Kantei
Whole katana blade on both sides, with a dragon engraved on one and a sword engraved on the other, the point enlarged and the signed tang, on a black background.

Edo · shinshintō · Kiyomaro school

Kurihara Nobuhide (栗原信秀)

From the Kiyomaro school to the Meiji era: a Sōshū-den of angular gunome and engraved dragons

Kurihara Nobuhide (栗原信秀), born in 1815, was according to Markus Sesko one of the best pupils of Minamoto Kiyomaro and followed his Sōshū-den into the Meiji era: broad, heavy blades, a temper of angular gunome with long kinsuji, and engravings of dragons. He first signed 栗原謙司 (Kurihara Kenji) and later with the title of Chikuzen no Kami (筑前守).

Photo: dealer in Japan

1815
Born
From 1865
Signs with the title of Chikuzen no Kami
1876
His latest dated blade at the NBTHK
1
Documented generations
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Kurihara Nobuhide AT
Kanji and reading
栗原信秀 (Kurihara Nobuhide); signatures 栗原謙司信秀 (Kurihara Kenji Nobuhide), 筑前守信秀 (Chikuzen no Kami Nobuhide) and 栗原筑前守平朝臣信秀 (Kurihara Chikuzen no Kami Taira no Ason Nobuhide) AT
Period
Shinshintō, from the late Edo period to the Meiji era: dated blades from 1853 to 1876 AT
Province
Works in Edo, in Musashi; a blade of 1853 is signed at Uraga (浦賀, Uraga) AT
School
That of Kiyomaro, in Sōshū-den AT
Master
Minamoto Kiyomaro (源清麿, Minamoto Kiyomaro) AT
Title
Chikuzen no Kami (筑前守); a katana of 1865 (Keiō 1) already bears it in the signature AT
Generations
One: no second generation is recorded in the sources consulted PC
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his mature work, with the 1876 katana studied by the NBTHK. What is known of his life comes from the studies and from his signatures. Neither his home province nor the year of his death is recorded with certainty. AT

In short

He was a pupil of Kiyomaro and, for Markus Sesko, one of the best; after the master’s death, together with Saitō Kiyondo, he finished his commissions and paid off his debts, according to the Japanese Wikipedia. The NBTHK sees his hallmark in a temper of square gunome whose heads are split by ko-gunome and small togariba, with long kinsuji and the force of Sōshū-den. Sesko notes that the dragon chasing a jewel (玉追龍, tamaoi-ryū) is relatively frequent on his blades.

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  1. With Kiyomaro and after Life and times The master, his signatures and his dates.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style Sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and horimono.
  3. In museums and at the NBTHK Famous works His dated blades and those in museums.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.