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Hamon : Ko-nie deki hoso-suguba that is slightly undulating. There is quite an abundance of nie hataraki inside the hamon that becomes especially lively as the jigane pattern converges with the nioi guchi. Hataraki includes hotsure, kinsuji, uchinoke, nezumi ashi and reverse ashi.
Boshi : Suguha with a ko-notare tone ending in ko maru. There is a hint of kaen and a short kaeri.
Kitae : Predominantly masame with mokume mixed in. There is fine ji-nie packed throughout the jigane. The ji-nie consists of well ordered and evenly distributed ko-nie. The jigane is hada tachi in some areas with a nagare tone. Herakage style utsuri, unique to the Ko-Nio school, is particularly strong on the ura. This appears like a interrupted central band of utsuri having some what of a ribbon shape.
Sayagaki : This katana has a sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro of the NBTHK. A translation of the sayagaki is as follows :
Suo Kuni Nio
O-suriage mumei
This blade shows the full characteristics of Nio, the Yamato branch group, and was made no later than the Nambokucho Jidai.
Heisei 15, 2003, late November, Ha-nagasa 2 shaku, 3 sun, 1 bu and a bit more.
About this sword : This wonderful old katana is a highly representative work of the Ko-Nio tradition. The Nio school is known to show Yamato traits in their workmanship. This is due to the fact that Suo was a manor of the Yamato Nara Todai-ji which was patronized by the Tegai. Yamato influence can be clearly seen in this blade. Of note is the high-wide shinogi-ji, masame jigane and the abundance of parallel hataraki in the sugu-ha hamon. The clear herakage utsuri defines this as an early Nio work. The nakago of this blade has nice length after suriage and a wonderful chocolate brown patina. From one side of the nakago, it appears that there is a 3 rd mekugi-ana that was iron plugged long ago. It is located nearly at the jiri and would be remnant of the uba-ana. It should be noted that the habaki for this blade is of quite excellent workmanship and is said to be by Mr. Asai. He is a second generation habaki maker, a habaki judge and is counted among the best in Japan.
As stated in Tanobe's sayagaki this blade dates to Nambokucho jidai at the latest. Overall, this is a fine old blade that has been fully restored by top level professionals in Japan. It is in full polish and accompanied by a NBTHK Hozon paper, fine shirasaya, Tanobe's sayagaki , fine two piece gold foil habbaki and a storage bag. Early Nio works, such as this one are quite scarce. This nearly 700 year old blade is attractively priced by the owner and presents an exciting opportunity.
Price: $8000
nihontocraft@bellsouth.net
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