A Tsunahiro Wakizashi (相州住伊勢大掾綱広)

Fifth generation Ise Daijo Tsunahiro stands apart from his predecessors – regarded by scholars as the most accomplished smith to carry the Tsunahiro name during the Shintō period. Working from Sōshū (the Kamakura region of Sagami province), he held both the jo-saku (superior) ranking and the coveted wazamono designation for the cutting sharpness of his blades. This wakizashi, signed from his period of residence in Sōshū, is a prime example of why that reputation endures.

The hamon is immediately striking – a broad, luminous gunome-midare that rolls along the blade in rhythmic peaks of bright crystal activity. Long ashi extend deep into the cutting edge and fine sunagashi drift through the temper zone, while kinsuji flash in the upper half as the light shifts. The steel itself is hard and tightly packed, the ko-itame jihada dense and well-disciplined. This is a blade that reads as powerfully in hand as it does on paper.

The wakizashi is housed in an antique Middle Edo period (1700-1780) kuro-urushinori-saya chiisagatana-koshirae – a black-lacquered wakizashi mounting of understated authority. The iron tsuba is hexagonal and polished, decorated with a gold nunome-zogan fern motif running the perimeter, with one hitsu-ana plugged. A silver kojiri with wave cut-out detailing caps the scabbard. The koshirae carries its own NTHK-NPO Kanteishō certificate. Very samurai indeed.