Toryu2020

The NTHK Novice Course was recently re-edited and is available now. FREE with any new membership to the NCJSC... Publications (ncjsc.org) -tch

You could try contacting Mike Yamasaki of tetsugendo.com he can help with the restoration. Jimmy Hayashi, the top polisher in the U.S. is located in San Francisco... -t

Yes

Try looking up "Kyogoku" -t

Sadly Charles, not really Our regular monthly meeting is on the 21st, we would invite you there but it seems your dates don't line up. The Asian Art Museum has two or three swords in the permanent displays upstairs but they are not much to look at. Beyond that all the old antique stores that might have had swords are all gone now. If you are travelling about town and find yourself at the Palace of The Legion of Honor, out front looking out onto the bay is a cenotaph dedicated to the Kanrin Maru, the first ship to sail from Japan to the U.S. Not all that exciting but we always bring our Japanese guests to see it when they are in town. If you're looking for Japanese food I highly recommend Ryoko's - absolutely the best in the City... -t

I would have to agree with Nobody - the everyday soldier would be employed to dig trenches and dry moats as well help with castle construction - so reminiscent of a workingman samurai... -t

I will have a table, looking forward to seeing everyone. -tch

Here’s one from my collection

A side note - ranking of swordsmith and sword schools has been a thing since the Edo period. One popular way to do these rankings is to split them into East and West groups like a ranking system for Sumo. You can find these “Banzuke” for all kinds of artists and public figures. I am attaching a banzuke for sword fittings artists. It should not be hard to find a banzuke for swordmakers.

It was a smaller team this year so we did not process as many items as in previous shinsa. That being said pass/fail rate was consistent right around 50%. It seems no matter where we perform these events, Chicago, Tampa, San Francisco or Orlando the pass/fail rate is pretty much the same. -tch

Lewis - I agree that Norishige was probably a senior student to Masamune and the only one of the Jutetsu to actually work alongside him. In the end this grouping is just a way to remember the names of the smiths that showed the influence of the Soshu-den. Imagine packing up all your sword-making equipment and travelling across a war-torn Japan for a few months study in Kamakura. The more likely scenario is that the armies of Ashikaga Takauji travelled about the country and with them went the swords of Kamakura, local smiths got a look at these and attempted to recreate what they saw... All great makers regardless, -t

Sad news - he always showed up to the shinsa with stacks of good swords...

Shots from the Shinsa room day one and two.

Stamped into a leather cover - Kiyomatsu Sei

Its a pretty convincing fake but still a fake, walk away...

Andre - You have two papers there - the one from the NTHK gives the sword to the Bunmei era (1469-1487 - Yoshikawa Koen Sensei is included on that paper so you can bank on the attribution... -t

It is indeed a bean pod - I would say this falls in the category of Bokuto (Doctors sword) as with all things Japanese they came in a variety of shapes and expressions. A nice example... -tch

Piers! Anal personalities in Japan!?!

A small but excellent selection of blades - always carry a flashlight and a "gallery glass" when travelling in Japan. -t

A very nice example Peter - very early tachi tsuba were often lacquered leather - once you get into the Edo period all kinds of materials were used. I have a set with metal cores... -tch

Please note - pre-registration for the event has closed. Timeslots will be mailed out this week. You can still submit swords at the show. Come see me in the shinsa room after 13:00 Friday I am sure we can fit everybody in. -tch

Sato is an excellent resource - to be honest you're probably gonna have better luck just buying the book instead of looking for PDFs... -t

Thanks Howard - very sorry you've had such trouble - best bet is to print out the forms and mail us a check - some folks have used Fedex - we are unfortunately not set up to take payment over the phone. -tch 2024 reg .docx

For those attending the show - now is the time to make your shinsa reservations We can accommodate walk-ins but much prefer to schedule folks ahead of time, this means less stress on all of us and more attention paid to appraisal. Note Friday AM is full up! www.nthkamerica.com -tch