A Norikatsu Katana (於東武小石川館水府住勝村徳勝作之)

This formidable katana was forged in February 1866 by Katsumura Norikatsu, one of the most accomplished smiths of the shinshintô period. Born in Mito in 1809 as Katsumura Hikoroku, Norikatsu apprenticed under local smith Kannai Norimune before securing a coveted position working in the Mito domain’s arsenals. Over his career he shifted decisively toward the Yamato tradition, producing a first-class masame-hada combined with a sunagashi-laden suguha that places him in the highest company. By the time he crafted this blade at the Koishikawa residence of the Mito domain – the very park where Tokyo Dome now stands – he was working as the personal sword instructor to Tokugawa Yoshiatsu, the tenth leader of the Mito domain and brother of the final shogun.

The workmanship is sublime. The masame-hada is extraordinary – a grain of remarkable technical difficulty that only the most confident smith would attempt, as an imperfectly forged blade can separate along its hundreds of parallel layers. Here it is realised to perfection, enriched with ji-nie and chikei. The beaming suguha hamon carries a treasury of fine activities: sunagashi, ko-ashi, kinsuji, uchinoke, and a brilliant sweeping hakikake-bôshi in the kissaki. This is Yamato-den quality at the very highest level, consciously reaching back to the masterworks of the Hôshô school from the Kamakura period.

The sword is accompanied by an exceptional set of Late Edo period koshirae – likely original to the sword – that captures the beauty of a crisp autumn day. The tsuba, attributed to Kôgo Yoshitoshi, and the fuchi-kashira, attributed to Kusakari Kiyosada of Mutsu province, both depict sun-drenched fallen pine needles and foraging bell crickets from Koishikawa park. The menuki tell a more dramatic story: a predatory hawk hunting a bear cub sheltering in a cave. A silver-wrapped habakiwith vertical file marks mirrors the straight grain of the blade itself. This is a sword crafted for a ruling daimyô family in the final years of the last samurai. History in your hands.