NihontoWatchKatana in Shirasaya (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token) (NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho Token)(Shibata estimation paper) (We divide 4 sections for each sword as Saijyo Saku, Jyojyo Saku, Jyo Saku and Regular Saku). This blade is ranked as Jyojyo Saku among the works of Joshu Mito Ju Katsumura Tokukatsu. Shape: A katana with a relatively wide mihaba, moderate curvature, and an elongated kissaki. Jigane: Exceptionally well-forged ko-itame hada mixed with masame, producing a fine and refined jigane. Hamon: Suguha mixed with gunome, featuring numerous overlapping kinsuji. The boshi displays a midarekomi pattern, ending in a small rounded turnback with a yakitsume-like appearance. Features: By August 1870, Japan was approaching the period when restrictions on wearing swords would be introduced, and this must have been a matter of great concern to swordsmiths. Joshu Mito Ju Katsumura Tokukatsu was undoubtedly facing similar uncertainty and may have devoted particular care to producing outstanding swords as the remaining opportunities for his craft seemed increasingly limited. This blade displays prominent masame hada in the shinogi-ji, while the exceptionally tightly forged jigane reveals a delicate, fine masame grain. The hamon is particularly impressive, with numerous layers of kinsuji creating rich and varied activity. Eventually, the Haitorei Edict of 1876 brought major changes to the sword-making profession, severely reducing demand for swords and interrupting production for many smiths. The craft underwent significant changes before sword production was revived in later years of the Meiji period. Historical Background: Completion and Lighting of Jogashima Lighthouse (August 13, 1870 / September 8, 1870, Gregorian Calendar) Jogashima Lighthouse, located at the southern tip of the Miura Peninsula, was completed and began operating as Japan's 5th Western-style lighthouse. This was one of the important developments symbolizing the modernization of Japan's maritime transportation. Establishment of the Engineering School and Survey Office (August 14, 1870 / September 9, 1870, Gregorian Calendar) To train modern engineers, the Engineering School (Kogakuryo), which later developed into the Imperial College of Engineering and eventually became part of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Engineering, was established under the Ministry of Public Works. On the same day, a Survey Office was established under the Ministry of Popular Affairs to conduct accurate surveys of Japan's territory. Opening of Telegraph Communication Between Osaka and Kobe (August 20, 1870 / September 15, 1870, Gregorian Calendar) A telegraph connection was established between Osaka and Kobe, enabling communication between the 2 cities. Following the opening of the Tokyo–Yokohama telegraph line the previous year, this marked another important step in the expansion of Japan's early telegraph network. Establishment of a Middle School in Tokyo Prefecture (August 22, 1870 / September 17, 1870, Gregorian Calendar) One of the first modern middle schools was established in Tokyo Prefecture, marking the beginning of a more systematic approach to modern education. These developments demonstrate the tremendous momentum behind the establishment of schools throughout Japan during this period. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token. NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho Token. Shibata estimation paper
Mito (Swordsmiths) School水戸鍛冶派
Offered by Aoi Art
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As written by the shop
Shinshinto · Hitachi
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The Mito swordsmiths worked under the Tokugawa branch house that governed Suifu (水府) in Hitachi province during the closing decades of the Edo period. The setsumei gather two principal hands whose blades carry the shinshintō date inscriptions of the Bunka through Keiō years, together with a daishō by the tenth lord of the domain. Ichige Tokuchika (市毛徳鄰, also recorded with the title Ōmi-no-suke and at times read Tokurin), common name Genzaemon, was born in An'ei 6 (1777); he first studied under the domain smith Kume Naganori, then traveled to Osaka to train in the school of Ozaki Suketaka, and in Bunka 6 (1809) was taken on as an officially retained smith of the domain. Katsumura Tokukatsu (勝村徳勝), common name Hikoroku, was born in Bunka 6 (1809) in Mito and learned first from the domain smith Sekinai Tokumune; in Kaei 5 (1852) he was sent by domain order up to Edo, where the records say he entered the circles of Hosokawa Masayoshi and the Ishidō smith Unju Korekazu, and in the Bunkyū years he relocated to the Mito residence at Koishikawa. The third name is Tokugawa Keitoku (順公, Junkō), tenth lord of the domain, whose daishō survives in a black wax-lacquer mounting with hollyhock-crested fittings by the domain artisan Tamagawa Yoshihisa. The setsumei place all of this within the bakumatsu service of a domain whose Tokugawa loyalist temper is felt in the martial bearing of its blades. The two productive hands do not share a single style, and the setsumei keep them apart. Tokuchika is read primarily through his Osaka schooling: a tightly forged ko-itame with dense ji-nie and fine chikei, and a tempering range that runs from large gunome-midare swept into a billowing tōran manner after Suketaka, to a quieter suguha with shallow notare that the writers compare to Shinkai and to Suishinshi Naotane. His hamon characteristically opens with a yakidashi, carries deep nioi and thick nie, and shows kinsuji and sunagashi against a bright nioiguchi; the bōshi turns in ko-maru with a long kaeri.
Tokukatsu reads as the opposite temperament. The setsumei describe broad, long blades of thick kasane and shallow sori with an imposing martial form, forged in masame-hada that tends toward standing grain, tempered in a chū-suguha base with shallow notare and intermittent ko-gunome, the habuchi breaking into hotsure with abundant sunagashi and kinsuji, and a bōshi swept with vigorous hakikake. The writers read in this a Yamato temperament and link his later work directly to the Shikkake tradition, noting that his early period followed Sekinai's itame and gunome before he settled into the masame and suguha of Yamato-den. For kantei, the recurring inscriptions Suifu-jū, Mito-jū, and Tosumi anchor the signatures, with Tokuchika's wording shifting from Mito-jū to Suifu-jū around the Bunsei era, a marker the writers use to date the work. Several blades carry named or recorded provenance: a Tokukatsu katana bears the inscription naming Sakai Tadahiro of Shizuoka, another is styled with the gō Shōri-ken (勝利剣, "Victory"), and a third was judged to carry a daimei by his disciple Masakatsu. The setsumei also record the Imperial line: a wakizashi signed Mito Hachiman-jū Ichige Tokurin, presented through the Governor of Ibaraki, is recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, and there the writers name Tokuchika the finest of the Mito shinshintō smiths. Horimono appear rarely, the Tokukatsu katana with bonji and sankō-ken in ukibori being noted as unusual for his hand. Across the corpus the writers treat Tokuchika's tōran and Shinkai-toned work and Tokukatsu's Yamato-den masame as the two distinct registers by which Mito blades of the bakumatsu are recognized. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tokurin徳鄰 | 1812-1830 | 11 |
| Norikatsu徳勝 | 1848-1872 | 5 |
| Norikatsu徳勝 | 1868-1912 | 0 |
| Yoshiatsu慶篤 | — | 1 |
| Tokurin徳隣 | 1818-1830 | 1 |
Meiji: survival after the edict
The Haitōrei edict of 1876 ended sword wearing and nearly ended the craft itself. Military demand and imperial patronage kept a remnant alive, and in 1906 Gassan Sadakazu and Miyamoto Kanenori were named Artists to the Imperial Household.
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.
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