| Product No. KA-0842 常州水戸住鬼塚九郞源勝国 魂行歳二十九才 | |
|---|---|
| Mei |
Onizuka Kurō Minamoto Katsukuni, Resident of Mito, Jōshū (Hitachi Province). Made with Spirit at the Age of Twenty-nine Back: Made before the deity at Hachiman Shrine on New Year's Day, the First Month of Ansei 7 (1860), Year of the Monkey |
| Shape | Shinogi-zukuri, Iori-mune. It has a powerful appearance with a wide mihaba, thick kasane, and well-proportioned sori |
| Region | Mito, Hitachi Province |
| Era | Bakumatsu Period |
| Length |
71.9 cm 28.3 in |
| Sori (curvature) |
1.5 cm 0.6 in |
| Motohaba |
3.2 cm 1.3 in |
| Sakihaba |
2.4 cm 0.9 in |
| Munekasane |
0.8 cm 0.3 in |
| Status | Tokubetsu Hozon Token |
| Certification Date | May 31, 2024 |
| Registration Authority | Kagawa Prefecture |
| Registration Date | April 18, 1974 |
| Jihada (Metal pattern) | Fine ko-itame mixed with mokume, covered in ji-nie with chikei |
| Hamon (Temper line) | Consists of a regular succession of pointed gunome with evenly aligned yakigashira |
| Bōshi (Point / Tip) | Sugu and turns back in a rounded ko-maru |
| Nakago (Tang) | Ubu, Kiri Yasurime, Ha-agari Kurijiri |
| Mekugiana (Rivet holes) | 1 |
| Habaki | Solid Silver Habaki with Koshi-Yūjō Yasurime |
| Mountings | Koshirae-tsuki |
| Koshirae | Hantachi Koshirae with a Gold Mushikui-pattern Lacquer Saya |
| Koshirae Length |
101.3 cm 39.9 in |
| Tsuka Length |
23.7 cm 9.3 in |
| Tsuba | Ogre and Shōki Design, Brass Ground, Mokkō-gata, Katakiribori |
| Menuki | Amaryū (Scaleless Dragon) Design, Shibuichi Ground, Katabori, and Gold Iroe |
| Fuchigashira | Sasarindō Crest and Five-Nenjiōgi Fan Crest, Shibuichi Chirimen Ground, Senbori |
| Other details | Tsuka: White Samegawa, wrapped in Willow Green Silk Tsumami-maki |
Price |
1,500,000 JPY |
| Onizuka Kurō Minamoto Katsukuni is a swordsmith not recorded in the standard swordsmith references. This impressive blade was forged before the deity at Mito Hachiman Shrine on New Year's Day of Ansei 7 (1860), when the smith was twenty-nine years old. No samurai family bearing the Onizuka name has yet been identified among the retainers of the Mito Domain. It is therefore highly likely that Katsukuni was a swordsmith invited from another province to work at the Shirahatayama Weapons Manufactory, established adjacent to Mito Hachiman Shrine in 1857. The distinctive hamon, composed of a regular succession of pointed gunome, together with the smith's name "Katsukuni," invites comparison with Darani Katsukuni of Kaga Province, suggesting that the smith may have been associated with that tradition. Although documentary evidence has yet to be discovered, this blade is considered an important work in the history of Mito swordsmiths during the closing years of the Edo period. The sword is accompanied by a Hantachi Koshirae with a Gold Mushikui-pattern Lacquer Saya, whose fittings are thought to have been made by a Mito metalworker. It has passed the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken shinsa in 2024. |
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