War at home and trade abroad made Muromachi Bizen the busiest forge region in Japan: a century of Sengoku demand after the Ōnin War, and export missions to Ming China carrying blades by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchPlease inquire. Takada Munekage was a toko of Bungo Province. Serving the Sengoku daimyo of Bungo, Otomo Yoshimune, he was active during the so-called "Shinko-kyai" period from the end of the Muromachi era to the early Edo era. A work with a back-date of Bunroku 4 (1595) remains. This katana is o-suriage mumei. Typical of Bungo Takada work, the hamon is suguha with ko-ashi and yo. The jigane is o-itame hadadachi, flowing in places to become masagakari, with moku mixed in. That the hada stands out so much it has become kitae-ware is a charming point. The hada on the sashi-ura in particular is tremendous, making this a sword that will appeal to lovers of hadamono. Speaking of Takada-mono from the Shinto period, one has the impression of ko-itame tsume, boshi returning in ko-maru, and a high shinogi, but this sword does not quite fit those characteristics. In that case, it feels like a work from the Koto period, but the heavy feeling when held is the weightiness of a Shinto. It could be said that the workmanship is appropriate for a sword of the Shinko-kyai, possessing the charms of both Koto and Shinto. With hataraki within the ha as well, it is a sword one never tires of looking at. It is a relatively beautiful item, but as there are hike etc., I would like you to confirm the details in the photos.
NihontoWatchOffered by Katana Yamadaiya
The listing mentions papers that aren’t in our records yet. Current NBTHK and NTHK shinsa papers are the independent check we rely on, so it’s worth asking the dealer for a clear photo of the certificate. — Hoshi
2 on the market
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Bizen-den · Bungo · around 1592-1596
Fujishiro Chu saku · Tōken Taikan top 60%
2 pieces on the market now
Where Munekage 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Bizen-den · Bungo
30 pieces on the market now
In Bungo Province on Kyushu, the early Kamakura masters Sadahide and Yukihira appeared and then, for a span, distinguished makers ceased; the setsumei repeatedly mark this gap before the line that became the Takada school took hold. The school was founded in the Nanbokuchō period by Tomoyuki, who arose at Takada Manor (Takada-shō) and signed in the long form "Hōshū Takada-shō Fujiwara Tomoyuki," with dated work surviving from the Shōhei (1349) and Jōji eras into the 1360s. Beside him the registers place Tokiyuki, said to be his son or disciple, and Masayuki, thought to belong to a separate line, whose Kentoku 2 (1371) tantō carries Southern Court dating and a Kurikara relief following the example of Yukihira. From these Nanbokuchō roots the lineage ran continuously through Muromachi and on into the shintō era. The naming itself tracks the periods: Nanbokuchō smiths prefixed Fujiwara; from Muromachi they signed Taira and shared the characters 盛・守・鎮・統, so the group is broadly called Taira-Takada (Heike or Hira-Takada); late in the line they returned to Fujiwara, and that stream, carried into the Edo period, is distinguished as Fujiwara-Takada. Named Muromachi hands in the setsumei include Taira Naomori (a ken dated Ōnin 3, 1469), Taira Nagamori, Takada Tatemori (Meiō 10, 1501), Taira Shizunori, and Fujiwara Shinkiyo. Across the blades a consistent vocabulary recurs. The jihada is itame mixed with mokume, frequently tending toward standing grain (hada-dachi) and, in the early work, drifting toward masame or nagare; ji-nie and chikei appear, the steel often carries a darkish kanagu tone with patches of jifu, and a whitish shirake-utsuri (sometimes a faint midare-utsuri) stands out conspicuously.
The temper runs from suguha and chū-suguha mixed with ko-gunome up to gunome-midare, with nie adhering and ashi and yō entering; kinsuji and sunagashi run through, and in fuller-tempered work tobiyaki, muneyaki and hitatsura develop (as in Nagamori's Eishō wakizashi). Founder-period Tomoyuki work is recognized by angular gunome spaced at wide intervals, an overall subdued (shizumi) impression, strong shirake with jifu, and a manner the setsumei liken to Sue-Sa and the Samonji group; the school as a whole shows Bizen-leaning utsuri, Yamato-tinged masame and nagare, and at its summit, in Shizunori, work judged to take Rai Kuniyuki as its model. Branch and period read off the signature prefix and the shape: deep curvature with an arched, upturned profile through mid-Muromachi, then broader blades with shallower sori and an extended chū-kissaki in the later phase. " Among the smiths the setsumei single out Nagamori as the most accomplished of the Heike-Takada, a suguha specialist with notably good jigane and skilled horimono, his name carried across several generations and dated freely in the Eishō and Daiei eras; one of his blades was bestowed by Shimazu Tsugutoyo of Kagoshima on the retainer Honda Chikaaki, and Tatemori is rated near him. The line reached into early shintō through Kunifusa, a disciple of Shizumasa of Takada who moved to Uwajima in Iyo, served Date Hidemune, and worked in a Horikawa manner. Provenance runs through the descriptions: Masayuki's tantō was transmitted in the Shōnai Sakai family with a Hon'ami Kōchū origami of Kyōhō 6 and recorded in the Kōzan oshigata and Umetada Meikan, and Nagamori's tachi survives with a maki-e and raden scabbard. The cutting-oriented robustness of the work, weighty in hand with thick kasane and a sturdy build, reflects the taste of an age of warfare, and these blades served as practical arms across Kyushu. The setsumei are candid that Takada has drawn a generally low evaluation in the field, and several of the registered pieces are framed expressly as answering that judgment, restoring the standing of a long lineage on the strength of its best surviving work. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoyuki友行 | 1350-1367 | 15 |
| Kunifusa國房 | 1615-1624 | 5 |
| Akiyuki鑑行 | 1532-1555 | 0 |
| Kagenari景也 | 1661-1673 | 0 |
| Chikayuki及行 | 1661-1673 | 0 |
Bizen in the Muromachi period
War at home and trade abroad made Muromachi Bizen the busiest forge region in Japan: a century of Sengoku demand after the Ōnin War, and export missions to Ming China carrying blades by the tens of thousands.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
Price on request