Antique Japanese Wakizashi, signed Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku (三条小鍛冶吉作) — late Muromachi period (Eishō era), Satsuma province — ubu, unaltered original signature — in shirasaya

Rare ubu-signed Satsuma kotō wakizashi in shinogi-zukuri · itame with flowing hada and vivid chikei · broad suguha with ko-midare and ko-gunome · preserved in shirasaya with a wood habaki

A wakizashi bearing the vivid, unaltered original (ubu) signature of the swordsmith Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku (三条小鍛冶吉作), said to have been active in Satsuma province in the Eishō era (ca. 1504–1521) of the late Muromachi period. Freshly polished, it carries into the present the powerful, deeply flavorful atmosphere so characteristic of old Satsuma (kotō) work.

Workmanship and condition

The blade is freshly polished. A few very fine edge nicks (ha-kobore) can be seen along the cutting edge — most likely from parrying an opponent's blade in combat — which only deepen the sword's character, and some faint clouding is present in places, but the ground and edge are very sound. The jigane is an itame-hada mixed with flowing (nagare) forging that tends to stand, and vivid chikei rise up across it; fine ji-nie gather evenly, giving real depth and a smooth texture. The hamon is a broad suguha base mixed with ko-midare and ko-gunome; bright, clear ko-nie lie along the temper edge, and gentle small activity — ashi and yō — plays within.

Form

A beautiful, well-balanced shinogi-zukuri wakizashi with solid mihaba and kasane and a moderate, graceful sori. Its tight, trim silhouette is capped by a clean ko-maru bōshi that turns back neatly, and the fresh polish shows the appeal of both the ground and the temper to full effect.

On the smith — Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku

The name "Sanjō Kokaji" derives from the legendary Heian-period master Sanjō Kokaji Munechika. In the late Muromachi period, smiths who inherited — or consciously invoked — the traditional Yamashiro-den techniques and famous names of Kyoto sometimes migrated out into the provinces. This smith is thought to have been one such maker who settled in Satsuma and forged there. Signed works of Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku from late-Muromachi Satsuma — and especially examples with an unaltered ubu signature — survive in very small numbers, making this a rare reference piece in the history of the Japanese sword.

The shirasaya

The wakizashi is housed in a plain wood shirasaya (resting scabbard) that carries the warmth of wood in the hand, fitted with a wood habaki and a bamboo mekugi — the ideal mounting for purely appreciating and preserving the beauty of the blade and the activity of its ground and edge.

A sound, sharply polished late-Muromachi ubu-signed wakizashi by Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku, its slight edge nicks only heightening its historical value — a piece whose quiet appeal seems to draw the viewer back into the past.

Specifications

• Type: Wakizashi (shinogi-zukuri)
• Signature (mei): Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku (三条小鍛冶吉作); ubu (un-shortened), unaltered original signature
• Certification: none
• Period: Late Muromachi period, Eishō era (ca. 1504–1521)
• Smith / province: Sanjō Kokaji Yoshisaku — Satsuma province (Yamashiro-den lineage)
• Jigane: itame mixed with flowing (nagare) hada, standing grain with vivid chikei and even ji-nie
• Hamon: broad suguha with ko-midare and ko-gunome; bright ko-nie, with ashi and yō
• Bōshi: ko-maru, turning back neatly
• Blade length (nagasa): 47.7 cm / 18.78 in (about 1 shaku 5 sun 7 bu)
• Curvature (sori): 1.3 cm
• Width at base (motohaba): 26.4 mm
• Thickness at base (motokasane): 6.6 mm
• Width at tip (sakihaba): 18.1 mm
• Thickness at tip (sakikasane): 4.6 mm
• Weight (blade only): 400 g
• Condition: freshly polished; a few fine edge nicks (ha-kobore) and slight faint clouding, ji and ha very sound
• Mounting: shirasaya (plain wood resting scabbard) with wood habaki and bamboo mekugi
• Torokushō (Japanese registration) No.: Nagano 76735