This is a mumei katana from the Koto period. It has been attributed to the smith, Muneyuki, who was from the Nabari Takada school that was a branch of the Bungo Takada in Iga. This branch had their roots in the Bungo Takada of Kyushu. Muneyuki worked around the Tensho era (1570). This sword has a cutting edge of 24 7/8 inches or 63.2 cm. It has a moto-haba of 1.28 inches or 3.3 cm and a saki-haba of 0.81 inches or 2.01 cm. The attribution was made by the NTHK in Japan. The hada is ko-itame and the hamon is suguha mixed with gunome-midare. There is utsuri for which this smith is famous. The overall condition of the blade is excellent and is has just received a new polish. It has no problems or flaws.
This blade comes in a full set of WW 2 army koshirae. The condition of this koshirae is superb with only the sarute missing. The tsuba is sukashi of the type one finds on only the best koshirae. All of the parts of the koshirae are original and have matching numbers including the seppa. The fuchi has the Watanabe family mon. A family mon can be found on army koshirae from time to time, but this koshirae also has the Watanabe family name written in kanji on the kabuto-gane. This is VERY RARE. There were three branches of the Watanabe family who used this kanji and they all became Viscounts or Barons after the Meiji restoration. This sword possibly belonged to one of their descendants. In any event he must have been wealthy and high ranking to justify these mounts. It is extremely difficult to find this quality of mounts in this condition these days.
PRICE: SOLD
