True value of this Katana

[Elias6677]

 

 

Katana in Shirasaya with Koshirae (65th NBTHK Juyo Token)

Signature: Mumei(Unsigned) (Sa Yoshisada 左吉貞)

 
Hello. I dont have much Knowledge and Experience with Samurai Swords. But im really interested in this Beautiful Katana. I really Would Like to know if this Katana is 4.900.000 Yen worth? This is the asking Price. I was also interested in a tanto but I found out that the Tanto was extremely Overpriced. Thats why im asking here for the value of this sword 

details : Blade Length: 69.54 cm (27.38 in).
Curvature: 0.60 cm (0.24 in).
Mekugi Hole: 2.
Width at Base (Motohaba): 2.91 cm (1.15 in).
Width at Tip: 1.89 cm (0.74 in).
Thickness (Kasane): 0.61 cm (0.24 in).
Sword Weight: 550 g.
Era: Nanbokucho period, around Shohei (1346–1370).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 09:35 AM by Elias6677

[Elias6677]

I forgot to add the Fotos of the Blade 

[Lewis B]

Hi Elias, Welcome to NMB.

I'm assuming this is the one AOI has on hold. Nice tachi koshirae if you like blingy mounts. 

 

Believed to be a student or son of O-Sa. Not the best of the nidai smiths but still highly rated at jojo-saku. I prefer Sa-Kunihiro. From Sesko's eSwordsmiths.

 

YOSHISADA (吉貞), Jōwa (貞和, 1345-1350), Chikuzen – “Chikushū-jū Yoshisada” (筑州住吉貞), “Yoshisada” (吉貞), “Yoshisada saku” (吉貞作), “Mononobe Yoshisada” (物部吉貞), Sa school, according to tradition the son or student of Ō-Sa (大左), there exists a tantō with a date signature of the Shōhei era (正平, 1346-1370), no tachi are extant by Yoshisada, his tantō have a wide mihaba and some sori, the jigane is an itame-nagare with ji-nie and thick chikei, the hamon is a slightly undulating notare mixed with gunome and sunagashi, the bōshi has a rather long kaeri, we know smaller and larger signatures but it is assumed that they go back to the changes in the active period of a single smith because nothing indicates a 2nd gen., jōjō-saku

 

As to value you have to also factor in the ~20% importation tax so after shipping costs its more like 6mil JPY you'll be paying. I personally would not pay that figure for this blade. 

Edited Sunday at 09:54 AM by Lewis B

[YourBabyBjornBorg]

Hi! This was on Aoi Art's auction the 19th last mouth starting at 5,000,000 yen and I think no one eventually bought it at the time, so I guess it is a little high on the price.

 

(↑That was also the prevailing argument among my Nihonto friends here in PRC.)

 

(https://www.aoijapan.jp/刀無銘左吉貞第65回重要刀剣/)

 

Still, this Mumei Sa no Yoshisada has an incredibly bright, broad and clear Niokuchi and very fine Kitae for Koto, full-length at almost 70cm and relatively fine stats,

 

so I fell in love with this at first sight when this was out on the 19th.

 

With a Juyo paper and its absolutely top-tier Kamon Nanakoji Tachi Koshirae you see on half of all great Koto in museums and Daimyo's family,

 

3,500,000~4,000,000 Yen would be a steal, 4,500,000~5,000,000 are......not THAT bad, I guess? For anyone who could pony up this much.

 

Edits: forgot to mention this while talking up this great sword, is this worth it or not kind of depends on what ELSE you can buy with this kind of money,

 

and you can buy other very, very find swords with 5,000,000 yen, so......(Edit ends)

 

Stunning sword, great Koshirae, Juyo paper to brag, I would say this is the whole package.

 

The Mumei Kiwame (Sa no Yoshisada, son or apprentice to Daisa, one of Masamune's apprentices) is not optimum,

 

but the sword speaks for itself (saying this feels so wrong! It's like I'm some kind of evil Nihonto broker trying to sell people not great sword orz), also Katana/Tachi by Daisa are extremely rare,

 

though not non-existent, Kousetsu Samonji being (sort of) the only signed and genuine Tachi by Daisa, several Mumei ones in Juyo or Meibutsu.

 

Anyway, I'm really new and really bad at Kantei Kansho or just general Nihonto stuff, and I'm very happy to learn anything new. 

 

Many of my collector friends say this is way too much, but I don't really get that, so I would too very arpaciate anyone kindly explain this 

 

SO...MANY...EDITS...:

 

Also the pricing of Aoi Art can be tricky at time, Last year when I went to Daitokenichi there was a Tanto by Sa no Yukihide at 1,600,000 Yen,

 

and today it's on Aoi Art starting 2,500,000 Yen, so......

[Elias6677]

15 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

Hi Elias, Welcome to NMB.

I'm assuming this is the one AOI has on hold. Nice tachi koshirae if you like blingy mounts. 

 

Believed to be a student or son of O-Sa. Not the best of the nidai smiths but still highly rated at jojo-saku. I prefer Sa-Kunihiro. From Sesko's eSwordsmiths.

 

YOSHISADA (吉貞), Jōwa (貞和, 1345-1350), Chikuzen – “Chikushū-jū Yoshisada” (筑州住吉貞), “Yoshisada” (吉貞), “Yoshisada saku” (吉貞作), “Mononobe Yoshisada” (物部吉貞), Sa school, according to tradition the son or student of Ō-Sa (大左), there exists a tantō with a date signature of the Shōhei era (正平, 1346-1370), no tachi are extant by Yoshisada, his tantō have a wide mihaba and some sori, the jigane is an itame-nagare with ji-nie and thick chikei, the hamon is a slightly undulating notare mixed with gunome and sunagashi, the bōshi has a rather long kaeri, we know smaller and larger signatures but it is assumed that they go back to the changes in the active period of a single smith because nothing indicates a 2nd gen., jōjō-saku

 

As to value you have to also factor in the ~20% importation tax so after shipping costs its more like 6mil JPY you'll be paying. I personally would not pay that figure for this blade. 

Thank you very much for your honest opinion and for taking the time to explain your thoughts. I especially appreciate your comment that you personally would not pay around 5 million yen for this blade, as well as your reminder about the additional import costs, taxes, and duties, which in my case could add roughly another 20% on top of the price. Those were very useful points and helped me look at the purchase more realistically.

 

I had a very strong interest in this sword and even asked the dealer to place it on hold, but I wanted to make sure I’m not paying significantly above what experienced collectors would consider reasonable.

 

I almost made an expensive mistake before with a tanto that, looking back, may have been overpriced, so I’m trying to be much more careful now and learn from people with more knowledge and experience in Nihonto collecting.

 

I’m genuinely interested in owning an important historical blade, not only from an investment perspective but also because of the history behind it. At the same time, I want to make a well-informed decision.

 

May I ask: with a budget around 4.5–5 million yen, are there any swords currently on the market, auction results, or dealer inventories that you personally think would represent better value or a stronger purchase than this Juyo Sa Yoshisada?

 

Thank you again — your advice has been genuinely helpful to me.

[Elias6677]

13 minutes ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said:

Hi! This was on Aoi Art's auction the 19th last mouth starting at 5,000,000 yen and I think no one eventually bought it at the time, so I guess it is a little high on the price.

 

(↑That was also the prevailing argument among my Nihonto friends here in PRC.)

 

(https://www.aoijapan.jp/刀無銘左吉貞第65回重要刀剣/)

 

Still, this Mumei Sa no Yoshisada has an incredibly bright, broad and clear Niokuchi and very fine Kitae for Koto, full-length at almost 70cm and relatively fine stats,

 

so I fell in love with this at first sight when this was out on the 19th.

 

With a Juyo paper and its absolutely top-tier Kamon Nanakoji Tachi Koshirae you see on half of all great Koto in museums and Daimyo's family,

 

3,500,000~4,000,000 Yen would be a steal, 4,500,000~5,000,000 are......not that bad, I guess? For anyone who could pony up this much.

 

Stunning sword, great Koshirae, Juyo paper to brag, I would say this is the whole package.

 

The Mumei Kiwame (Sa no Yoshisada, son or apprentice to Daisa, one of Masamune's apprentices) is not optimum,

 

but the sword speaks for itself, also Katana/Tachi by Daisa are extremely rare,

 

though not non-existent, Kousetsu Samonji being (sort of) the only signed and genuine Tachi by Daisa, several Mumei ones in Juyo or Meibutsu.

Thank you very much for your comment and for sharing your perspective. I really appreciate your opinion that the overall package — the Juyo papers, attribution, historical period, condition, and presentation — could justify the asking price. Your explanation was genuinely helpful and gave me another way to look at the sword beyond only the number itself.

I had a very strong interest in this blade and already asked the dealer to place it on hold. At the same time, I wanted to be careful and make sure I’m not paying significantly above market value.

I almost made an expensive mistake before with a tanto that, in hindsight, may have been overpriced, so I’m trying to approach purchases more cautiously now and learn from collectors with more experience.

I’m honestly interested not only in investment potential, but also in owning an important historical piece and understanding what makes a sword truly special from a collector’s perspective.

If you don’t mind me asking: with a budget around 4.5–5 million yen, would you personally still consider this Juyo Sa Yoshisada a strong choice, or are there other blades currently on the market, dealer inventories, or auction examples that you believe offer better value or stronger quality?

Thank you again — your advice was very useful and helped me a lot.

[YourBabyBjornBorg]

9 minutes ago, Elias6677 said:

with a budget around 4.5–5 million yen, would you personally still consider this Juyo Sa Yoshisada a strong choice, or are there other blades currently on the market, dealer inventories, or auction examples that you believe offer better value or stronger quality?

One is paying A LOT for that extra Juyo paper and Tachi Koshirae, so it's not worth it if it's not one's real goal.

 

Also one of the examples my friend gave me is this Tokubetsu Hozon Katana Mumei Den Naoe Shizu in Ginza Choshuya currently at 2,500,000 Yen. 

 

(https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r8/005/01_shizu.php)

 

But this feels......

 

I would also love to hear other great examples. 

[Lewis B]

The pass rate for Juyo in 2019 was only 10% so can be considered one of the recent 'tough' years to pass. That speaks highly to the quality of the blade as Joe indicated. Just look at the storied grandmaster names it joined that year:

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/30248-juyo-2019/#findComment-311599

 

But if one of your criteria is that this is a solid investment I think 6milJPY is too much for a Yoshisada. I doubt you will recoup that if you had to sell. 

 

There is also an early March 1951 registration.

 

And AOI made a mistake the sori is 1.6cm not 0.6cm

Edited Sunday at 10:35 AM by Lewis B

[PNSSHOGUN]

There are many options at this price, if you're prepared to pay that amount it could be a better idea to travel to Japan to inspect some first class swords in hand. 

[Lewis B]

This is a translation of the setsumei giving the opinion of the shinsa panel. Worth reading carefully. 
 

65th Jūyō Tōken Designation Summary
Designated on November 7, Reiwa 1 (2019)

 

---

 

Classification & Attestation

• Item: Katana (刀) — One blade (一口)
• Signature: Mumei, attributed to Sa Yoshisada (無銘 左吉貞)
• Submitter: Paul Martin (ポール マーティン)

 

---

 

Measurements (Sugata)

• Blade Length (Nagasa): 66.7 cm (2 shaku, 2 sun, 0 bu)
• Curvature (Sori): 1.6 cm
• Motohaba (Base Width): 2.8 cm
• Sakihaba (Tip Width): 1.8 cm
• Kissaki Length: 2.9 cm
• Nakago Length: 18.5 cm
• Nakago Sori: 0.1 cm

 

---

 

Appraisal & Technical Description

 

Shape (Taihai)

Shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune. The blade exhibits standard width proportions with a typical differential between the base and tip width. The curvature is shallow, culminating in a slightly elongated chū-kissaki profile.

 

Forging Pattern (Kitae)

An itame-hada foundation seamlessly intermingles with areas of mokume-hada. The grain characteristically flows (nagare-gokoro) toward the cutting edge. The entire steel matrix is densely packed with fine ji-nie, displaying an excellent jigane clarity that yields a faint, soft utsuri (reflection).

 

Temper Line (Hamon)

A masterfully restrained ko-notare(small wave) serves as the primary motif, interspersed with ko-gunome(small undulating steps). The overall temper is intentionally low-profile, exhibiting active ashi (legs). The steel displays brilliant metallurgical activity near the cutting boundary, where yubashiri (drifting mist formations) fuse with sunagashi (streaks of sand). The nioiguchi remains bright, crisp, and exceedingly clear.

 

Tip Temper (Bōshi)

The temper line runs true (sugu) into the point, executing a shallow, rounded turnback (komaru-gokoro). The apex of the curve terminates with a delicate, swept hakikake (brushed) texture.

 

Engravings (Horimono)

A classic bōhi (wide groove) is cleanly carved into both faces of the blade, running entirely through the tang.

 

Tang (Nakago)

Ō-suriage (significantly shortened). The heel profile is finished in kirijiri (flat cut) with indistinct, faint yasurime (file marks). The tang features two mekugi-ana (retaining pin holes) and remains strictly unsigned (mumei).

 

---

 

Official Commentary & Historical Context

Yoshisada was an elite bladesmith belonging to the Sa lineage of Chikuzen province. Historical scholarship positions him alternately as the direct son or primary student of the legendary founding master, Sa (Samonji).

His production era can be confidently contextualized through existing dated examples, notably a signed companion piece from the 13th year of the Shōhei era (1358). While signed long swords (tachi) by Yoshisada are vanishingly rare, his signature is primarily preserved on short daggers (tantō) and sidearms (wakizashi). His styling on long blades typically trends toward a highly controlled, narrower hamon footprint compared to his peers.

This specific mumei katana perfectly captures those defining school traits. The blade's overall width is classical, paired with a sophisticated, gentle curvature. The hamon centers around a subtle, low-profile wave pattern. While the upper and lower halves show variation, the upper section resolves into a quiet, uniform temper line. Enhanced by vibrant nie activity, a flawless jigane, and remarkable health from tip to tang, this piece stands as a premier, highly dignified exemplar of the Sa Yoshisada tradition.

Edited Sunday at 10:41 AM by Lewis B

[Elias6677]

55 minutes ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said:

Hi! This was on Aoi Art's auction the 19th last mouth starting at 5,000,000 yen and I think no one eventually bought it at the time, so I guess it is a little high on the price.

 

(↑That was also the prevailing argument among my Nihonto friends here in PRC.)

 

(https://www.aoijapan.jp/刀無銘左吉貞第65回重要刀剣/)

 

Still, this Mumei Sa no Yoshisada has an incredibly bright, broad and clear Niokuchi and very fine Kitae for Koto, full-length at almost 70cm and relatively fine stats,

 

so I fell in love with this at first sight when this was out on the 19th.

 

With a Juyo paper and its absolutely top-tier Kamon Nanakoji Tachi Koshirae you see on half of all great Koto in museums and Daimyo's family,

 

3,500,000~4,000,000 Yen would be a steal, 4,500,000~5,000,000 are......not that bad, I guess? For anyone who could pony up this much.

 

Stunning sword, great Koshirae, Juyo paper to brag, I would say this is the whole package.

 

The Mumei Kiwame (Sa no Yoshisada, son or apprentice to Daisa, one of Masamune's apprentices) is not optimum,

 

but the sword speaks for itself, also Katana/Tachi by Daisa are extremely rare,

 

though not non-existent, Kousetsu Samonji being (sort of) the only signed and genuine Tachi by Daisa, several Mumei ones in Juyo or Meibutsu.

Thank you very much for taking the time to send me that review and recommendation. I really appreciate it. I read through it carefully, and your input was genuinely helpful for me in understanding the sword and evaluating the asking price from a different perspective.

[oli]

Come to https://www.japanartfair.com/ (No taxes from dealers from Japan, btw) . For this price I would first learn more about Nihonto and second only buy after personal viewing. 

 

[Rivkin]

 

Jigane is probably very attractive itame. I love Sa hada and it should be a good example of such.

The work seems to be very homogeneous, not tired, pristine, without kizu.

However, Sa hamon is choji always tends towards ko nie or even nioi. It is a very attractive shade of nioi, but on the blades I really like this is further accented by strong nie activities. Inazuma, patches of nie along the ha, strong chikei. 

I think this blade is more towards just ko nie. Still very attractive though.

[Jussi Ekholm]

While historical sales are not good indicator of current prices due to several factors of which we have discussed previously at NMB too. You can see Aoi Art had this same sword for sale without koshirae in 2021 for 2,500,000 yen

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20210802211856/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsigned-attributed-as-sa-yoshisada/

 

So you can see koshirae has not been historically with the sword. Also new habaki and shirasaya have been made for the sword. To me the workmanship of the blade seems very good but I am not after that in swords. Size and shape of the sword are the factors that would put me off from this purchase. If I would be in position to purchase a Sa school blade some day I would want it to be of the imposing Nanbokuchō shape in which there are plenty of Sa school attributed blades.

[Lewis B]

34 minutes ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

While historical sales are not good indicator of current prices due to several factors of which we have discussed previously at NMB too. You can see Aoi Art had this same sword for sale without koshirae in 2021 for 2,500,000 yen

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20210802211856/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsigned-attributed-as-sa-yoshisada/

 

So you can see koshirae has not been historically with the sword. Also new habaki and shirasaya have been made for the sword. To me the workmanship of the blade seems very good but I am not after that in swords. Size and shape of the sword are the factors that would put me off from this purchase. If I would be in position to purchase a Sa school blade some day I would want it to be of the imposing Nanbokuchō shape in which there are plenty of Sa school attributed blades.

Very interesting Jussi. A couple of things that immediately raise a few red flags. The setsumei states the blade has iori-mune, but the AOI description says mitsu-mune. It's lost 5g of weight and gained 3mm motohaba. Obviously these discrepancies, especially the mune should be clarified, as the staff at AOI have already shown themselves to be prone to errors. That said, the current oshigata clearly shows mitsu-mune. The blade appears to have been polished between 2021 and 2026 as hadori(?) finish and oshigata look very different. Makes one wonder why the owner felt it necessary to have work done to the blade post-juyo shinsa. 

Edited Sunday at 06:54 PM by Lewis B

[Jussi Ekholm]

That is great catch Lewis I didn't even check but yes the blade indeed has been polished. I believe some people want perfection, I know I would have been totally fine with the older polish. So that is one more thing to add that creates "extra" price for the package, that it has very good new polish. The koshirae is indeed very nice and will also add extra to the price. The unfortunate thing is that it has no relation to the actual sword and has been just put together. This happens even for Jūyō swords that swords without koshirae suddenly have koshirae when they reappear to the market. The opposite also happens when swords lose the koshirae they previously had. Tim Evans wrote a great post in recent thread about how sad it is that sword and historical koshirae get parted. As you can never replace historical koshirae that was actually attached to the sword.

 

As the majority of Japanese swords are roughly around the same size and shape it is fairly easy to find suitable unrelated koshirae, and professional craftsmen can make them fit amazingly and that I could not say it wasn't made for that particular sword. I am happy I enjoy massive items for which these koshirae swaps are extremely difficult, and those existing historical koshirae are extremely valuable.

[Elias6677]

57 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

Very interesting Jussi. A couple of things that immediately raise a few red flags. The setsumei states the blade has iori-mune, but the AOI description says mitsu-mune. It's lost 5g of weight and gained 3mm motohaba. Obviously these discrepancies, especially the mune should be clarified, as the staff at AOI have already shown themselves to be prone to errors. That said, the current oshigata clearly shows mitsu-mune. The blade appears to have been polished between 2021 and 2026 as hadori(?) finish and oshigata look very different. Makes one wonder why the owner felt it necessary to have work done to the blade post-juyo shinsa. 

Thank you very much for all the information and insights you shared with me. I’m genuinely grateful for it, especially because I’m still very much a beginner and have only started learning about Japanese swords relatively recently.

The more I read comments from experienced collectors, the more I realize how large the gap is between beginners and people who have studied Nihonto for many years. You notice details, ask questions, and consider aspects that honestly would never even come to my mind to research or evaluate on my own.

That is exactly why comments like yours are more than helpful to me — they help me avoid mistakes and learn how knowledgeable collectors actually assess swords beyond first impressions, papers, or historical age.

So I truly appreciate your time and willingness to share your experience. Thank you again — your advice has been very valuable to me.

[Elias6677]

1 hour ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

While historical sales are not good indicator of current prices due to several factors of which we have discussed previously at NMB too. You can see Aoi Art had this same sword for sale without koshirae in 2021 for 2,500,000 yen

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20210802211856/https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsigned-attributed-as-sa-yoshisada/

 

So you can see koshirae has not been historically with the sword. Also new habaki and shirasaya have been made for the sword. To me the workmanship of the blade seems very good but I am not after that in swords. Size and shape of the sword are the factors that would put me off from this purchase. If I would be in position to purchase a Sa school blade some day I would want it to be of the imposing Nanbokuchō shape in which there are plenty of Sa school attributed blades.

Thank you very much for finding and sharing that older listing. I’m genuinely grateful, because information like this is extremely helpful for someone like me who is still learning.

I was surprised to see the sword offered at a noticeably lower price back in 2021. My question is: do you think the price difference over the last five years could realistically be justified mainly by the addition of the koshirae, or would that alone not explain such an increase?

Could a new polish, restoration work, changes in market demand, or other factors significantly affect the value to that extent? Or would you personally see the current asking price as more of a dealer premium rather than a change in the sword itself?

I’d be very interested in your opinion, because I’m trying to understand what truly drives value changes in Nihonto over time.

Thank you again — your comments and the information you shared have been extremely useful to me.

[Gakusee]

28 minutes ago, Elias6677 said:

Thank you very much for finding and sharing that older listing. I’m genuinely grateful, because information like this is extremely helpful for someone like me who is still learning.

I was surprised to see the sword offered at a noticeably lower price back in 2021. My question is: do you think the price difference over the last five years could realistically be justified mainly by the addition of the koshirae, or would that alone not explain such an increase?

Could a new polish, restoration work, changes in market demand, or other factors significantly affect the value to that extent? Or would you personally see the current asking price as more of a dealer premium rather than a change in the sword itself?

I’d be very interested in your opinion, because I’m trying to understand what truly drives value changes in Nihonto over time.

Thank you again — your comments and the information you shared have been extremely useful to me.

 

 

When the sword was initially procured and priced, the FX rate  ¥/$ was close to 100.  So, you were looking at c.$25k back then. Currently the FX rate is closer to 160, which means the $25k would be nearly ¥4m. 
 

Furthermore, the Japanese dealers in the last couple of years overcompensated for the yen depreciation somewhat. While previously they used to think purely in yen, as their inflation has been next to 0% for decades, lately they started mentally converting to $ and pricing accordingly, as the sword market internationalised in the last 10-15 years beyond recognition. I remember decent TJ perhaps 8-10 years ago was in the ¥14-15m range, then that became ¥17-18m, now you are looking at ¥20m+. A famous dealer complained to me a few weeks ago about former customers also demanding extremely high prices from him for the swords he had sold to them years ago (but that is a different story for another day…). 

So, the maths for this sword: 

You add to the aforesaid ¥4m (the historic price) then the ¥0.75m-¥1m koshirae, the cost of the polish, the fact that the seller probably wants some return to his investment and you get to ¥5m.

 

The sword is rather nice, albeit not my cup of tea.

 

But indeed in the last 15 years the floodgates of information and access have opened, so one naturally has a lot of choice. Just go to Chris’s Nihontowatch website and see what AI has enabled in the last few months. He has put a tonne of valuable (and monetarily rather expensive) information in there - for now for the benefit of people. But such access and info should really be premium…..

 

One important thing: buy what you like and resonates with you emotionally and do not get swayed by people’s likes and dislikes in Sa or Nanbokucho shapes, or more/less nie etc. And measure and weigh carefully options, opinions, facts. 

 

 

[Lewis B]

9 minutes ago, Gakusee said:

 

 

One important thing: buy what you like and resonates with you emotionally and do not get swayed by people’s likes and dislikes in Sa or Nanbokucho shapes, or more/less nie etc. And measure and weigh carefully options, opinions, facts. 

 

 

Very true, and that only comes after doing the hard yards researching the literature and more importantly experiencing high end swords in hand. Elias, since you are in Germany you should seriously consider attending an NBTHK-EB meeting either in Solingen or Manching. There are many members in Germany who have some magnificent Juyo and up swords, and are only too happy to share their knowledge and collections. 

Edited Sunday at 08:46 PM by Lewis B

[Jussi Ekholm]

Michael wrote a great post on how prices have fluctuated. Unfortunately I don't collect in this price level so I cannot give any actual advice. Also as my personal collecting interests are way outside the norm I would not dare to give advice other than on general level. There are for example people specializing in Sa school and can give advice on how the sword would compared to other similarish works by the school. There are many different approaches and layers in this hobby.

 

In overall I feel the change in price is within reasonable range. New polish is an expensive addon, I have never had anything polished so I cannot give a good estimate on it, others will know much better. Likewise the koshirae is high quality addon as was mentioned above. It is fairly reasonable package for the right buyer in my eyes. Aoi Art in general is in my opinion quite reasonably priced. They have huge volume of items passing through them, sometimes you can find good deals, sometimes the item might seem expensive.

[lonely panet]

Japanese swords are no more a investment, then a expensive watch. 

if you like it-buy it,  but if your justify your spending on the speculation of a profit once sold then your going to get a rude shock. 

 

The Japanese sword market is indead not keeping up as a hole. less peaple interested,  less peaple with spare money,  more issues with taxes,  trasport,  theift and damage,  less good stuff to find. 

 

yes restoration prices go up. 

 

remember pigeon racing use to have big prize money and alot of peaple took part,  now find me a person that keeps birds??

[Schneeds]

Often in posts like this, someone will ask the question: "what do you like about it?"   

 

Someone asked me that when I was looking to buy my first blade, and I was posting random blades that fit the vague criteria I had come up with. 

 

I'm glad they did; when i really thought about it, it completely changed my perspective.  Personally, for 40k USD I would want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I want, and why I want it.  

Edited yesterday at 02:58 AM by Schneeds

[Mushin]

Sa blades attributed to specific smiths tend to be highly valued blades. They are considered a big step above the more numerous Sue-Sa and O-Sa Ichimon attributions, and thus are prized. Yoshisada has to his credit 56 recorded blades, including two Jubis, four TokuJus and 42 Juyos. Not too shabby by any standard. That said, top tier work like this is not that common and the setsumei is certainly very positive about the attribution and the quality of the blade. For me, a Sa School lover, I think the price isn't unreasonable at all especially with the current exchange rate for a Juyo work from a good session and great setsumei. And comparing the quality to other Soshu-adjacent schools and smiths, I think they represent probably some the best value in Nanbokucho Soshu works. The value of Sa blades within the Soshu pantheon was something that even Darcy commented on. And while Yoshisada's works are not as well-regarded as some of the other inner Samonji circle such as Yukihiro (my favorite) and Yoshisada's older brother, Yasuyoshi, his work is considered closer to his father's (Samonji) work style than is Yasuyoshi. (Kunihiro mentioned above was also good but was later and not necessarily among O-Sa's inner circle of children and early students.) Yes, there are lots of options at this price range, but if you are looking for a Juyo blade with excellent Soshu pedigree and supreme clarity of the steel and such a wide bright habuchi, I am not sure you are going to find much better at this price. Just my humble opinion. (And FTR, the only reason I didn't jump on it is these days I only collect tanto. My safe and closet are grateful!)

[Elias6677]

Thank you very much for your comment and for taking the time to share your knowledge. I’m still quite new to Japanese swords, and I honestly lack the historical background regarding different blade types, forging methods, and swordsmith traditions. Because of that, your explanation was personally very helpful to me and gave me perspectives I probably wouldn’t have considered on my own.

I really appreciate experienced collectors sharing their knowledge with beginners like me. Thanks again for your helpful comment — I learned a lot from it.

Interestingly, I also had an offer for a Tantō by Masamine, but in the end I decided not to proceed with it at around 3.4 million yen. As a beginner, these decisions are quite difficult for me, which makes advice and insight from experienced collectors even more valuable.

[Rawa]

On 5/17/2026 at 10:35 PM, Gakusee said:

 

 

When the sword was initially procured and priced, the FX rate  ¥/$ was close to 100.  So, you were looking at c.$25k back then. Currently the FX rate is closer to 160, which means the $25k would be nearly ¥4m. 
 

Furthermore, the Japanese dealers in the last couple of years overcompensated for the yen depreciation somewhat. While previously they used to think purely in yen, as their inflation has been next to 0% for decades, lately they started mentally converting to $ and pricing accordingly, as the sword market internationalised in the last 10-15 years beyond recognition. I remember decent TJ perhaps 8-10 years ago was in the ¥14-15m range, then that became ¥17-18m, now you are looking at ¥20m+. A famous dealer complained to me a few weeks ago about former customers also demanding extremely high prices from him for the swords he had sold to them years ago (but that is a different story for another day…). 

So, the maths for this sword: 

You add to the aforesaid ¥4m (the historic price) then the ¥0.75m-¥1m koshirae, the cost of the polish, the fact that the seller probably wants some return to his investment and you get to ¥5m.

 

The sword is rather nice, albeit not my cup of tea.

 

But indeed in the last 15 years the floodgates of information and access have opened, so one naturally has a lot of choice. Just go to Chris’s Nihontowatch website and see what AI has enabled in the last few months. He has put a tonne of valuable (and monetarily rather expensive) information in there - for now for the benefit of people. But such access and info should really be premium…..

 

One important thing: buy what you like and resonates with you emotionally and do not get swayed by people’s likes and dislikes in Sa or Nanbokucho shapes, or more/less nie etc. And measure and weigh carefully options, opinions, facts. 

 

 

Exactly. I mention everywhere I can about deep hole that yen currently is in. Dunno what will come this June [15-16]. I read in couple places that markets "truly expect" higher intrest rates - 1% minimum. So dollar/jen should be lower like 1$/150y. Happy for You earning euro :D

Edited 2 hours ago by Rawa