A Yoshitoki Katana (上野介源吉時)

This katana was forged by Kôzuke no Suke Minamoto Yoshitoki, second generation of the Zenjô family of Seki, Mino province, the largest and most prominent of the Seki Shichi-ryû, the seven schools that flourished there. The line traces back to Zenjô Kaneyoshi, active during the Nanbokuchô period, and produced capable smiths from the Muromachi period through to the closing years of the shogunate, their blades prized as wazamono. Yoshitoki began his career in Mino before relocating to Edo, where the title Kôzuke no Suke was adopted by the second generation, in a line said to have flourished across three generations.

The blade measures 70.5cm with a striking sori of 2.8cm, giving it the graceful shape of a tachi – a genuinely rare profile for the shintô period. The jihada is ko-mokume, finely forged with shining ji-nie and chikei. The hamon takes off in dramatic fashion: a snow-white gunome-midare with pointed togari, thick ko-nie, bold kinsuji and plenty of sunagashi running the length of the blade, finishing in an intense, brushed hakikake bôshi. The ubu-nakago carries taka-no-ha yasurime, a herringbone file pattern echoing a hawk’s feather, and remains in clean, unaltered condition.

The katana is housed in a splendid uchigatana koshirae, fitted with a matching set of Edo-Higo fittings – the fuchi-kashira, kojiri, koiguchi, kurikata and dôrin all carrying the same gold cloud dragon inlay. The tsuba, attributed to the Kyô-Shôami branch of the Shôami school, is overlaid in gold with an auspicious tortoise, pine and waterfall design. Currently NBTHK Hozon certified, with sayagaki by Nozomi-san, the sword carries genuine potential for upgrade to Tokubetsu Hozon given its quality and clean nakago – contact Pablo for details ahead of the next submission in December 2026.