When judging and ranking some Japanese swords, several methods and systems were developed over the centuries.
WAZAMONO RANKING SYSTEM – “SHARPNESS”
Founded by Yamada Asaemon Yoshitoshi in 1815 when he judged the sharpness of one hundred and eighty swords, he did so by doing cutting tests. Mostly Shinto and Shinshinto blades were tested, no Koto masterpieces were tested. The system is as follows:
Saijo O-wazamono “Best”
O-wazimono “Excellent”
Ryo-wazamono “Very Good”
Wazamono “Good”
FUJISHIRO RANKING SYSTEM
Fujishiro is a living National treasure polisher, and he rates around 1500
swordsmiths.
His system is as follows:
Sai-jo-saku “Supreme made”
Jo-jo saku “Superior-superior made”
Jo saku “Superior made”
Chu-jo saku “Above average”
Chu Saku “Average”
NTHK SHINSA POINT SYSTEM
0-59 Points No paper due to being gimei, poor quality blade ie. flaws and defects - too many polishes etc.
60-69 Points "Shinteisho" (investigation paper), low quality blades not warranting a "Kanteisho" paper
70-84 Points "Kanteisho" (Appraisal Paper), A blade of fine quality, the standard NTHK paper.
85-94 Points "Yushu-saku" (superior excellence rank paper), a blade
of importance. Kanteisho papers with a
Yushu-saku stamp
95-100 Points "Sai-Yushu-saku" (Highest superior excellence rank paper), A blade of great importance.