NihontoWatchIt has appeared, it has appeared; a masterpiece tanto by the swordsmith Gassan Sadaichi, who is all too famous in the sword world as a Ningen Kokuho, has appeared. In Showa 41, the swordsmith Gassan Sadaichi succeeded to the name of his grandfather, the Teishitsu Gigeiin Gassan Sadaichi. In Showa 46, he was a famous swordsmith designated as the third Ningen Kokuho of the post-war era, following the swordsmith Takahashi Sadatsugu and the swordsmith Miyairi Akihira. Due to the seven-year ban on Japanese sword production by the occupation forces following Japan's defeat in the war, the extant works of the Ningen Kokuho Gassan Sadaichi are extremely few, and he is known to the world as a maker of phantom master swords. This tanto is a work from Showa 44, two years before he was designated as a Ningen Kokuho, a time when his creative desire was flourishing and his masterpieces were born. It is a famous tanto made as a Soshu Masamune utsushi by special order of the owner; the sugata shows a shin no mune of the Soshu-den with a thick moto-kasane and a somewhat wide moto-mihaba, presenting a grand hira-zukuri tanto sugata, and as you can see, the jigane is boldly forged in o-mokume hada, with many chikei and ji-nie appearing in the ji, while the hamon is a nie-deki gunome notare midare-ba with many kinsuji appearing inside the ha, and the hataraki within the ha is unrestrained, making it a supreme masterpiece tanto that brilliantly captures the utsushi of Masamune. On this occasion, an elderly collector who had this masterpiece Masamune utsushi tanto specially made by the Ningen Kokuho Gassan Sadaichi Sensei at a high cost has entrusted it to us, saying "I have also grown old, so please pass this on to someone who will cherish it," and therefore we are offering it at a special bargain price. Please by all means enjoy this masterpiece Masamune utsushi tanto by the phantom Ningen Kokuho swordsmith Gassan Sadaichi.
Certificate reading — 銘 和州三輪山狭井河之上月山貞一作(花押) 昭和己酉年十一月吉日
NihontoWatchOffered by Nipponto
6 on the market
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Yamato · around 1907-1995
Tōken Taikan top 49%
6 pieces on the market now
Shōwa to the present: destruction and revival
The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
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 returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. For returns due to our mis-shipment or a defective item, we bear the cost.
Price on request