Markus

Thanks Brian for the poll. @Barry: :D I already corrected the date to spring next year, earliest, depending on how much material is contributed. So far only one person sent me material (blade pics and oshigata) to my email I had created for this project. That means I can only start to work, get an overview, and sort things when I have accumulated a decent data base. Now this is the phase to check out if and how this project could work. I definitely want to write something on Gendaito but I don´t want to compile some half-hearted name list or sword catalogue. Aim is something like my Index of Japanese Swordsmiths with all detectable biographical data, work and/or signature samples, and a proper introductory part which draws an understandable picture of the Gendaito era, namely from when Shinshinto ended to about the time when the last WWII smiths handed-over their craft to the new generation, i.e. what we would classify today as Shinsakuto. I am aware of the fact that I can´t go into every little detail of certain schools like Chris with the Tokyo-based smith but I will try my best to provide solid and extensive info. Well, this is the goal, depending on the contribution...

I think the seal reads "Kôgaku" (江岳). Sounds like a pen name. I can also see why red, namely this character (紅), but I am pretty sure its (江).

Speaking of the devil... Mailman just came by and brought me a copy of the catalogue the NBTHK sent me for my own reference. Indeed, they edited the foreword I gave them. Also I learned that they had (and don´t ask me why) another person to translate all the descriptions of the different schools and artists and the glossary. (Maybe they decided at a later point in time to add these sections.) I did as mentioned the foreword, the descriptions of the tsuba, and the list of works at the very end of the catalogue. Well, I will go through the descriptions on a random basis and check if my translation was edited too. But apart from that, nice catalogue and for that price a must have!

Thanks for the update Piers!

This is weird. I was asked to do the translation AND it was of course proof-read by a native English speaker/writer! This was back in April so I fear, for whatever reason, they were messing around with the files I sent them. Would you mind sending me a scan or two to markus.sesko@gmail.com to check that Piers? And if they really did mess-up my PROOFED translation, I don´t want to have my name on it any longer (if it is mentioned at all).

It´s done, my book on tameshigiri is out now. Please take a look at my blog for further details. Also and as mentioned in the PS, I would be most grateful if the book is ordered directly via Lulu.com because Amazon (where it should appear in a few days) deducts almost 3/4ths of the royalties per sold copy. http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... d-testing/ Thank you all for your attention!

Brian, yes I had in mind 50 now and 50 after completion (shipping extra and paid at the order). As for the time frime, I am not sure if I can do this until the end of the year as now the other big project has priority and I can only start to work on the Gendaito Project in fall. So there is no hurry and you all know that once started working, I work steady but I am not able to say if it is going to be January or March at that time. :D Thanks for initiating a poll Brian. I think we should give it a go whenever you have time just to see the response. Then I have some more food for thought when away (and working on the other project).

@Chris: Thanks for your offer. I will surely have the one or other question when the time comes. Also your project will greatly contribute to the topic and close all those gaps I will leave open on the Tokyo-based smiths. @Brian + George: My aim is to cover all smiths from when the Gendai era starts, i.e. around the ban on swords, to shortly after WWII, so to speak until those smiths who passed on their craft to the "new generation of swordsmiths" whose works we classify today as shinsakuto. What I dont want to do is to present a brief list of smiths with oshigata and tangs. I want to make this as complete as possible, working-in all smiths I can get "my hands on," all biographical data I can find, and all those extra little plusses like Token-Bijutsu articles on certain smiths which add additional insights (provided that I get the permission to [re]publish them). In this sense, I started my appeal way in advance so that the Gendaito Project makes the round and people participate in providing reference material. What I dont want is that someone approaches me after the book is released and says that he was following the project with great interest and that he has a bunch of data in his archive concerning this and that smith which would have been great in the book. @Brian + Stephen: I think this is betting big. So probably 450+ pages, US letter format, hardcover. Just to throw out a number, I think the finished book will be somewhere around 120 USD. I would like to expand on your idea Brian and bring into play the NMB as "drop-in center" and "patron" of this project. My suggestion is, if you agree Brian, to run a poll let´s say for how many are willing and committed to pay 50 USD in advance to get then the finished book for 100. All "normal buyers" have to pay later the 120 USD. I don´t want to ask for more than that and if maybe less than 30 are participating in the poll anyway, we drop the pre-order option and I will still pursue the project of course, but then there will be no whatsoever discount. As mentioned, would be great if the realization or rather completeness of this project is due to the support of the members of the NMB!

Hi everyone, I made an announcement on my blog for the upcoming Gendaito Project. Thanks for your attention. http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... o-project/

I have a larger pic but its description doesn´t say specifically it is for a karatake-wari cut. It is a demonstration of a tsurushi-do or tsuri-do, a cut on a suspended felon. Tsurushi-do "installations" varied and I will introduce several of them in my coming book.

There was an article in the (Japanese) Token-Bijutsu a long time ago on the employment situation of a swordsmith by a fief and how he was equipped with raw materials and so on. I will try to dig it out it and see if it also says something on how orders were handled/regulated.

Nick, here is a pic of the karatake-wari cut. May I ask for your permission to include this signature as a reference for Goto Gozaemon?

Very nice! If somebody wants a real, papered rarity and who is into armor and swords, this is your chance.

Yep, thanks a lot for posting that Gabriel! Translations like "May 11" of "五月十一日" have always a thorn in my side.

Thank you Jean! As mentioned, the topic Gendaito will be tackled in fall and will surely take time over the winter.

Oh yes. I will go into detail on that and explain over several pages how the nomenclature of cutting tests (old vs. new, Yamano vs. Yamada) has changed. I will also address of course the testing of wakizashi and tanto and the use of tameshi-tsuka (like posted before) and tameshi-tsuba and the like. And Chris is right. We are facing a bunch of early cutting tests (and with early I mean early Edo period) which we just can´t confirm because of the lack of comparative examples. That meant we have to take them as they are, some of them with a grain of salt. BTW: I am working on the final chapter at the moment. The main part of the book is finished and has been proof read. I hope it answers all questions as Guido kindly placed his cofidence in me. :D

Guys: I was asked for some preview pages. Please check my blog: http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... -addendum/

The KOSHIRAE-TAIKAN is done. For more info, please take a look at my blog. Thank you all for your attention. http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/1030/

Also please note that the phrase "to mei ga aru" (lit. "there is the/a signature...") on papers does not necessarily mean that the mei is authentic (shoshin). In other words, the koshirae papered as a whole, even if the tsuba might be gimei. So if a koshirae is of decent quality and just the mei of the tsuba or the fuchi can´t be confirmed, that´s the wording you get on a hozon paper.

And the last of the three, the SHINSHINTO-MEIKAN... Hardcover, 242 pages, presenting about 640 nakago pics of about 250 shinshinto smiths. Please click on "preview" under the cover pic at the link to the hardcover copy to get an idea about the book. http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... to-meikan/

I also got mails to revise my book on Koshirae. Well, I won´t revise it but what I think I am going to do is to make available a bigger, color volume, quasi a Koshirae-Taikan. And with "make available" I mean this is not going to be published but only available via direct order over me as this will be a bigger and more expensive color book and the number of expected sold copies will be in the lower double-digit range anyway. I am going to the US towards the end of July where I focus solely on the already mentioned bigger tosogu project. Away from my books, I will compile and the "Koshirae-Taikan" before that time.

Thank you guys! And John, leave a little space there as I am just at finishing the SHINSHINTO-MEIKAN. But this one is not going to be as thick as the others, just didn´t fit into the SHINTO volume.

Now the SHINTO-MEIKAN is out, as hardcover, 456 pages, presenting about 1,300 nakago pics of about 640 shinto smiths. Details can be found on my blog and of course also an eBook is available. Due to the lesser number of pages, the price was slightly adjusted/reduced and a SHINSHINTO-MEIKAN follows soon. Please click on "preview" under the cover pic at the link to the hardcover copy to get an idea about the book. http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/s ... 67293.html http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... to-meikan/

@John: The SHINTO-MEIKAN should be available in a couple of weeks, but I have to check if it fits with the SHINSHINTO-MEIKAN or if that needs a separate volume (what is rather the case). On the other thread you asked about the hardcover copy of my swordsmith index. It is available here: http://www.bod.de/buch/markus-sesko/ind ... 02508.html I think it should work for Australia as the other John got them shipped to Canada.

@Chris: I have the permission to publish for about 95% of the oshigata in this book. The other roughly 5% are where I asked and never got any reply and forgot over the years where they came from. So for them, yes, I eventually just put them in the book. If anybody feels that one of them is his oshigata published without permission, I can disclose sales figures to work something out. Anyway, the copyright issue is the reason for why I didn´t use any oshigata/nakago pics from dealer sites. Those accumulated over the years are just saved for my own reference.