{"product_id":"antique-japanese-katana-ubu-nakago-hoso-suguha-genji-wheel-tsuba","title":"Antique Japanese Katana Sword with Ubu Nakago, Hoso-Suguha Hamon and Genji Wheel Iron Tsuba","description":"\u003c!-- Katana 99 - mumei ubu - koshi-zori tachi sugata - no shinsa paper - torokusho Tokyo 78910 - Tokyo Nihonto --\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"product\"\u003e\u003cheader\u003e\u003c\/header\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"specs\"\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSignature (Mei):\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eMumei\u003c\/em\u003e, unsigned\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNakago:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eUbu\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, unshortened, with its original taper and \u003cem\u003ekuri-jiri\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSwordsmith:\u003c\/strong\u003e Unknown. The blade carries no shinsa paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchool \/ Tradition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Not attributed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eAzuchi-Momoyama\u003c\/strong\u003e, the closing decades of the sixteenth century\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRegistration:\u003c\/strong\u003e Japanese \u003cem\u003etorokusho\u003c\/em\u003e Tokyo no. 78910, issued 14 August 1961\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate:\u003c\/strong\u003e None. The blade has never been submitted to shinsa\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMounting:\u003c\/strong\u003e Complete black \u003cem\u003ekatana koshirae\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003eroiro\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e, iron openwork \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e and dragon \u003cem\u003efuchi-kashira\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBlade Length (Nagasa):\u003c\/strong\u003e 68.5 cm (2 \u003cem\u003eshaku\u003c\/em\u003e 2 \u003cem\u003esun\u003c\/em\u003e 6 \u003cem\u003ebu\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurvature (Sori):\u003c\/strong\u003e 2.1 cm (7 \u003cem\u003ebu\u003c\/em\u003e), deep and set low on the blade\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMekugi-ana:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eShape (Sugata):\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eShinogi-zukuri\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eiori-mune\u003c\/em\u003e, compact \u003cem\u003echu-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e, pronounced \u003cem\u003ekoshi-zori\u003c\/em\u003e with clear \u003cem\u003efunbari\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eJihada:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eItame\u003c\/em\u003e mixed with \u003cem\u003emokume\u003c\/em\u003e, muted by the present polish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHamon:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eHoso-suguha\u003c\/em\u003e, narrow, strict and unbroken, \u003cem\u003enioi-deki\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBoshi:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eSugu\u003c\/em\u003e with a tight \u003cem\u003eko-maru\u003c\/em\u003e turnback, healthy width remaining\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHabaki:\u003c\/strong\u003e Single-piece silver or silver-foiled, filed with \u003cem\u003eshigure\u003c\/em\u003e rain marks\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePolish:\u003c\/strong\u003e Older polish, now tired\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf the swords we have listed recently, this is the one we would keep to study, and the reason is its shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003enakago\u003c\/em\u003e is \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eubu\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e. It has never been shortened. The taper from the \u003cem\u003emachi\u003c\/em\u003e to the \u003cem\u003enakago-jiri\u003c\/em\u003e is natural and unbroken, the \u003cem\u003ekuri-jiri\u003c\/em\u003e is the original one, and the patina is a heavy, even black-brown that has taken centuries to build. That alone puts this blade in a minority: the great majority of sixteenth-century Japanese swords in circulation were cut down at some point, and an untouched tang is the single most informative thing a sword can offer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat that intact geometry then shows is a \u003cstrong\u003edeep \u003cem\u003ekoshi-zori\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, with the centre of the curve sitting distinctly in the lower third of the blade, and clear \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003efunbari\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, the widening toward the base that a sword only keeps if it has not been shortened. The sword is dated to the \u003cstrong\u003eAzuchi-Momoyama period\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the proportions belong to it precisely: a blade of 68.5 cm with 2.1 cm of curvature set low is a sword made while the old forms were still alive and the new ones were arriving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe temper is a strict, narrow \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ehoso-suguha\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e that runs parallel to the edge without interruption, reading as \u003cem\u003enioi-deki\u003c\/em\u003e. It is an austere temper, the sort favoured by traditions that trusted their steel rather than their showmanship. The \u003cem\u003eboshi\u003c\/em\u003e turns back in a tight \u003cem\u003eko-maru\u003c\/em\u003e with good width still in the point. The blade has been polished many times across its life, which is what has narrowed the \u003cem\u003ehamon\u003c\/em\u003e, but no core steel is showing and the \u003cem\u003emachi\u003c\/em\u003e remain healthy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade is unsigned and unpapered, and the polish is tired. The \u003cem\u003ejihada\u003c\/em\u003e is almost entirely muted and the finer activity that would let anyone name a school cannot be seen, so no attribution is offered. What the sword does have is a combination that rewards a foundation polish and an NBTHK submission: an untouched tang, sixteenth-century proportions and an austere \u003cem\u003esuguha\u003c\/em\u003e. A buyer who funds that work is doing it on a blade whose geometry is already saying something worth hearing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"koshirae\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mounting is black throughout, and deliberately so. The \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e is finished in \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eroiro\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, the mirror-black lacquer, in very good condition with only superficial handling marks and a little dulling at the tip. The \u003cem\u003etsuka\u003c\/em\u003e is wrapped in black \u003cem\u003eito\u003c\/em\u003e over white \u003cem\u003esamegawa\u003c\/em\u003e in \u003cem\u003ehineri-maki\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003esageo\u003c\/em\u003e is black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e is the piece to look at: iron, \u003cem\u003emaru-gata\u003c\/em\u003e, with a dark mature patina, cut in \u003cem\u003eji-sukashi\u003c\/em\u003e with an asymmetrical design that sets a \u003cstrong\u003espoked Genji wheel\u003c\/strong\u003e against \u003cstrong\u003ecurling waves\u003c\/strong\u003e, the wave detail picked out in \u003cem\u003ekebori\u003c\/em\u003e. It has both \u003cem\u003ehitsu-ana\u003c\/em\u003e open and a \u003cem\u003ekaku-mimi koniku\u003c\/em\u003e rim. The robustness of the iron and the character of the openwork point to Owari or Akasaka work of the Edo period. It is unsigned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e are a perfectly matched pair in dark alloy, \u003cstrong\u003ecoiling dragons among clouds\u003c\/strong\u003e in \u003cem\u003etakabori\u003c\/em\u003e over a \u003cem\u003enanako\u003c\/em\u003e ground. The \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e are a floral cluster, layered multi-petalled blossoms flanked by veined leaves, and we will not put a name to the flower because the wrap hides too much of it. The \u003cem\u003ehabaki\u003c\/em\u003e is single-piece and silvered, filed with diagonal \u003cem\u003eshigure\u003c\/em\u003e marks on its lower half.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on originality: the metal fittings are genuine Edo-period work, but the \u003cem\u003etsuka-maki\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003esamegawa\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eroiro\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer are all crisp and unworn. This sword was professionally remounted in the modern era using antique fittings. The work is of high quality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"smith-background\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade is unsigned, so what deserves explaining is the thing it does carry: an untouched tang, on a sword made in the most violent thirty years of Japanese history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Azuchi-Momoyama period is short and it is loud. It runs from Oda Nobunaga's seizure of Kyoto to the eve of the Tokugawa settlement, and into it are packed Nagashino, the burning of the great monasteries, Hideyoshi's unification, the invasions of Korea and the road to Sekigahara. Swords were being consumed at a rate the country has never matched before or since, and every province that could forge was forging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is also the moment the Japanese sword changes hands. The \u003cem\u003etachi\u003c\/em\u003e, slung edge-down from cords and drawn from the saddle, gives way to the \u003cem\u003ekatana\u003c\/em\u003e, thrust edge-up through the sash and drawn in a single motion while standing. Blades from these decades sit exactly on that hinge: still carrying the deep \u003cem\u003ekoshi-zori\u003c\/em\u003e of the older form, already cut to the length and balance of the newer one. That is what this sword is, and it is why its untouched tang is worth more than a decorated one would be.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen a sword is shortened, the signature usually goes with the steel that is removed, and so does the evidence. The curve shifts, the \u003cem\u003efunbari\u003c\/em\u003e disappears, and the proportions stop being testimony. An untouched tang keeps all of it: the curve sits where the smith put it, the taper is his, and the balance in the hand is the one he intended. For an unsigned blade, that geometry is the primary evidence a shinsa panel works from, which is why we have described this sword's proportions in more detail than its decoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"school-history\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSwords of this period survive in two conditions: cut down, or lucky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe century that followed Azuchi-Momoyama was hard on long blades. Fashion shortened them, the Kanbun style made deep curves look archaic, and a sword that could not be worn comfortably in a city at peace was altered until it could. Enormous numbers of sixteenth-century blades went under the file for that reason alone. A sword that came through with its tang untouched did so because at every generation somebody decided to leave it as it was.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mounting it wears today is black throughout, and the fittings inside it are genuine Edo work: an iron \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e cut with a Genji wheel against waves, \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e carrying coiling dragons over a \u003cem\u003enanako\u003c\/em\u003e ground. The lacquer, the rayskin and the silk are modern and professionally done, which is a fair description of most antique swords that are actually handled rather than stored.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is offered here is a genuine antique Japanese sword of the Azuchi-Momoyama period with an untouched tang, a deep and elegant curve, an austere \u003cem\u003esuguha\u003c\/em\u003e temper and a complete black mounting on antique Edo fittings, registered in Japan under a \u003cem\u003etorokusho\u003c\/em\u003e issued in 1961. It carries no attribution. Its shape is the most interesting thing in this listing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Nihonto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57282629108036,"sku":"KATANA99","price":3300.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/4080\/8516\/files\/Katana99_230K_0037_GenerativeFill3.jpg?v=1789567943","url":"https:\/\/tokyo-nihonto.com\/es\/products\/antique-japanese-katana-ubu-nakago-hoso-suguha-genji-wheel-tsuba","provider":"Tokyo Nihonto","version":"1.0","type":"link"}