Fujiwara Sukenaga, Utsushi (copy) of the Kogarasu Maru by Amakuni. Blade description: Configuration - sugata: kissaki moroha zukuri. Forging pattern – kitae: itame hada. Tempering patterns – hamon: suguha. Blade length - nagasa: 24”. Signature – mei: Utsushi of the Kogarasu maru (Little Crow) meibutsu by Amakuni. Yokoyama Kaga no Suke Fujiwara Sukenaga. KIKU MON Ichi Bizen Osafune Ju. Curvature - sori: 11 mm. Width at beginning of tempered edge - motohaba: 34 mm. Width before tip - sakihaba: 30 mm. Date: 1842. Remarks: Because this is a copy of the Kogarasu Maru, it is likely made in Yamato tradition with an unraveling suguba. This is there first generation Sukenaga. He was the second son of Sukehira, and followed his father’s style of smithing. He sometimes engraved Tomonari gojurokudai Mago. (The fifty-sixth generation Tomonari). He died June 2, 1851. Nihonto Jiten – Shinto Hen by Fujishiro Rated Josaku. Nihonto Taikan by Tokuno valued at 2,800,000 yen. The following historical information on the original Kogarasu-maru was taken from: Kanzan Sato’s The Japanese Sword pg. 32. The celebrated sword called Kogarasu-maru (“The Little Crow”; pI. 17), an heirloom of the Taira clan, was made, according to an old tradition, by a smith called Amakuni, and because it is in the two-edged kissaki-moroha style that style is sometimes also referred to as kogarasu-zukuri (“little crow style”). This Amakuni is said in old sword books to have lived in Yamato province at the beginning of the eighth century, but no signed examples of his work survive today. The tachi Kogarasu-maru, passed down from generation to generation in the Taira clan, is now in the Imperial Household Collection; although it is in the two-edged style it differs considerably in form and construction from the examples in the Shoso-in in that, among other things, the blade is strongly curved near the hilt and the two-edged section is remarkably long. To judge from the texture of the metal and the long groove carved along the blade, more appropriate to a halberd (naginata) than to a sword, it is more likely to be of late eighth or early ninth century date.

This blade is completely out of polish and has some surface rust. It exhibits extremely high quality workmanship throughout and has very tight grain. There are no visible imperfections in the blade and it should polish to perfection.