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I am very pleased to present a very special sword. This is a very early kodachi from the Nanbokucho Era. Kodachi did not really make their appearance until into the Muromachi Era, but this is one of the first ones. It is signed Bishu Osafune Jyu Motoshige. What is more impressive is that it is also dated. It is dated Kano san-nen hachi gatsu nichi (a day in August of 1352). Bizen Motoshige was the founder of the Hatakeda Bizen School and is one of the top Bizen smiths of the Kamakura and Nanbokucho Eras. For more about this smith, please see the following article, Motoshige. This blade comes in a shirasaya with a gold foil habaki. The polish is fresh and it shows the beautiful hada which is without openings or flaws of any kind. The nakago of this important blade was published in TOUMEI SOURAN by IIDA KAZUO (see last photo above). I highly recommend adding this blade to your collection.

Here is the translation of the Juyo papers for this important and rare blade. These papers describe this blade far better than I can:

Designated Juyo Token at the 31st shinsa held on the 18th of October 1984.

Ko-Dachi, Signed: Bishu Osafune jyu Motoshige; Kano san-nen hachi-gatsu hi (a day in the 8th month, the 3rd year of Kano, 1352).

Dimensions: Length: 52.1 centimeters; Curvature: 1.0 centimeters; Width at the Base: 2.7 centimeters; Width at the Tip: 1.95 centimeters; Kissaki Length: 6.1 centimeters; Nakago Length: 22.7 centimeters; Nakago Curvature: almost no curvature.

Configuration: The construction is shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune. In comparison to the width at the base, the width in the point is narrower. There is funbari at the base of the blade, and this sword has an o-kissaki. The kitae is ko-itame with ko-mokume that is mixed with jigane that has a flowing feeling. The jigane is covered in ji-nie and contains minute chikei and prominent bo-utsuri. The hamon is chu-suguha with a tight nioiguchi. The habuchi contains ko-ashi and slanted ashi activity. The boshi is ko-maru with a slightly pointed tip and kaeri. There are round-ended bohi carvings on both sides of the blade. The nakago is slightly suriage with a shallow kurijiri end tip. The yasuri are sujikai, and there are two mekugi-ana. There is a long inscription on the hakiomote near the mune with a similarly placed date on the ura.

Description: The earliest dated works seen by Osafune Motoshige are those of the fifth year of Showa (1316), which corresponds to the late Kamakura period. After this, there are Karyaku dates (1326-1329). In addition, there are works dated to as late as the Joji era (1362-1368), which was during the Nambokucho period. As a result, there is a powerful argument for the existence of a first and second generation; however, there is no established theory as to the demarcation line separating them. As to the style of workmanship, the early sources write that it closely resembles that of Kagemitsu and Kanemitsu , or the works of the Bichu Aoe School. In this instance, we can see in the suguha of this work with its tight nioiguchi and its slanted ashi activity in the habuchi an Aoi style of workmanship. As a work with this date, it is a conspicuously rare example of a ko-dachi style blade. The large and broad kissaki is clearly indicative of the Nambokucho period, and its Kano era date makes it a valuable source of research data into our study of this smith.