Sengoku Seki was an industry: smiths organized under their tutelary Kasuga shrine, arming the war bands of central Japan. Magoroku Kanemoto’s sanbonsugi and the finest Kanesada work prove quality survived inside mass production.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade is attributed to Mino Senjuin (美濃千手院), which is one of the most famous schools during the late Nanbokucho-late Muromachi period (Mid 14th-Early 16th century) in Mino province (today’s Gifu prefecture). According to NBTHK that appraised this blade, it was approximately made during the mid-late Muromachi period (Late 15th-Early 16th century). The school was located in Akasaka village near Sekigahara, an essential hub for transportation and military bases from ancient times. It is said that the Mino Senjuin school was founded by Sensui (泉水), the son of Yamato Koku Senjuin Shigehiro. Yamato region was one of the most famous sites for sword-forging during the late Heian-Kamakura period. Sensui moved from Yamato (today’s Nara prefecture) to Akasaka village in Mino province during the Nanbokucho period. Senjuin School in Yamato region There was a temple called Senjudo in Nara prefecture where Senju Kannon (Thousand arms) Budha statue was worshiped. And a group of swordsmiths who lived there was known as Senjuin (千手院). They belonged to Todaji temple. Senjuin School was founded by Yukinobu, who was the son of Yoshiyuki. Yukinonobu was originally a servant for Senjuin temple, a branch of Todaiji temple during the late Heian period (1086-1107), and eventually became an Okakae Kaji for the temple. This blade is appraised as a Hozon Touken (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 couple of Kitae Kizu on this blade. If you like to see the detailed condition before placing an order, please feel free to contact us first. Fuchi-Kashira You would find a flying bird and the branch of a tree. It seems this plant is a Japanese apricot tree. In Japan, there is a classical design that combines these motifs: Ume ni Uguisu (梅に鶯). It is a combination of Japanese apricot blossom and Japanese bush warbler. In Japanese poetries and paintings, it is a traditional analogy of a perfect match, a match made in heaven, or a good friendship. There are several views about the origin of this word. According to a theory, this combination comes from the behavior of Japanese bush warblers. This bird likes the nectar of Japanese apricot blossoms, so it comes to a Japanese apricot tree and cries. However, it is actually the Mejiro (メジロ, Japanese white-eye) who prefers this nectar, not the Japanese bush warbler. Another theory says this combination was born because combining these motifs makes an elegant design. The bush warbler announces early spring with its beautiful cry. In addition, Japanese apricot blossoms bloom beautifully and announce the arrival of spring. It is the idea that this word was born because these combinations were thought to be an attractive design. In the first place, this subject is not native to Japan. It was brought from the continent; the same is true for Japanese apricot blossoms. It is said that nobles once began to use this theme out of their admiration for the continent. Tsuka and Menuki Flowers stored in a basket (籠, Kago) called the Hanakago (花籠), seem to be depicted on this Menuki. It seems one of the flowers is the chrysanthemum (菊, Kiku). A long time ago, the chrysanthemum was used as a medicine for obtaining a long life in China, and it was brought to Japan with this thought in the Nara period (648-781). Chrysanthemum is one of the flowers which symbolizes fall, and people appreciate it very much since ancient times. As its petals form radially, the chrysanthemum has been likened to the sun. That is why this flower pattern is treated as the symbol of perpetual youth and longevity or good health. “Kiku no Gomon (菊の御紋)” is a kind of chrysanthemum pattern, and it has been used as the crest of the Emperor and the royal family in Japan so that it is well-known as a noble pattern. Tsuba and Habaki We assume the motif of this Tsuba is simplified snowflakes, which is called Yukiwa (雪輪). It is considered snow is the sign of a plentiful harvest. Especially if snow in the New Year, people thought that year would have a bumper crop. According to a theory, the snow crystal pattern itself was born in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), and people started incorporating it as a motif of family crests since the Edo period. Date Masamune (伊達 正宗, 1567-1636), who is well-known Samurai and is often called as Dokuganryu (独眼竜, one-eyed dragon). He used several family crests, and one of them has a snow ring motif. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on Dec 15th in the 5th year of Reiwa (2023). They appraised it as Hozon Touken, the blade worth preserving for Japanese society.
Mino Senjuin School美濃千手院派
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Mino-den · Mino
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Akasaka in Mino Province was the seat of a group the NBTHK setsumei records under two names, Mino Senjuin and Akasaka Senjuin, and the documents are consistent on its descent: the line traces to the Yamato Senjuin tradition, whose craftsmen relocated north into Mino. The setsumei place that migration around the end of the Nanbokuchō period, with the group then flourishing into the Muromachi. According to the Kōsei Kotō Meikan as cited, the founder was Kuninaga, set around the Jōji years, with the line carrying the Kuninaga name onward to the Meiō era; Kunishige is placed near Kenmu and is represented by surviving work. The smiths the setsumei name span this arc: Kuninaga, Kunishige, and Kuniyuki of the Nanbokuchō; the joint spear-makers Hironaga and Hiroshige and the ancient smith Tōga of the Muromachi; and later hands signing Dōei, Dōin, Yasumichi, or simply Senjuin. The documents also chart a parallel current, the Echizen smith Kuniyuki of Tsuruga (signing Esshū or Etsushū) who entered Mino between Ōan 6 and 7, alongside Kaneshige and Tametsugu who likewise moved from Echizen. The shared vocabulary of these blades begins in the forging: itame mixed with mokume that flows toward masame, with grain that stands out (hada-dachi), ji-nie, chikei, and a whitish cast (shirake-gokoro) the setsumei return to repeatedly. The temper divides along two lines the documents describe as habitual. " The other runs hotter: notare mixed with gunome, abundant nie, yubashiri, tobiyaki, and muneyaki building toward hitatsura, the manner that marks the Echizen Kuniyuki current.
The bōshi tends to midare-komi with hakikake and a pointed return. To recognize the hand, the setsumei direct attention to the masame-bearing, whitish ji carrying Yamato traits of hotsure and kuichigai-ba, set against a gunome base that leans toward emerging Mino-den character. For kantei the documents are explicit that this line "consistently displays a stronger Yamato character" than the Seki-mono otherwise encountered, and that its hamon "stands at a considerable remove from typical Mino workmanship," though the jigane keeps it within that milieu. Signed pieces carrying an individual maker's name are noted as scarce, which raises the documentary weight of the dated and signed examples the setsumei single out: the Kuninaga tantō dated Ōan gannen, the signed Kunishige and Kuniyuki tachi, and the Esshū Kuniyuki wakizashi dated Sadaji and Ōan whose signatures incorporate Fujiwara. Among named works the setsumei cite the ōmi-yari signed Senjuin with its vermilion-lacquered long-shaft mounting, the joint spear of Hironaga and Hiroshige, and the wakizashi by Tōga held to copy the Genji treasure Higekiri. Provenance is recorded for the Tōga piece, formerly of Tanzan Shrine in Yamato, donated to the Imperial Household and recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, with two further Tanzan blades assigned to the Nanbokuchō. The documents place these works across the Tokubetsu-Jūyō and Jūyō registers and Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, reading the group as a Yamato offshoot that carried its masame-grounded manner into Mino while the gunome base turned toward Mino-den. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kuniyuki國行 | 1362-1368 | 8 |
| Doin道印 | 1469-1487 | 0 |
| Yasumichi康道 | 1504-1521 | 0 |
| Kaneuji兼氏 | 1492-1501 | 0 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1532-1555 | 0 |
Mino in the Muromachi period
Sengoku Seki was an industry: smiths organized under their tutelary Kasuga shrine, arming the war bands of central Japan. Magoroku Kanemoto’s sanbonsugi and the finest Kanesada work prove quality survived inside mass production.
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 siteReturns/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.