A Shodai Masahiro Wakizashi (肥前国河内大掾藤原正広)

Kawachi Masahiro was born Sadenjiro in 1607 and died at only 59 in 1665. He and Shôdai Yukihiro are sons of Yoshinobu, who was himself the adopted son of the great first-generation shodai Tadayoshi. Masahiro began signing as Masanaga and even signed for Shôdai Tadayoshi when the master fell ill – a practice known as dai-mei. Recognising his exceptional talent, his employer Lord Nabeshima Katsushige suggested he change his name to Masahiro, and thus Shôdai Masahiro was born.

This wakizashi is a textbook example of Masahiro at his finest, dated to a lucky day in the eighth month of Kan’ei 20 – August 1643 – when the smith was 36 years old, roughly midway through his working career. Dated works of Shodai Masahiro are genuinely rare, making this an outstanding reference piece. The jihada is a beautifully tight ko-mokume leading to the classic Hizen konuka-hada, enriched with thick nie-deki and generous ji-nie.

The hamon is spectacular: a booming gunome-chôji-midare with dramatic tani (valleys), clusters of long tasselled ôbusa-chôji reminiscent of the Fukuoka-Ichimonji school, and abundant hataraki including long, ripping lines of kinsuji, flowing sunagashi, and a jewel-like tama forming a spot of tobiyaki. The blade comes in a fine shirasaya with sayagaki by the shodo artist Nozomi-san and a gold-wrapped niju-habaki with crisp file marks. It holds a rare certificate of excellence from Fujishiro Matsuo alongside NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.