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.
Tachi in Shirasaya (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token) Shape: wide and thick blade with deep curveture. Jigane: fine koitame hada. The polishing by Hirai Matsuba, the Mukansa Polisher brings out the Kitae of yamashiro-den well. Hamon: Suguha with Yo, reminiscent of Rai Kunitoshi. Features: Osumi Toshihira was born in Gunma prefecture in 1932, sudied under Miyairi Yukihira, and became independent in 1957. He has won the Masamune Award, the most prestigious award, three times, as well as many other awards, and was recognized as Living Naiontal Treasure in 1997. He produved many works imitating Koto, and is knoww as a master of straight hamon. This work is also aimed at Koto, and the intricate changes in the hamon are just like those of Koto, and shows his superior technique. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Paper Aoi-Art estimation paper whole oshigata
Certificate reading — 銘 大隅俊平作 昭和五十六年二月廿八日 応山本周治需
Offered by Aoi Art
5 on the market






As written by the shop
Osumi · around 1926-1989
5 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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
¥2,500,000