Dotanuki NAGINATA WITH NBTHK HOZON CERTIFICATE

Consigned

Excellent flawless Koto Dotanuki Naginata made by Kiyokuni  with  Nbthk Hozon Certificate. Kiyokuni was the  Personal Swordmaker to Daimyo Kato Kiyomasa. Mounted in Shirasaya.

KIYOKUNI (清国), Bunroku (文禄, 1592-1596), Higo – “Higo no Kuni Dōtanuki Kiyokuni” (肥後国同田貫清国), “Hishū-jū Fujiwara Kiyokuni saku” (肥州住藤原清国作), Dōtanuki school, he worked during the Tenshō era (天正, 1573-1592) for Katō Kiyomasa (加藤清正, 1562-1611) and legend says that he received the character for “Kiyo” from him whereupon he took the smith name Kiyokuni, he lived first in Kikuchi (菊池) but moved later to Kumamoto (熊本), it is said that he was the same Kiyokuni who worked around Keichō (慶長, 1596-1615) in Satsuma and signed with “Sasshū Isa-jū Kiyokuni” (薩州伊佐住清国), he made mostly blades with a stout sugata which renowned for their supreme sharpness, the jigane is an itame-nagare mixed with masame, the hamon is a chū-suguha mixed with notare in ko-nie-deki or also a gunome-midare, along the habuchi often mura-nie and yaki-kuzure are seen, ryō-wazamono

Katō Kiyomasa

Katō Kiyomasa, (born 1562, Nakamura, Owari province, Japan—died Aug. 2, 1611, Kumamoto ,Higo province), Japanese military leader who helped both Toyotomi Hideyoshi  and Tokugawa Ieyasu in their attempts to unify Japan As an ardent Buddhist, he also led the struggle to ban Christianity  from Japan.
A relative of Hideyoshi, Katō entered his service upon reaching manhood and soon distinguished himself in battle. When Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, Katō spearheaded the campaign and fought so ferociously that the Koreans nicknamed him “Devil Kiyomasa.” Upon Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Katō returned to Japan and aided Ieyasu, who as chief regent to Hideyoshi’s young son was attempting to maintain his position against a coalition of feudal lords.For his services Katō was made the hereditary lord of the large Kumamoto fief in southeastern Japan. In Kumamoto he was noted for the effort he put into his riparian projects and the construction of Kumamoto and Nagoya castle. Upon his death his fief was transferred to the Hosokawa family by the Tokugawa.