A Tegai Kanekiyo Katana (手掻包清)

The Tegai school ranks among the oldest and most revered traditions in Japanese swordmaking, rooted in Yamato province and tracing its lineage to the earliest classical smiths. Kanekiyo was active in the late Nambokuchô through Ôei era – a transitional period that produced blades of remarkable authority, blending the austere power of Kotô forging with the broader, more imposing proportions demanded by the age of constant warfare. This katana carries that heritage in full measure.

The blade is unsigned, the nakago having been greatly shortened (o-suriage) at some point in its long history – a procedure carried out with evident care, the tang remaining clean and gently filed. The jihada is exceptionally well forged, with dark swirling lines of chikei threading through the body of the steel – a mark of Kotô-period talent that cannot be faked or manufactured. The hamon is a clean, bright suguha alive with lines of kinsuji and rare uchinoke in the shape of small crescent moons – hallmarks of the Yamato tradition rendered with quiet perfection. The steel has a genuine wetness to it, a quality collectors immediately recognise in a seriously sharp blade.

A kirokomi – a battle scar from another sword sustained during combat – is present on the mune towards the lower blade. These marks are deliberately left intact by polishers; they are prized evidence of a sword actually used in the field, not preserved behind glass. The blade comes in shirasaya with a fine gold habaki dressed with straight file marks. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certification confirms the attribution and attests to the blade’s outstanding quality and preservation.