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Lingonberry

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Lingonberry last won the day on January 24 2019

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  1. EDIT: This is for the nihonto collecting community in general, not just NBTHK-AB. Forgive the slight thread necromancy but the general idea of getting younger folks involved in collecting is something I've been thinking about quite a bit in the last few years. Couple of thoughts and observations: 1. As was previously mentioned, young people today have a great deal of financial pressures and relatively less income compared to previous generations. This means much, much less disposable income to spend on expensive hobbies like collecting. HOWEVER, that is not universally the case and there are plenty of people with enough spending money to participate in collecting. This is especially true of folks in their late 20's through 30's who are more established in their careers. 2. There seems to be this unfair and inaccurate idea that young people don't care about old things like antiques or art. Even though I'm in my mid/late 30's I've been talking to younger people in their 20s online via an app called Discord and have found that they tend to be quite curious and ask lots of questions once the topic of nihonto and tosogu comes up. I think the real truth is that many people, young and old alike, are simply not exposed to nihonto outside of the context of pop culture like movies, shows, or video games. Many people are simply unaware that it's even possible to purchase and own a real katana, much less that there is so much to learn and study. And that's just swords! Fittings is a whole 'nother world that lots of people not exposed to nihonto are completely oblivious to. 3. It's actually quite tough to get a foot in the door with this hobby because, quite simply, a huge amount of terms are literally in a foreign language and most of those are specialized terms when presented in the context of nihonto and therefore not really possible to accurately translate via google translate. People might pop into Aoi Art or Nihonto.com, or even NMB, and be faced with a wall of terms like nie, hamon, sunagahsi, kinsuji, midare-ba, itame hada, etc. and have not have the faintest clue what is going on. It can be a little overwhelming and I learned this at the SF show this year when I was leading one of my discord friends around the show and trying to teach him the absolute basics - I had to stop and translate things into layman terms quite often because he simply had no idea what I was talking about if I didn't! Things are getting worse when books like "The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords" are no longer in print and now $300+ on amazon... 4. It's really, really hard to learn this stuff exclusively online and books. Sure, pictures and books can help but nothing compares to being able to see things in person and best of all is having a knowledgeable person physically there to SHOW you things. I spent many, many years trying to study off and on by reading books and participating on forums and got basically nowhere until I was introduced to my friend and mentor who has helped me immensely. Sure there are shows but they've got their own issues... 5. Unless you already have an interest in nihonto or know someone who does it's almost impossible to know about the various sword shows in the US. The shows present an excellent opportunity to expose new people to this hobby as well as give new collectors a chance to meet mentors who can help them navigate this world. Suggestions: A. If you're involved in some kind of local club try getting some business cards or fliers prepared. Go to events like Japan America Society social events, special events at local Japanese Gardens, or talk to local museums about any Japanese art related events. Some of these things present an opportunity to rent a table to sell things or even just advertise yourselves to new people. B. Hear me out - for point #2 above one of the main problems with younger people is lack of exposure outside of the context of pop culture. So why not take advantage of pop culture and look at the local anime or comic conventions in your city. They will have dealer rooms where one can rent a table if so inclined and also offer opportunities to give lectures or talks. Again, another opportunity for clubs to get a table and raise awareness. Contrary to popular belief, these kids aren't all losers living in Mom and Dad's basement. Some of those costumes they make are VERY expensive! If they can afford that stuff... C. If no club is already present, start one! I'm currently working with some folks in DFW to get something rolling. D. BE PATIENT WITH NEW COLLECTORS. Yes, many of them make stupid mistakes. You probably did, too, when you were first getting started. Being snarky, snide, or nasty to new people is only going to alienate and discourage them. E. Make better use of newer social media platforms. From what I have personally seen, Discord and Twitter seem to be the mainstay of social media these days. TikTok is also THE tool to use for reaching large numbers of people quickly but also has some serious security concerns (and also rules about not showing weapons). The way I see a lot of successful community building is a where someone posts daily TikTok videos, sometimes from a burner/throwaway phone, and then they will have links in their TikTok profile's bio that lead to a Discord server, twitter account, and other social media. Attached is an example of a TikTok bio for PBS Eons, a special program on PBS that teaches paleontology. They have link to their official Instagram account (the box with a circle inside it) and a URL that leads to a page with various links for their youtube channel, official website, etc. Say what you will about TikTok but their algorithm is simply amazing at showing people things that might interest them and could potentially be a very powerful tool for spreading Nihonto awareness. F. Twitch streams or youtube live. It's like a public zoom meeting that people can find so in theory a club could set one of these up for a public lecture or similar. But this requires a fair bit of effort to set up tech-wise. Sorry for the wall of text but hopefully I've got some good ideas in there!
  2. I think your two best options are to enjoy it "as-is" or have it shortened. If I had the cash and it was up to me I would go for shortening and a nice polish. Your best bet, though, would be to show it to a trained polisher in person and see what they think (window, shorten, or leave alone).
  3. Looks like sunagashi and/or kinsuji to me. https://tsuba.info/glossary/sunagashi/
  4. I've heard rumors of folks in Japan trying teensy welds to try and contain the hagire but it doesn't truly "fix" it - you'll still see it and the sword is still effectively "dead" in the sense that it could still break if anyone tries to use it (which nobody should be doing anyway, of course). I think it's still possible to get it polished though as others have said, you're going to need to explain to the polisher why you're still willing to spend that much on a dead blade. It's also possible they may refuse, so be ready for that. Absolute worst case scenario is, if the sword is long enough above the hagire and you're willing to spend the dosh, it could possibly be made into an o-suriage wakizashi.
  5. Masame hada, from what I've seen, tends to be more wavy than straight and in my opinion looks a bit like wood grain sometimes. The hada also wouldn't be too hard to see, either, and unless the sword is supremely well made you would also be seeing a fair amount of "kitae ware" with masame hada. The Hosho (保昌) were famous for doing masame hada with no kitae ware and their swords are pretty tough to find... and expensive! I suspect your sword has "muji hada" (no hada) which is pretty common for WW2 era swords, and I think the straight lines you're seeing are scratches or abrasion. Please keep in mind that I'm still a novice and by no means an expert.
  6. Definitely cast, then. Not terribly surprised, honestly.
  7. Hi All! I recently picked up this tsuba because, to my newbie eye, it looked authentic, had a nice patina, and had an interesting shape. It has a signature which I think reads "Sandai Mei Myochin Saku" although I have a strong feeling it is gimei because I can't find any other examples with this signature. Is anyone willing to share photos of their myochin that others might use as reference?
  8. Yamato Hosho daito Ubu koto naginata (probably Dotanuki since they seem the most common, but I've seen a Muromachi Soshu as well) Chidori Jumonji Yari Nice Yoroi Doshi, even though 99% are shinshinto Collection of the various yari shapes Nambokucho or older hirazukiri wakizashi ubu nagamaki
  9. It was mixed. Of the people in the panel, only one could see anything and only on one side. One person, not on the panel, said he saw on both sides. A polisher who was there said it could probably polish out, assuming it wasn't hagire. To clarify, the 2x maybe-hagire Bob found weren't in the kissaki but rather in some areas in the middle of the blade that had been scuffed up. The general consensus from the more experienced people I've spoken to is that one can't really know for certain without getting a window polish in those areas but I'm hesitant to spend any more money on this blade. Once the papers come in I may sell this sword since my tastes have changed - I'm really keen on Kamakura/Nambokucho Yamato blades, especially Hosho, but those suckers aren't cheap and I'll need every penny I can to get a decent one...
  10. I tried making a post on a large social media site frequented by people my age. I tried to dispel common myths I thought kept most interested people away from the hobby but I forgot one highly pervasive and damaging myth: "Japanese swords were crap. Made from bad steel, that's why they had to fold them so many times." We all know that's only a half truth (iron sands were poor but tamahagane was pretty good) but that doesn't matter to those folks who happily spread the myth that Japanese arms were of poor quality and highly fragile. Trying to politely disagree with those folks is like arguing with a brick wall. They just don't care.
  11. Started a FaceBook group to help organize meetups. https://www.facebook.com/groups/359096208026976/
  12. Cost is definitely the biggest barrier to young newbies. Millenials are poorer than gen X or boombers and most of us will have to work until 70 to retire due to higher debt, fewer assets, lower wages, and social security maybe not being able to pay out. https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/millennials-poorer-generations-fed Many people in my generation have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and that includes people who got degrees in business, law, engineering, etc., not just the liberal arts majors. (On that note, please don't move the SF show near the silicon valley kids... then NOBODY will be able to afford nihonto!) One thing I've noticed is there doesn't seem to be much effort put forth to advertise nihonto to, well... anyone, not just millenials. You basically have to chance across the NMB, a dealer's page, happen to meet a collector, or stumble across a facebook group to be introduced to the hobby. Another thing is that it seems there are many collectors out there who are in the same region but may not be aware of one another. It was only recently that I became aware of some folks in the general area and set up a (tiny) facebook group as a forum to try and organize the occasional meetup. My humble suggestion: If you're involved in a local club, try reaching out to other groups related to Japan or Japanese culture in your area. Organizations like the Japan America Society, Museums that have nihonto related exhibits, kendo clubs, iaido clubs, etc. Hell, maybe even try to reach out to anime conventions and ask to be able to do a panel. Any time I speak to people my age about nihonto the first things we talk about are A) It is, in fact, legal to export them from Japan (you just need paperwork), and B) You don't need to be a millionaire in a mansion to collect.
  13. Final update: I showed it to someone at the show who pointed out it looks like there are two possible hagire in the middle of the blade which were hidden with some scuff marks. They're also so super tiny that you have to take out a loupe to see them and know where they are but they're there. I took the sword back to the shinsa team and told them about it and asked them to have a look. Their response was that they could only see them on one side and that they were extremely small, even suggesting they might polish out. I take that to mean they don'tagree that they're hagire after all. They're sticking with the decision to issue papers for this sword and upon my request have added a note on the worksheet explaining why they don't think it's hagire.
  14. Well... maybe not. Will update tomorrow when I know more.
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