{"product_id":"katana82","title":"Antique Japanese Katana Sword with Gold-Inlaid Iron Tsuba, Attributed to Chikuzen Nobukuni — NBTHK Hozon","description":"\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 Mumei (無銘) - unsigned\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAttribution:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chikuzen Nobukuni (筑前信国) school, per NBTHK kantei\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate:\u003c\/strong\u003e NBTHK Hozon Kanteishō No. 3037362 (Reiwa 7 \/ 2025)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eType:\u003c\/strong\u003e Katana\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod:\u003c\/strong\u003e Edo Period (Shintō)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMounting:\u003c\/strong\u003e Black urushi koshirae with gold-inlaid iron tsuba and crested (mon) fittings\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBlade Length (Nagasa):\u003c\/strong\u003e 69.4 cm (2 shaku 2 sun 8 bu kyō)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurvature (Sori):\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMekugi-ana:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3 (2 plugged) - suriage\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eShape:\u003c\/strong\u003e Shinogi-zukuri with iori-mune and chū-kissaki\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eJihada:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bright, tightly forged ko-itame\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHamon:\u003c\/strong\u003e Suguha-chō with gentle notare, nioiguchi with ko-nie and ashi\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBoshi:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ko-maru\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \u003cstrong\u003eKatana\u003c\/strong\u003e is a work of the \u003cstrong\u003eChikuzen Nobukuni\u003c\/strong\u003e school, attributed by the NBTHK in a current \u003cstrong\u003eHozon\u003c\/strong\u003e appraisal (Reiwa 7 \/ 2025). The blade is \u003cstrong\u003emumei\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003esuriage\u003c\/strong\u003e - it was shortened at some point in its working life, and its three mekugi-ana (two now plugged) record that history. The original signature was lost in the shortening, which is why the attribution rests on the NBTHK's expert reading of the workmanship rather than on a surviving mei. This is the normal and respected basis on which shortened Edo blades are classified.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sugata is a clean \u003cem\u003eshinogi-zukuri\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003eiori-mune\u003c\/em\u003e, a balanced \u003cstrong\u003echū-kissaki\u003c\/strong\u003e, and a shallow, composed \u003cstrong\u003e1.2 cm sori\u003c\/strong\u003e over a \u003cstrong\u003e69.4 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e blade - the calm, purposeful profile of a Shintō-era katana. The blade is healthy and brightly polished.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003ejihada\u003c\/em\u003e is a tightly forged \u003cstrong\u003eko-itame\u003c\/strong\u003e, bright and well-packed - the disciplined, refined steel for which the Nobukuni lineage is known. The \u003cem\u003ehamon\u003c\/em\u003e runs as a \u003cstrong\u003esuguha-chō\u003c\/strong\u003e with a gentle \u003cem\u003enotare\u003c\/em\u003e movement, worked in a soft \u003cem\u003enioiguchi\u003c\/em\u003e with fine \u003cem\u003eko-nie\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eashi\u003c\/em\u003e entering the temper; the \u003cem\u003eboshi\u003c\/em\u003e turns back in a neat \u003cstrong\u003eko-maru\u003c\/strong\u003e. The result is a quietly classical blade in which the brightness of the steel and the evenness of the work carry the interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"koshirae\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKoshirae Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade is housed in a coordinated \u003cstrong\u003eblack koshirae\u003c\/strong\u003e. The \u003cstrong\u003esaya\u003c\/strong\u003e is finished in glossy black \u003cem\u003eurushi\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer and dressed with a dark-blue-and-white \u003cem\u003esageo\u003c\/em\u003e. The \u003cstrong\u003etsuba\u003c\/strong\u003e is a round iron plate with a distinctive twisted-rope (\u003cem\u003enawame\u003c\/em\u003e) rim and gold \u003cem\u003ezōgan\u003c\/em\u003e (inlay) describing grasses and plant motifs across the surface, with one of the openings cut in the shape of a flower - a refined, scholarly piece of ironwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe grip fittings are notable for their \u003cstrong\u003ekamon (family crests)\u003c\/strong\u003e. The \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e carry crests in relief - a \u003cstrong\u003ecross-within-a-ring\u003c\/strong\u003e (the \u003cem\u003emaru-ni-jūmonji\u003c\/em\u003e form, borne among others by the Shimazu of Satsuma) and a \u003cstrong\u003efloral roundel\u003c\/strong\u003e - and the gilt \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e beneath the wrap are themselves three-leaf crest roundels. Crests of this kind indicate that the mounting was made for a samurai family; we describe them as observed and make no documented claim of ownership by any specific clan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003etsuka\u003c\/strong\u003e is wrapped in black silk \u003cem\u003eito\u003c\/em\u003e over white \u003cem\u003esame\u003c\/em\u003e (rayskin) in the traditional \u003cem\u003ehineri-maki\u003c\/em\u003e diamond pattern, with a gilt \u003cem\u003ehabaki\u003c\/em\u003e at the blade collar. The whole presents as a dignified, crested samurai mounting in good order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"school-history\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Chikuzen Nobukuni School\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003eNobukuni\u003c\/strong\u003e name is one of the oldest and most respected in Japanese sword history. The line began in \u003cstrong\u003eKyoto (Yamashiro province)\u003c\/strong\u003e in the Nanbokuchō period, its founder traditionally counted as a pupil of the great Sōshū master Sadamune; the earliest Nobukuni blades show strong Sōshū-den character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cstrong\u003e1602 (Keichō 7)\u003c\/strong\u003e, the smith Nobukuni Yoshisada moved to \u003cstrong\u003eChikuzen province (today Fukuoka, in Kyūshū)\u003c\/strong\u003e at the invitation of the daimyō \u003cstrong\u003eKuroda Nagamasa\u003c\/strong\u003e, lord of the new Fukuoka domain. From that point the school served the \u003cstrong\u003eKuroda clan as retained smiths\u003c\/strong\u003e (kakae-kaji), generation after generation, through the Edo period and into early Meiji. Its smiths - Yoshisada, Yoshimasa, Yoshitsugu, Yoshikane, Shigekane and their successors - were known collectively as the \u003cstrong\u003e\"Tsukushi Nobukuni,\"\u003c\/strong\u003e one of the most prosperous swordmaking groups in all of Kyūshū. The school's most celebrated member, Shigekane, was summoned to Edo to forge for the eighth Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune and was granted the honour of carving the hollyhock (aoi) crest on his tangs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorkmanship of the school blends the classical Yamashiro\/Sōshū inheritance with the robust Kyūshū styles of the Shintō age: a bright, well-forged ko-itame jigane (often with flowing nagare and fine ji-nie), and hamon ranging from calm suguha to lively chōji- and gunome-midare. A blade attributed to this school is, in effect, a piece of that long and well-documented Kuroda-domain tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"about-attribution\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Attribution\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause the blade is mumei and suriage, its name comes from \u003cstrong\u003ekantei\u003c\/strong\u003e - the trained judgement of the NBTHK's appraisers - rather than from a signature. The fresh \u003cstrong\u003eNBTHK Hozon\u003c\/strong\u003e paper (2025) confirms both the authenticity of the blade as a genuine antique nihonto and the school attribution to Chikuzen Nobukuni. For a collector this offers a documented, school-attributed Edo katana in attractive crested mounts, on the strength of a current paper from Japan's principal appraisal body.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Nihonto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56892238201156,"sku":"KATANA82","price":4300.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/4080\/8516\/files\/Katana82_280K_0037_GenerativeFill3.jpg?v=1782530280","url":"https:\/\/tokyo-nihonto.com\/es\/products\/katana82","provider":"Tokyo Nihonto","version":"1.0","type":"link"}