Antique Japanese Katana Sword attributed to Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki with Suguha Hamon, Wave Fuchi-Kashira and Blue-Ground Iron Tsuba — Edo Shintō

• Signature (Mei): Ō-suriage mumei (shortened, unsigned), attributed to 相模守泰幸 二代 Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki, second generation, by Tokunō Kazuo
• Swordsmith: Sagami no Kami Fujiwara Yasuyuki 相模守藤原泰幸, 2nd generation (private attribution)
• School / Tradition: Owari Seki 尾張関, Mino tradition
• Period / Province: Edo period, shinto, around the Kanbun era (1661–1673), Owari Province (Nagoya)
• Certificate: Private appraisal certificate (kanteisho) no. 9512006 by Tokunō Kazuo 得能一男, dated 22 December 1995.
• Japanese Registration (Tōroku-shō): Saitama no. 67016, issued 22 November 1995
• Mounting: Complete katana koshirae, black roiro saya, iron tsuba with blue enamel ground, iron wave fuchi-kashira
• Blade Length (Nagasa): 68.0 cm
• Curvature (Sori): 0.5 cm
• Mekugi-ana: 2
• Shape (Sugata): Shinogi-zukuri, low iori-mune, wide shinogi-ji, chū-kissaki, very shallow curvature
• Jihada: Itame mixed with ko-itame and masame, ji-nie, the grain flowing towards the edge
• Hamon: Suguha in nioi-deki with ko-nie
• Bōshi: Sugu with a ko-maru turn-back
• Habaki: Single-piece copper with diagonal yasurime

A full-length Edo-period katana of 68.0 cm, attributed to Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki 相模守泰幸, second generation, of Owari, by the sword scholar Tokunō Kazuo in a private appraisal certificate dated 1995. The blade is registered in Japan and comes complete in its koshirae.

The shape is a shinogi-zukuri katana with a low iori-mune, a wide shinogi-ji and a chū-kissaki. Its most striking feature is the curvature: only 0.5 cm over 68 cm, an almost straight sword. That is the signature silhouette of the Kanbun era (1661–1673), when swordsmanship schools favoured straight, practical blades for fencing on foot, and the appraisal dates the blade to exactly that period.

The hamon is a calm, disciplined suguha in nioi-deki with a scattering of ko-nie, running evenly the full length of the blade and into the point, where it turns back in a ko-maru.

The steel is an itame mixed with ko-itame and masame, with ji-nie, and a grain that flows towards the edge, all recorded in the appraisal. Tokunō's closing assessment reads "healthy and powerful, work typical of Owari". The blade has been shortened, and the tang carries two mekugi-ana.

Koshirae Details

The tsuba is the talking point of this mount. It is a round iron plate treated completely differently on each face: one side plain iron with fine vertical filing, the other covered with a deep blue ground on which a symmetrical design of hanging ornaments stands out in iron silhouette, picked out with small gold details. Coloured grounds of this kind are unusual on iron guards and make it the most distinctive piece of the koshirae.

The fuchi and kashira are a matching iron pair, carved with crashing waves and scattered with small silver dots like spray. The waves suit the sword well: in Japanese art they stand for strength and endless motion.

The tsuka is wrapped in blue-green silk hineri-maki over white same. The wrap is old and shows real wear and fraying: this is a mount that was carried and handled, not kept in a cabinet. The saya is black roiro lacquer with black horn fittings and an olive-green sageo; it shows scuffs and a patch of lacquer loss near the kurigata. The habaki is single-piece copper filed with diagonal yasurime.

The Swordsmith: Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki 相模守泰幸

The Yasuyuki line was founded by Noto no Kami Yasuyuki 能登守泰幸, a smith from Mino who moved to Owari around 1610, as Nagoya Castle and its town were being built, and received the court title Noto no Kami. Signed work by him survives from the Kan'ei era, including blades dated 1637.

His son, known by the given name Shinbei, received the title Sagami no Kami and worked alongside his father in the Nagashima district of the Nagoya castle town. Japanese sources distinguish the two by their tangs: the second generation cut his signature and file marks more deeply, and shaped the tang tip to a point rather than the rounded chestnut form of his father.

This blade is shortened and unsigned, so the attribution rests on the workmanship. It comes from a private appraisal by Tokunō Kazuo (1933–2002), author of the reference works Nihontō Zukan and Tōkō Taikan and founder of a sword research society in 1972. A private appraisal is an expert opinion, not an NBTHK certificate, and we present it as exactly that.

Owari Seki: Mino Smiths in Nagoya

When the Tokugawa built Nagoya Castle for the Owari branch of the family in the early 1600s, many smiths from neighbouring Mino, home of the great Seki tradition, moved into the new castle town. Their work is known as Owari Seki. Four names head the group: Masatsune, Ujifusa, Nobutaka and Yasuyuki. Serving one of the three senior Tokugawa houses, they produced robust, well-made blades with tight steel and clean straight or gently undulating tempers, a style distinct from the Mino work they came from.

What is offered here is an Edo-period katana of 68.0 cm attributed to Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki, second generation, of the Owari Seki school, by Tokunō Kazuo, registered in Japan, complete in a period koshirae with an unusual blue-ground iron tsuba and matching iron wave fuchi-kashira.