NH-0157 Rank 78
Hizen jū Harima Daijō Fujiwara Tadakuni
Shintō katana by Tadakuni of the Hizen school, with a signed ubu nakago, Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a complete mounting with fittings by Sendai metalworkers.
Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Blade by Harima Daijō Fujiwara Tadakuni, a smith of the Hizen school. According to the original seller, his name was Hashimoto Rokurōzaemon; he received the title Harima Daijō in Kan'ei 11 (1634) and worked in the service of the Ogi domain. It measures 75.1 cm in nagasa with a sori of 0.9 cm. The original seller describes a ko-nie midareba with ko-ashi, sunagashi and kinsuji, and a well-forged ko-itame jigane with ji-nie and tobiyaki; the photographs show a lively irregular hamon along the whole blade. The nakago is ubu, with a single mekugi-ana and a signature on the omote: Hizen jū Harima Daijō Fujiwara Tadakuni. It comes with a shirasaya and a koshirae with a red-lacquered saya, a tsuka wrapped in green and white ito, a round tsuba inlaid in gold with peonies, and fuchi and kashira with gold and silver flowers; the original seller attributes the fittings to Sendai metalworkers. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, dated the 16th day of the 2nd month of Reiwa 8 (2026), appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Recent NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (2026)
- Ubu nakago with full signature and a single mekugi-ana
- Blade stated to be healthy by the original seller
- Complete koshirae with fittings attributed to Sendai metalworkers
- Also supplied with a shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The mounting is not dated in writing
- The saya and the ito appear to have been redone recently
- The index places the blade in the Keian era (1648–1652), the listing in the Kan'ei era
Score breakdown
58.1/100
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).
- Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
- Tang 22 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin
- Mounting -2 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin · restored: relacquered or new saya and rewrapped ito
- Declared condition 17 of 20 Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Blade 8 of 8 75.1 cm: within the usable range
- Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
- Price 3.1 of 10 Rank 96 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest