濃州兼久
Noshu Kanehisa
Ubu Koto Tachi
SCHOOL Mino
PERIOD Koto: Bunmei
Circa 1469 - 1487
PAPER/CLASSIFICATION NTHK Kanteisho 2007  
TOKOTAIKAN RANKING 5 Million Yen
HAWLEY RANKING 20 Points
MEI Mumei  
FORM Tachi
NAGASA 30.3 inches - 77 cm
SUGATA  Shinogi-zukuri
SORI Strong koshi-sori
SORI MEASUREMENT 2 cm
KISSAKI Chu
KISSAKI LENGTH 2.8 cm
MUNE Iori
KASANE 7 mm
MOTOHABA 2.9 cm
SAKIHABA 1.8 cm
NAKAGO LENGTH 23 cm
NAKAGO CONDITION Ubu  
NAKAGO SHAPE Kijimomo-gata with kiri jiri  
MEKUGIANA 3
YASURIME  Indistinct


Hamon :  Nioi deki gunome midare with abundant togari in the Mino style. All of the gunome kashira are togari. The nioi guchi is soft. There are soft sunagashi inside the hamon. The polisher's hadori makes the hamon appear as suguha in photos, but it is gunome midare. The nioi guchi turns toward the ha, ending right below the ha machi on both sides.

Kitae :  Ko-itame that is tightly forged with a "flowing" patern. The jigane is admirably clear. There is misty ji-nie and the jigane has a hint of shirake utsuri and whiteness overall.

Boshi :  Midare-komi with quite a bit of nie hataraki. There is hakikake and a short return. Some togari formations can be seen along the boshi nioi-guchi as well as sunagashi inside the tempered area.

About this sword :   There were several generations of Mino smiths using the mei of Kanehisa in the Muromachi period. The NTHK has attributed this work to the Kanehisa that was active around the Bunmei period (1469 - 1487). He came from the Mino Tokuin group of the Seki Shichi Ryu and is a well regarded maker.

This blade shows Mino characteristics of prominent togari and whitish flowing jigane. This katana has a high shinogi. This shows a Yamato influence and is a feature present in many Mino blades. This tachi has a cutting edge of over 30 inches and the nakago is ubu. The shape of the nakago is a subtle kijimomo-gata, or "pheasant's leg" shape that one encounters in old Koto blades. The hamon begins with a turn right below the machi, rather than going into the nakago. Also there is pronounced sori at the begining of the nakago, often seen in old ubu blades. So we can know that this blade has not been cut down and its sugata is much the same as it was over 500 years ago.

This blade is in full polish. There is a ware on the omote as shown in the photos below. This is not uncommon in old blades.

The tachi sugata of this blade retains all its original grace ideally. The blade is accompanied by a professionally made wood shirasaya, storage bag, gold foil habaki and an NTHK kanteisho paper. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to own a long ubu koto tachi.
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