DaveT

Hi Paul, I was talking to Ian Champman about this after seeing the Facebook poster. I would like to attend for the 3 days. Do you need any help with a UK Token table? I'm happy to volunteer a day or so to help.

Mike Hickman Smith - UK

I'm going to visit this next month, looks amazing.

There was originally a log in issue with The Samurai Arms & Armour Forum. That is now resolved. If you want to connect with some of the most knowledgable minds on katchu then its worth joining. The current 696 members have joined with no problems.

Well, it is a real Pawnbrokers. There is a promotional twist regarding the TV memorabilia that you can buy in there from Chum T-shirts to Old Man coins. There is a case full of Japanese swords. Adjacent to the shop is a Container Complex with a restaurant branded by the cast. I would imagine that all the items that turn up in the show with sellers are staged and scripted for entertainment. If you visit it's down the rough end of town.

Tickets sales are now open.

I've been to the shop. You won't see the cast working there.

Well, this 5th May we are gearing up for the second instalment of the Gathering. We have attendees from Europe, north and south America, and ever Australia descending upon the Samurai Art museum in Berlin. We hope to see others book into this amazing symposium that covers samurai arms & armour. We have some excellent speakers all of which are members of this forum. Anthony De Vos will be talking about the Bamen School as the museum has some superb examples. Ian Bottomley will talk about Kaga armours in detail and dispell some myths. Jan Pettersson will talk about Teppo with some fresh material and Ian Chapman will talk about fine quality Tosugu. Katchu lovers, don't miss this...

Tickets will open for this fantastic event this Wednesday. If you would like to guarantee your place we have a pre-registration list on the forum. Anyone putting their name down will be given priority. The event has been generously subsidised to only €10 euro by the museum's owner Mr Janssen. The Gathering 2 is the leading samurai arms & armour symposium in the west, you really don't want to miss this...

My view is that it is an evolution of the do, some may say it's an aftermarket embellishment to attract a sale from gaijin visitors. Many Yukinoshita were used for this due to the mae-do being a solid plate. I have one that is decorated with mon.

Possibly export engraving and zogan. is this a go-mai-do by any chance?

How did you get on Rob?

When I was in my early twenties (now 53) there was no internet. Finding armour was nearly impossible, especially if you had little money. I managed to pick up the back of a Do with its gessen. I used that piece to study armour for years. And now I make it for a living. As to display. I would join the front and back together and then make a wire display stand to support it internally as a table top item.

Correct, they never made katchu from cast iron. However, the teapots are nice. Here is one on my hachi in russet, you can see where there is secondary rusting. The above hachi before its oil treatment. Again, secondary rusting ( in a museum!!!! ) Here is some mild steel that been coated with burnt on urushi which acts as a primer and ruststopper.

Are we going to talk about the urine process? Ian kinda summed it up with regard to secondary rusting.

Hi Peter, keep it simple. During the sengoku age iron was a scarce commodity. Armour makers were under presure to keep up with demand so the recycled suits and patched suits together. This was all concealed by the lacqured surface. Because you never knew what was under the lacqure russet suits became desirable for the wealthy to demonstrate that the plates were not cobbled together. This became rather fashionable during edo onwards when raw materials were plentiful. The russet finish is still very desirable by collects today. There were many processes to rust the surface, but its controlled rust.

I can personally vouch for Mike Hickman Smith. I've studied urushi nuri for years as a Katchushi, but saya needs a higher level of finish. My opinion as a trained Shokunin is that Mile is the leading urushishi in Europe. Forget Van Dam, Mike is your man.

I've been working as an armour restorer since the early 1980's and committing to a full-time venture since 2011. During that time I have been professionally trained in the art of urushi by Kitagawa sensei of the Kyoto Prefectural University. However, the art of armour has been a self-taught process where I have deconstructed armours over the years in order to replicate the process. My business is good, I have a number of years of pre-bookings ahead and a proven track record by my client base. But I have never studied being a Katchushi in Japan. This year I took it upon myself to throw myself into the deep end. I begged and ask favours from my friends to gain an audience with today's leading Katchushi masters. Scheduled around this years DTI I was able to visit each Katchushi on my list. There is a little bit of rivalry between the masters, however, I managed to steer free of any politics. My plan was a simple one, I had prepared a portfolio of my work to present and then take the critic onboard. My first meeting was with Ogawa Sensei. Ogawa had just overcome a serious health problem that now prevents him from using traditional urushi. Ogawa looks like a true samurai, his hair tied into a bun with a beard and traditional Japanese shokunin clothing. Despite not being able to work with urushi his metal work was the best I'd seen during my entire visit. He crafts complete suits of armour and recently completed a copy of a famous KATO dou for a local museum. Ogawa introduced me to his workshop and showed me his tools and formers for creating armour. Chris Glenn was also in attendance and is the deshi of Ogawa, he has been a student for over 15 years. Ogawa gave me some fantastic tips and showed me a technique that only 3 people know in Japan. My next meeting was with Toyoda Sensei. Toyoda subject is old armours, I must say that I was totally overwhelmed with this mans knowledge. He studies ancient texts in classical Japanese, he is the go-to guy for any archaeological finds. Toyoda is a very valued and skilled katchushi, I think I would be right in saying that he is one of a kind. I was invited to his workshop where he showed me three O-yoroi that he had been working on for 28 years. He has handcrafted the entire armours as 1:1 replicas of the originals. His commitment to detail and tradition is unparalleled as he even weaves the odoshi on his fingers. I spent many hours with Toyoda Sensei, we talked about the manufacture and reproduction of traditionally printed egawa and how the templates were made together with how rawhide is used in armour construction. The information received was most valued. After Toyoda I visited Nishioka Sensei who in the west is certainly the most well known. Nishioka runs the most commercial workshop with four full-time deshi working away on clients armours. I didn't have much time with him as he is extremely busy, however, he did take time out to tell me the secrets to making kirisuke from kokuso, dyeing techniques and he spent one-hour one-on-one correcting a lacing technique that has eluded me for years. My final visit was to Katchushi Andy Mancabelli. Andy has been the deshi of Miura Sensei, who is a true master of masters. I visited Andys new workshop where we talked shop and examined armour all day. Andy has a splendid workshop and store, it's really impressive. We actually had some differnces a few years ago, but we overcame them and I'm happy to now call him a friend. Well, the outcome. Being self-taught. I'm happy to say that nothing negative came from this. In some cases I witnessed complete amazement, in others, I was told that my restoration standard is equal to that in Japan. I can confidently say that I will stand my restorations against anyone outside of Japan. The Katchushi were amazing, they have extended a friendship and warmth that has really touched my heart. Introducing me to their workshops, sharing trade secrets, offering continual guidance has frankly exceeded my expectations. I owe these people complete gratitude and remain humbled by their kindness and honesty. I have been invited to return and study armour making in more detail spending a few months each year in Japan. My restorations are pretty much at the standard they need to be, but in order to be a real katchushi, I need to be able to make complete suits of armour. That now is where my focus is, I really can't wait to get back there and hammer metal. Now some oddities: I managed to have tea with Mr Tokugawa Iehiro Sit in the favourite chair of the late katchushi Myochin Muneyuki at a local Sushi Cafe. Be included in a Japanese TV programme about my visit with Tokyo TV Finally, at the DTI I met with a lot of dealers. I learned a new word "Sugoi" or wow, super! They were very pleased and surprised with my standard and speed. I have now been appointed the preferred restorer for two of Japans leading armour sellers. So a dream come true Ive met the masters and can return and further my study, I had my standard validated by the most qualified katchushi on the planet and bagged a restoration contract with Japanese dealers.

Think i paid 2,000 yen for my one. Heavy thick version with the White cover. There are plently of people in Tokyo from the forum this week ask around. Ive just moved on to Chiba, sorry guys I would have been happy to have helped.

I visited the museum yesterday to look at the silver blades. First time i have ever seen one, let alone four.

10 euro to get in. Open wed / fri / sat

lol

Is Chigura, Morioka, Winter, Finer going to be there? You know, some of the worlds top dealers?

When you say top dealers in the world its rather a bould statement. That sometimes can be translated as the most expensive. Could you please provide the names of whom is attending so that we, the community may be a judge of the quality.

Sounds privately owned to me. "Although the City of New York owns the museum building and contributes utilities, heat, and some of the cost of guardianship, the collections are owned by a private corporation of fellows and benefactors which totals about 950 persons. The museum is governed by a board of trustees of 41 elected members, several officials of the City of New York, and persons honored as trustees by the museum." In the UK John we have museums that are owned by the Crown. We have a right to see items by appointment.