Kantei

NH-0123 Rank 63

Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi / Hokkyō Rai Eizen

Father-and-son collaborative katana by the Rai Kinmichi family of the Kyoto Sanpin school, with a signed ubu tang, uchigatana mounting and Tokubetsu Hozon paper.

Shintō (1596-1780)Jōkyō era (1684–1688)YamashiroNBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

A joint work of the Rai Kinmichi family of the Kyoto Sanpin school (Yamashiro province): the omote bears the signature of the third-generation Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi with the imperial chrysanthemum, the ura that of the second generation, Hokkyō Rai Eizen. The original seller places it in the early Edo period, around the Jōkyō era. The blade is shinogi-zukuri with iori-mune and chū-kissaki, wide and thick, with a deep ha-machi; nagasa 70.3 cm, sori 1.5 cm. The seller describes a tight ko-itame jihada with ji-nie and a hamon starting in Kyō-suguha and turning into notare-based gunome midare with ko-nie. The tang is ubu according to the seller, as the photographs confirm: sujikai yasurime, kurijiri and a single mekugi-ana. Gold-plated copper habaki. The uchigatana mounting has a golden kawari-nuri lacquered saya, an iron tsuba with wood-grain surface and fans in gold and silver nunome-zōgan, plum-blossom menuki, shakudō nanako fuchi-kashira with chrysanthemums, and a tsuka of white same with black ito. The photographs also show a shirasaya with tsunagi. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper of 2022.

Strong points

  • Gassaku signed by two generations of the Rai Kinmichi family, with imperial chrysanthemum
  • Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, confirmed in the photographs
  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (2022), photographed
  • Complete uchigatana mounting with kawari-nuri lacquered saya
  • Wide, robust blade that the original seller declares healthy

Points to bear in mind

  • The mounting is not dated in writing and has no paper of its own
  • The blade carries no inscribed date; the Jōkyō attribution comes from the original seller

Score breakdown

61.2/100

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 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 22 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin
  3. Mounting 1 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
  4. Declared condition 17 of 20 Sound condition according to the seller at origin
  5. Blade 8 of 8 70.3 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
  7. Price 3.2 of 10 Rank 95 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest