Mino was founded, tradition holds, by immigrants: Kaneuji of the Yamato Tegai line settled at Shizu to work in the new Sōshū manner, so persuasively that later appraisers judged his best blades the closest of any to Masamune.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchBlade construction: Shinogi-zukuri, Iori-mune, average in Mihaba and a bit on thinner side in Kasane, substantially shortened "Ō-suriage". There is less degree of tapering from base to the large tip of Kissaki and wide ratio of Hira-ji to Shinogi-ji, holding a bit on massive volume of Hiraniku, Those are the major trends in the prime of Nanbokucho period. There are parallel grooves of Bo-hi which is chiselled away to Nakago on front wherreas the reversed side does in half way.. Forging(Hada): Forging is Itame-hada with streaming Masame indication along quenching Hamon area. Crystallized granule of Ji-nie appears on surface that emits sparkling reflection of Utsuri on Hiraji. Darkish thick lines of Nie so called "CHIKEI" activity appears from fine steel. Temper(Hamon): Hamon is based on "Nie" hard steel crystallized, Notare undulating wave mixed with large Gunome boundary line. The quenching activities such as double temper of "Niju-ha" and "Hotsure" or "Yubashiri" appear here and there. In the interior there appears "Sunagashi" long lines of Nie, "Kinsuji" or "Inazuma" thick curved lines run along quenching boundary area. Temper of tip(Boshi): Temper of boshi forms wide, powerful undulating irregular lines with the indication of Yakizume-end. Tang(Nakago): The tang is substantially shortened "Ō-suriage" to be unsigned with horizontal (Kiri) filemarks. Horizontal "Kiri" heel shape. Three Mekugi-ana punches. Here is an splendidly heroic katana of Naoe-shizu school from Nanbokucho period 14th C. The disciples of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji 志津三郎兼氏, notable smiths such as Kanetomo 兼友, Kanetugu 兼次, Kanenobu 兼信 or Kanenobu 兼延, who were active in the Naoe region (present Naoeyamadori, Yourō-chō, Yourō-gun, Gifu Prefecture). Due to their prominence in this area, their school came to be known as "Naoe Shizu." During the Nanboku-chō period, this school perfected the so-called "Mino-den" by incorporating elements of the Yamato-den and Soushu-den traditions. The major character of those swords produced were long with shallow curvature, featuring bold, high-quality workmanship. Their Hamon was characterized by wide midare patterns with a Nie-rich structure, often incorporating Gunome and pointed elements, demonstrating a powerful and spirited style. This majestic katana's imposing Ō-kissaki (large tip) evokes the grand and majestic forms of Nanbokucho period. Despite being substantially shortened Ō-suriage, it retains the dignified and commanding presence characteristic of the peak Nanboku-cho period. The forging displays a refined itame-hada with thick Ji-nie densely covering the surface, creating a highly elegant interplay of Chikei running freely throughout. The high Yakiba hamon features a mix of Notare and Gunome, with large Gunome-midare varies in shape and height, interspersed with Tobiyaki elements that add further complexity. The Hamon is richly covered in thick Nie, with frequent Kinsuji and Sunagashi forming within the hardening area, while the Nioi-guchi remains particularly bright and clear, exuding a strong and vibrant presence. This katana presents as a prime example of the distinctive style of the Naoe Shizu school. It is accompanied by a certificate (Origami) from Hon'ami Kōson, indicating that it has been carefully preserved for generations. Comes with a gold-ground double-layer Habaki and preserved in a Shirasaya. (note) In the Muromachi period, the later generations of the Naoe Shizu school experienced a decline due to decreased demand following the unification of the Northern and Southern Courts, as well as repeated river floods. Consequently, they migrated to areas such as Seki and Akasaka. Around the Meiou era (1492-), Kanenobu 兼延 settled in Oyama and later moved to Shiga in Owari (present-day Kinjo-cho, Kita-ku, Nagoya), where the school became known as "Shiga-Seki" 志賀関
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Mino-den · Mino
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Within the province of Mino, in the decades of the Nanbokucho period, a body of smiths gathered at Naoe carrying forward the manner of Shizu Saburo Kaneuji, and from that locality they took the name Naoe Shizu. Kaneuji, originally a member of the Yamato Tegai group who studied under Masamune of Sagami and is counted among the Ten Disciples of Masamune (Masamune jittetsu), settled first at Shizu in Mino and established a flourishing school. His pupils and successors, among them Kanetomo, Kanetsugu, Kaneshige, and Kanenobu, relocated within the province to Naoe and forged there, and the smiths of that group are collectively termed Naoe Shizu to distinguish them from Shizu proper, which signifies Kaneuji himself. The lineage is in essence the second generation of the Shizu line, the Soshu-den of Masamune received through Kaneuji and translated into the steel and temper of Mino; the name ran on across several generations into the Muromachi, so that the reference works list more than one Kanetomo, around the Oan era and again around Oei, while the core Nanbokucho production falls in the Kanno, Enbun, Joji, and Oan years of the middle fourteenth century, anchored by the few signed and dated pieces such as a Kanno-dated wakizashi by Kanetsugu. The shared vocabulary of the school is the Shizu manner rendered in Mino. The forging is itame mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, frequently flowing toward masame and standing at times into hada-dachi, over which thick ji-nie settles and chikei enter well, the dark grain-lines threading a steel that is clear and legible; the midare-utsuri a Bizen smith would carry is absent, the ji speaking instead through the depth of its nie. The hamon is a Soshu-den notare crossed with the pointed togariba of Mino-den, gunome and ko-notare tempered in nie or ko-nie, often showing a saka-tendency, with ashi and yo entering and uchi-noke, yubashiri, and tobiyaki along the habuchi; through the temper run sunagashi and kinsuji in profusion, the streaming nie-lines and bright lightning-lines that are the school's surest sign, the nioiguchi deep and brightening at the best examples into something clear and lucid. The boshi answers the ha in midare-komi or notare-komi, turning in a ko-maru or sweeping into yakizume, the point frequently brushed with hakikake.
Within this common ground the hands separate. Kanetomo is read by the linking of round-headed gunome in sequence, calm and elegant in the ko-nie-deki the sources hold him most proficient in; Kanetsugu inclines toward the saka-slanted gunome and togariba with a more powerful, compelling dekiguchi; Tametsugu, a Norishige hand resettled inland rather than a direct Naoe smith, carries a larger, more billowing notare-midare over a steel that darkens, a manner the commentary holds to differ from Shizu and Kaneshige. Set against Kaneuji himself, the Naoe Shizu smiths work in a milder, more workmanlike register, the hada standing less strongly and the chikei fewer than in the master whose manner most closely approaches Masamune. To kantei a Naoe Shizu blade is to read the Soshu activity through a Mino frame, distinguishing it above from Shizu proper, whose forging stands and brightens more vigorously and whose ji and ha carry the higher Sagami character, and below from the later Sue-Seki, whose togariba harden into a drier, more regular tooth without the deep ji-nie and the run of kinsuji and sunagashi; a suguha blade with a whitish shirake tone, by contrast, reads away from the line entirely, toward the Zenjo hands who also bore these names. The strongest members, Kanetomo and Kanetsugu above all, hold their place in the Juyo register, their signed tanto and wakizashi designated Important Art Objects serving as the documentary spine against which the unsigned majority is measured. For the body of the school survives o-suriage and mumei, broad Nanbokucho katana and tanto attributed by resemblance to those scarce signatures, so that signed examples are held exceptionally valuable and reach private hands only with patience. Provenance is thin but real, blades descending through the Naruse and Akaboshi collections, a pair preserved at Atsuta Jingu, and others held by the NBTHK; the typical encounter remains a mumei attribution carrying the open Naoe jigane and the streaming nie of a tradition the smiths of Mino took from Masamune and made their own. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kanetomo兼友 | 1336-1340 | 11 |
| Kaneuji兼氏 | 1342-1345 | 3 |
| Kanenobu兼延 | 1368-1375 | 0 |
| Kaneuji兼氏 | 1394-1428 | 0 |
| Kanenobu兼延 | 1390-1394 | 0 |
Mino in the Nanbokuchō period
Mino was founded, tradition holds, by immigrants: Kaneuji of the Yamato Tegai line settled at Shizu to work in the new Sōshū manner, so persuasively that later appraisers judged his best blades the closest of any to Masamune.
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.
NBTHK official siteFor a return, please contact us within 7 days of the item's arrival. If specification changes such as dimensions were made at the customer's request, a return cannot be accepted. Shipping and transfer fees are the customer's responsibility.
¥1,350,000
Certificate reading — 無銘（直江志津）