Japanese Wakizashi — Bizen Kozori / Sayagaki to Bizen Tomomitsu, Jōji Period

A refined koto wakizashi accompanied by a current NBTHK kanteisho attributing the blade to Bizen Kozori, the late Nanbokuchō Osafune-related group active in Bizen Province. The Kozori school occupied an important transitional position between the great mainline Bizen traditions of Kanemitsu, Chōgi, Motoshige, and Morikage and the later development of Ōei-Bizen. Kozori workmanship is associated with the Jōji–Ōei period, with characteristic Bizen features such as itame mixed with mokume, ji-nie, utsuri, and a hamon built from ko-notare, gunome, ko-gunome, togariba, and restrained chōji-like activity.

The blade is further accompanied by a sayagaki attributing it to Bizen Tomomitsu, described there as the son of Kanemitsu and dating the work to the Jōji period. This sayagaki preserves a more specific traditional attribution within the Kanemitsu circle, while the present NBTHK papers conservatively certify the blade to Bizen Kozori. Tomomitsu was one of the leading Bizen Osafune smiths of the Nanbokuchō period, closely associated with Kanemitsu’s style; NBTHK commentary notes that Tomomitsu’s work follows Kanemitsu’s manner especially closely and that he produced tachi, tantō, and hira-zukuri sunobi wakizashi in the mid-fourteenth century. The Jōji era, 1362–1368, places the sayagaki attribution squarely in the dynamic Nanbokuchō period, when Bizen blades often display bold sugata, active jigane, and vigorous yet elegant tempering.

Together, the NBTHK attribution to Bizen Kozori and the sayagaki to Bizen Tomomitsu make this wakizashi especially interesting: the papers establish its place within the recognized late Nanbokuchō Bizen tradition, while the sayagaki records an elevated appraisal linking the blade to one of the most accomplished smiths in the Kanemitsu lineage. This combination gives the sword both scholarly depth and collector appeal, presenting it as a strong example of Bizen workmanship from one of the most artistically fertile periods of the koto tradition.