Memorial Gift Naval Commander Katana Zuisen Minamoto Hideaki NBTHK

I proudly present to you this special katana.
July year 1932 on retiring from Mitsubishi shipbuilding as a memorial gift (Mr Itonaga) the Naval supervisor commander stationed in Muroran.
This sword was especially and carefully forged by Mr.Hideaki Hori.
On November 5  year 1946 this sword passed as a Masterpiece.
(Naval shipbuilding was the factory where they made Japanese Zero war planes)

Toshihide Horii’s real name was Kanekichi Horii, his first name was Kaneaki, and in 1901 he became a student of Tanekiko Horii and Yutaneaki Horii, in 1901 he became Taneaki’s adopted son and son-in-law.
Later, he became the third generation of the Horii family, and in 1912, he was given the name Hideaki, which is derived from Suishinshi Masahide’s character Hide, from the Sword Preservation Society. When the Crown Prince was born in 1933 he was named “Prince Akihito”, so he changed his name to Toshihide because of this.In the hierarchy of sacred swordsmiths, he was ranked as the highest rank, the rank of sacred goods, the highest rank of the greatest craftsman, and the first rank of director. Toshihide Horii is one of the leading swordsmiths of the early Showa period, and he forged the military swords of Chichibunomiya, Takamatsunomiya, and Higashikuninomiya, as well as short swords granted by the Imperial Household Ministry.

This sword is a special order item, Of course, the quality of the Jitetsu and Hamon is wonderful, but the real charm of the sword is its core. The tailoring at the center is very careful and flawless, and Hideaki Horii’s honest personality and reliable technique are perfectly displayed.
This wonderful sword comes in a great koshirae with superb mounting Fuchi-kashira and a menuki with an amuryu (“rain dragon”) and a snake  and is in his original condition very tight fit, the saya is made of sharkskin and is really stunning
Comes in Sayagaki written by Hideaki himself wat more can you ask WOW!
Masterpiece work.

Nagasa Blade length: 67.5 cm
Sori  1.3 cm.
NBTHK Hozon