{"product_id":"antique-japanese-katana-tango-no-kami-fujiwara-kanemichi-kikumon-nbthk-hozon","title":"Antique Japanese Katana by Tango no Kami Fujiwara Kanemichi with Imperial Kikumon, Suguha Hamon and Gold-Inlaid Tsuba - NBTHK Hozon","description":"\u003c!-- Katana 100 - Tango no Kami Fujiwara Kanemichi - kikumon + ichi - NBTHK Hozon 3038158 - Mishina Osaka - 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 \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e丹後守藤原兼\u003c\/span\u003e (Tango no Kami Fujiwara Kane...), \u003cem\u003eomote\u003c\/em\u003e, the final character lost when the blade was shortened. The NBTHK reads the name as \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e兼道\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eKanemichi\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReverse (Ura):\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e菊級\u003c\/span\u003e the sixteen-petal \u003cstrong\u003eimperial chrysanthemum crest\u003c\/strong\u003e, followed by the character \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e一\u003c\/span\u003e (\u003cem\u003eichi\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSwordsmith:\u003c\/strong\u003e Tango no Kami Fujiwara Kanemichi \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e丹後守藤原兼道\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchool \/ Tradition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mishina \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e三品\u003c\/span\u003e school, Osaka branch\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod \/ Province:\u003c\/strong\u003e Edo period, \u003cem\u003eshinto\u003c\/em\u003e, Settsu Province (Osaka)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eNBTHK \u003cem\u003eHozon Token\u003c\/em\u003e no. 3038158\u003c\/strong\u003e, issued 1 December 2025\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRegistration:\u003c\/strong\u003e Japanese \u003cem\u003etorokusho\u003c\/em\u003e Wakayama no. 435, issued 15 May 1951\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMounting:\u003c\/strong\u003e Complete \u003cem\u003ekatana koshirae\u003c\/em\u003e, black \u003cem\u003eishime\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e, iron landscape \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e with gold inlay, archery \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBlade Length (Nagasa):\u003c\/strong\u003e 69.5 cm (2 \u003cem\u003eshaku\u003c\/em\u003e 3 \u003cem\u003esun\u003c\/em\u003e scant, as recorded on the NBTHK certificate)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurvature (Sori):\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.36 cm\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, \u003cem\u003echu-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e, shallow \u003cem\u003etorii-zori\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eJihada:\u003c\/strong\u003e Very tight \u003cem\u003eko-itame\u003c\/em\u003e, clear and bright\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHamon:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eChu-suguha\u003c\/em\u003e, regular and even in width from \u003cem\u003emachi\u003c\/em\u003e to \u003cem\u003eyokote\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003enioi-deki\u003c\/em\u003e with a tight bright \u003cem\u003enioiguchi\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBoshi:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eSuguha\u003c\/em\u003e continuing past the \u003cem\u003eyokote\u003c\/em\u003e into a clean \u003cem\u003eko-maru\u003c\/em\u003e, ample hardened width remaining\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHabaki:\u003c\/strong\u003e Single-piece copper with gold foil (\u003cem\u003ekin-kise\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePolish:\u003c\/strong\u003e Excellent modern polish. No \u003cem\u003ehagire\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003efukure\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eware\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003ekizu\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \u003cem\u003ekatana\u003c\/em\u003e is signed \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e丹後守藤原兼\u003c\/span\u003e on the \u003cem\u003eomote\u003c\/em\u003e of the tang: \u003cstrong\u003eTango no Kami Fujiwara Kane\u003c\/strong\u003e, the last character cut away when the blade was shortened. On the \u003cem\u003eura\u003c\/em\u003e, deeply struck, is the \u003cstrong\u003esixteen-petal imperial chrysanthemum\u003c\/strong\u003e, and beneath it the single character \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e一\u003c\/span\u003e, \u003cem\u003eichi\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade was submitted to the \u003cstrong\u003eNBTHK\u003c\/strong\u003e and papered \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eHozon Token\u003c\/em\u003e under certificate no. 3038158 on 1 December 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e. The certificate transcribes the signature exactly as it survives and identifies the smith as \u003cstrong\u003eKanemichi\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e兼道\u003c\/span\u003e. It records the length as \u003cem\u003e2 shaku 3 sun scant\u003c\/em\u003e, about \u003cstrong\u003e69.5 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e. The sword is registered in Japan under \u003cem\u003etorokusho\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eWakayama no. 435\u003c\/strong\u003e, issued on \u003cstrong\u003e15 May 1951\u003c\/strong\u003e, which is one of the earliest registration numbers we have handled and places the sword in recorded Japanese ownership within a few years of the post-war registration system being created.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe chrysanthemum is the part that deserves attention, because it is not decoration. It is an imperial privilege, and the story of how a sword comes to carry it is told in the sections below.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs for the blade itself: \u003cem\u003eshinogi-zukuri\u003c\/em\u003e with an \u003cem\u003eiori-mune\u003c\/em\u003e and a \u003cem\u003echu-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e, shallow \u003cem\u003etorii-zori\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e69.5 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e for \u003cstrong\u003e1.36 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e of curvature. It is shortened, with two \u003cem\u003emekugi-ana\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003emachi\u003c\/em\u003e moved up, which is why the signature is truncated. The forging is a \u003cstrong\u003every tight \u003cem\u003eko-itame\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, the steel clear and bright in the way refined \u003cem\u003eshinto\u003c\/em\u003e work is. The temper is a \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003echu-suguha\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e of remarkable evenness, holding one width from the \u003cem\u003emachi\u003c\/em\u003e all the way to the \u003cem\u003eyokote\u003c\/em\u003e, in \u003cem\u003enioi-deki\u003c\/em\u003e with a tight, bright \u003cem\u003enioiguchi\u003c\/em\u003e. The \u003cem\u003eboshi\u003c\/em\u003e carries straight through the point and turns in a clean \u003cem\u003eko-maru\u003c\/em\u003e with plenty of hardened steel left.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sword is in an \u003cstrong\u003eexcellent modern polish\u003c\/strong\u003e and is entirely healthy. There is no \u003cem\u003ehagire\u003c\/em\u003e, no \u003cem\u003efukure\u003c\/em\u003e, no \u003cem\u003eware\u003c\/em\u003e, no \u003cem\u003ekizu\u003c\/em\u003e, no active rust and no core steel showing. Unlike most antique blades, this one needs nothing done to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"koshirae\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mounting is deliberately restrained, and the taste behind it is \u003cem\u003eshibui\u003c\/em\u003e: everything quiet except one thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat one thing is the \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e. Iron, \u003cem\u003emaru-gata\u003c\/em\u003e, carved in low relief and inlaid with \u003cstrong\u003egold \u003cem\u003enunome-zogan\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, it carries a landscape: mountains, water, a boat under sail, and a scatter of geese coming down out of the sky. Those two motifs together are not decoration chosen at random. A \u003cstrong\u003ereturning sail\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003edescending geese\u003c\/strong\u003e are two of the \u003cem\u003eEight Views\u003c\/em\u003e, the set of classical scenes that Japanese painters took from Chinese models and moved to the shores of Lake Biwa. Put on a sword guard they carry what the Eight Views always carry: autumn, distance, and the idea of coming home. The \u003cem\u003ekozuka-hitsu-ana\u003c\/em\u003e has been plugged with a \u003cem\u003eshakudo\u003c\/em\u003e plate worked in \u003cem\u003enanako\u003c\/em\u003e with gold highlights, which is the kind of detail a careless owner does not pay for. Copper \u003cem\u003esekigane\u003c\/em\u003e sit at both ends of the \u003cem\u003enakago-ana\u003c\/em\u003e. It is unsigned; the iron, the landscape subject and the gold overlay point to provincial Edo work, most likely Shoami.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e are austere by comparison, dark and finished in \u003cem\u003eishime\u003c\/em\u003e stippling, the \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e carrying a low-relief scroll near its edges and the \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e a fine gold line at the \u003cem\u003eseppa-dai\u003c\/em\u003e. The \u003cem\u003ekojiri\u003c\/em\u003e repeats the \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e's scroll exactly, which ties the whole scabbard together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e are \u003cem\u003eshakudo\u003c\/em\u003e with gold, and the subject is \u003cstrong\u003earchery equipment\u003c\/strong\u003e: arrow shafts with their gold bindings clearly visible under the wrap. Arrows were never only weapons in Japan. A decorated arrow hung in the house is a \u003cem\u003ehama-ya\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e破魔矢\u003c\/span\u003e, an \u003cstrong\u003eevil-dispelling arrow\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the custom of keeping one for the new year survives to this day. A samurai who chose arrows for the palm of his sword hand was choosing something that goes straight and does not turn aside. The \u003cem\u003ehabaki\u003c\/em\u003e is single-piece copper under \u003cstrong\u003egold foil\u003c\/strong\u003e, filed with diagonal \u003cem\u003eyasurime\u003c\/em\u003e, the foil worn away along the edges where a lifetime of drawing and sheathing rubbed it back to the copper. The \u003cem\u003eseppa\u003c\/em\u003e are a gilt pair with coin-edge filing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e is black \u003cem\u003eishime\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer, the \u003cem\u003etsuka\u003c\/em\u003e is wrapped in black silk over white \u003cem\u003esamegawa\u003c\/em\u003e in \u003cem\u003ehineri-maki\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003esageo\u003c\/em\u003e is black. Both are pristine, which means the organic parts of this mounting were professionally renewed in the modern era over the original antique metal fittings. The work is excellent and the result is a sword that presents as it would have when it was worn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"smith-background\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTango no Kami Fujiwara Kanemichi\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e丹後守藤原兼道\u003c\/span\u003e is the smith who took the Mishina name out of Kyoto and planted it in Osaka. He was a son of Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi of the Kyoto line, which makes him a grandson of the Kanemichi of Seki who founded the school.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe received the court title of \u003cstrong\u003eTango no Kami in 1625\u003c\/strong\u003e and left for Osaka almost immediately afterwards. The timing is the interesting part. Osaka had been burned ten years before, in 1615, when Tokugawa Ieyasu took the castle and finished the Toyotomi. What rose from those ashes was not a fortress town but a merchant one: the rice exchange of the entire country, the port through which the western domains shipped everything they sold, a city being rebuilt from nothing with money moving through it. A young swordsmith with a fresh court title was not being sentimental in going there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a smith, Osaka meant two things. It meant customers, because the western lords kept residences and agents in the city and ordered their blades where their money already was. And it meant \u003cstrong\u003esteel\u003c\/strong\u003e. Osaka sat at the end of the sea route from the San'in coast, where the best \u003cem\u003etamahagane\u003c\/em\u003e in Japan was smelted from the iron sands of Izumo and Hoki. A smith in Kyoto worked with what came to him overland; a smith in Osaka had the pick of the cargo as it was unloaded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is why \u003cstrong\u003eOsaka Shinto\u003c\/strong\u003e blades are remembered for their \u003cem\u003ejigane\u003c\/em\u003e before anything else: a steel surface forged so tightly and so cleanly that the grain almost disappears, bright and close to liquid under raking light. The very tight, clear \u003cem\u003eko-itame\u003c\/em\u003e on this blade is that tradition doing exactly what it was famous for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title passed down the family and later generations signed the same name, so \u003cem\u003eTango no Kami Kanemichi\u003c\/em\u003e on its own does not tell you which man held the hammer. One detail does. Japanese sources record consistently that \u003cstrong\u003ethe first generation cut the chrysanthemum together with the character \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e一\u003c\/span\u003e on the tang, and that his successors did not\u003c\/strong\u003e. This blade carries exactly that pairing. \u003cstrong\u003eThe NBTHK certificate attributes the sword to Kanemichi without naming a generation\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the marks on this tang match the documented practice of the first master, which is a point a serious buyer will want to weigh.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first generation was born around 1603 and worked until his death in 1672, at the age of seventy. He is recorded for two very different registers: the \u003cem\u003esudare-ba\u003c\/em\u003e, the bamboo-blind temper line he inherited from his father, and an elegant \u003cem\u003egunome\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003echoji\u003c\/em\u003e character. This blade is neither. It is a disciplined \u003cem\u003echu-suguha\u003c\/em\u003e, which is what a smith of this standing does across a working life of nearly fifty years: he does not repeat one trick.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"school-history\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mishina school begins in 1593, when a smith named Kanemichi left Seki in Mino province and moved to Kyoto with his four sons. The sons are the school: \u003cstrong\u003eIga no Kami Kinmichi\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eRai Kinmichi\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eTanba no Kami Yoshimichi\u003c\/strong\u003e, who invented the \u003cem\u003esudare-ba\u003c\/em\u003e temper that looks like a bamboo blind, and \u003cstrong\u003eEtchu no Kami Masatoshi\u003c\/strong\u003e, rated the most gifted of the four. Together with Omi no Kami Hisamichi they are remembered as the \u003cem\u003eKyo-go-kaji\u003c\/em\u003e, the five smiths of Kyoto.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe eldest, Iga no Kami Kinmichi, changed the family's standing permanently. \u003cstrong\u003eTokugawa Ieyasu ordered one thousand \u003cem\u003etachi\u003c\/em\u003e from him\u003c\/strong\u003e, and in return the court granted him the title \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNihon Kaji Sosho\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, master of all the swordsmiths of Japan, \u003cstrong\u003eand with it the right to cut the imperial chrysanthemum on his tangs\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat title was not ceremonial. From then on the Kinmichi house acted as the official intermediary to the imperial court for the granting of court titles to swordsmiths across the entire country. A smith anywhere in Japan who wanted to call himself \u003cem\u003eno Kami\u003c\/em\u003e had to go through them. The privilege of the chrysanthemum extended to the Mishina family, which is how a sword signed Tango no Kami Kanemichi comes to carry an imperial crest at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the two marks on this tang record the same fact from two directions. The \u003cstrong\u003ecourt title\u003c\/strong\u003e was obtained through the family that controlled access to court titles; the \u003cstrong\u003echrysanthemum\u003c\/strong\u003e is the visible sign of belonging to that family. Very few \u003cem\u003eshinto\u003c\/em\u003e smiths were ever in a position to cut either one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is offered here is a signed \u003cem\u003ekatana\u003c\/em\u003e of the Mishina school's Osaka branch, papered \u003cstrong\u003eNBTHK Hozon\u003c\/strong\u003e, bearing the \u003cstrong\u003eimperial chrysanthemum\u003c\/strong\u003e and the character \u003cem\u003eichi\u003c\/em\u003e, registered in Japan since 1951, in excellent modern polish and complete in a period mounting with a gold-inlaid landscape \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Nihonto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57282738094404,"sku":"KATANA100","price":7200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/4080\/8516\/files\/Katana100_500K_0041_GenerativeFill3.jpg?v=1789568779","url":"https:\/\/tokyo-nihonto.com\/products\/antique-japanese-katana-tango-no-kami-fujiwara-kanemichi-kikumon-nbthk-hozon","provider":"Tokyo Nihonto","version":"1.0","type":"link"}