Looking for opinions: Den Omiya Nanbokucho Katana

[RockyRaccoon]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m new to the board and currently looking for my first serious Nihonto, ideally a Koto blade from the Nanbokucho period or earlier.

 

I found this katana at Aoi Art a while ago and somehow keep coming back to it: 

 

https://www.aoijapan.com/katana：-mumei-unsigned-attributed-to-omiya-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

 

I really like the lively hamon and the overall feeling of the blade. The Omiya attribution together with Tokubetsu Hozon papers also makes it seem like an interesting entry into older Koto swords.

 

What makes me hesitate is that the sword appears to have been listed for quite a long time, while many blades in a similar price range seem to sell fairly quickly. Since I’m still learning, I’m wondering if there might be aspects more experienced collectors notice right away that I might be missing?

 

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks! 

Edited February 28 by RockyRaccoon
Link added

[oli]

hi,

 

would recommend to visit the Japan Art Fair (https://www.japanartfair.com/) , there you have the opportunity to hold the swords in your hand. 

 

best regards

Oli

[MaxT]

Hi Oli,

 

I am planning to visit the Japan Art Fair this year, however from what I can see on the website many exibitors offer mostly higher end swords with accordingly high prices. Do you know if there will be sellers with "affordable" options? Also how do the prices of the Japanese sellers compare with their own domestic offerings (for example seiyudo)? I am tempted by not having to pay the hefty 20% VAT...

 

kind regards

Max

[Rivkin]

I feel bad giving an honest opinion about items of Japanese sellers if it is interpreted as an endorsement Art Fair dealers... something I would prefer to avoid.

Omiya can be very attractive. They seldom have good utsuri, but can have very nice hamon.

Here the jigane is a bit rough, nioi-guchi does not seem to be consistent (which good Omiya is expected to have), overall its not the top Omiya for the price, but also photography and polish make it difficult to ascertain by photos alone. Maybe hamon plays hundreds of shades of blue, and its really beautiful.

 

[oli]

2 minutes ago, MaxT said:

I am planning to visit the Japan Art Fair this year, however from what I can see on the website many exibitors offer mostly higher end swords with accordingly high prices. Do you know if there will be sellers with "affordable" options? Also how do the prices of the Japanese sellers compare with their own domestic offerings (for example seiyudo)? I am tempted by not having to pay the hefty 20% VAT...

 

Last year, there were also dealers with affordable blades. And yes no 20% VAT, as i know. I saw prices from 3000 Euro to 30.000 Euro for a Katana. 

[Lewis B]

1 hour ago, MaxT said:

Hi Oli,

 

I am planning to visit the Japan Art Fair this year, however from what I can see on the website many exibitors offer mostly higher end swords with accordingly high prices. Do you know if there will be sellers with "affordable" options? Also how do the prices of the Japanese sellers compare with their own domestic offerings (for example seiyudo)? I am tempted by not having to pay the hefty 20% VAT...

 

kind regards

Max

As Oliver states, there are dealers present to accommodate every pocket. The last 2 years I saw plenty of swords priced below 1000 Euro and a couple of Juyo blades around 30K. No tax. Some big savings are possible with a little patience.

[RockyRaccoon]

2 hours ago, Rivkin said:

I feel bad giving an honest opinion about items of Japanese sellers if it is interpreted as an endorsement Art Fair dealers... something I would prefer to avoid.

Omiya can be very attractive. They seldom have good utsuri, but can have very nice hamon.

Here the jigane is a bit rough, nioi-guchi does not seem to be consistent (which good Omiya is expected to have), overall its not the top Omiya for the price, but also photography and polish make it difficult to ascertain by photos alone. Maybe hamon plays hundreds of shades of blue, and its really beautiful.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, that’s very helpful. I understand that this may not represent the stronger end of Omiya work, but would you still consider it a solid and enjoyable example overall, especially for someone looking for a first Nanbokucho-period blade rather than a top-tier piece? Appreciate your perspective.

[Rivkin]

26 minutes ago, RockyRaccoon said:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, that’s very helpful. I understand that this may not represent the stronger end of Omiya work, but would you still consider it a solid and enjoyable example overall, especially for someone looking for a first Nanbokucho-period blade rather than a top-tier piece? Appreciate your perspective.

I am biased because its mine, but this is what I would be looking in good Omiya. Strong nie presence, sunagashi throughout (even if mostly in ko nie), bright and reasonably consistent nioi guchi, good jigane. Its really an under-appreciated school because a lot of work like this is not associated with a super-jo-jo-name-saku.

It also benefits a lot from good sashikomi polish.

By comparison I would suspect Aoi art is a notch lower. But it needs to be seen in hand.

[Hoshi]

Hi Mike, 

 

You can compare with other Omiya offerings on the market here: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Omiya

 

Hope this helps, 

 

Hoshi

[Bruce Pennington]

Mike,

If you aren't set on this one sword, you might try @Hoshi's site:  https://nihontowatch.com/.  He's compiled current swords for sale, and the links to them, from dozens of sellers.  You can filter the list to fit your price range, and other options.  Quite a site.

[RockyRaccoon]

13 hours ago, Hoshi said:

Hi Mike, 

 

You can compare with other Omiya offerings on the market here: https://nihontowatch.com/artists/NS-Omiya

 

Hope this helps, 

 

Hoshi

As a silent reader of this site, I bookmarked your site the moment you posted it. Great work. 

[RockyRaccoon]

18 hours ago, Rivkin said:

I am biased because its mine, but this is what I would be looking in good Omiya. Strong nie presence, sunagashi throughout (even if mostly in ko nie), bright and reasonably consistent nioi guchi, good jigane. Its really an under-appreciated school because a lot of work like this is not associated with a super-jo-jo-name-saku.

It also benefits a lot from good sashikomi polish.

By comparison I would suspect Aoi art is a notch lower. But it needs to be seen in hand.

Thanks for taking the time to explain that and for sharing you example, really helpful.

[RockyRaccoon]

2 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Mike,

If you aren't set on this one sword, you might try @Hoshi's site:  https://nihontowatch.com/.  He's compiled current swords for sale, and the links to them, from dozens of sellers.  You can filter the list to fit your price range, and other options.  Quite a site.

 

 

Yeah, thanks, awesome site.

 

I‘m not fixated on this sword, but it does tick quite a lot of my boxes (Nanbokucho period, lively hamon, interesting school and history, toku hozon and a nice understated koshirae), just a good overall package. 

[Schneeds]

For reference, this one that shows up in Hoshi's database was listed for 1,000,000 originally and sold recently:

 

https://eirakudo.shop/305191

 

It had been for sale quite a while.  I nearly bought it half a dozen times, but the relative shortness kept making me hesitate.  Lovely blade though.  

[Jussi Ekholm]

For me personally that sword does not make a huge impact of Nanbokuchō period, as it is small and slender sword. I do of course agree that NBTHK Ōmiya call might most likely be the most plausible one. If I would seek to get one Nanbokuchō period blade I would hope it would be "stereotypical" example. The huge swords were of course only a part of what was made during that time and plenty of normal sized and small swords were made during that period.

 

Here are some reference items of wider swords that got attributed to Ōmiya and were cheaper than the offering in the OP and got sold somewhat recently.

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords6/NT330431.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20240201012326/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-omiya-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

https://web.archive.org/web/20220226151328/https://www.aoijapan.com/katanamumei-den-omiya/

 

I am fixated on shape and size but I understand it is probably a minority thing. However be it size, fine details in blade, complete package in koshirae etc. whatever you are looking for I would try to look into Nanbokuchō Bizen as the big picture and not just limiting the search to Ōmiya. You have a fairly large budget and will find lots of fine offerings for that budget. 

[oli]

this is a big Kissaki: https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/KA-0805

[RockyRaccoon]

On 3/5/2026 at 1:48 PM, Jussi Ekholm said:

For me personally that sword does not make a huge impact of Nanbokuchō period, as it is small and slender sword. I do of course agree that NBTHK Ōmiya call might most likely be the most plausible one. If I would seek to get one Nanbokuchō period blade I would hope it would be "stereotypical" example. The huge swords were of course only a part of what was made during that time and plenty of normal sized and small swords were made during that period.

 

Here are some reference items of wider swords that got attributed to Ōmiya and were cheaper than the offering in the OP and got sold somewhat recently.

https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords6/NT330431.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20240201012326/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-omiya-nbthk-tokubetsu-hozon-token/

https://web.archive.org/web/20220226151328/https://www.aoijapan.com/katanamumei-den-omiya/

 

I am fixated on shape and size but I understand it is probably a minority thing. However be it size, fine details in blade, complete package in koshirae etc. whatever you are looking for I would try to look into Nanbokuchō Bizen as the big picture and not just limiting the search to Ōmiya. You have a fairly large budget and will find lots of fine offerings for that budget. 

Thanks for the reply and the references, really helpful. I’m actually not fixed on Ōmiya specifically. What really caught my eye with that blade was the lively hamon and the overall feeling of it. At the same time I completely see your point about the more “stereotypical” Nanbokuchō shapes and I’m trying to look at more examples before making any decision.