An Aoe Sadatsugu / Kashu Nagatsugu Daisho (青江貞次 / 賀州長次)

This is a daisho of striking contrast – a late Kamakura-period katana attributed to the Chu-Aoe school paired with a signed early Edo wakizashi from Kashu province – yet the two blades share a natural visual unity that makes their pairing feel entirely deliberate. The katana is attributed by NTHK-NPO Kanteisho to [second generation] Chu-Aoe Sadatsugu, working in Bitchu province in the early Genko era (1331-1333). Gonnosuke, as he was also known, holds Jojo-saku status in Fujishiro – a highly superior swordsmith – with a sharpness rating of Ryo-Wazamono. The Aoe school, active from the 1200s and divisible into Ko-Aoe, Chu-Aoe and Sue-Aoe branches, has produced some of the most valued Koto-period blades in existence, with multiple pieces attaining NBTHK Juyo Token certification.

The katana carries all the hallmarks of a distinguished Aoe blade. The jihada is a tight, compact tsumari itame running with beautiful midare utsuri – that distinctive shadow reflection above the hamon so characteristic of Bizen-area Koto steel, the product of the finest sand iron ground near-pure over countless centuries. The hamon itself is a refined suguha enriched with ko-midare and ko-ashi extending toward the cutting edge – technically accomplished and quietly elegant. The wakizashi, signed by Kashu ju Fujiwara Nagatsugu and dated to the Jokyo era (circa 1684), is a Shinto-period piece of considerable quality. Nagatsugu worked in Kaga province – the wealthiest domain outside the Tokugawa – and his work shows clear inspiration from Koto-period forging, with lively hataraki in the steel. His hamon is an active gunome midare with lovely sunagashi within.

The daisho koshirae is nothing short of spectacular. Snarling dragons with gold trim adorn the matching tsubas (attributed to Den Hizen, Jakushi, mid-Edo, with NTHK-NPO Kanteisho certificate), falling snowflakes under the night sky wrap the fuchi-kashira, and protective shisa lions appear on the menuki, kozuka and kogai – every element in splendid harmony. The fuchi-kashira snowflake motifs are particularly notable: inspired by daimyo Doi Toshitsura’s famous microscopic studies of snowflakes, published in the 1832 work Sekka Zusetsu, the design connects this daisho to one of the great intellectual curiosities of the late Edo period. Five NTHK-NPO Kanteisho certificates accompany the set: two for the swords and one each for the daisho tsubas, fuchi-kashira, and koshirae.