Catalogue № 001 · Spring 2026
Authenticated Japanese swords — papers, polish, and a named hand on every blade. By catalogue only.
This is not a shop floor. It is the current ownership ledger: available pieces, active conversations, reservations, and private previews named plainly before anyone writes.
Enter full collection →
Available by dossier Catalogue № 001
Black lacquer
Best first serious piece in the line: restrained, documented, easy to live with.
Under discussion Catalogue № 002
Oxblood lacquer
Conversation active with one collector. New inquiries are logged, not pressed.
Reserved Catalogue № 003
Pear skin gold
Held for a collector. Kept visible because archive context matters.
Available by dossier Catalogue № 004
Stone grain silver
Most understated piece in the line; better for collectors who value study over flash.
Private preview Catalogue № 005
Indigo lacquer
Shown first to returning collectors before public inquiry opens.
Available by dossier Catalogue № 006
Autumn leaf brown
Best fit for collector comfortable with honest later work named plainly.
The sale is slow on purpose. A collector should know what is being bought, what is not being promised, and what happens if the blade disappoints in hand.
Name the blade and describe your collecting stage. I send the private file if the request is serious.
We discuss papers, condition, budget, shipping country, and whether this blade is the right match.
A refundable hold can reserve an available piece while final photographs and paperwork are reviewed.
Shipment, export handling, and insurance are quoted before payment is completed.
Every listed blade carries contemporary papers and a named second opinion.
Polish, flaws, later work, and restoration needs are disclosed before a hold.
Three-day inspection period after receipt on pieces sold by dossier.
If another dealer is better placed, the reply says so.
Rules I have written down so that they can be held against me. They exist because there are days when an attractive blade arrives without papers, and days when a willing buyer offers full price for the wrong reasons.
Tokubetsu Hozon, Jūyō, and Tokubetsu Jūyō papers are welcomed. A blade without contemporary NBTHK certification — however beautiful, however well told the story — will not appear here. The certificate is the floor, not the ceiling.
Every listing carries the chain: smith or attribution, period, polisher, papering body, prior collections where known, and the dealer from whom the piece was acquired. Where a link is missing, the listing says so, in the same typeface as the rest.
Each blade is selected, examined in hand in Japan, papered if not already, polished if appropriate, and shipped under controlled conditions. A quarter with nothing listed is preferred to a quarter with something I would not buy myself.
Every serious message gets a reply. Replies are not quick, and they are rarely yes. A useful first message asks about a specific blade, a specific question, or a specific gap in the writer's own understanding.
Authentication is not signed off in private. The second name on each piece is a senior dealer or shinsa member in Tokyo, Osaka, or the US, and is listed in the catalogue entry. Disagreement between us removes the piece.
Photographs of a piece you already own can be sent in. The reply will be honest, including the frequent answer that the photographs are not enough to say. Education is not a paywalled product here.
Pieces examined in the last twelve months that did not enter the catalogue. Each is listed with the dealer's permission and a plain note on the disqualifying observation. Several are excellent blades by any reasonable definition. They were not, that day, ones I was prepared to underwrite.