A Norishige Katana (則重)

Norishige occupies a singular place among the early Sôshû masters. Working from Etchû Province, he trained under Shintôgo Kunimitsu alongside Masamune – and according to Muromachi-period sword texts, was a fellow student rather than a direct pupil of the grandmaster himself. Dated signatures from the Shôwa (1312~1317) and Gen’ô (1319~1321) eras confirm his active period, and the Kokon Mei Zukushi (古今銘尽) and other Edo-period references consistently rank him among Japan’s finest swordsmiths – earning him Fujishiro’s top designation of saijô-saku.

What sets Norishige apart is his steel. While his overall workmanship sits closest to that of the great Masamune, his jihada stands out far more prominently – producing the celebrated matsukawa-hada, a spiralled grain pattern evoking the furrowed bark of ancient pine trees. This example displays all the hallmarks: stand-out itame with mokume and nagare resolving into matsukawa-hada, rich chikei and kinsuji threading through the darkish steel, and a bright suguha temper mixed with gunome, ko-notare and ashi, loaded with fine nie and sunagashi. The bôshi turns in a nie-laden ko-maru with generous hakikake – a quintessentially Sôshû finish.

This katana was reviewed by Tanobe Michihiro, one of Japan’s foremost sword scholars, who contributed a sayagaki inscription placing the blade firmly in the Ko-Hôki tradition and noting its abundance of classical features. It holds dual certification: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon and NTHK-NPO Yûshûsaku – the highest honour the NTHK-NPO confers, with four judges’ stamps on the certificate. The blade is presented in shirasaya with a superb gold ni-ju habaki bearing crisp file marks.