Kantei

NH-0038 Rank 45

Onizuka Kurō Minamoto Katsukuni

鬼塚九郎源勝国

Forged before the deity of the Hachiman shrine in Mito on New Year's Day of Ansei 7 (1860), with an ubu tang, a solid silver habaki and a han-tachi koshirae.

Shinshintō (1781-1876)New Year of Ansei 7 (1860)Mito, HitachiNBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

The inscription reads “Onizuka Kurō Minamoto Katsukuni, resident of Mito, Hitachi province. Made with spirit at the age of twenty-nine”, and on the reverse: “forged before the deity of the Hachiman shrine on New Year's Day, first month of Ansei 7 (1860), year of the monkey”. The original seller is explicit about what is not known: Katsukuni does not appear in the indexes of smiths, nor is any Onizuka family recorded among the retainers of the Mito domain; his hypothesis is a smith brought in from another province for the Shirahatayama arms manufactory, built beside the shrine itself in 1857. The blade measures 71.9 cm nagasa and 1.5 cm sori, with 3.2 cm motohaba, 2.4 cm sakihaba and 0.8 cm munekasane, and shows a very regular succession of togari-gunome. The tang is ubu, with kiri yasurime, ha-agari kurijiri and a single mekugi-ana; the habaki is solid silver with koshi-yūjō yasurime. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers dated 31 May 2024. The koshirae is han-tachi, 101.3 cm long: gold-lacquered saya with a mushikui motif, a brass mokkō-gata tsuba with an oni and Shōki in katakiri-bori, amaryū menuki in shibuichi with gold iroe, shibuichi chirimen-ji fuchi-kashira with senbori and two crests, and a white same tsuka with tsumami-maki in willow-green silk.

Strong points

  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon (31 May 2024), with an ubu tang and a single mekugi-ana
  • Signed “made with spirit at the age of twenty-nine” and dated New Year's Day of Ansei 7 (1860)
  • Forged before the deity of the Hachiman shrine in Mito
  • Brass mokkō-gata tsuba with Shōki and the oni in katakiri-bori; amaryū menuki in shibuichi with gold iroe
  • Solid silver habaki with koshi-yūjō yasurime
  • Linked to the Shirahatayama arms manufactory, raised by the Mito domain beside the shrine in 1857

Points to bear in mind

  • The original seller places the koshirae between Meiji and Shōwa, later than the blade, without NBTHK papers and with no signed fitting
  • The smith does not appear in the reference works on swordsmiths, according to the original seller
  • The connection with Darani Katsukuni of Kaga is, in the original seller's own words, speculative and undocumented
  • No shirasaya included

Score breakdown

63.7/100

The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. It is computed from the record, not from an opinion. The mounting starts from what is known of its period, adds what vouches for it (its own NBTHK paper, a signed fitting, a crest) and subtracts what has been restored (saya, ito, same, habaki or sageo).

  1. Signature and date 18 of 18 Signed and with an engraved date
  2. Tang 22 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin
  3. Mounting 0 of 18 Modern mounting
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 8 of 8 71.9 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
  7. Price 4.7 of 10 Rank 74 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest