Update on my Japan trip

[Brian]

Hi all,

Just taking a brief few minutes to update you all on my current travels through Japan. I've been here for almost 2 weeks now, doing a tour through a few areas. So far I have done Tokyo, Takayama, Koya-san and Osaka. Touring with my girlfriend and her parents. We have a few days to see Hiroshima and Kyoto, and then I am going to have to face reality and head back home. Although not specifically a Nihonto tour, I seem to have spent most of my days running around chasing shops and museums.

I'll update later and fill you all in on what I have seen.

This is the most amazing country I have ever seen, and if it is up to me and I get the chance,　I will move here in a heartbeat.

 

Me and Nicky had an amazing evening with some of the Tokyo members. Huge thanks go to Guido for all the arranging and generosity. Erol took me to a special sale/show held by Taibundo where they seemed only to happy to thrust at me swords by the likes of Soshu Yukimitsu and Sadamune. Featured in the room were swords from Heian up to Shinshinto. Names included many Rai smiths, Ichimonji (Fukuoka etc) Shinkai, Suishinshi Masahide, 2 x Kiyomaru and so many other top level smiths that I will have to consult my notes when I update you all. A room full of Juyo and higher was enough to make me stop breathing for a half hour. The NBTHK museum couldn't come close to the swords in that room. Too much to take in. Nihonto overload :D

 

This trip is teaching me that the average Japanese person has no knowledge and little interest in Nihonto though. Ask an antiques shop owner if there are any tosogu in the area, and he will look at you strangely and tell you there is nothing in the area. Then go　next door, and there are a few low quality tsuba etc in the display cases. The more you look and ask, the more turns up.

The antiques markets turn up quite a few items, as do the smaller antiques shops. Nothing great though, so I haven't purchased much.

Antique fairs do turn up swords on enquiry, although low quality and expensive. If I had more time,　I think I could turn up some nice items.

 

In Osaka today, I found a shop (not sure of the name) owned by a Yoshii san. Great shop, with wonderful fittings. Was going to buy a tsuba,　but I was told that there is a small Nihonto show in Kyoto on my last day, so I will be there shopping for something nice (and within my humble budget )

I saw some really nice tsuba at the shop, including a shakudo tsuba finely cut out with that manji design seen on that thread that we wondered if it was zogan or sukashi. Amazing to see..some of the best sukashi work I have seen with such fine detail. Unfortunately my camera never made it on the trip with me,　and I never did get around to purchasing one here.

 

It was great meeting the members in Tokyo, a really great bunch of guys. Thanks go out to Guido, Erol, Koichi, Henry, Simon, Steve and Matthew for a fantastic evening. Who knew you could extend the drinking time limit that many times? :lol: :lol:

Thanks to Simon too, for meeting us that Sunday and showing us around and letting us abuse his wife to do translations for us. Much appreciated!

 

I'll keep you all updated, and thanks to Stephen for keeping everything under control while I am away. Wish me luck, I am still after that elusive great tsuba at a low price.

 

Regards from Osaka,

 

Brian

[Rich T]

Yep, Giudo put me on a train on my third day in Tokyo, plasted, I woke up 5 hours later on my hotel bed, I have no idea how I got there but Tokyo (for me at least) is such an easy city to find your way around, it was no drama LOL

 

I too had a great night with the NMB boys, it is a lot of fun.

 

Keep us posted, sounds like a blast.

 

Rich

 

P>S> I saw a photo of you guys at dinner :-)

[Brian]

Rich,

You would have gone nuts over some of the sukashi tsuba I saw at the Kyoto shop. One keeps comming back to me in my sleep...so I am going to see if they bring it to the show in Kyoto and maybe buy it. But there were many great tsuba there. This one seemed to have a theme of clouds, geese and perhaps stars (looking up at night theme?) but will have to examine it closer.

Not speaking any Japanese is a HUGE drawback here, and can be very frustrating. You spend the first half hour trying to convey that you aren't just some wandering tourist with just a passing interest in swords, and the rest of the time trying to remember basic Nihonto words that you have known for the past few years, and suddenly can't remember :D

 

Off to Hiroshima now, catch you all soon.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Rich T]

when you do remember them, you pronounce them so poorly, no one knows what you are talking about anyway LOL.

 

Ah yes, the fun.

 

Rich

[Bungo]

Brian,

Next time bring a tsuba and show them what you want................ just like one often take the waiter/waitress outside the resturants and point out the food you want to order. At least that's how I solved the food problem.

 

p.s. the cheap resturants I patronized all have plastic foods down to the exact number of carrot slices................... unless you go to the fancy high priced places , do they have plastic food samples ?

 

 

milt the ronin

[Jean]

Hi Milt,

 

If your son has the same taste in food as yours, you won't have to sold too many tsubas for his Paris trip :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Brian]

Yes..plastic food is everywhere. But so are restaurants! Never seen row after row of food places anywhere in my life. Japan is a food country..most of it brilliant.

 

Came across a small antiques shop here in Hiroshima that had quite a few tsuba and other items. Lots of koshirae (not good quality though) and yari poles again. Kills me that these yari and blades are either hidden or cut in half because they are scared of the lack of licences. I saw 3 portions of blades that had been destroyed, one looked　really good with horimono remnants both sides :?

I couldn't resist, and spent all my excess money on a few items. A few tsuba, f/k and menuki. I will post pics when I am able..one tsuba I particularly like, but not sukashi.

 

Tomorrow we head for Himeji castle and Kyoto. Right now I am passing out for lack of sleep.

 

Later all.

 

Brian