Norishige (則重), Enkyō (延慶, 1308-1311), Etchū – „Norishige“ (則重), „Saeki Norishige saku“ (佐伯則重作), he lived in the Gofuku (呉服) district (Gō, 郷) of Etchū province and is therefore also called „Gōfuku-Gō“, whereas at the latter nickname the character for „Gō“ (郷) is often also replaced by (江), relative many signed blades are extant and regarding date signatures, we know an oshigata from the „Umetada-oshigata“ which is dated Enkei two (延慶, 1309) and an extant tantō is dated with Shōwa three (正和, 1314), he is listed as one of the „Ten Students of Masamune“ but the known date signatures of Norishige suggest that he was rather a contemporary than a student of Masamune, in the Nanbokuchō period Ki'ami-hon mei-zukushi (喜阿弥本銘尽) we find the following entry: „student of Shintōgo Kōshin (新藤五光心)“, i.e Shintōgo Kunimitsu, that means he was a fellow student of Masamune under Kunimitsu, an approach, which is in recent years more and more accepted. Hokurikudō (北陸道), saijō-saku.
Jūyō Tōken Norishige Katana: nagasa: 69.6 сm; sori: 2.0 сm; motohaba: 2.95 сm; sakihaba: 2.05 сm; nakago nagasa: 20.0 сm; nakago sori: 0.2 cm; kissaki nagasa: 4.2 cm. This sword is ō-suriage, mumei; origami Hon’ami Chikayoshi (本阿弥親), May 17th, 1895; evaluation by Hon’ami Chikayoshi 300 mai; tōrokushō No. 1141, issued on May 12, 1951; sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro (田野邉道宏) written in January 2016. Provenance: Darcy Brockbank, 2016; Teodor W. Tenold, 2017.
Designated as Jūyō Tōken at the 63rd jūyō-shinsa held on November 17, 2017.
Publications: NBTHK Jūyō Tōken Nado Zufu, Volume 63.
This Norishige is accompanied by Hon’ami Chikayoshi (本阿弥親善, 1850-1916) origami written in May 7th of 1895. He was the son of Hon’ami Chōshiki (本阿弥長識, ?-1893) and was the 7th master of the Kōzan (光山) line, working for the Baron Ogasawara Nagayoshi (小笠原長幹, 1885-1935), who got to Chikayoshi a job at the head of the treasure house of the Minatogawa Shrine (湊川神社).
Baron Ogasawara Nagayoshi (小笠原長幹, 1885-1935)
Chikayoshi is the author of the Shintō Kaji Kō (新刀鍛冶考, Discourse on Shinto Smiths) but died before completing it in 1916. This book is a companion to the Kōsei Kotō Meikan (校正古刀銘鑑), written by Hon’ami Nagane (本阿弥長根) in 1830 on kotō works. One of the interesting things about this book is that it restores the use of the word kantei which we use today in the game/lesson of determining the maker of mumei swords.
The Kōsei Kotō Meikan (校正古刀銘鑑)
Due to financial pressure during his life Chikayoshi was forced to sell the Kōzan Oshigata which was authored at the beginning of the 1700s by the line founder Kōzan. In 1917 the Chu-Token-Kai (a sword club) borrowed these oshigata and published them, which was a good move as some of these old books that the Hon’ami had hoarded were singular copies and as a result were easily lost or burned in house fires. The actions of this club preserved the knowledge for everyone, and today the Kōzan Oshigata are available to everyone and are a critical resource for researching old swords. Many swords documented in the Kōzan Oshigata are now lost, but sometimes they turn up unexpectedly in the USA (one critically important tantō documented in this book appeared on eBay as a Japanese knife!). This book is a first stop for researching swords that are signed and we think might be an important lost artefact.
After Chikayoshi's death his widow sold off the remaining Kōzan line's accumulated sword documentation and as a result this effectively ended the Kōzan line.
Hon’ami Chikayoshi in this origami noted the bōhi and soebi, and gave the sword a very high value of 300 gold coins (mai). By the Meiji (明治, 1868-1912) period gold coins had devalued somewhat and there had been some inflation on the gold valuation of swords, but even with that factored in it is a very high ranking (I haven't seen any higher).
Hon’ami Chikayoshi origami translation by Markus Sesko:
Gofuku Gô Norishige (呉服郷則重) Shôhin (正真) – Authentic
nagasa 2 shaku 2 sun 9 bu han (長貮尺貮寸九分半) – Blade length 69.5 cm
hyôri bôhi soebi kore ari (表裏棒樋添樋有之) – On both sides a bôhi with soebi
suriage mumei nari (磨上無銘也) – [blade is] suriage and mumei
Daikin sanbyaku-mai (代金参百枚) – Value 300 gold pieces
Meiji nijûhachinen kinoto-mi (明治廿八年乙未) – Meiji 28 (1895), year of the sheep
gogatsu nanoka (五月七日) – Seventh day of the fifth month
Hon’ami Chikayoshi (本阿弥親善) kaô
This sword received its tōrokushō in Shōwa 26 (1951), and this sword has a very low serial number of 1141 showing just how early it was processed. Showa 26 is the first year that swords were licensed with the official licensing scheme in Japan. During this year daimyō were approached and their collections were handled first, as a means of setting an example that this was not a scheme to round up and confiscate swords (as had happened multiple times in Japanese history). So when we see these 1951 dated tōrokushō we know that the blade was most likely from a daimyō collection.
Since Chikayoshi had an association with the Ogasawara Baron, that is a likely candidate for the origin of this sword. In spite of its early registration this sword remained off the radar in Japan until the summer of 2015. It was with several other blades that went to the NBTHK at the same time and I was able to round up after they papered. They had not been properly cared for, with identical spider rust patterns growing on several of them (one had been touched up already), and some others also had old Hon’ami attributions to good smiths or were signed.
Viscount Ogasawara Naganari (小笠原長生, December 15, 1867 – September 20, 1958) was an Admiral and naval strategist in the Imperial Japanese Navy in Meiji and Taishō period Japan, and a member of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogasawara_Naganari).
Ogasawara Naganari (小笠原長生, 1867 – 1958)
It can be extremely difficult to document the previous owners of the sword, especially when their names have not been preserved or have been deliberately removed from any documents accompanying the sword. Very often, the heirs removed the name of the owner from the documents in the event of a decision to sell the sword. In most cases, if the sword is not accompanied by papers documenting the history of ownership, then even any assumptions about potential candidates for this role cannot be made. What is more sad is that this state of affairs will remain forever in the future and there is no way to change it. Only a miracle can help change the situation, the accidental discovery of a document that can shed light on the history of a sword. There are several hints to be found on this Norishige sword, which, upon further study, may confirm or refute some of the assumptions that can be made. In particular, one of the assumptions with good reason is the possible connection between the Viscount Ogasawara Naganari and this sword.
Ogasawara clan mon.
Ogasawara Naganari succeeded his grandfather to become head of the Ogasawara clan in 1873. He was the head of the clan at the age of 27 when Hon'ami Chikayoshi researched this sword and made origami for it. In addition, on behalf of Ogasawara Naganari, they could well have submitted this sword in 1951 for registration and receipt of tōrokushō. This assumption at least specifies the initial scope of the search, which is defined as: the Ogasawara Naganari clan, its relatives and heirs.
The NBTHK confirmed the attribution to Norishige then and I acquired the blade shortly thereafter, brought it in for sayagaki, and had it polished afterwards. I am in the process of bringing this blade back to Japan for Jūyō in September, and it has not been submitted as of yet.
Norishige is a smith who resides at the very top level skill wise and historically among sword craftsmen. Recently the price to acquire Jūyō katana by this smith, along with Muramasa, have been going up with the last two I saw sell in Japan averaging $100,000. I think this is a good candidate for Jūyō and I am including a contract with the sale that if it doesn't pass Juyō on the first or second try, I will refund 5% each time from the purchase price as a way of standing by the candidacy of this sword.
This is a work from the very end of Norishige's career so I put it to the Kamakura/Nanbokuchō boundary. It features an elongated kissaki which predicts the ō-kissaki
of the Nanbokuchō period and these are found from time to time in Norishige's end of career works. It is a good length, just slightly under 70cm, and is wide at the moto as we would expect with very end-of-Kamakura blades, with just the right amount of tapering to have a nice shape with deep sori. The sword also has very flamboyant jihada as can be seen in the photos throughout this listing, the activities of which intertwine with those of the hamon. This is one of the major kantei points of Norishige. The jihada is very complex with itame as its base and chikei laid overtop in matsukawa (松皮) and as well wavy patterned activity that is hard to determine if it is kinsuji or chikei as they exist in this area which Norishige played with between hamon and jihada. It is a gorgeous sword to look at with bright nie from shinogi to ha. There are some weak spots in the ji where the sword shows its age, but I don’t think they detract from its Jūyō candidacy.
The bōshi and monouchi of this sword are particularly packed with activity, which is also something found in Gō Yoshihiro, where his hamon moves up to the shinogi in the most typical works and forms ichimai bōshi (一枚帽子) which is a fully tempered bōshi. This bōshi is so complex I have trouble finding the right terms to explain it. This is made difficult in part with Norishige's blending together of hamon and jihada activities, but it is either ichimai or as close to it as is possible which would be the midare-komi (乱れ込み) with thick hakikake (掃掛け) as is one of his typical styles. Bōshi is one of the key aspects of passing
Jūyō and Tokubetsu Jūyō and this sword does not disappoint in the brightness of nie or density of activity in this area. That the work bears similarities to Gō Yoshihiro in this design is not accidental, as Gō and Norishige both come from Etchu and work closely in the Masamune group. Since Gō Yoshihiro died early Norishige adopted his son Tametsugu and we find influence of both Gō and Norishige in Tametsugu's work, of which there are many Jūyō Tōken examples. In addition, it can be noted that the experts of the NBTHK described the bōshi of this sword as a kaen-like. Kaen (火焔) – literally it can be translated as "candle flame". Very nie-laden bōshi with an abundance of hakikake (掃掛け) which looks like flames.
Great early generation Sōshū work is getting harder and harder to find. Every time I go to Japan I ask and usually there are none available with most sources. Getting a chance to own one of the pinnacle smiths of the Sōshū tradition is something that shouldn't be passed up. This sword also would make a great daishō with the Jūyō Tantō I have for sale, and I would make a combination price for someone who would like to acquire both pieces.
This sayagaki was done by Tanobe Michihiro, the retired head researcher of the NBTHK.
1. 越中國佐伯則重 Etchu no Kuni Saeki Norishige
2. 大磨上無銘而 ō-suriage mumei hatashite. It is shortened and unsigned.
3. 同工ノ作ト傅フ地刃厚ク沸付キ地景·金筋·湯走ナドノ働キヲ露ハニ織成スナド
Dōkō no saku to tsutafu jiba atsuku nie-tsuki chikei, kinsuji, yubashiri nado hataraki o arawa ni shokusei-su nado
However, it shows the characteristic nie-laden jihada and hamon with interwoven chikei, kinsuji and yubashiri activities, which is so typical of this smith [Norishige].
4. 同工ノ気質ガ窺ハレ所傅ハ首肯シ得ル者也
Dōkō no kishitsu ga ukagaware shoden wa shikō-shi eru mono nari.
In this the hand of this smith [Norishige] is clear, so I agree with this attribution.
5. 長貮尺二寸九分余有之
Nagasa 2 shaku 2 sun 9 bu yo kore ari
Blade length ~ 69.4 cm
6. 干时丙申泰月探山邉道識
Kanji hinoe-saru taigetsu Tanzan Hendō shirusu + kaō
Written by Tanzan Hendō (Tanobe Michihiro, 田野邉道宏) in January of the year of the Monkey of the current era (2016) + kaō.
Some professional collectors from the Old and New Worlds may have noticed that the attitude towards collecting swords in Japan is slightly different. One of these differences is the attention given to NBTHK documents accompanying the sword. I can't say that for collectors in Japan, the level of NBTHK certification is not important. Not at all, and in Japan, collectors, if possible, try to complete all the documents corresponding to the status of the sword and get the appropriate level of NBTHK.
However, it can be noted, in general, more attention to the sword itself than to the documents. This can be compared to the so-called buke-mekiki approach to evaluating the sword (kantei method), which at one time was opposed to the Hon'ami method. The buke-mekiki (武家目利) method of kantei virtually did not consider a sword to be an object of art; they were not interested in either identifying the maker of a sword or attributing it to a specific school. These features could be established only additionally, whereas they mainly paid attention to determining the quality of the sword itself. In other words, the task was to establish whether a sword was good or bad, depending on how it was made and the quality of the work.
It is possible that the lack of knowledge plays a role in this, which consists of a different level of access to literature, exhibitions and lectures, which is much greater in Japan. In a sense, it is reasonable to compensate for this with papers that provide not one hundred percent, but sufficient guarantee. But going this way, the collector sometimes loses the element of creativity in his activity and limits himself.
This Norishige sword is an example of how, using the knowledge and experience of evaluating a sword, you can get a beautiful sword, and also, with some effort, get documents corresponding to its level confirming its status. This Norishige sword was purchased by Thomas Horisberger (Oetwil am See, Switzerland) and presented at the 63rd Jūyō shinsa by Theodore W. Tenold (Proprietor of Legacy Arts Japanese Swords). The Norishige sword received the Jūyō status on November 17, 2017.
This Norishige sword is attributed by NBTHK experts as "Den Norishige" and using this sword as an example, one can try to understand why the sword has such an attribution. To do this, we need to carefully study the expert opinion attached to the sinsa certificate. In this conclusion, the following is important for the final assessment:
- "Thus we recognise along the jiba of this blade the typical deki of Norishige and we are in this respect in agreement with the period attribution to this smith".
- The blade has a powerful, widely hardened and kaen-like bōshi and the notare-chō with its abundance of strongly sparkling ha-nie reflects the typical hamon approach of the early great Sōshū masters, with the hataraki along the habuchi being particularly impressive.
That is, the experts agree with the attribution made by Hon'ami Chikayoshi and emphasize that one of the most striking features in this case is the jiba, showing the characteristic deki of Norishige. However, at the same time, this sword has at least features that are characteristic of the Great Masters of the Sōshū School (Masamune, Sadamune, and Gō Yoshihiro):
- widely hardened and kaen-like bōshi,
- the notare-chō with its abundance of strongly sparkling ha-nie
At the beginning of this article, you can see a detailed comparison of the individual elements of this sword with the distinctive characteristics of the work of Gō Yoshihiro. Therefore, it can be concluded that while maintaining all the basic characteristic features of Norishige, this sword demonstrates ADDITIONAL characteristic features inherent in the work of Gō Yoshihiro and Masamune. Therefore, in this case, the attribution of "Den Norishige" should be understood as "Norishige with additional characteristic features of the Great Masters of the Sōshū School».
Jūyō Zufu translation by Markus Sesko:
Jūyō-tōken at the 63rd jūyō shinsa held on November 17, 2017, katana, mumei: Den Norishige (伝則重)
Ted Tenold
Measurements:
nagasa 69.6 cm, sori 2.0 cm, motohaba 2.95 cm, sakihaba 2.05 cm, kissaki-nagasa 4.2 cm, nakago nagasa 20.0 cm, nakago-sori 0.2 cm.
Description
Keijo: shinogi-zukuri, mitsu-mune, wide mihaba, noticeable taper, thick kasane, despite the ō-surige a deep koshizori which increases again towards the tip, elongated chū-kissaki.
Kitae: standing-out itame that is mixed with ō-itame and that shows overall prominent nagare, in addition plenty of ji-nie, thick chikei, a tendency towards jifu, and the steel is blackish.
Hamon: based on a gently undulating and nie-laden notarewith a wide nioiguchi that is mixed with ko-gunome and along the habuchi with fine hotsure, much prominent sunagashi all over the blade, and with frequent yubashiri and tobiyaki.
Bōshi: widely hardened kaen-like bōshi with much hakikake that tends overall to ichimai.
Horimono: on both sides a bōhi with soebi which run as kake-tōshi through the tang.
Nakago: ō-suriage, kirijiri, kiri-yasurime, three mekugi-ana, mumei.
Explanation
According to the Kokon Mei Zukushi (古今銘尽) and other Edo period sword publications, Norishige was one of the Ten Students of Masamune but judging from the shapes of his tachi and tantō and extant date signatures from the Shōwa (正和, 1312-1317) and Gen’ō (元応, 1319-1321), it rather appears that he was a fellow student of Masamune under Shintōgo Kunimitsu (新藤五国光) as Muromachi period sword texts suggest. Among the early great Sōshū masters, Norishige’s workmanship is closest to that of Masamune but his blades are mostly more nie-laden and his kitae stands more out and is larger structured, appearing overall as the highly unique socalled matsukawa-hada (松⽪肌). Apart from that, the kitae is mixed with characteristic thick and prominent chikei, the ha features multifarious hataraki which are interwoven with the jihada, and we see an infinite variety in nie activities.
This blade shows a standing-out itame that is mixed with ō-itame and that shows overall prominent nagare. In addition, the kitae features plenty of ji-nie, thick chikei, a tendency towards jifu, and the steel is blackish. The hamon is a gently undulating and quite nie-laden notare-chō with a wide nioiguchi that is mixed with ko-gunome and whose habuchi features fine nie-hotsure, much prominent sunagashi all over the blade, and frequent yubashiri and tobiyaki. Thus we recognize along the jiba of this blade the typical deki of Norishige and we are in this respect in agreement with the period attribution to this smith. The blade has a powerful, widely hardened and kaenlike bōshi and the notare-chō with its abundance of strongly sparkling ha-nie reflects the typical hamon approach of the early great Sōshū masters, with the hataraki along the habuchi being particularly impressive.
Author: Darcy Brockbank
Addition and Supplements: Dmitry Pechalov (previous version was published on www.yuhindo.com).
Original content Copyright © 2016 D. Brockbank
Original content Copyright © 2023 Dmitry Pechalov