Are there any plans for a UK Shinsa in the near future?

[Dick Tait]

Are there any plans for a UK Shinsa in the near future?

[Alex A]

I asked this a month or so ago, sorry to say there are no plans.

 

Alex

[Ian]

The exchange rate is better now

[paulb]

While I would also welcome the opportunity to see another Shinsa in the UK I think we need to understand that the responsibility for making this happens lies as much or more with us as potential beneficiaries of the event as it does those organising it.

Having been involved to a greater or lesser extent in the organisation of the last two NTHK shinsa's in the UK ( as a helper only) I can confirm the considerable amount of effort required and given on a voluntary basis to making these events happen.

In both events while there has been a lot of initial verbal enthusiam and commitment the organisers invetitably have to spend a huge amount of time following up with people who provisionally book slots and then fail to confirm, forget to pay or generally just drop out.

In both the events we were eventually over subscribed but it took great effort to actually ensure sufficient places were booked to cover costs.

As seems to happen after all such events those who were not satisfied or dissapointed with the results they got continued to complain both directly and publically on message boards about how inaccurate the results were. (strange that those who get a better than expected attribution never complain about accuracy) This can inevitably demotivate and reduce ones enthusiasm for doing it again. I must stress this happened in only a very few instances but those few managed to create a disproportionate amount of noise and negative feeling.

So at the end of the day I think people are left wondering whether it is actually worth the effort.

 

I think it is also the case that the overall quality of swords seen on the second event was lower than that seen on the first. Basically there is not sufficient movement in the market to enable new pieces to appear in the space of a couple of years.

I think that when the NTHK NPO looked at running an event more recently in the UK they also reluctantly pulled out as there was not sufficient interest to cover the costs. I am sure Chris can confirm this.

Sorry to sound a negative note but if we are to see another event in the UK whether by the NTHK or the NTHK NPO I think we need to demonstrate commitment to making it happen and to ensure we understand what the shinsa panel is doing and how (i.e expressing an opinion) and set our expectations accordingly. We also need to understand that skilled though they are, they cannot make an accurate judgement on out of polish poorly maintained blades where no detail is visible. If you cant see anything in a blade nor will they.

[pcfarrar]

If someone in the UK is willing to bank roll the shinsa and accept that they might make a loss then it can happen....

[cabowen]

There needs to be a minimum number of items guaranteed to make the event viable in the eyes of the organization. Without anyone stepping up to do that, the NTHK-NPO was not willing to shoulder all the risk.

 

When I have held shinsa in the US, I have guaranteed the team a sufficient number of submissions to meet their requirements,