{"product_id":"katana109","title":"Antique Japanese Muromachi Katana Sword attributed to the Uda School of Etchū with Itame-Mokume Hada, Iron Sukashi Tsuba and Blue Tsuka-Ito - NBTHK Hozon","description":"\u003c!-- KATANA109 — Tokyo Nihonto --\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"product\"\u003e\u003cheader\u003e\u003c\/header\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"specs\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSignature (Mei):\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eMumei\u003c\/em\u003e (unsigned) \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e無銘\u003c\/span\u003e; the tang was greatly shortened (\u003cem\u003eō-suriage\u003c\/em\u003e) and the signature, if there was one, was lost\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAttribution:\u003c\/strong\u003e Uda school \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e宇多\u003c\/span\u003e, by NBTHK certificate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchool \/ Tradition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Uda school, Etchū Province (modern Toyama Prefecture), Yamato tradition with Sōshū influence\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod \/ Province:\u003c\/strong\u003e Muromachi period, \u003cem\u003ekotō\u003c\/em\u003e, Etchū Province. The period is the Japanese dealer's assessment; the NBTHK attribution to Uda, rather than \u003cem\u003eKo-Uda\u003c\/em\u003e, places the blade after the late 14th century\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCertificate:\u003c\/strong\u003e NBTHK \u003cem\u003eHozon Tōken\u003c\/em\u003e, certificate no. 324481, issued 11 July 1990 (Heisei 2): \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e無銘（宇多）\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eJapanese Registration (Tōroku-shō):\u003c\/strong\u003e Tokyo no. 252618, issued 15 February 1990\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMounting:\u003c\/strong\u003e Complete \u003cem\u003ekatana koshirae\u003c\/em\u003e: dark brown lacquer \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e, round iron \u003cem\u003esukashi\u003c\/em\u003e tsuba, plain stippled \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e, brown \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e, dark metal toad \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e, blue \u003cem\u003etsuka-ito\u003c\/em\u003e over white \u003cem\u003esame\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBlade Length (Nagasa):\u003c\/strong\u003e 67.3 cm (2 \u003cem\u003eshaku\u003c\/em\u003e 2 \u003cem\u003esun\u003c\/em\u003e 2 \u003cem\u003ebu\u003c\/em\u003e on the NBTHK certificate)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurvature (Sori):\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMekugi-ana:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3½: three holes, plus a half hole cut through at the end of the tang\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\u003echū-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e, shallow curvature; \u003cem\u003eō-suriage\u003c\/em\u003e with a straight-cut tang end (\u003cem\u003ekiri-jiri\u003c\/em\u003e)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eJihada:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eItame\u003c\/em\u003e mixed with \u003cem\u003emokume\u003c\/em\u003e, flowing towards \u003cem\u003emasame\u003c\/em\u003e near the \u003cem\u003eshinogi\u003c\/em\u003e; the grain stands out clearly\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHamon:\u003c\/strong\u003e Narrow and quiet, \u003cem\u003esuguha\u003c\/em\u003e-based; it reads only faintly in the current older polish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHabaki:\u003c\/strong\u003e Single-piece copper, diagonal file marks above and a punched pattern below\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unsigned katana of \u003cstrong\u003e67.3 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e, attributed by the NBTHK to the \u003cstrong\u003eUda school\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e宇多\u003c\/span\u003e of Etchū Province, on the Sea of Japan coast. The \u003cem\u003eHozon Tōken\u003c\/em\u003e certificate no. 324481 was issued on \u003cstrong\u003e11 July 1990\u003c\/strong\u003e, a few months after the sword was registered in Tokyo. The blade comes complete in a dark lacquer koshirae with an iron openwork tsuba.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shape is a \u003cem\u003eshinogi-zukuri\u003c\/em\u003e katana with an \u003cem\u003eiori-mune\u003c\/em\u003e, a \u003cem\u003echū-kissaki\u003c\/em\u003e and a shallow curvature of \u003cstrong\u003e1.4 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e. The blade has been greatly shortened (\u003cem\u003eō-suriage\u003c\/em\u003e): the tang ends in a straight cut and carries three \u003cem\u003emekugi-ana\u003c\/em\u003e, with a fourth hole cut in half by the new end. This is how many Muromachi swords survive: longer blades worn edge-down were cut at the tang to be worn edge-up through the belt as katana, which is why their signatures are so often gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe steel is the part to study. The \u003cem\u003ejihada\u003c\/em\u003e is an \u003cem\u003eitame\u003c\/em\u003e mixed with \u003cem\u003emokume\u003c\/em\u003e that flows towards \u003cem\u003emasame\u003c\/em\u003e near the \u003cem\u003eshinogi\u003c\/em\u003e, and the grain stands out clearly across the whole blade. A visible, standing grain of this kind is exactly what Japanese appraisers look for first in Uda work: the school is recognised by its steel before its temper line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hamon is narrow and quiet, based on \u003cem\u003esuguha\u003c\/em\u003e. The polish is an older one, and in these photographs it shows the grain far more than the temper line, which reads only faintly. A fresh polish would bring the hamon back out. The tang has a dark, even patina and has never been cleaned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"koshirae\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eKoshirae Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003etsuba\u003c\/em\u003e is a round iron plate cut in openwork (\u003cem\u003esukashi\u003c\/em\u003e): spokes shaped like stylised spear-heads radiate from the centre to a plain round rim, with lobed openings on either side of the tang hole for the \u003cem\u003ekozuka\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ekōgai\u003c\/em\u003e. It is a sober, strong guard in the tradition of the iron openwork tsuba worn by samurai, and the iron has a dark, rusty brown surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003efuchi\u003c\/em\u003e is plain, with a silver-toned stippled surface. The \u003cem\u003ekashira\u003c\/em\u003e is a plain brown cap with a fine grained surface. The \u003cem\u003emenuki\u003c\/em\u003e are in dark patinated metal with silver highlights and traces of red. Most of each piece is hidden under the wrap, but the visible parts show a domed eye, a wide, flat mouth and a warty, punched skin: they appear to be \u003cstrong\u003etoads\u003c\/strong\u003e. In Japanese the frog and toad, \u003cem\u003ekaeru\u003c\/em\u003e, sounds like the verb \"to return\", and it was worn as a charm for a safe homecoming.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003etsuka\u003c\/em\u003e is wrapped in blue cord over white \u003cem\u003esame\u003c\/em\u003e with large, even nodules, and the wrap is clean, tight and in fresh condition. The \u003cem\u003esaya\u003c\/em\u003e is lacquered in a very dark brown, almost black, with a lacquered \u003cem\u003ekurikata\u003c\/em\u003e and a black \u003cem\u003esageo\u003c\/em\u003e. It shows its age: scratches along the body, worn lacquer at the plain rounded tip, and lacquer losses around the mouth (\u003cem\u003ekoiguchi\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003ehabaki\u003c\/em\u003e is a single-piece copper collar, filed with diagonal marks on its upper half and decorated with a punched pattern on the lower half. The \u003cem\u003eseppa\u003c\/em\u003e are copper and silver-toned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"smith-background\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe Attribution: Uda \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e宇多\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blade is unsigned, and the NBTHK attributes it to the \u003cstrong\u003eUda school\u003c\/strong\u003e as a whole, without naming an individual smith. That is the usual form for unsigned Uda work: the school's smiths worked for more than two centuries and almost all of them used the character \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e国\u003c\/span\u003e (\u003cem\u003ekuni\u003c\/em\u003e) in their names, so a school attribution is the honest level of precision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTradition names the founder as \u003cstrong\u003eKunimitsu\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e国光\u003c\/span\u003e, a smith from the Uda district of Yamato Province who moved north to Etchū at the end of the Kamakura period, around the Bunpō era (1317–1319). Since almost no work by him survives, his followers \u003cstrong\u003eKunifusa\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e国房\u003c\/span\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eKunimune\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e国宗\u003c\/span\u003e are often treated as the real founders. Kunifusa is said to have studied with \u003cstrong\u003eEtchū Norishige\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e則重\u003c\/span\u003e, one of the famous pupils of Masamune, and Norishige's influence gave the school its taste for a strong, visible grain and bright \u003cem\u003enie\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJapanese appraisers call the blades made before about 1394 \u003cem\u003eKo-Uda\u003c\/em\u003e (\"old Uda\"). This certificate reads simply Uda, which places the sword among the later generations of the school, in the Muromachi period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"school-history\"\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe Uda School and the Swords of the North\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEtchū, modern Toyama Prefecture, lies on the Sea of Japan coast, far from the great sword centres of Kyoto, Bizen and Sagami. Together with the Fujishima school of Kaga and the Chiyozuru school of Echizen, the Uda smiths form the group known as \u003cem\u003ehokkoku-mono\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cspan lang=\"ja\"\u003e北国物\u003c\/span\u003e, \"swords of the northern provinces\". The school worked from the late Kamakura period to the end of the Muromachi period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUda work mixes two traditions: the sober shapes and \u003cem\u003esuguha\u003c\/em\u003e temper lines of \u003cstrong\u003eYamato\u003c\/strong\u003e, the founder's home province, and the grain and \u003cem\u003enie\u003c\/em\u003e of \u003cstrong\u003eSōshū\u003c\/strong\u003e, inherited through Norishige. Its steel is the most recognisable feature: an \u003cem\u003eitame\u003c\/em\u003e that flows and stands out, mixed with \u003cem\u003emokume\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003emasame\u003c\/em\u003e, sometimes with darker and lighter patches. Uda blades were made in large numbers for the warriors of the northern provinces during the wars of the Muromachi period, and they are valued as honest, well-forged fighting swords.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is offered here is an unsigned Muromachi-period katana of 67.3 cm, attributed to the Uda school of Etchū by an NBTHK Hozon certificate issued in 1990, registered in Tokyo, and complete in a dark lacquer koshirae with an iron openwork tsuba and a blue tsuka wrap.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Tokyo Nihonto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57711709061444,"sku":"KATANA109","price":3350.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/4080\/8516\/files\/Katana109_270K_0040_GenerativeFill3.jpg?v=1794570430","url":"https:\/\/tokyo-nihonto.com\/products\/katana109","provider":"Tokyo Nihonto","version":"1.0","type":"link"}