Japanese

A Stunning and Fine Edo Period Antique Nanban Iron and Gold Sukashi Tsuba with Pagoda Scene

Superb Nanban tsuba in Iron and gold highlights Landscape scene of a pagoda, bridge, prunus tree and river.
Nanban often regarded as meaning Southern Barbarian, are very much of the Chinese influence. The Chinese influence on this group of tsuba was of more import than the Western one, however, and resulted not merely in the utilisation of fresh images by the existing schools, but also in the introduction of a
completely fresh style of metalworking.
The term 'namban' was also used by the Japanese to describe an iron of foreign origin.
Neither can the Namban group be considered to represent 'native Japanese art'.
The required presence in the group, by definition, of 'foreign influence', together with the possibility of their being 'foreign made', was probably responsible for their great popularity at the time.

Tsuba are usually finely decorated, and are highly desirable collectors' items in their own right. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down.
68mm x 72mm  read more

Code: 24078

A Superb Shinshinto Signed Tanto by Echizen no Kami Naomasa of Mutsu, Student of the Great Shinshinto Master Smith Taikei Naotane, Suishinshi Masahide School, Naotane School. Echizen no Kami Naomasa, Honorary Lord of Echizen

Hirazukuri blade with an amazing hako midare hamon. Signed Echizen no Kami Naomasa and dated in cursive script; soshu, Meiji 2 1868/9.

His period of making blades date for barely 20 years, and his work is rarely seen to come onto the collectors market, and this piece is a simply beautiful example in superb order.

The blade is dated, and signed by Naomasa, who worked from 1854. The blade has a with gomabashi horimono bohi.
He was a student of the famous swordsmith " Takei Naotane", considered to have been one of the greatest ever swordsmiths, and a premier teacher and founder of the Naotane School of Swordmaking in the Shin-Shinto period.

NAOMASA (直正), Genji (元治, 1864-1865), Ōshū – “Echizen no Kami Naomasa kore o tsukuru” (越前守 直正造之), “Miysazaki Echizen no Kami Naomasa kore o saku” (宮崎越前守直正作之), “Keishinsai Naomasa kore o tsukuru” (慶心斎直正作之), he was a student of Taikei Naotane (大慶直胤) and worked for the Sōma-Nakamura fief (相馬中村藩), gō Keishinsai (慶心斎),

Aikuchi tanto with all original Edo period fittings and original, coarsely brushed and carved urushi red and black lacquer Edo saya, with an oval panel in black urushi of a deep takebori representation of Buddha, and fitted with most beautiful, interesting and fine gilt chiselled imperial chrysanthemum and flower fuchigashira, and kurigata mountings, and a gilt flower pattern sayajiri. Some light age light wear to the saya lacquer. Original black tsuka-Ito binding over the menuki and giant ray-skin samegawa. The tsuka fuchi slots snugly into the gilt metal mounted mouth of the saya to create a waterproof seal.

The Kozuka utility knife is decorated in a complimentary prunus and bird decor, gilded, and inlaid with cloisonne enamel, and set with an Edo signed knife blade. The menuki in very finely detailed gilt are praying mantis in battle conflict with another insect. The kozuka pocket is lined with Portugese 16th century leather, fully embossed.

With the beginning of the Kamakura period, tanto were forged to be more aesthetically pleasing, and hira and uchi-sori tanto were the most popular styles for wars in the kamakura period. Near the middle of the Kamakura period, more tanto artisans were seen, increasing the abundance of the weapon, and the kanmuri-otoshi style became prevalent in the cities of Kyoto and Yamato. Because of the style introduced by the tachi in the late Kamakura period, tanto began to be forged longer and wider. The introduction of the Hachiman faith became visible in the carvings in the tanto hilts around this time. The hamon (line of temper) is similar to that of the tachi, except for the absence of choji-midare, which is nioi and utsuri. Gunomi-midare and suguha are found to have taken its place. In Nambokucho, the tanto were forged to be up to forty centimetres as opposed to the normal one shaku (about thirty centimetres) length. The tanto blades became thinner between the uri and the omote, and wider between the ha and mune. At this point in time, two styles of hamon were prevalent: the older style, which was subtle and artistic, and the newer, more popular style. Blades could be of exceptional quality. As the end of the period neared, the average blade narrowed and the sori became shallow. The aikuchi is a tanto koshirae where the fuchi is flush with the mouth of the saya. There is no tsuba on this form of tanto.

Suishinshi Masahide is known as the founding father of the Shinshinto era. Born Suzuki Saburo in Dewa Province in 1750. He originally began as a blacksmith, but his goal was to be a sword smith. He moved to Sendai and began training as a sword smith, using the name Takuei. Later he moved to Musashi province and continued his training under Yasukuni and again changed his name to Terukuni. In 1774, he was hired by the Daimyo family, Akimoto. It was at this time he took the name Masahide.

With steady employment, Masahide was able to travel and study different styles of sword forging. It is documented that he was taught Bizen Den by Ishido Korekazu, and Soshu Den under Soshu Tsunahiro. For most of his career Masahide had devoted his efforts towards mastering Sukehiro’s toranba and Shinkai’s notare hamon.

Masahide, however, was much more than a simple swordsmith. He was also a theorist, author and teacher. Towards the middle of his career he changed his thoughts on forging. Masahide wrote that the flashy, wide hamon seen on so many swords of the time tended to break easily. He detailed in one of his three books, “Token Buyo Ron” some 25 examples of blades breaking. It was after his research, he made the decision to return to making functional, durable swords which cut well. This change in philosophy, theory and style was known as Fukkoto or sword revival, which was an effort to return to the forging techniques of the Heian and Kamakura periods.

As stated previously, Masahide was an excellent teacher. He was said to have trained over 100 swordsmiths including his two best students Hosokawa Masayoshi and Taikei Naotane, the teacher of his pupil Naomasa the maker of this blade. Taikei Naotane (大慶直胤) ————-Although Taikei Naotane was within the Suishinshi group, he was among the top swordsmiths. He had an amazing ability to forge all kinds of different styles of swords wonderfully. When he made a Bizen Den style, it looked like Nagamitsu from the Ko-to time with Nioi. Also, he did Sakasa-choji as Katayama Ichimonji had done.

Naomasa died on the 24th day of the eleventh month Meiji twelve (明治, 1879), we know his date signatures are from the seventh year of Kaei (嘉永, 1854) to the sixth year of Meiji (1873  read more

Code: 25166

A Simply Stunning Edo Period Mighty Samurai Armour and Helmet Piercer Tanto, Around 250 Years Old

The blade is utterly amazing, with a great gunome hamon, superb grain in the hada, and powerful blade designed to pierce the strongest kabuto, iron plate war helmet, or even the strongest part of any gosuko armour, being an incredible 8 mm thick at the habaki.
Fully mounted with all its original Edo fuchi kashira decorated with takebori rabbits and reeds. Pure gold and silver rabbits on a shakudo nanako ground, with pure gold reeds. Pure gold menuki of shi shi lion dogs, under original edo black silk tsuka-itol.

It has a kozuka decorated on shakudo and gold of a herd of frolicking ponies . Original Edo period urushi lacquer ishime style, stone finish, lacquer saya with polished carved buffalo horn fittings. The only signs of age wear is on the lacquer saya, with three or four very small surface dings and slight blistering by the mid section on one side. The habaki is superb in shakudo. The tsuba is an iron tetsu oval inlaid with puer gold, with surface decoration of stylized serpent like beasts with gold stars both large and small with a pair of gold fronted seppa.

This would make a fabulous addition to any fine collection of original antique samurai weaponry or armour

Rabbits are one of the signs of the Japanese zodiac. They are considered lucky as the Japanese kanji used to write the word rabbit is similar to the kanji meaning "get rid of " or "make vanish". People believe that rabbits will make bad luck disappear! Rabbits are also known for jumping high. They can leap over nine feet! Rabbits symbolize everything going up in your life - improvement and success.

blade 12 inches long  read more

Code: 24380

A VERY, VERY, SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFER.. Several People Were Too Late For Our Valentines Day Offer So By Popular Request We Are Choosing A One-Off, BELOW HALF PRICE Samurai Sword !!! A Simply Wonderful Koto Era, Shibui Battle-Sword Katana, Signed Masakuni

An amazing five hundred years old, from the Sengoku-jidai era, with all original Edo fittings, very fine quality carved shakudo mounts and a fine o-sukashi Koto era tsuba. Save an amazing £3,500 GBP.
Congratulations to those that did snap up a Valentines Day gift
The Sengoku period Sengoku Jidai, "Warring States period") is a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war, social upheaval, and intrigue from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga Shogunate. Various samurai warlords and clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the Ikkō-ikki emerged to fight against samurai rule. The arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their eventual failure damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Tokugawa Ieyasu displaced Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and re-established the feudal system under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Sengoku period ended when Toyotomi loyalists were defeated at the siege of Osaka in 1615.

The Sengoku period was named by Japanese historians after the similar but otherwise unrelated Warring States period of China.

The blade has a most fine and delicate irregular gunome hamon in beautiful polish. It has gilt menuki under the Edo silk wrap. The blade is signed on the nakago as usual but it it is very difficult to read due to it's great age, but very probably Masakuni. Original lacquer Edo saya. "Shibui" is a Japanese sword term translating to 'quiet'. The idea is that the sword is dark, subtle and reserved and made perfect for all forms of combat without being over decorative, in order not to overtly attract attention, especially at night. The first use of "katana" as a word to describe a long sword that was different from a tachi is found in the 12th century. These references to "uchigatana" and "tsubagatana" seem to indicate a different style of sword, possibly a less costly sword for lower ranking warriors. The evolution of the tachi into the katana seems to have started during the early Muromachi period (1337 to 1573). Starting around the year 1400, long swords signed with the "katana" signature were made. This was in response to samurai wearing their tachi in what is now called "katana style" (cutting edge up). Japanese swords are traditionally worn with the signature facing away from the wearer. When a tachi was worn in the style of a katana, with the cutting edge up, the tachi's signature would be facing the wrong way. The fact that swordsmiths started signing swords with a katana signature shows that some samurai of that time period had started wearing their swords in a different manner. However, it is thought by many, that as many as 70% of katana made were never signed at all. Blade 28 inches long tsuba to tip, Overall 39 inches long in saya. Some old rayskin losses under the worn ito. Carved buffalo horn kashira. The black tsuka-ito binding is original Edo peiod silk, and due to its great age, although still very sound, it has small areas of age fraying
As a very special discounted item it does not qualify for further discounts, lay away or part ex. It is a one-off immediate purchase item only  read more

Code: 20778

A Shinto Aikuchi Tanto, Unokubi-Zukuri With Hi Blade & Stunning Bi-Colour Shakudo Fittings Katakiri-bori Carving, on Migaki-ji of Insects, a Cricket a Hornet and a Praying Mantis

Circa 1700. A very attractive Samurai tanto that has lain untouched for likely 140 odd years or more. All matching and most attractive Edo period bi-colour hand carved shakudo fittings katakiri-bori carving, on migaki-ji including a kozuka, engraved with a preying mantis, a wasp on the kashira and a grasshopper on the sayajiri. The menuki are of fine gold overlay of dragon, and the tsuka has imperial off-white silk binding. The blade is in a unokubi-zukuri form similar to naga nata in stunning polish. The original Edo lacquer saya is uniformly ribbed along it's length with age cracking below the kozuka pocket, and small bruises at the base. Very fine hammered silver foil covered habaki.

The tanto is commonly referred to as a knife or dagger. The blade can be single or double edged with a length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, in Japanese 1 shaku).

The tanto was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. Tanto are generally forged in hira-zukuri style (without ridgeline), meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri structure of a katana.

Some tanto have particularly thick cross-sections for armour-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi. Tanto were mostly carried by samurai, as commoners did not generally wear them.  read more

Code: 25141

A, Fabulous Samurai Sword, A Most Fine Shinto Wakizashi By Omni Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro Circa 1660.

This stunning samurai short sword. The fittings are beautifully matching depicting comorants in pure gold on bronze or iron, and the kozuka a figure riding a giant carp in gold over copper. The great Tadahiro II of Hizen. 2nd generation Tadahiro was born in Keicho 19 (1614) as the first son by a mistress of 1st generation Hizen-koku Tadayoshi. His initial name was Hashimoto Heisakuro, later had succeeded to his father's name of Shinzaemon. He excelled in as a superior sword maker since teenage to play a ghost-maker on behalf of his father in his later years. He had succeeded major Tadahiro 2nd generation in Kanei 9, (1632) when he was as young as 19 years old. He intended not to succeed his father's smith name Tadayoshi for the sake of preserving appearances that he was not a legitimate child of Tadayoshi. Passed away in Genroku 6, (1693), was 80 years old.
His legitimate child 3rd generation succeeded to the initial name of Tadayoshiu when he enjoyed the Mutsu daijo title in Manji 3 (1660), was 24 years old.
The subject artisan Tadahiro 2nd generation established and developed the superior high standard quality of sword making for the major Hizen Tadayoshi school and had laid the foundations for the later generations until 9th by the end of Edo period.
This beautiful wakizashi we believe as his work in his early thirties of 1644-47. Most superior forging method using top quality fine steel known as "Tamahagane" generates precisely fine Ko-Itame with sparkling Ji-nie glittering that generates superior Chikei darkish Nie lines activity. The forging scene looks like "Nashi-ji". We would appraise it as "Above Superior Made" and "Above Supreme Sharp". 26.5 inches long overall in saya,, blade tsuba to tip 18.65 inches.  read more

Code: 22873

A Fabulous, Early Japanese Samurai’s, Large & Incredibly Powerful Fukuro Yari, With a Sasaho ‘Bamboo Leaf’ Shaped Blade. A Close Combat Sojutsu Polearm Spear, With Rare Socket Head, Signed Kiyotsugu. Likely Echizen Koto, 1336 to 1575

A remarkable and most rare, early samurai’s close combat spear of incredible heft. One may possibly never see another of this size quite like it outside of a Japanese museum.

Formerly part of the Christopher Fox collection. Our late friend and colleague of over 30 years. The right hand man and dear friend of his sensei, the world famous, Roald Knutsen, England's foremost expert on samurai pole arm combat and their polearms, author of the seminal work, 'Japanese Spears Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan' { we have a 1st Edition copy for sale at present}.

The blade shown here is now re-polished, and now looks incredible as it originally did between 500 and 700 years ago. It shows wonderful grain, a lacquered carved horimono central scoop between the cutting edges, and at the rear side peak, near the top, you can see an amazing defensive blocking cut made by deflecting a samurai sword in close combat. It has the usual ancient small wear polishing lines.

The size, strength, weight and mass of such a yari spear-head a samurai could easily believe that with this polearm he was powerful enough to bring down a dragon. See the antique woodblock print in the gallery pictures of a samurai slaying a dragon with his very same form of fukuro yari. This is absolutely no regular size samurai fukuro-yari. It is well recognised that the form of socketed Fukuro yari is rare as the swordsmithing method of its creation is also very difficult indeed.

Muromachi period, 1336 to 1575, Its socket is signed Kiyotsugu.

A much larger and powerful and heavier leaf shaped blade than is usual, and as opposed to a long tang it has the earliest type of yari socket mount, in order to affix over the pole haft as opposed to the later style of within it. The yari has its original pole and iron foot mount, and blade saya cover.

The martial art of wielding the yari is called sojutsu. A yari on it's pole can range in length from one metre to upwards of six metres (almost 20 feet). The longer hafted versions were called omi no yari while shorter ones were known as mochi yari or tae yari. The longest hafted versions were carried by foot troops (ashigaru), while samurai usually carried a shorter hafted yari. Yari are believed to have been derived from Chinese spears, and while they were present in early Japan's history they did not become popular until the thirteenth century.The original warfare of the bushi was not a thing for "commoners"; it was a ritualized combat usually between two warriors who may challenge each other via horseback archery and sword duels. However, the attempted Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 changed Japanese weaponry and warfare. The Mongol-employed Chinese and Korean footmen wielded long pikes, fought in tight formation, and moved in large units to stave off cavalry. Polearms (including naginata and yari) were of much greater military use than swords, due to their much greater range, their lesser weight per unit length (though overall a polearm would be fairly hefty), and their great piercing ability. Swords in a full battle situation were therefore relegated to emergency sidearm status from the Heian through the Muromachi periods.

Honda Tadakatsu was famous as a master of one of The Three Great Spears of Japan, the Tonbokiri (蜻蛉切). One of The Three Great Spears of Japan, the Nihongō (ja:日本号) was treasured as a gift, and its ownership changed to Emperor Ogimachi, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Fukushima Masanori, and so on, and has been handed down to the present day.

Print in the gallery "Samurai & Dragon" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Print in the gallery of
Yamanaka Yukimori (1543-76), a samurai known for his great strength and loyalty, with his huge fukuro yari. He served the Amako warlord during a time in Japanese history referred to as "Sengoku," or "the country at war." By Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Total head size, 32cm including mounting socket, edged blade size 18.5cm x 4cm at widest. Full length including haft and fitted saya blade cover 142cm  read more

Code: 22920

A Good Antique Edo Period 1700's Wakazashi Maru Gata Heianjo Tsuba

Antique Japanese Edo period Tsuba for Wakizashi sword, or large o-tanto, onlaid with copper and sinchu-gold alloy aoi leaves, with a chiselled cut away rock and water formation.
Fine engraved with gold and high quality brass inlay Heianjo-style was established in Yamashiro (Kyoto Pref. today), it was inspired by the Ounin-style. Heianjo Tsuba is elaborate and decorative. It is mainly iron Tsuba circle shape with brass inlay. Its design was simply family crest or arabesque patterns in the beginning. However, after that, they made different shapes of Tsuba and started using gold, silver, or copper for inlaying.

The tsuba, is a fundamental element in the mounting of the Japanese sword, it is the guard, the most important element of the fittings, and has two main functions: the first to protect the hand against the slashes and lunges of an opposing sword; the second is to prevent that the hand ends up directly on the cutting edge of the blade. Over the course of more than ten centuries of history, the tsuba has undergone a number of important changes, as regards the materials used for its manufacture and its appearance.

During the centuries of wars that characterised Japan until the advent of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the first half of the 17th century, the tsuba was essentially made of iron or steel. From the mid-17th century onwards the tsuba became a real work of art, with the use of soft metals used in various ways, with engravings, incrustations; well made tsuba were the pride of hundreds of craftsmen’s schools whose value sometimes exceeded that of the same blades of the mounting where tsuba was part of.
67mm across  read more

Code: 24167

An Edo Period Armourer's Chrysanthemum Katana Tsuba

Iron plate tsuba in circular shape with omote and ura surfaces showing multiple hot stamp kiku stamp designs.

Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down. This is known as tsubazeriai pushing tsuba against each other.  read more

Code: 20740

A Fabulous and Stunning, Original, Edo Period Mounted Long Tanto with Koto era Sengoku Period, Circa 1500's Blade & a Remarkable Secret Compartment for a Secret Letter or Gold

A wonderful Japanese art sword in the truest sense of the word, with a Koto blade circa 1500. All the wonderful koshirae are based on sea creatures, such as numerous gold Japanese spiney lobster on the sayajiri and menuki, with a takebori octopus Akkorokamui kurigata, and the shakudo fushi kashira are katakiribori engraved with a koi carp, an Akkorokamui octopus and a turbot, an eel on the shakudo tsuba, and a silver fish at the base of the kozuka pocket, and the kozuka has a stunning gold spiny lobster to match the mountings. The blade is fixed into place, as the hidden secret compartment, hidden under the rare removable kashira, would be where the tang would normally be, thus the hilt would normally be solid and the secret compartment, in the hollow tsuka hilt, would not be remotely suspected. Original Edo period black stripe and counter stripe lacquer saya
Akkorokamui is a gigantic octopus-like monster from Ainu folklore, which supposedly lurks in Funka Bay in Hokkaidō and has been allegedly sighted in several locations including Taiwan and Korea since the 19th century. John Batchelor most notably records an account of this monster in his book The Ainu and Their Folklore when noting, “...three men, it was said, were out trying to catch a sword-fish, when all at once a great sea-monster, with large staring eyes, appeared in front of them and proceeded to attack the boat. The monster was round in shape, and emitted a dark fluid which has a very powerful and noxious odour.” It is said that its enormous body can reach sizes of up to 120 meters in length. The coloration of the Akkorokamui is said to be a striking red, often described as glowing and sometimes likened to the color of the reflection of the setting sun upon the water. Due to its coloration and immense size, it is visible from great distances. It is possibly a giant squid or a giant octopus.

Ainu reverence of this monster has permeated into Shintoism, which has incorporated Akkorokamui as a minor kami. Self purification practices for Akkorokamui are often strictly followed. While Akkorokamui is often presented as a benevolent kami with powers to heal and bestow knowledge, it is fickle and has the propensity to do harm. Akkorokamui’s nature as an octopus means that it is persistent and it is near impossible to escape its grasp without permission. Like other Shinto purification rituals, prior to entering the shrine of Akkorokamui, one’s hands must be cleaned with water with the exception that one’s feet must also be cleaned as well. Akkorokamui enjoys the sea and offerings which reflect this: fish, crab, mollusks, and the like are particular favorites of Akkorokamui, which give back that which it gave. Homage to Akkorokamui is often for ailments of the limbs or skin, but mental purification and spiritual release is particularly important.

Shrines in dedication to Akkorokamui and associated octopus deity are found throughout Japan. In particular, well known shrines include one in Kyoto and the island of Hokkaido that pay homage to Nade yakushi. These shrines, while named to different entities, come from and share various characteristics with Akkorokamui, and as such practices involving healing, renewal, and purification are similar. Koi fish are associated with positive imagery. Because of the dragon legend, they are known as symbols of strength and perseverance, as seen in their determinative struggle upstream. And because of the lone koi that made it to the top of the waterfall, they are also known as symbols of a destiny fulfilled. Resulting from its bravery in swimming upstream, the koi is oftentimes associated with Samurai Warriors in Japan. The Sengoku period Sengoku Jidai, "Warring States period") is a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war, social upheaval, and intrigue from 1467 to 1615.

The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga Shogunate. Various samurai warlords and clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the Ikkō-ikki emerged to fight against samurai rule. The arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their eventual failure damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Tokugawa Ieyasu displaced Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and re-established the feudal system under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Sengoku period ended when Toyotomi loyalists were defeated at the siege of Osaka in 1615.

The Sengoku period was named by Japanese historians after the similar but otherwise unrelated Warring States period of China. Small natural wear marks to the lacquer. Blade 14 inches long tsuba to tip, 19.5 inches long overall. More details to follow.....  read more

Code: 23929