Ken-Hawaii

Welcome to the forum. Please sign your real name per Brian's rules. Where did you find this wakizashi? Ken

Justin, my wife & I just returned from visiting the Bizen-Osafune Sword Museum, not far from Osaka, & all of their exhibits showed a dragon theme. So it's obviously not just Shinto & Shinshinto blades, as all the modern tosho in the exhibit had the same theme. Ken

Our Japanese Sword Society of Hawaii is holding the first sword exhibition in Hawaii in more than 50 years, & I am in need of a suitable press release format. I'm sure that our illustrious members have some great ideas they could share with me, right? Thanks! Ken

Geraint, is it gimei if it's smith no one has heard of? Ken

Piers, when the heck did you have any time to post on NMB on 5/2?? I thought that Linda & I had kept you busy until quite late! Dinner with you & Noriko was great. I've already sent a detailed e-mail. I'll post photos of some custom bokuto that I use in iaido & jodo...in a couple of days after I recover. Aloha! Ken

Veli is correct that almost any mercury compound can be deadly. It's a heavy metal, & the hundred times or so that I've used it as a chemical engineer, the powder didn't strike me as particularly abrasive. This sounds like a togishi who was telling his competitors something that not only wouldn't work, but would eventually kill them.... Dr. B, mercury simply doesn't affect steel at all except at extremely high pressures, unlike gold & silver with which it forms an amalgam...which incidentally isn't used by U.S. dentists any longer. Ken

John is absolutely right that here in Hawaii, we have a whole array of small gifts to bring when we visit. Linda & I are bringing chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, Kona coffee, & kukui nut lei. As our trip is so short, we're carrying only backpacks, which doesn't leave much room for gift-packaging materials, so we simply use furoshiki wraps. John, if you haven't discovered furoshiki, take a look at http://furoshiki.com/techniques/. Any pretty, vaguely square cloth will work, & that way we don't have to try to get those pretty ribbons positioned just right. Heck, even I can manage to make a gift look pretty darn good! Ken

That's exactly where we're headed, John. Another NMB member, Piers Dowding, has agreed to meet us at the Shinkansen station in Okayama & bring us to the museum, which is particularly exciting as he knows the curator. The next day, we'll head back to Osaka & try to find a sword shop that's open during Golden Week. Yes, we definitely got one of those $198 round-trip fares, but we only have two full days on the ground, so we'll be running non-stop. Hope they do this again next year so we'll be better prepared. I'm looking forward to welcoming you to our JSSH meeting when you are on Oahu; I've changed our schedule so we now meet on the first Sunday of every month. Hope you've checked out our new (but unfinished) Web-site at http://jssh.org. Ken

Aloha auinala, John: Glad there's another Nihonto-admirer here in Hawaii. And congrats for being able to get an up-close & personal view of the tosho process. My wife & I depart for Osaka on Monday to visit the Bizen-Osafune area where they've been making swords for almost 1000 years. I hope we're lucky enough to get the same experience! And mahalo for posting those great photos! Ken

Interesting that you found out about this sale, John, while I -who live about 15 miles away from UH - hadn't heard a thing about it. Ken

Wrong forum, Chian. Try posting in viewforum.php?f=9. Ken

Thanks, Barry. Ken

Jim you can also check out http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/swordphotography.htm & http://www.swordforum.com/sfu/photography/poolside.html for sword-specific photography hints, & I particularly like the tons of useful info at http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=a30df46f3bd23b77365a104b87ec1563&daysprune=-1&f=26. Barry, I can't find Richard's article, either. Ken

Piers, the yen rate isn't really a factor for the one night we'll spend in an onsen. I checked out the Okayama Koraku Hotel, but our iaido Sensei is contacting Tomata Onsen (http://www.oyado-noritake.jp/) to see if they have any English-speaking staff & whether there's a room available on that date for us. Your wife obviously thinks the same way! And the room rate for the onsen is actually lower than for the hotel - I have no feel for that, but am not worrying about a few hundred yen. What is Kagato? Well, I sure hope it's what I'm reading in English at this Web-site: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=%EF%BC%99%EF%BC%96%EF%BC%96+Osafunecho+Osafune,+Setouchi,+Okayama+Prefecture+701-4271,+Japan+%28%E5%82%99%E5%89%8D%E9%95%B7%E8%88%B9%E5%88%80%E5%89%A3%E5%8D%9A%E7%89%A9%E9%A4%A8%29&hl=en&geocode=CULTKhWyT6CuFWDPEQIdRU_-ByH5b_M6tlSQ6w&vps=3&sll=34.722514,134.109399&sspn=0.015696,0.033023&vpsrc=6&t=h&mra=mift&ie=UTF8 or I'm in deep trouble! The Shinkansen stops there, & I figure we would spring for a cab to get to the museum, as we're likely to be standing all the way from Kobe station with the unreserved seats we have with the Kansai Wide Area 4-day pass. The museum's address is shown at http://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/~osa-tok ... /index.htm. If I've completely missed something, Piers, please e-mail me directly at jssh@catii.com so I can start panicking! Thanks! Ken

Our trip is being made a lot easier, Brian & Piers - mahalo/gracias/arigatou! Piers, I don't think I've ever taken a trip that will be so crammed. We will be taking the Shinkansen to Kagato early on the morning of 2 May to visit the Bizen-Osafune Sword Museum, & when we're done there, we're free in the afternoon to visit sword shops. Linda & I are looking for an onsen in the Okayama area for that evening, one that has an English Web-site. The following morning, back on the Shinkansen to Osaka where we will hopefully visit another couple of sword shops, & then exhausted onto the plane back to Hawaii that night. We couldn't pass up the US$198 round-trip airfares even though we only have two full days on the ground. Backpacks & cameras, that's about all we're carrying. Oh, & our Kindle 3s with keyboards to help with translation. Ken

Thanks, Piers. I've added Tamayama Meishito to our itinerary as they seem to be fairly close to the rail station. The others don't have an English page, unfortunately. Ken

David, just telling us these things doesn't allow us to help at all. How about posting a couple of good, clear photos for us? Ken

Do you detect a bit of envy from out here, Piers? Ken

Thanks, Piers. I'm still looking for a sword store anywhere in the vicinity, so as you seem to know the area well, I would appreciate any leads you can give me. My Japanese daughter-in-law will contact each store in advance & let them know that my wife & I are coming. We're both yudansha iaidoka, & I run our local sword club, so we'll hopefully be welcome. Thanks! Ken

How does US Fish & Wildlife get involved with an import, Fred? I've imported many blades without ever hearing a word from them. Ken

Nice article, with much more useful details than many others. Thanks! Ken

Do you have a few photos to share, by any chance? Ken

That sounds particularly bizarre, Fred, as a local US Fish & Wildlife employee bought a wakizashi & tanto - both with samegawa - from our sword society booth last month at a gun show. He was in uniform & so easy to recognize. I wonder if your guy is just looking for a free tanto...? Ken

Oh, okay - I see what you mean, Piers. I guess I'll continue looking for another sword shop in Osafune instead of visiting the castle. Glad two of my three grandkids are studying Japanese. Thanks, Ken

Piers, thanks for that info. I'm going to try & fit in that display on our very rushed trip to Osaka the end of this month. My wife & I will already be nearby at the Bizen-Osafune Sword Museum in Kagato, & I have been looking for another sword display for that day. Do you happen to have an English link to the display? Thanks! Ken