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Katsujinken

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Everything posted by Katsujinken

  1. This is the kind of package that is most realistic for your budget:
  2. Keep an eye on the dealer section here. You may find a wakizashi more realistic in terms of budget given what you’re looking for. Save a bit of money for a book or two (do a search). Welcome aboard!
  3. Gonna need the moto- and saki kasane…
  4. I believe it should be “kusa no tsuyu”, no? 草の露 Note the printed hiragana in the image: くさのつゆ
  5. Geraint is spot on. I would emphasize that the kissaki has definitely been reshaped, and not particularly well in my opinion. And Marcus your eyes were sharp enough to see that the finishing job on the nakago is poor (or it was damaged at some point). I like your sentiment about unique snapshots of history. I own and regularly handle elite blades and would tell you to ignore the elitists. Your sword may not win any awards but it is a piece of history decently preserved and for that we should be thankful. Welcome!
  6. A friend recently visited the Cleveland Museum of Art where they apparently have over 200 tsuba in their collection but essentially zero information about any of them. It's a bit of a shame, really. Blades are more my area so I'm little help with some of these kanji/kao... I offered to try and enlist some help to translate a few signatures. Thanks in advance!
  7. So no legitimate DIY options then? @Toryu2020 Thomas, do you have a link for Jonathan?
  8. As I mentioned in another thread, I just had a nice Tanto delivered from Aoi Art and as usual it came with an oshigata and a scroll for mounting. What’s the best way to mount the oshigata itself to the scroll without damaging the delicate tracing paper? Thanks in advance for your tips!
  9. I just had an antique tanto and koshirae delivered to the USA from Aoi Art and everything went very smoothly so I thought I’d share what I did. They put in for export on July 15. The tanto shipped via EMS on August 5, and was delivered to me by USPS today. No duty was required. I asked Aoi to include the following in the paperwork: Tariff code: 9706.10.00.60 Handle is wrapped in stingray skin (shagreen). Genus: Dasyatis Species: Dasyatis akajei Source: U; this item is an antique Country of origin: Japan I used a similar schema for the handle wrapping with my last import from another shop. Dasyatis akajei is a common stingray native to the waters near Japan. It is currently listed as “near threatened.” This worked well last time so I figured I would use it again. Anyway, hopefully this is helpful to someone in the future!
  10. Generally, no, especially in a Shinto piece.
  11. The truth is practicing Japanese swordsmanship on its own is difficult and time consuming, and most people barely approach mediocrity, especially these days when “training” for so many involves more beers than days in the dojo. So learning about nihonto can feel like quite a burden depending on how it is presented and integrated (or not) into the curriculum. So while I absolutely maintain that martial arts should be a great “side door” for nihonto and tosogu appreciation, it is important to be realistic about raw numbers. That said, a teacher who prioritizes incorporation of history and culture, to include nihonto, into their curriculum will absolutely attract students who can fall in love with nihonto and related topics, regardless of their budget. It has to start with the teacher. I personally believe that instruction in Japanese swordsmanship without these elements is incomplete.
  12. You cannot know where the market will be when you pass on. The money is spent and the blades will be worth what the market will support. Better to leave her the names and numbers of a dealer or two you trust. I’ve told my wife that should something happen to me anytime in the next 30 years my Juyo blade is to be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art if and only if the museum will agree to a minimum number of days of display per year in writing. That number is to be determined. :-P Barring that she is to contact Mike Yamasaki and sell it. :-) Anything non-Juyo is to also be sold through Mike.
  13. As a younger (nearing late thirties) collector and student I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. I own multiple blades, including one Juyo, and I’m a serious martial artist. I may be rare but I am not unique! I’ve also been a member of the NBTHK and the American branch since I bought my first sword. I’m going to share some thoughts here that I have already shared with folks at the AB, lightly edited, because I think they can be generally useful and contribute to the discussion. One caveat though: maintaining (and growing) a niche organization like this is very difficult and requires significant investments of time, attention, and effort. The NBTHK competes with everything else in life, and many if not most of the competitors are also investing massive sums of money in addition to time, attention, and effort (hello, Netflix). Most people who are going to enter this field nowadays will do so through the “side door.” For example, a few years ago in Japan, the video game Touken Ranbu led to a massive surge in the popularity of nihonto among younger women. There were lines around the block at museums. Here in the states, I think the most likely point of entry for potential NBTHK members, including younger members, is through the martial arts. To that end, in parallel with an organized social media effort, I think the NBTHK should explore how to better connect with the martial arts community (reputable dojos only, of course). What kind of partnerships might make sense? Can we provide some basic nihonto curriculum to introduce the NBTHK into dojos around the country? Any legitimate dojo teaching the Japanese sword should be or is already teaching some aspects of what we might consider the basic NBTHK curriculum. Many serious dojos already have one member who is the “real” sword guy/gal. In this way, forming relationships with dojos, to include events and programming, could be a good path to generate a steady stream of interest. It also opens up the possibility of collaborating with their social media accounts, and so on. This is my dojo, which is a good example of the kind of group we could target: https://www.brooklynbattodo.com. You’ll notice a few relevant articles I’ve written for the dojo, one a primer on nihonto overall, and the other a sword buying guide for martial artists. I have yet to meet a serious martial artist who isn’t utterly amazed when they get to see a nihonto in person. That’s no guarantee they want to expend any more effort, but it’s a start. Combined with some work on membership tiers and educational materials, this could be something of a shortcut to an interested / invested audience. Many of us have deep connections into kenjutsu dojos across the US, for example, and I don’t think it would be too difficult to organize a series of virtual seminars or lectures for dojos aimed at 1) sharing basic nihonto knowledge that is relevant to practicing a sword art and 2) introducing the NBTHK and the benefits of membership. In this way offering “101 level content”, especially via lectures, can be a lead generation strategy. Not everyone who loves nihonto/tosogu will become a collector, but I have personally guided multiple people in my dojo to buying their first nihonto or collecting a few tsuba. Having someone to guide you through the process makes it so much easier to spend $2000+ on an antique. On the other hand, it’s been much harder to convince folks to join the New York Token Kai and physically come see more stuff in person once a month. So I recognize there are limits here — but online content has the advantage of being consumable on any schedule one likes, for the most part. Taking most of a Sunday to go into the city, even to see amazing swords, is a lot to ask I guess. Traveling to one of the big shows will always be an activity for the most passionate among us. Another angle that I think can be very effective is simply that the NBTHK offers authoritative, authentic resources on the Japanese sword and related arts like tosogu. Emphasizing affiliation with “The Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo” is a good idea. The internet is such a minefield, but with the right framing the NBTHK can be positioned as an antidote to all the crap out there. Essentially the NBTHK can market itself (yes marketing!) as one of the best English language destinations for nihonto-related resources and community. In doing so it should be able to connect with people who are likely to self-select into the right kind of groups (i.e. people with a serious interest for the right reasons). But NBTHK also needs to create and tailor membership benefits for beginners. Perhaps there is a "102 level" series of lectures they could offer that would build on the “101 level” that could be shared for free to the public (for the purposes of lead generation). Within the NBTHK AB there are some of the foremost nihonto/tosogu experts in the English speaking world. They could create some simple but amazing materials to support newcomers. For example, there could be a “Gokaden Intro Course,” and the NBTHK give anyone who joins at a certain level of membership a copy of Connoisseur’s to go along with it (financially I don’t think this is insane but I could be wrong). Getting started with nihonto really is the hardest part. If we remove some of the friction and target the right audiences we might see more success in the long term. But as you can probably tell, to even begin to execute some of this is a part time job at least. Apologies for the wall of text!
  14. It can certainly be done if the climate control is adequate.
  15. Yes. :-) But ideally a sword should not be stored in koshirae for an extended period of time. That was never the intention. Especially with antique koshirae and lacquer, the sword and the lacquer work actually require different environments/microclimates for effective preservation. That said, the shinsakuto I actually use only lives in regular koshirae and has no issues with rust. The same goes for an Osafune Masamitsu wakizashi for which I simply do not have a shirasaya. It remains in perfect condition. But shirasaya would be ideal, and when I “retire” my shinsakuto I will have one made.
  16. I’m in the USA and recently made a purchase with Aoi. They will be shipping via EMS as far as I know.
  17. Dan, I think what Thomas is saying is that there are many, many iaido/kenjutsu/battodo ryuha, and across them there are differences big and small in style and technique. The larger point is that debating how one draws the sword has little to do with the design of tsuba. Every tsuba has an edge, which means it’s generally easy to unlock the habaki from the saya. Design choices have much more to do with function and historical context.
  18. Thomas hit the nail on the head!
  19. Most people I know rest the pad of their thumb on the rim of the tsuba to unlock the tsuba from the habaki (as opposed to the “plate” surface). This offers more control and allows you to pull the blade back into the saya if needed. That said, I would probably prefer a plate tsuba to a sukashi tsuba if there’s a chance another sword might hit it!
  20. Great insights, thanks guys. What do you think of this particular blade? It’s quiet and elegant, but perhaps a bit tired (at that price and for Oei)…
  21. Hi Tony — A kirikomi is not a fault at all, and many are preserved in high level swords with top level papers. But a lost boshi can be a dealbreaker if the blade is not extremely special and important, as others noted.
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