Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis katana by the Shitahara smith, Terushige, is a wonderful combination of grace and sheer power. It dates to the Tensho era (1573-1592), the climax of the Sengoku Period when the country was in a state of constant warfare and swords like this were highly valued. The Shitahara School of Musashi province (Modern day Tokyo area) was founded in the late Muromachi period by Chikashige (周重) (circa Tenbun, 1532-1555) , an Odawara Sôshû smith who moved from Odawara to the Shitahara area of modern Hachiôji city, a suburb of Tokyo. The school first served the Odawara Hôjô Daimyo family until they were destroyed, and then went on to serve the Tokugawa government. There are very few extant works by Chikashige; however, the two representative smiths, Yasushige (康重) and Terushige (照重)have a fairly large number of remaining swords. The school continued to prosper into the Shintô period until the middle of the Edo period. Their style of workmanship includes a construction of shinogi-zukuri katana and wakizashi as well as hira-zukuri wakizashi and tantô. The blades are wide and thin with shallow curvature. The jigane is typically the so-called “Shitahara-hada consisting of powerful mokume (wood burl) that has a swirling appearance down the center of the ji. They also produce a ko-itame that will show Shitahara-hada in some areas of the jigane. The hamon (temper line) are ô-midare, ô-notare, gunome-midare, hitatsura-ba, wide suguha and medium suguha. The habuchi (top edge of the temper line where it meets the un-tempered part of the sword) is nioi based with an uneven scattering of nie, and there is occasionally ashi and sunagashi activity. Bôshi are midare-komi with a kaeri (turn-back). The nakago (tang) are slightly tanago-bara with kiri- or kattesagari-yasuri. The nakago-jiri is kurijiri (end of the tang) are kurijiri (rounded). .The detailed description of this particular sword are as follows: Signature: Bushû jû Terushige saku (武州住照重作) It has been attributed to second generation smith Terushige known as, Yamamoto Genjirô Shitahara Terushige (山本源二郎下原照重). Length: 2 Shaku, 3 Sun, 6 Bu, 6 Rin. This equals 28.25 inches or 71.76 cm. Sori: 6 Bu This equals 0.74 inches or 1.9 cm. Moto-Haba: This is the width at the base of the sword. 1.22 inches or 3.1 cm. Saki-Haba: This is the width at the point of the sword. 0.92 inches or 2.4 cm. Province: Musashi (武蔵) Period: c. Tenshô (天正) (1573-1592) Description: The construction is hon-zukuri with an iori-mune. The blade is wide and thick. The point is broad, and the curvature is shallow. The shape is magnificent with an ô-kissaki. Kitae: The kitae is ayasugi style nyorin-mokume (uroko or fish-scale mokume) with swirling, whirlpool shapes that appears to be a fish-scale or keyaki (the zelkova tree) like wood grain. The hada pattern is prominent. Hamon: The hamon is gunome-midare, and the habuchi is unevenly covered in nie; however, it is entirely nioi based. There is ko-ashi activity. Bôshi: The bôshi is midare-komi with a brushed tip and kaeri. Nakago: The nakago is machi-okuri, and the yasuri are kattesagari. The signature is as noted above, and there are three mekugi-ana. This katana comes in a true samurai’s style of koshirae. This koshirae was meant for use and not for show. It is a perfect match for the seriousness of the blade. The saya is done in a black lacquered nunome kizami-zaya with a black wrapped white same (ray skin) handle. The tsuba is unsigned, iron ground, high relief carvings of a tiger, dragon and shochikubai (pine, bamboo, and plum) with gold nunome zogan (Namban School, late Edo). The fuchi-kashira are unsigned, shakudô polished ground with family crests and foliage in hairline carvings (late Edo). The menuki are copper based with gold iroe and katachi-bori tigers. The blade comes with an excellent double silver habaki with the Sakai family mon. This katana is in excellent polish with no problems or flaws. It comes with NTHK certification papers attesting to the quality and authenticity of this blade. If you are looking for a truly powerful sword that dates to a period of constant warfare in Japan when a samurai’s life depended on his blade, don’t miss this opportunity.
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Shinto · Musashi · around 1558-1570
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 49%
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Where Terushige 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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Shinto · Musashi
7 pieces on the market now
The Shitahara group (下原) worked at Hachiōji in Bushū, the old province of Musashi, from the end of the Muromachi period and carried its forge on into the Edo period. The setsumei place the lineage among the swordmakers of Musashi in the kotō age and name Terushige, Yasushige, Hiroshige, and Chikashige as its leading hands, with the meikan recording Terushige across three generations: a shodai in Kyōroku, a nidai in Eiroku, and a sandai in Tenshō. " That same blade was made to order, in this case from Hagiwara Kaminao of Kōshū, marking the group as a working provincial forge serving its region. In the forging the setsumei return repeatedly to an itame-hada freely mixed with mokume that stands up rather than lying flat, the grain described as hada-datsu, often running to nagare near the edge and taking on an ayasugi-like, whorled or vortex-like cast in the jigane. The temper is a moderately undulating notare into which gunome enter, frequently in regular paired sequences, with pointed togariba, a chōji-like feeling at times, and ko-nie clinging along a nioiguchi that can settle into a subdued shizumi tone; sunagashi and ashi appear within the ha, and the bōshi tends to run midare-komi and turn back in maru. One katana sets gunome, ō-midare and angular elements into a notare, its bōshi sweeping off in hakikake.
The setsumei read this hand as a synthesis drawing on late Sōshū and the Muramasa line together with late Mino tendencies, which together account for the standing grain and the paired gunome. For kantei the markers are consistent: the risen mokume with its ayasugi turn, the regularly paired gunome, and a build suited to the uchigatana of the closing Muromachi years, often with pronounced sakizori and an extended chū-kissaki. Carving recurs, including bō-hi, bonji, gomabashi, and a deeply cut kurikara-ryū whose coiling tail the NBTHK singles out as characteristic. Named and dated pieces anchor the group: the Yamamoto Genjirō Terushige naginata, uncommon as a double-edged ryōba form, and a Terushige katana appraised between Eiroku and Tenshō that the register calls the hakubi of the school. The setsumei note that Shitahara work survives in number into the shintō period while outstanding examples remain few, which sets these designated blades apart within the lineage. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Terushige照重 | 1558-1570 | 2 |
| Terushige照重 | 1596-1615 | 1 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1558-1570 | 1 |
| Morishige盛重 | 1661-1673 | 0 |
| Yasushige康重 | 1661-1704 | 0 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
The NTHK’s principal certificate, issued for a blade of considerable quality. It confirms a genuine signature, or, for an unsigned (mumei) work, records the judges’ attribution to a smith or school. The paper carries a detailed worksheet with a numerical point score.
The NTHK (Nihon Tōken Hozon Kai, the Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Sword) is the oldest of Japan’s sword-appraisal bodies, founded in 1910, decades before the NBTHK. After the death of its long-serving head it divided into two successor societies, the NTHK and the NTHK-NPO, both of which continue to hold shinsa. NTHK blade certificates are known for a detailed worksheet that records a numerical point score alongside the judges’ written opinion (fitting papers carry the judges’ opinion without a point score), and the society is especially respected for its attribution of unsigned (mumei) work.
Three-day inspection period and seven-day return period; buyer notifies by email within three days of receipt, no reason needed; full refund once item returned undamaged and unaltered.