After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchAn interestingly mounted mounted naginatanaoshi wakizashi, shinogizukure, iroi mune. Hawatare: 1 shaku 3 sun 8 bu (41.817 cm / 16.46"). Motohaba: 2.5 m. Kasane: 6 mm. Chu suguba in konie deki, narrow even habuchi. The boshi is yakizume. Tight even jigane. A couple of spotas of stain, as shown. The one in the hamon pictures looks far worse than it is. NBTHK Hozon kanteisho. Mounted with plain iron fuchi-kashira, likely just part of an iron tsuka which is carved to resemble parallel cord wrap, with large Jakushi style plates with gold and silver nunome in place of menuki. As per Robert Haynes, when shown the tsuka, "I have no idea. I have never seen anything like it". The iron Shonai tsuba circa 1700 (as per Robert Haynes), (6.4 cm x 6 cm.) has a wide mimi (1.1 cm.) with diagonal cord design on the outside in keeping with the design of the tsuka. The saya is fine polished and lacquered shark skin, with copper band and a large iron kojiri. An excellent gold and silver two piece habaki, with fine vertical lines underneath an open diagonal crosshatch pattern My first impression was Yamato-den, likely Mihara, and I hoped early. Since Kaifu worked in Yamato-den during the 14th century, I am comfortable with this attribution, which dates it as late Kamakura though Nambokucho. KAIFU: The Kaifu sword group was a school of swordsmiths based in Awa province, the present day Tokushima on the island of Shikoku. They flourished from the Kamakura jidai to the end of the Edo jidai. The Kaifu district that served as a line of defense from the neighboring Tosa province. They are frequently classified as wakimono (not of the gokaden), and considered fascinating though often under rated. Their swords were highly valued for their exceptional cutting ability and practicality. They were particularly popular with the Awa naval forces, and often associated with Japanese pirates operating around Shikoku. Early koto blades resembled those of Yamato-den, or Soshu traditions, later and more common examples are in the style of katakiriba. The design has a bevel on one side of the blade, similar tohoco (kitchen knife) and sometimes had a serrated mune for cutting ropes. The legendary founder was Ujiyoshi , and many smith names start with either Uji os or Yasu in their names, such as Ujiyoshi or Yasuyoshi. During the Edo period, they served the Hachisuka family that ruled the Tokushima domain. Shonai Tsuba 6.4 cm x 6 cm. 1.1 cm Jakushi Style Panels in an Iron Tsuka As per Robert Haynes, "I have no idea. I have never seen anything likeit". NBTHK Hozon
Certificate reading — 無銘（海部）
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9 on the market
Wakimono · Awa
9 pieces on the market now
The Kaifu group (Kaifu-ha, 海部) takes its name from the Kaifu district of Awa Province on Shikoku, in the region of present-day Tokushima. The Kotō Meizukushi and the Kokon Meizukushi place the founder as Kaifu Tarō Ujiyoshi (海部太郎氏吉), set around the Kōryaku era (1379-1381), and record a second strand said to descend from a pupil of Naminohira around the Ōan era (1368-1375) who signed with the single character Fuji (藤). No blade securely traces back to those origins, and the setsumei are consistent that the group's documented activity belongs to the Muromachi period, growing conspicuous from its latter half. The smiths who appear by name on the designated blades are Ujiyoshi (氏吉), Ujishige (氏重), Yasuyoshi (泰吉) with a Daiei 5 (1525) example, and Yasunaga (泰長), placed around the Daiei era; one tantō by Ujishige is read as the earliest of the line, end of Nanbokuchō into early Muromachi. A shintō continuation survives in Fujiwara Ujiyoshi of Kaifu in Ama district, working in the Kyōhō era (1716-1736), whose hand the setsumei describes as late kotō in appearance, his ancestors' manner carried forward without absorbing other provinces' shifts. Forging across the group runs to ko-itame or itame that often flows and inclines toward masame near the edge, with ji-nie and chikei that the setsumei repeatedly call subdued or lacking strong brilliance; shirake-utsuri and a faintly blackish kanairo recur. The temper is most often a suguha base, from a narrow line on the tantō to a broad suguha mixed with ko-notare, gunome, and midare, the nioiguchi frequently hazy and oceanic (bōyō) rather than tight, with ko-nie, kinsuji, and sunagashi; bōshi turn back in ō-maru with long kaeri or run midare-komi with a togari tendency.
The signature Kaifu form is the hira-zukuri tantō of wide mihaba and slight uchizori, carrying a bonji with suken and gomabashi cut as deep kaki-nagashi grooves, the long mei boldly chiselled in thick strokes. The setsumei also note the kiriba-zukuri wakizashi known as Kaifu mountain swords (Kaifu no yamatō), and a high, thick build of utilitarian character; a flowing masame-tinged jigane with hazy temper and a coarse, bōbō nie reads as the group's ordinary signature, while finer pieces in the same idiom step above it. For kantei, a deeply tempered suguha-based blade whose ko-itame carries dense ji-nie can at a glance suggest Go Yoshihiro, and the group's drift toward a Naminohira manner and the old saying that Kaifu work "changed into E" mark the lines along which it is read. The standing of these smiths rests on cutting character: the meibutsu Iwakiri Kaifu, a katana by Ujiyoshi recorded in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō, takes its name from its sharpness, was held by the Miyoshi of Awa with whom Miyoshi Nagayoshi is said to have won martial exploits, and passed thereafter to the Kuroda of Fukuoka. The Ujishige tantō once in the collection of Itō Miyoji is published in the Kōzan Oshigata; a katana by the later Yamato Daijō Ujishige stands at Hiromine Shrine; and two wakizashi by Fujiwara Ujiyoshi were given to the Imperial Household Agency by volunteers from Tokushima. Signed Kaifu blades are few, which makes each named example reference material for the group as a whole. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Ujiyoshi氏吉 | 1492-1501 | 3 |
| Ujishige氏重 | 1655-1658 | 2 |
| Yasunaga泰長 | 1521-1528 | 1 |
| Yasuyoshi泰吉 | 1504-1521 | 1 |
| Ujiyoshi氏吉 | 1596-1615 | 0 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
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.
NBTHK official siteThree day, no penalty, inspection on every item. Returns must be in the same condition as shipped. Actual costs will be charged on returned items. No restocking fee. If you did not like the item is a good enough reason for return.
$3,750