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My new tanto finally arrived!


kauai1800

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Aloha Everyone.

 

Well about 5 months after we first saw it at Kanefusa's workshop, the tanto we got from him has finally arrived.

(Here's a link to the backstory... viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12789)

 

Even though I have read a lot of information here on the forum, frankly I am still a complete noob and I am equal parts excited and apprehensive to have such a special nihonto in my home. I want to take the best care of it, and as I have mentioned, I live in a place where rust is pervasive...because I live on the windward side, a near-invisible salty sea mist floats around my house and coats everything...this is then hydroscopic and brings in more moisture, etc. Things made from carbon steel can start to rust in just 2-3 days here. Chrome rusts in months. All but the best stainless steels will eventually form some rust.

 

So my first question is can I simply store the tanto in an airtight container with some desiccant? Will a near-zero humidity state harm the shirasaya over time? It's just not practical for me to run air conditioning, as we pay the very highest electrical rates in the US. Nor can I imagine that just keeping it well-oiled in the constant 75% humidity + salt air will be sufficient. It might be I suppose, but it would call for extreme diligence and never missing a single spot with oil. Even a little rust 5 years from now would be very disheartening...

 

Before I ask more questions, let me post a few photos. It's late tonight, so I will only post a few, but I have many more and these will beg more questions from a newbie such as I am. As you can see, we got it with both koshirae and a shirasaya. So far I haven't put the blade into the koshirae. There's some lovely kanji paperwork that came with it as well written by Kanefusa, plus a care kit with oil, powder etc....I'll post all this over the next few days..

 

I feel blessed to have this tanto for my family. To meet the man who made it; to see his forge and even smash a piece of red hot tamahagane with his hammer; then to have a tanto made by his hands..it's like a dream.

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....Nor can I imagine that just keeping it well-oiled in the constant 75% humidity + salt air will be sufficient......

Congratulations! It is a very nice TANTO, and you can be proud of it!

Without covering all aspects of preservation I only want to make a remark on oiling: never oil your blade and put it back into a SAYA as fine dust will stick to the blade resulting in scratches as you move the blade. Oil is sucked up by the wood of the SAYA preventing it to suck up humidity.

 

As Japan is comparable in climate to Hawaii it might be best to follow the classical recommendations for sword care in that country.

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Without covering all aspects of preservation I only want to make a remark on oiling: never oil your blade and put it back into a SAYA as fine dust will stick to the blade resulting in scratches as you move the blade. Oil is sucked up by the wood of the SAYA preventing it to suck up humidity.

 

As Japan is comparable in climate to Hawaii it might be best to follow the classical recommendations for sword care in that country.

 

Oil is normaly used in humidity :bang:

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Aloha John,

 

What a beautiful tanto, eclipsed only by the story behind its acquisition. :)

 

Having been on the receiving end of some rather eclectic 'adventures' abroad, I can appreciate the sense of awe and wonder you just have felt upon learning of your agenda in Seki, and the degree to which you thoroughly enjoyed the experience... And having visitied local knife makers (here in SoCal) and having had the chance to procure examples of their work diretcly from them, I can appreciate your enthusiasm.

 

Have you already sent a gift to be presented to Kanefusa? If not, may I recommend a bottle of Koloa rum? As a former rummy, it is my opinion it is simply the finest rum on planet Earth. It is s small-batch boutique rum bottled right there in Kauai, from their own cane IIRC. All other rum bows (deeply) before its greatness. ;)

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

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Great acquisition, John! Although Linda & I got to spend quality time at the Bizen-Osafune Museum, we didn't have your luck in watching a smith create a blade, & of course we didn't buy a blade while we were there.

 

I wonder if Kanefusa-san would be interested in selling his blades here in the U.S.? I've tried to convince several of the smiths we met to do so, but no one has agreed as yet. As I mentioned in an earlier post, many modern smiths aren't able to earn enough money to continue making blades, but also don't seem to want to investigate new markets. As none of us want to see Japanese blades disappear over time, any ideas on what we can do?

 

Aloha!

Ken

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Aloha John,

 

 

Have you already sent a gift to be presented to Kanefusa? If not, may I recommend a bottle of Koloa rum? As a former rummy, it is my opinion it is simply the finest rum on planet Earth. It is s small-batch boutique rum bottled right there in Kauai, from their own cane IIRC. All other rum bows (deeply) before its greatness. ;)

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

Many thanks for all the good suggestions. I will keep it well oiled, but not so much as to get oil on the saya.

And indeed I have sent Kanefusa and his son several gifts in May. Unfortunately I know of no way to mail liquor internationally, so I could not send him rum, but this is a very good idea. Instead I sent him many small edible treats like mac nuts, kona coffee, and sent it all in a beautifully-crafted koa box. I hope it appealed to his aesthetic.

 

I have never tried the Koloa Rum, assuming it would be "rum-of-the-mill"...lol. I've heard several good things about it recently, and as someone who loves his distilled spirits, I think I'll get some today on your suggestion!

 

I really wish Walmart had some black velvet so I could get better photographs - this wooden board background looks terrible but is my best option at the moment. I love challenging photography, so expect to see me work to get the 'ultimate' photos of this tanto. The effort shown here is poor. I plan to rig up a better long/skinny light box and get something acceptable soon.

 

As I mentioned I received two large rice paper documents that I would like to have fully-translated. My kids' piano teacher Auntie Aki speaks Japanese fluently, and gasped as she read how Kanefusa boldly wrote "SPIRIT OF THE SWORD" in Kanji on one of the papers. She provided a good translation of some of the documents. However the second paper contains many technical terms (regarding the hada, horimono, etc I believe) that she could not help translate; and I will post that page on the translation thread here on the forum in the hope that someone will take the time to translate it for me. Also I received a smaller, laminated card that looks similar to the NBHK documents I sometimes see here. I'd be interested to see what it says as well.

 

I'll post more photos tomorrow.

Mahalo nui! -John P

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Great acquisition, John! Although Linda & I got to spend quality time at the Bizen-Osafune Museum, we didn't have your luck in watching a smith create a blade, & of course we didn't buy a blade while we were there.

 

I wonder if Kanefusa-san would be interested in selling his blades here in the U.S.? I've tried to convince several of the smiths we met to do so, but no one has agreed as yet. As I mentioned in an earlier post, many modern smiths aren't able to earn enough money to continue making blades, but also don't seem to want to investigate new markets. As none of us want to see Japanese blades disappear over time, any ideas on what we can do?

 

Aloha!

Ken

 

Nice to hear from you Ken. Glad you had a good trip to Bizen-Osafune.

 

This is an interesting question. I might very delicately ask my Japanese knifemaking connection in Seki what he thinks about it. He's got a good sense of Eastern vs Western values so he's good person to gauge whether something is appropriate or might be seen as offensive/inconsiderate. And he knows Kanefusa 25 pretty well. Next time I email him I'll feel him out. I wouldn't get my hopes up though 8) .

 

Kanefusa 25th seemed to be doing OK financially - he had a nice house, a new SUV; but no doubt the art form is slowly dying and for his son (and his son's son...) to continue making swords there needs to be a market. I got the feeling from what his son, Kanefusa 26th, said that it's harder and harder to get the outside apprentices that will stay on for the whole decade-long process of training. You can see in the photos that he's a young guy; and probably gets an odd look when he tells someone he's a swordsmith rather than an engineer or teacher. He has finished his training however, so his path is set. I'm sure being part of something that goes back 26 generations has got to weigh pretty heavy on you as you chose your career path...lol!

 

However the other, new apprentice who was not related by blood; he seemed like he could go either way.

 

And I don't know that much about how these modern smiths do sell their work. Perhaps at Japanese katana shows and high-end Tokyo boutiques? I can't help but imagine that they are prized by yakuza, but I have no idea if that is true. I'm sure some of the forum members can address this.

 

-John P

 

"Don't just eat the hamburger, eat the HELL out of it"

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