Kantei

NH-0169 Rank 53

Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa

Jūyō Tōken katana by Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, a Mino smith in the service of Oda Nobunaga, with an ubu tang signed and dated Genki 2 (1571), handachi-koshirae and shirasaya.

Kotō (up to 1596)8th month of Genki 2 (1571)MinoNBTHK Jūyō

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Katana by Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, a Mino smith of the late Muromachi period. According to the original seller, he was the third son of Zensai Kanefusa, first signed as Kanefusa, worked as a retained smith of Oda Nobunaga and later moved to Owari. Shinogi-zukuri blade with iori-mune, nagasa of 71 cm and sori of 1.6 cm, with bōhi on both sides. The original seller describes an itame with mokume, thick ji-nie, chikei and a faint nie-utsuri; the hamon is notare with gunome, chōji and stretches of togari, with kinsuji, sunagashi and a bright nioiguchi. The photographs show an ubu tang with sujikai yasurime and kurijiri, the long signature “Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa saku” on the omote and the date “a day in the 8th month of Genki 2” (1571) on the ura; two mekugi-ana are visible, one of them plugged. Designated Jūyō Tōken at the 16th NBTHK session (1967); the certificate, the oshigata and the zufu page are photographed. It comes with a shirasaya and a handachi-koshirae with a black ishime-lacquered saya, shakudō nanako fittings with gold flowers and a gold habaki; the original seller describes the mounting without dating it.

Strong points

  • Jūyō Tōken, 16th NBTHK session (1967), with certificate and zufu photographed
  • Ubu tang with long signature and Genki 2 (1571) date, rare for this smith according to the zufu
  • Mino smith retained by Oda Nobunaga, later settled in Owari
  • Handachi-koshirae with black ishime-lacquered saya and shakudō fittings with gold flowers
  • Shirasaya and gold habaki included

Points to bear in mind

  • The mounting is described by the original seller but neither dated nor backed by its own paper
  • The tang shows a second, plugged mekugi-ana not recorded in the 1967 zufu
  • The original seller does not expressly state the condition of the blade

Score breakdown

62.1/100

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).

  1. Signature and date 18 of 18 Signed and with an engraved date
  2. Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin, with 2 mekugi-ana
  3. Mounting 1 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 8 of 8 71 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 4 of 4 With a storage shirasaya
  7. Price 0.1 of 10 Rank 134 of 136 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest