Miura

Let me see if I can upload to facebook. You know what Ill put it up on the authentic samurai arms and armor sales page (facebook). Need to get it sold. If somebody wants an excellent example of a leather Iwai Mempo they have a chance! Most iwai armors have the mempo lost because they are so nice. Then they get replaced with light weight Leather mempo from a different armor...... Anyway, have a look.

I have seen signed examples by Iwai made from the same form. The mask that I have on my instagram for sale is from the same school and had a very similar kabuto with it. These types of armor are made with super thick leather. Most of them date to the mid 1800s.

Hi Graham, Hmm... could be old. Or could be somebody made it in the last ten years or so. Messaged you a couple times recently by the way. Getting my messages?

I think we are getting over suspicious here.... sometimes it helps to have better photos though.

The toppai from that auction is absolutely hilarious.

Oh god no! They totally ruined that Iwai kabuto. Why!!!

Dont know about you guys. Looks prety good to me. If you are interested, you can follow Jess' adventures in samurai culture on Facebook and instagram. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessintokyo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessintokyo/

By the way, the helmet and mempo are very recent manufacture.

Here is somewhat of a sad story. Back in February of this year a group of artifacts from a relatively famous sengoku period samurai started popping up for sale on Yahoo, local auctions etc. I did what I could to get a hold of the armor pieces as I knew they had significance because they belonged to a huge guy. Around 2m in height huge. All of the items had the same family crest on them in the form of a gilt coppery brass kanamono that was a very unique christian kamon. VERY sadly, the dou which originally was decked out with these decorative mons all over had been vandalized by a faker who wanted to put them on a composite armor composed of some original pieces and this fake helmet. That way if they all had the antiqu mons on them it would look like a non-composite armor. But it was done at the expense of an important christian daimyo's armor. Just another reason you should support properly trained restorers.

no.

Those were the good old days. When the large Ginko tree that the last Minamoto shogun was assassinated was still standing. Yes a bit too early. But a good time to visit. 😉

Thank you. I consulted Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine in Kamakura for the sale of the armor. It is now the main attraction at the shrine museum. I wonder if anybody here has visited the museum and seen it...

Thank you. I really liked the cinematography actually. I think they still play it on ANA flights.

This is not the best Advice to give to the young man. What you should say is: "Learn your stuff so that when a GOOD yukinoshita dou and a GOOD akoda comes your way as a mismatched set, you will hand over your money and know you got a good deal." this of course would be the opposite if they were bad.

Hi There. In short, yes. If not done properly. The "coffee shop prop" armor was a complete strip down. At the point that I found it, it was in such bad shape, I would never recommend anybody to try to save it. Leaving it the way it was would have resulted in it only getting worse over time. I had a short time and a zero budget. Rather than make an armor, I took the basket case that was sitting around in the window and made it into something beautiful and representative of the company. Something that looks like the painting that hangs on the wall. So people could see what an edo period armor would have looked like when it was new done in the same way. Total re-do and made to look like something else than it originally was. To address your query though, yes, armors can be ruined with bad restoration. Especially with epoxies and other things that dont jive well with the original materials. We have a saying with armor. Urushi is alive. urushi expands and contracts with the seasons. Epoxies, resins, fake urushi does not. What happens over around 5 years is when the urushi starts to "breathe" and the parts dont, then it starts to crack and pop and de-laminate. The sad part is once this is done, it cant be removed without a total strip down. Another way to ruin an armor with a restoration is by not knowing what is proper for an armor, sometimes its a cultural mismatch, sometimes its stylistically anachronistic or a mismatch of styles. If you are well trained you will know and be able to do the proper restoration or replacement. the armor I showcased here was a re-make more than it was a restoration. Though it was done traditionally.

Yesterday somebody had mentioned that an armor I restored recently looked like a coffee shop prop. Well..... it is. The company had no budged so we took apart the $50 momoyama period armor rotting in the window. It was a basket case. and I patched a lot of holes. (properly) The restoration is beautiful though and does use 100% traditional techniques. You can also see what an old armor restored multiple times in the past, looks like without its leather and urushi. The total restoration took less than two months. So if you think we ruined it, it certainly took less time than 3 years. We are currently having an employee wear it around the city, not only to show the quality of what we sell, and introduce the company itself, but also to see how the armor ages under wear and tear. I think as the armor was attacked... or promoted... I guess? (and not explained) on two different threads, it would be fair to offer a link explaining and showing the production of our "coffee shop prop"! I even like how that rhymes. Thanks John! The link is not a commercial or business link, it just explains how restorations are done and armor is made. I am considering teaching people how to lace armor on there for free. Feel free to follow. Enjoy! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092385756447

That is absolutely true . And there will be less. I think that the biggest things thwarting this is: 1. status quo of the collectors. 2. The positions of the "preservation" organizations. 3. Modern education which teaches shortcuts and shortens attention spans 4. Misinformation of the community by self appointed experts Change those things, and there is your answer. The community was not like this in the 60s and 70s. Greed and jealousy put us where we are today. It can be what it once was. but to Luc Taelman's point, a right of passage makes for good artisans.

Thank you for asking. For armor, because of the span of time, the enormous back work that is necessary to be a qualified restorer is immense in my opinion. I have seen the research that Arthur has done and am impressed. Getting to that level would be where I would want my students to start at ideally. But anybody with that level is very rare. And unfortunately in the case of Arthur, he does not want to be a restorer. My current students have the backgrounds. Hopefully another will be coming to Japan and training soon. At this time, I would say that probably the most qualified would be Mr. Ozawa who works for the National museum in Tokyo. He trained under Makita Saburo (intangible cultural property). I would add Mr. Nishioka, however he does work in non-traditional media depending on the demands. I would add myself to the list. I trained under an intangible cultural property artisan as well. Nishioka's teacher and My teacher was the same. Morita Asajiro. Nishioka was his deshi at the end of his life, my teacher was deshi in the middle of his life. There are others who do different levels of restorations, but as far as complete and experience, I would put them at the top. Mr. Morisaki's company handles restorations but I believe that they frequently outsource to other craftspeople. I know that Katsuhiko Toyota has done restorations in the past as a lay craftsman. There are others, Tachibana, Kato, Sato, Ogawa. Depending on what you want you may be able to get what you want. There are european restorers as well. Some specialise in cashew urushi, others in lacing. I believe that Mr. Soanes in England is a traditionalist and uses real urushi.

I do agree with this philosophy in general. I have indeed spoken at length regarding this. The community of craftsmen and artisans is very important, as is the network that holds the industry (for the lack of a better word) as a whole. For example, I generally use urushi from a preferred dealer here in Japan to keep his business alive even though he is quite expensive. I have options, but I want him to survive because if he is gone, prices go up and the providers will be less. One thing that I think the quote above leaves out is the responsibility of the teacher to the student. In modern times, this relationship has become bastardized. The duties and responsibilities of the "deshi" to the "shisho or sempai" appears to go one way. Traditionally it went both ways. The shisho did basically hold the reigns of power over the deshi, but also paid for their living expenses, the quality of their work, travel expenses, materials, tools, and stood up for them publicly, or punished them depending on the situation. In the recent times, I have seen deshi treated as if they are gods gift to the arts..... just because they are "sacrificing" themselves to the arts. In effect, they are spoiled. My teacher was a traditionalist, but the one thing that I wish he didn’t do, was the humiliation of me in front of other people. There is a reason he did it. By his explanation it was to make people see me as devoted and enduring something unendurable so that people had respect for me. Ill give three examples. 1. At a meeting of the Japanese armor Society we gave a talk.... there was a table. He said go to the other side of the table. So I walked in front of the table to go around the other side. he said: "Dont walk in front of the table!", so I tried to go around the back side. then he said "Don't walk behind me!" He would do seemingly stupid things like this sometimes just to show that he was the teacher and I was the student. 2. At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu when we took his armor to be enshrined at the new museum, I was setting it up for the photography. At that point I was holding him up (physically) everywhere we went. I even had to hold him when he went to the bathroom. Sometimes I had to pull his pants up etc. Anyway.... he had to sit in a chair and watch me set up the armor. After its all set up and nice, he starts yelling "That Helmet is off balance! what the hell are you doing!" So I went over, and tilted the shikoro until he was happy. The staff and the photographer looked on in horror. So I finished the job, and looked at the photographer and said "carry on" . So she is standing there.... hmm... um Miura san..... the helmet is off balance... he says "no its not it looks good from here" She says, Please come over here and look... So i have to hold him up, and move him in front of the armor. He says "its off balance". "put it back Anjin". 3. One day I was working on a helmet in the workshop. Suddenly he calls me in. Puts a square block of metal in front of me and says "Draw the center line". Gives me a pen. Im thinking... ok right. this is a trick. He is sitting there smiling. So I make like im measuring things out etc. As soon as I set pen to surface he bursts out.... the equivalent "You stupid f@#ing idiot! You know nothing! You'll never be anything! You come in to my place and bother me! Get out! GET OUT! Go back to your own country!" as he was going up the stairs. I hear a can of beer open. He chugged it. Then another can of beer open. I went back to the workshop and continued my work. Contemplating why the hell I was enduring that kind of mental torture. A few hours later I heard the footsteps down the stairs, the shoji open, then the door to the workshop open. He is standing there (ala Dave Chapelle- Rick James). "Anjin san. I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean what I said. You, you have what it takes to be good. You are a fast learner. You are the real deal. Just remember that." I said... "Thank you?" He walks away saying.... "your a fast learner.....Anjin.... a fast learner".... footsteps up the staircase..... beer opens. These are stories that relate to my experience with my teacher. This is a traditional bond that MOST deshi today do not have with their teachers. And the so-called “lay craftsman” never endure. My saying is as long as your teacher is alive, you will always be a deshi. Because he will always be the master. You may work for yourself, and you may be successful and skilled at what you do, but that bond to the master artisan is never broken for a true deshi. And I think that helping a guy take a leak i something that most people couldn't or wouldn't do. On the other hand, in the olden days, the the "shisho" would pass on customers to the deshi, when they were ready, and gradually, by working them in to collaboration pieces that the master would sign as his own, and then eventually and in some cases both signed, and then the independence known as "dokuritsu" where the student signed his own name, unless he continued under the same name and workshop. In the case of my teacher. We did work on a couple projects together. But most of the customer base that he had when he was working were dead or well into retirement.... or nearing retirement. There just wasnt the base. I will place a lot of the responsibility of that issue on the shoulders of the Nihon Katchu Bugu Kenkyu Hozon Kai. At its foundation it was about preserving armor. (thence the hozon) so they supported the traditional culture surrounding it. Over the years it became more about who has the "best" armors, showing, but not sharing, politics, gossip, rumors. And that’s where we are today. I remember when I would volunteer to participate, or show my own item I would get answers like “the display has been decided”, or you can carry the chairs and clean the floors etc. Members of that organization were not treated equal. I’d ask why did this kabuto get Juyo and that kabuto get hozon. Answer: “because it belongs to so and so”. Ill use his name because its just a true defamatory story about me that exemplifies what happens and to Luc's point... why we I dont teach lay-craftemen..... Some years ago, after I had done a television show, I had a stalker.... who was writing harlequin romance novels about me online. All kinds of sex things, then her imaginary narrative ended with me giving her a beating.... Anyway as we all know, the internet can be a terrible propaganda tool when put in the hands of the wrong people. I sued for defamation and won. I got the third largest payout in Japanese history for Defamation and got a restraint order in the settlement. I basically had to do the case myself as most Japanese lawyers are not logical so I had to teach him how to do his job! Anyway, this however has not stopped people from using what was once written online to badmouth me.... because somebody wrote it. It becomes gossip. So one day I come in and Miura sensei told me that Katsuhiko Toyota (who does not know me... only met very briefly on a couple occasions) came in and told Miura sensei that I was abusing women (he had read the online fantasy novel apparently and thought it was his responsibility to spread the gossip through the armor world). I later found out that he had told this to other people as well. This is the problem with allowing people to establish even a minor position of authority on a subject without having gone through a “right of passage” in the field. Its so easy to go after a person's reputation, and if people in positions of power or "with lots of followers" do it, it can indeed effect you, whether your "friends", "customers", "employers" or other people believe it or not, the Japanese may begin to avoid you, because in general they do not want controversy. This is a shame. And at this point in my life I have lost all tolerance for this kind of behavior. In Japan I have never seen an artisan go after an artisan. Though I have seen the factionalization and politics of the customer based "hozon kai" groups encourage discord in the community. When discord takes place, artisans generally withdraw and try to avoid these goings on. The "lay craftsmen" on the other hand..... don't know the half and cant share in what it takes to become a real artisan. If they did, they would forego the gossip and focus on their work. Finally, I ill say that I know a lot of what I say is misinterpreted or misunderstood. I would welcome private messages to myself regarding whether or not you think I am helping the community at large through sharing my experiences, or if you think I should save it for a novel. It takes an enormous amount of time to write and share my experience, though a lot of people tend to want to know. Or at least seem interested. Please feel free to PM me and give me your feedback. Otherwise Ill keep the posts short, sweet, and devoid of the lifetime of experiences that i have that back up my viewpoints.

Not many of those around. So would you say that after reading all of the "bitching and moaning" that I have done on the Nihonto message board that you have gleaned some sort of useful information as to the world of armor? I have written a lot as of recently. Or is it a waste of my time? In Japan we have a saying from the days of old: it goes something like this. Kuge live in their own world of luxury. Samurai are absorbed in the world of politics but mostly read books and tell others what to do. Farmers are busy in the spring, and the fall, and have festivals and lie around in between. Shokunin have no time. I find this to be true. Yet here I am donating my valuable time to people like yourself. Be careful how you characterize what I say. I left this forum 10 years ago and I was probably better for it. Im just shocked at what has happened to the armor community since I came back. I don't need to be here. I see my service as voluntary.

Im not on a high horse. I think I'm pretty humble with all the time I have been donating to you. Thank you for complimenting my "great knowledge", no thank you for the mis-characterization "moaning and bitching". You have the right not to read any or all of what I write. But reflect on yourself. I have to work in this field. What you see as bitching and moaning, I see as informing people of what we have to deal with on a daily basis. Im trying to inform the people here as I see most or al l of you as potential customers or supporters of the Traditional arts. Maybe not my customer, but somebody else going through the same thing as me. whats your profession by the way?

I didn't say anything about Robert soanes. I do have respect and support for him in his endeavors. You want to see my work, please order some. But honestly most of my work these days is for shrines or museums and its restoration. I fit in collectors when I have time though. And by the way, I can guarantee that you have seen my work. you just didn't recognize it. When I was a slave I did a lot of work for Members of the Japanese armor society. I did the work, never took credit. And you know my policies regarding confidentiality. The helmet originally had a gold shikoro. Those scale armors Im pretty sure are 20th century. They used to come up for sale regularly on yahoo. There were such scale armors around in the Edo period though the sizes of the scales were different. And some horse armors were re-fabricated into human armors. i think the one that sold was modern though. And the "shikoro thing" magically appeared on that hachi before it left Japan. I remember it well. Probably around 10-15 years ago. After it sold recently it ended up with a new mempo.... The armor is NOT juyo level though. Definitely not for the legitimate Kokusai Nihon Katchu Bugu Shinko Kyokai.

You didn't read all the way through my previous articles. I said that its neither here nor there for me regarding bad restorations on basket cases. Don't put words in my mouth or misquote me.

By the way. NOBODY wanted to be an armorer's deshi until I came along! Because of the television shows I did and the PR I did for the armor world, suddenly he started to get people interested. Part of the sales pitch was.... there should be Japanese people doing it. At any cost. So various people without any knowledge or experience went into the field. And there was a group of guys pushing Japanese guys at Miura sensei. A couple worked a month or two but they could not stand his demands for quality. I had one guy who showed up at my door and said he wanted to be a deshi. I said "What was your degree in?" .... "No college"..... "did you graduate highschool?" ..... "I quit"....... "What was the last book you read?" ...... "I dont read many books".... I said "Go read a bunch of books" come back and discuss them with me. First step. Never came back. One problem is that people think that Craftsman=artisan. In Japan it is way way different. Somebody like him might learn how to cut sushi or make mud bricks.... but not armor. Unfortunately, the word "shokunin" in modern times has the stigmata and image of the lower crafts but the word encompasses the higher arts. People do have pre-judgmental notions about Artisans and craftsmen. Im trying to change that. The help and understanding of this community is greatly appreciated. The one thing that I respect about Nishioka is that he is having his students take the long road.