Dai Token Ichi

[Bugyotsuji]

I took some at the NBTHK dinner too.

[kunitaro]

Have somebody been 44th NBTHK Zenkoku-takai at Keo plaza hotel ?

[John A Stuart]

Yes, I was there. Many excellent swords of famous note from private collections. John

[Bugyotsuji]

Sorry we did not meet, John. I was there both Saturday and Sunday. Didn't realize everyone was going to be wearing a suit and tie for the dinner.

 

What an amazing experience for me though as a first-timer, for a number of reasons. (No photography was allowed in the main viewing hall...)

[John A Stuart]

Yes, that would have been nice. I too, went through again and again. Swords that I'll never see again and hold that are just never on display like this, ever. Some great shinsakuto and gendai koshirae and tsuba to illustrate continuing craft/artistry as well. Just amazing. I wanted to take pics of everything, but, of course, nyet. Before we attended we had to take a refresher on handling etiquette as did all Japanese members in September. A good idea in any case. The usual suspects. John

[Bugyotsuji]

Did you manage to squeeze yourself into the front seat of the minibus (apart from your right foot) by any chance?

[Henry Wilson]

Love the 外国人 banners. What is that all about? It certainly adds to the ambience......

[Bugyotsuji]

Haha, yes, even some of the Japanese found those Nobori slightly odd. The speeches went on forever it seemed, and I couldn't see much translation going on for the poor foreigners, all waiting patiently for the ladies in China dresses to break out the beer.

 

Here is something from Shimane.

[Henry Wilson]

Reminds me a bit of some weddings I have paid an arm and a leg to attend.

[Derek]

Ok, if there's beer, I'm definitely going next year! Seriously looks like a great time. Any swords that took your breath away?

 

Derek

[Bugyotsuji]

Derek, :lol: they gave you 60 seconds per sword and then the buzzer and (repeated reminders over the speakers) told you to drop and move along. Do that 150 times in a morning... Go out of the room, sit down, recharge, and then plunge in and do it again!!!

 

Now, which swords took your breath away? No Kokuho or Juyo Bunkazai there as we are not allowed to take them in hand any more, but the room was heaving with Juyo Bijutsu and Tokubetsu juyo token, many passed down through famous families such as the Tokugawa.

 

For me several, including some nice Kotetsu, a couple of Sukesada and a Naotane, but surprisingly the Sadamune (lying next to two Masamune) maybe took the cake. Perhaps the piped arias and church music had finally gotten to me and some remnant acid from college days was stirred up, but the thing was three dimensional and moving subtly. (Or maybe it was the beer and Chinese Shokoshu sherry from Saturday night?)

 

An arm and a leg, Henry, yes, and also parts of your undercarriage.

[John A Stuart]

After going through Saturday and the crowd, I knew Sunday was when you could really get some time in with the swords that took your fancy. For example one Muramasa was amazing and I went to it 3 times with a couple of times doing two buzzes straight. This was occasioned by big gaps and sitting in a chair waiting for the next gap to appear. I really felt I had a good feel for some of them that way. As I have not had a sniff of beer or whiskey etc. for 2 years waiting for the window girls was for a different reason altogether. Again they were gorgeous and if I were a dentist.... I had a dish made in a nishiyagi today and almost had to go hospital way' it was that hot. Yummy though. John

[Brian]

So now that it's over, who is going to give us the whole rundown of the show?

Not just the top $ items, but how was the show, general mood and market, how was the Yakatabune..who met who and where...etc etc.

For those of us not able to attend...we live vicariously through you guys who did...so fill us in :D

 

Brian

[Pete Klein]

For those who are not familiar, the four gents in the picture above are, from left, Ted Tenold, Mike Yamasaki, Les Dorfman, and Cyrus Chan.

[John A Stuart]

I'll start it off Brian. The two floors were jam packed with goods running from lower level to the stratusphere. If you wanted to get some deals, they could be had, but, you had to really know your stuff. These guys know the values and you can't expect to luck out in that way. Needless to say, if you have deep pockets you were in heaven. There was even a booth that dealt primarily in shingunto guys and I don't know how that is accomplished given the law. Quite a bit of armour, teppo and assorted non-Nihonto things for those collectors too. Met some new people/dealers including one family concern, Hattori family, that I had a good time with chatting and such. Obento for the belly and lots of non-alcoholic drinks, that was for later in most cases, but, not all. The show seemed upbeat and pleasant and chock-a-block with foreigners, SA, Oz, Austria, Germany, US, Italy and Canada very apparent. The yakatabune went ahead despite the weather and was good. I was sat beside the self proclaimed Ichiban netsukeshi and his netsuke are nice, but, illegal to import to Canada. An NMB member I had never met before was there, Flynn san from Oz. What a character! Fair dinkum as he would say. I had a great chat at a night club later with Jesper and his good wife Anna. Very interesting people. Grub was great, although most were marine types I was unfamiliar with and of course those in common world wide. Oh, at the Taikai dinner was jellyfish. I've seen that poached, but never tried it. This was a cold noodle-like dish and I mention it because it was crunchy. Jellyfish, crunchy? I didn't care for it anyway and won't be ordering it. Lots more, but, can't recall what right now. John

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, so it was Les Dorfman in the minibus. Thanks, Pete.

[raiden]

I posted the list of blades on our facebook site - search tetsugendo. The Taikai was well attended, around 400 people from what I heard. It was nice to see some old friends and my teachers there. I was also happy to see many foreigners there, to show that they have a great appreciation for these fabulous swords. The DTI was actually pretty busy on all 3 days even with the Taikai. My favorite piece was a Tokuju Shintogo Tanto, it was fantastic!The prices were not much different from last year, but the weaker yen seemed to help with some US buyers. I will put some news of the Bizen study group meet to be held tomorrow on our FB site.

Mike

[Baka Gaijin]

Morning all,

 

Dai Token Ichi was an extraordinary experience for me, not only the items on display but also putting some faces to the names so to speak.

 

Before D.T.I. I went down to Kamakura and attended the "Kamakura Benkyokai" hosted by the elegant, suave and debonair Robert Hughes.

 

(Usual payment method please Robert)

 

This event far surpassed my expectations, the knowledgebase of those attending was impressive to say the least.

 

The event was lead by Ikeda Sensei who was at pains to ensure that everyone understood the fine points of the even finer blades that were displayed.

 

The ten blades shown for Kantei were mostly Kamakura, Nanbokucho and Muromachi.

 

The most memorable for me was by Yoshikane, described by an attendee as better than the one currently in the British Museum (ex Compton Collection).

 

There was what one may describe as a spirited intellectual discussion regarding the terms Naginata Naoshi and Nagamaki Naoshi.

 

It was left with Ikeda Sensei's opinion that such blades were all Naginata Naoshi, Nagamaki merely being a form of Mounting..........

 

Having always chosen the road less travelled, on the Thursday I viewed the Shinwa Art Museum's Sword & Armour Auction.

 

Comprising just 31 lots, I spent over two hours in the company of Tsuruta san of Aoi Art and Kono san of the NTHK in a hands on experience that was both inspiring and educational.

 

My favourites were:

 

Lot 11 - an impressive Bishu Osafune Iesuke once a National Art Treasure, now designated as Juyo Bunkazai (Tachi Mounts).

 

Lot 22 - a Kaneuji in shirasaya described as Juyo Bijutsu Hin (cannot be exported from Japan).

 

For those who have an interest in results, herewith is a PDF of the hammer prices:

 

http://www.shinwa-art.com/result/pdf_en ... 026n_e.pdf

 

Cheers

[uwe]

Great experience Although a bit overwhelmed by the huge amount of swords, as a "first timer"

So I needed a break as I finished the first floor and took tee with Luc and Jo.

Some very nice armors even were around. But like mentioned before, the dealers knew their stuff. So you had to face up with a price range from 1,4 to 8,5 million yen No bargain at all

Uwe

[Baka Gaijin]

Morning all

 

Uwe mentioned:

 

Some very nice armors even were around. But like mentioned before, the dealers knew their stuff. So you had to face up with a price range from 1,4 to 8,5 million yen

 

What I found interesting was the way that prices were described on most tickets as units of 万.

 

It took me a few minutes and my Phone dictionary to work out that it meant multiples of 10,000.

 

Major learning curve for me.

 

The sword safes on the lower level were a bit on the impressive side; reminded me some years back there was a company in London taking old Victorian Safes and bespoke fitting them for collectors of Jewellery and Watches.

 

Cheers

[kusunokimasahige]

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/japanesearmor

 

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Lot 22 - a Kaneuji in shirasaya described as Juyo Bijutsu Hin (cannot be exported from Japan).

 

Juyo Bijustu Hin can be exported from Japan under some conditions, but if they are they lose this statut.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good afternoon Jacques

 

Thank you for your reply:

 

Juyo Bijustu Hin can be exported from Japan under some conditions, but if they are they lose this statut.

 

It was one of the Shinwa Art Auction executives who told me that Juyo Bijutsu Hin could not be exported.

 

As a matter of academic interest please, could you list what the conditions would be?

 

Cheers

[DirkO]

Juyo Bijutsu Hin can't be exported - Like Jacques said, they lose their status if the blades are exported, so there are no blades outside of Japan with this status.

The government has first buy right on these - so they usually try to sell them at the end of the fiscal year, when there's no budget left for the government to buy them.

Also, in the current economic climate in Japan, they have other things to worry about than buying fancy (and really expensive) art swords.

So it's a good time for the Japanese people who're trying to sell them to Westerners.

[Bugyotsuji]

Actually the story with Juyo Bijutsuhin is slightly more complicated, although Dirk is essentially right, but I am on the iPhone and about to crash, so I'll post the explanation (which I heard over the weekend) tomorrow.

[Baka Gaijin]

Thank you Dirk & Piers

 

Looking forward to the explanation with great interest.

 

Cheers

[Guido]

Juyo Bijutsu Hin can't be exported - Like Jacques said, they lose their status if the blades are exported, so there are no blades outside of Japan with this status.

An export permit will be granted in most cases. However, once a Jūyō-Bijutsuhin leaves Japan, it is stricken from the register and thus looses its "official" status. Occasionally exceptions are made, but this involves a lot of paperwork. I've seen legitimate Jūyō-Bijutsuhin outside of Japan myself.

The government has first buy right on these - so they usually try to sell them at the end of the fiscal year' date=' when there's no budget left for the government to buy them.[/quote']That is only true for Jūyō-Bunkazai and Kokuhō.

[DirkO]

Thanks for explaining Guido! Always nice to learn something

[Bugyotsuji]

What I heard regarding Juyo Bijutsuhin is that, being an old category and thus no longer a renewable category, they remain "Juyo Bijutsuhin" as long as no-one tries to buy or sell them.

 

When they were originally categorized there was a huge variety in quality, ranging from the very good to the not particularly; they might have been part of a famous collection etc.

 

At the point of any proposed sale, they automatically lose their old status/paperwork and need to be re-evaluated by a board of experts. If they get elevated to Juyo Bunkazai, then they move out of our reach, but the ones that get relegated and re-papered lower down become available for general sale.

 

Now, I can go back to the source and re-check this if anyone requires.

[DirkO]

When they were originally categorized there was a huge variety in quality, ranging from the very good to the not particularly; they might have been part of a famous collection etc.

Now, I can go back to the source and re-check this if anyone requires.

 

Hi Piers,

 

Please do - from what I seem to remember, in order to put things straight, they (government?) asked Junji Homma to create Nihonto Juyo Bijutsuhin Zenshu - 日本刀重要美術品全集. Because there were some forged certificates as well. Homma verified them before putting them in these 8 volumes and this was to be the definitive list. Please correct me if I'm wrong.