and Sengoku armies bought at home. Custom orders, often inscribed with the patron’s own name, were forged beside the bundle swords of the ranks.
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 siteAll swords come with a three-day inspection period beginning from the date of delivery. If not satisfied, the sword may be returned within this period for a full refund of the purchase price. Outside of this period, all sales are final. Swords purchased on a layaway payment plan are not eligible for the three-day inspection period.
$35,000