After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchNanbokuchō to Early Muromachi Period, c. 1394–1428 CE | NBTHK Hozon Certificate An elegant early Fujishima blade with an ubu nakago, graceful Kyoto-style curvature, and a highly active gunome-midare hamon—preserving the refined character of a sword originally mounted and carried as a tachi. This fine katana is attributed by the NBTHK to the Fujishima school (藤島) of Kaga Province and dates to around the Ōei era (1394–1428), at the transition from the Nanbokuchō to the early Muromachi period. The Fujishima school traces its tradition to Fujishima Tomoshige (藤島友重), traditionally regarded as a student of Rai Kunitoshi of Yamashiro. The school established itself in Kaga Province around the end of the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods and flourished particularly from the Nanbokuchō through the Muromachi period. Fujishima workmanship often retains an elegant Kyoto influence in its overall shape while displaying darker-toned steel and characteristics associated with both the Yamato and Bizen traditions. This combination gives Fujishima blades a distinctive character among the schools of medieval Japan. An Elegant, Healthy Koto Blade One of the most appealing features of this sword is its slender and graceful sugata with pronounced Kyoto-style curvature (Kyo-zori). Despite its considerable age, the blade retains a healthy and elegant form. Its refined curvature gives the sword a distinctly classical appearance, quite different from the proportions commonly encountered in later Edo-period katana. The jihada has a characteristically darker tone, with prominent ō-itame-hada clearly visible throughout the surface and abundant ji-nie adding texture and depth to the forged steel. The hamon is a lively gunome-midare in ko-nie-deki, with sections developing into chōji. Throughout the hardened edge are frequent and beautiful activities, including sunagashi and kinsuji, producing flowing streaks and bright lines within the hamon. These abundant hataraki give the blade the rich, organic appearance particularly prized in fine Koto swords. Ubu Nakago – Evidence of Its Early Tachi Form A particularly important feature of this sword is its ubu nakago (original, unshortened tang). Many Japanese swords of this age were shortened during later centuries as styles of sword mounting and wearing changed. The preservation of the original tang therefore adds considerable historical interest to this example. The position of the lower mekugi-ana is especially noteworthy. Its placement is consistent with the sword having originally been mounted and worn as a tachi, supporting the interpretation that this blade survives in essentially its original early configuration rather than having been substantially shortened and reshaped in a later period. This is particularly attractive when considered together with the blade's elegant Kyo-zori: both the tang and the graceful curvature preserve the visual character of an early sword intended for tachi-style use. Koshirae and Fittings The sword is accompanied by an attractive koshirae of understated classical character. The tsuka is finished with pale ito over traditional samegawa, while the iron tsuba features openwork and fine geometric decoration highlighted with gold. Its restrained ornamentation complements the elegant form of the blade without overwhelming it. The glossy black lacquered saya has a beautifully simple appearance, giving the complete mounting a dignified and traditional presentation. Also accompanying the sword is a finely decorated kozuka and kogatana, with delicate gold and silver-toned ornamentation against a dark ground. This small accessory adds another attractive element of traditional Japanese metalwork to the complete ensemble. Collector’s Appeal This sword brings together several qualities that make an early Japanese blade especially desirable: an NBTHK attribution to the historic Fujishima school, an ubu nakago, an elegant Kyo-zori sugata, and a highly active Koto-period hamon rich in sunagashi and kinsuji. Most importantly, the original tang and the position of its mekugi-ana provide a fascinating connection to the sword's early history, suggesting that it was originally carried as a tachi more than six centuries ago. With its graceful Kyoto-influenced form, dark and expressive forged steel, lively gunome and chōji activity, and tasteful antique koshirae, this is a particularly attractive sword for a collector seeking the unmistakable character of a genuine medieval Japanese blade. The blade comes with a Certificate of NBTHK Japan Sword Preservation Society - Hozon Paper (Well-preserved sword)
Offered by Samurai Store
17 on the market
Yamashiro-den · Kaga
17 pieces on the market now
Among the provincial lineages of the Hokurikudo, the Fujishima school took its name and its base from the village of Fujishima in Kaga province, where Tomoshige stands as founder and the name he set down passed through several generations from the close of the Nanbokucho period across the Muromachi and on into the early-modern Shinto era. The members place the chronological anchor with care: the earliest firmly dated work is a tanto of Oei 2 (1395), and the NBTHK finds nothing among the surviving blades that goes back earlier than Nanbokucho. Old documentary tradition reads the first generation as a pupil of Rai Kunitoshi of Yamashiro, alternatively of Kashu Sanekage or Rai Toshimune, but the published sources doubt each reading in turn, finding no stylistic tie to Rai Kunitoshi and a chronological impossibility with Sanekage; judging from the make and the nakago finish, they settle by elimination toward the Yamato tradition, close to the Yamato Shikkake hand. A tachi held at Atsuta Shrine and a two-character ken read as the oldest surviving piece bracket the early end of the line. The recognition of the school lives in its jigane. The members agree on a board-grained itame that mixes in mokume and runs to nagare, standing somewhat open (hada-dachi), the surface gathering ji-nie and chikei, the steel carrying a distinct blackish cast named kan'a-iro and tied directly to the northern provinces as hokkoku-hada; a faint whitish shirake-utsuri rises quietly against this dark ground rather than a bright Bizen reflection. Over that ji the school tempers a gunome-midare into which box-shaped (hako-ba), pointed and angular (togariba) teeth enter together with notare and ko-notare, the ashi running rather long, the ha nie-laden with sunagashi sweeping it and kinsuji entering, small tobiyaki and muneyaki scattered here and there.
The NBTHK reads the feel of it as a make in which Bizen temperament and Mino flavor coexist, the boshi running straight or midare-komi into a ko-maru, often swept with hakikake or running to yakizume. The members also mark the short blades apart: on the tanto the hand can quiet to a ko-itame and a narrow hoso-suguha or low ko-gunome with ko-nie, the nioiguchi sometimes clouding to urumi, the boshi turning jizo-like or returning deep, this the simplest face of the Yamato base while the dark steel keeps its northern mark. To kantei a Fujishima blade the eye works the conjunction rather than any single trait: the standing dark ji read together with the box-and-pointed midare and the constant sunagashi names the school where a clean Bizen choji or a true Yamashiro ko-itame would not. The members note works read variously toward an Aoe air, toward Naoe Shizu and Sekishu Naotsuna, the Mino and northern lines the school sits between, kin in feel to the Etchu and Echizen smiths of the same region. Among the membership Tomoshige carries the name and the standing; Fujishiro rates the founder Chu-jo saku and places others among the middle ranks of the koto smiths, and the most highly regarded work falls in the Oei generation while the Muromachi work survives most often. The single finest piece is a great spear (o-mi-yari) signed Fujishima Tomoshige and carved with a sanko-ken and the deity-name Myoken Daibosatsu, which the published sources judge not merely the best spear of the school but one of the representative famous spears of its age; surviving naginata by the line are noted as rare, their ubu-nakago valued as dating evidence. Provenance gathers around named houses recorded in the blades themselves, an Oei katana descended in the Inaba daimyo house and a tanto recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, heritage pieces in long-standing hands; yet the line is not among the unattainable names, and a Juyo Tomoshige remains a realistic if uncommon encounter for the patient collector, valued for the way a single dark-steeled blade carries the whole northern school in its ji. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tomoshige友重 | 1394-1428 | 15 |
| Tomoshige友重 | 1346-1370 | 5 |
| Tomoshige友重 | 1324-1326 | 5 |
| Fujishima藤島 | 1394-1428 | 4 |
| Yukimitsu行光 | 1340-1346 | 0 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
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 accepted only for errors/damage: damaged or incorrect items reported by email within 10 calendar days; defective goods within 30 calendar days.
¥1,260,000