A Tomoyoshi ‘Endorsement Award’ Katana (大阪住和泉朝吉作)

Tomoyoshi, whose family name was Izumi, worked in Osaka during the early Shôwa era (1926-1989), producing blades of considerable quality during the militaristic period leading into and through the Second World War. This katana was forged in August 1937 – the 12th year of Shôwa – and was subsequently entered into a sword-forging competition in 1940 held to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the accession of Emperor Jimmu, founder of the Japanese imperial line. The blade won the Endorsement Award (suisen-sho), and this honour was carefully chiselled onto the nakago alongside the full date inscription. Tomoyoshi’s standing was formally acknowledged by Kurihara Akihide, who ranked him Joko-no-retsu – master swordsmith – in his 1942 survey of approximately 300 contemporary smiths. His greatest competitive achievement came in 1941 when he took the Second Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontô Denrankai, the forerunner of today’s NBTHK sword-making contest.

The blade is rooted firmly in the Yamato tradition – a fitting tribute to Emperor Jimmu, who is said to have captured Yamato (present-day Nara) and established it as his seat of power. The jihada is a free-flowing nagare-hada with wavy masame straight-grain patterns standing prominently in the steel. The hamon is a beautifully executed naka-suguha – the straight temper line synonymous with the Yamato tradition – enlivened by tight ko-midare, long ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi. The construction is wide and powerful, with a commanding moto-haba of 3.3cm that gives the blade the presence of something much older. Muneyaki activity along the spine adds further character.

The koshirae was commissioned as a custom project in 2015 using antique fittings, unified throughout by the tombo (dragonfly) theme – a creature revered by samurai as a symbol of bravery, agility and victory, for it always flies forward and never retreats. The iron tsuba, attributed to the Umetada school of the late Edo period, is decorated with inlaid dragonflies and butterflies in gold and shakudo; its reverse side shows the dragonfly’s tail creatively piercing the iron itself. The purple silk-wrapped tsuka houses a pair of dragonfly menuki; the kozuka bears a vivid gold dragonfly; the kojiri continues the theme with an antique dragonfly end-cap. Three of the four items – the sword, tsuba, and koshirae – have been certified authentic by the NTHK-NPO, while the kozuka carries an NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho certificate. This is a sword with a documented imperial story and a presentation worthy of it.