{"product_id":"antique-japanese-katana-with-black-lacquer-koshirae-and-feather-motif-iron-tsuba-signed-chikushi-tadamasa-hozon","title":"Antique Japanese Katana with Black Lacquer Koshirae and Feather-Motif Iron Tsuba signed Chikushi Tadamasa - 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 \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e筑紫忠正作\u003c\/span\u003e Chikushi Tadamasa saku\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSwordsmith:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chikushi Tadamasa\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eClassification:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gendaitō (現代刀) - modern traditionally-made nihonto, Shōwa era\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate:\u003c\/strong\u003e NBTHK Hozon Tōken (保存刀剣) No. 361035 - issued February 2002 (Heisei 14)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMounting:\u003c\/strong\u003e Full black urushi koshirae with iron feather-motif tsuba\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBlade Length (Nagasa):\u003c\/strong\u003e 62.7 cm (2 shaku 0 sun 6 bu 5 rin)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurvature (Sori):\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.3 cm - elegant, restrained torii-zori\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMekugi-ana:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 (ubu - original, unaltered nakago)\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 Tight, well-forged ko-itame\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHamon:\u003c\/strong\u003e Notare with gunome, bright nioiguchi, ko-nie and prominent ashi\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 signed, \u003cstrong\u003eNBTHK Hozon\u003c\/strong\u003e-certified \u003cstrong\u003egendaitō\u003c\/strong\u003e bearing the mei \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e筑紫忠正作\u003c\/span\u003e (Chikushi Tadamasa saku)\u003c\/strong\u003e and dated by the NBTHK to the \u003cstrong\u003eShōwa era\u003c\/strong\u003e. Measuring \u003cstrong\u003e62.7 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e with a controlled \u003cstrong\u003e1.3 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e sori, it is a fully traditional Japanese sword forged from tamahagane in the classical manner—not a wartime arsenal blade and not a replica. For a 20th-century work to pass NBTHK shinsa and receive Hozon papers, the appraisers must confirm both that the signature is authentic and that the blade was made by genuine traditional methods. That distinction is exactly what separates a real nihonto from the oil-quenched showatō that flood the modern market.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade is healthy and full-bodied, presented in \u003cem\u003eshinogi-zukuri\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003eiori-mune\u003c\/em\u003e and a balanced \u003cem\u003echū-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e. The \u003cem\u003ejihada\u003c\/em\u003e is a dense, tightly forged \u003cem\u003eko-itame\u003c\/em\u003e, clean and well-controlled across the ji—the kind of disciplined grain a properly trained Shōwa smith achieved through patient folding. Against this ground, the \u003cem\u003ehamon\u003c\/em\u003e runs as a flowing \u003cem\u003enotare\u003c\/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003egunome\u003c\/em\u003e undulations, set in a bright \u003cem\u003enioiguchi\u003c\/em\u003e with a covering of fine \u003cem\u003eko-nie\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat gives this blade its character under close inspection is the activity inside the hardened edge: pronounced \u003cem\u003eashi\u003c\/em\u003e reach down toward the cutting edge in clear diagonal lines, breaking the hamon into lively, rhythmic compartments. This is workmanship meant to be studied in hand and under proper light. The \u003cem\u003eboshi\u003c\/em\u003e turns back in a tidy \u003cem\u003eko-maru\u003c\/em\u003e, with controlled hamon carried cleanly to the point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003enakago\u003c\/em\u003e is \u003cstrong\u003eubu\u003c\/strong\u003e (original and unshortened), retaining its single \u003cem\u003emekugi-ana\u003c\/em\u003e and the smith's clearly chiseled \u003cem\u003esashimei\u003c\/em\u003e. An untouched tang on a signed blade is the ideal state of preservation—nothing has been altered, the signature stands exactly as the smith left it, and the NBTHK has confirmed it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"koshirae\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKoshirae Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sword is mounted in a complete \u003cstrong\u003eblack koshirae\u003c\/strong\u003e built for quiet elegance rather than display. The \u003cstrong\u003esaya\u003c\/strong\u003e is finished in deep, glossy black \u003cem\u003eurushi\u003c\/em\u003e lacquer—smooth and unadorned, letting the form of the mounting speak for itself—and is dressed with a black-and-white speckled \u003cem\u003esageo\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003etsuba\u003c\/strong\u003e is the standout fitting: a robust \u003cem\u003etetsu\u003c\/em\u003e (iron) guard in \u003cem\u003emokkō-gata\u003c\/em\u003e (four-lobed) form, its plate showing honest forged-iron texture. Across both faces it is decorated with scattered \u003cstrong\u003efeathers\u003c\/strong\u003e in soft-metal \u003cem\u003ezōgan\u003c\/em\u003e (inlay), each one detailed with fine \u003cem\u003ekebori\u003c\/em\u003e hair-line engraving to render the quill and barbs. The feather—and the arrow-fletching it evokes—is a classic samurai motif, read as an emblem of resolve and forward purpose. Two \u003cem\u003ehitsu-ana\u003c\/em\u003e flank the central \u003cem\u003enakago-ana\u003c\/em\u003e for kozuka and kōgai.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003etsuka\u003c\/strong\u003e is wrapped in black \u003cem\u003eito\u003c\/em\u003e over white \u003cem\u003esame\u003c\/em\u003e (rayskin) in the traditional \u003cem\u003ehineri-maki\u003c\/em\u003e diamond pattern, the white nodules of the samegawa showing crisply through the lattice. Beneath the wrap sit finely cast \u003cstrong\u003emenuki\u003c\/strong\u003e in dark patinated metal, worked in detailed figural relief. The overall presentation is restrained and confident—a working samurai aesthetic rather than a decorative one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"smith-background\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSwordsmith Background\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis blade is signed \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e筑紫忠正作\u003c\/span\u003e (Chikushi Tadamasa saku)\u003c\/strong\u003e—\"made by Chikushi Tadamasa.\" The NBTHK has examined the work, confirmed the signature, and dated the blade to the \u003cstrong\u003eShōwa period\u003c\/strong\u003e, the era of modern traditional sword-making that began once licensed forging resumed in postwar Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe art-name \u003cem\u003eChikushi\u003c\/em\u003e (also read Tsukushi) is the classical name for the lands of northern Kyushu—the old Chikuzen and Chikugo provinces, in present-day Fukuoka—a region with a long sword-making heritage. The blade itself reflects sound, orthodox training: a clean ko-itame jihada and a controlled notare-gunome hamon with bright nioiguchi and active ashi, executed with the discipline expected of a properly licensed Shōwa smith working in tamahagane.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than attach romanticized provenance to this piece, we let the evidence stand: a signed blade, an ubu tang, genuine traditional workmanship, and NBTHK Hozon papers confirming all of it. That is a more honest foundation for a collector than an invented backstory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"historical-context\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGendaitō: Modern Swords in the Traditional Tradition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA \u003cstrong\u003egendaitō\u003c\/strong\u003e (現代刀, \"modern sword\") is a Japanese blade made from 1876 onward by traditional methods—tamahagane steel, folded and forged by hand, differentially hardened with a clay coating and water quench. The category is frequently misunderstood: a gendaitō is a true nihonto in every technical sense, distinct from the mass-produced, machine-made, oil-quenched \u003cem\u003eshowatō\u003c\/em\u003e turned out as wartime sidearms, and worlds apart from the cast or stainless replicas sold as decoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dividing line is precisely what NBTHK certification establishes. When the NBTHK awards \u003cstrong\u003eHozon Tōken\u003c\/strong\u003e (\"worthy of preservation\") status to a modern blade, it is certifying that the sword was made by hand in the traditional manner and that its signature is authentic. For a buyer, that paper removes the single biggest risk in the modern-sword market: paying nihonto money for something that was never traditionally forged at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis katana sits firmly on the right side of that line—a signed, Hozon-certified Shōwa work in honest black koshirae, preserving the full discipline of the Japanese swordsmith's craft into the modern age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Nihonto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56848568615236,"sku":null,"price":4700.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/4080\/8516\/files\/Katana79_250K_0036_GenerativeFill4.jpg?v=1781429733","url":"https:\/\/tokyo-nihonto.com\/products\/antique-japanese-katana-with-black-lacquer-koshirae-and-feather-motif-iron-tsuba-signed-chikushi-tadamasa-hozon","provider":"Tokyo Nihonto","version":"1.0","type":"link"}