Gassan exhibition and sale

[Guido]

From today's Japan times:

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

I wonder about the eventuality of a catalogue...

[sencho]

Guido,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Are you going to go to this....? I may head up there Monday or Tuesday.

 

Cheers!

[Guido]

Guido,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Are you going to go to this....? I may head up there Monday or Tuesday.

 

Cheers!

I'm not sure I can slip out of the office for a couple of hours without my boss noticing , so I probably have to go there on Sunday.

[Eric Santucci]

I would be forever greatful to anyone who is able to take some photos at this exhibition and/or bring back some catalogue if one is offered.

 

Gassan Sadatoshi and Gassan Sadanobu are some of my favorite modern swordsmiths. There are not many materials available showcasing their work, so I always look forward to announcements such as these.

 

Guido, I envy you. :D Enjoy the exhibition and if possible I would love to read more about what was presented there if you have a chance to go.

 

Best,

Eric

[Nobody]

FYI;

http://www.japansword.co.jp/announce.htm

 

And many of you might already know this site.

http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~kikutaka/index.html

[Eric Santucci]

Thank you for the links - the Gassan Forge site is one of my top favorites. Even though there are not too many updates I usually frequent it to look at the images. Unfortunately I cannot read Japanese very well.

 

The first link to Japan Sword I have seen before, but not realized they had info about the exhibition. It seems to indicate there will be a catalogue too. I contacted them via email and will see what happens. I recall contacting them once before via email and never receiving a response, so not sure if my messages end up in the Spam folder or not.

 

I would love to get a copy of this exhibition catalogue if anyone else has any ideas as to where/whom it can be obtained.

 

If anyone ends up going to the exhibition, I am also curious as to what Sadanobu-san's swords are going for now. He is a young smith, but has been winning many awards already.

 

Best,

Eric

[Guido]

Since it's raining today (same as yesterday and the day before yesterday) I put off my plan to restore an old Tansu, and went to the Nihombashi Takashimaya department store instead to have a look at the Gassan exhibition. It wasn't well attended (probably due to the weather), and I therefore could leisurely stroll around looking at the swords, and had a nice chat with Inami Kenichi and Gassan Sadatoshi.

 

The display was very well lit, and protective glass planes only came up to shortly below the blades, making every little detail discernable. Some of the swords were forged with the typical Gassan Ayasugi-hada - some very subtle, some quite prominent - and others were done SÅshÅ«-den with strong Hataraki. However, I liked the Gassan-den swords with very tight Mokume-hada the best.

 

Many of the swords had Horimono, done by Gassan-sensei himself. On one sword the Horimono wasn't finished yet, which made it quite interesting to see one in its early stages. The Horimono were all of fantastic quality, and mostly depicted dragons.

 

There were 22 swords on display, of which 15 are illustrated in the exhibition catalog that can be ordered from Japan Sword here. Very reasonably priced at 1,600 Yen, including postage worldwide. I even got one for free, and Mr. Gassan kindly signed it for me (see attachment). I wish I had that written on the Nakago of one of his swords; however, I forgot to bring some spare change along the lines of a couple of million Yen, and so that's that .

[Eric Santucci]

Guido,

 

Thanks for posting this review - sounds like it was an excellent exhibit. Perhaps one day I will be fortunate enough to attend something like this in Japan, but for now I have to settle for glossy pictures of swords in catalogues. :lol:

 

It's nice to see more activity surrounding shinsakuto lately. There have been some fine books released in recent years from Ono Yoshimitsu and Yoshindo Yoshihara. Perhaps a Gassan book is in the works - ah, only to dream!

 

Best,

Eric

[sencho]

 

On one sword the Horimono wasn't finished yet, which made it quite interesting to see one in its early stages.

 

 

I take it that you mean the Horimono with the scratches all around it that was otherwise in a finish polished state....

 

One question (that was not asked!) and that I do not know the answer to, was why would you wait for the sword to be fully polished, before starting a Horimono??

 

Cheers!

[Guido]

One question (that was not asked!) and that I do not know the answer to, was why would you wait for the sword to be fully polished, before starting a Horimono??

I'm not as shy as you are and actually asked the question: after the sword was finished and polished, he decided to have a Horimono after all. It's as simple (or complicated?) like that .