NTHK-NPO Shinsa Tampa Prologue

[cabowen]

I am happy to say that judging from the feedback I have received, the Tampa shinsa seems a resounding success. Thanks to Bill Green the promoter and thanks to all who participated.

 

First and foremost, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to Joe and his Anita, without whom it would not have happened, nor would it have happened so smoothly. Anita worked the reception table and did a spectacular job of keeping everything moving in the right direction. I could not have done this without her help. Thank you Anita! Joe was the calm at the center of the storm and like a good fireman, put out the fires and kept it cool. Joe, thank you....

 

Also, many thanks to Grace and James who contributed in their own way. It was much appreciated as well.

 

There were many others who did something to help out along the way- you all know who you are- a big thank you to all of you too.

 

Finally, I can't say how much I appreciated the way the shinsa team dug in and went at it in a thoroughly professional way. They worked steadily from 8am till well after 6pm day after day. I know how exhausting it was for them (no doubt my frequent interruptions to ask for further clarifications, etc. were a contributing factor). There were a few small snafus here and there and they took it all in stride, doing whatever was necessary to make things right.

 

As has been said, Miyano Sensei was a last minute scratch due to illness. He was deeply saddened by his inability to attend but his doctor had the final say and prohibited him from attending. I know that this was deeply disappointing to many but there was nothing that could be done. He promised he would be reviewing all the photos and data taken at the event and personally review everything. He will thus be adding his stamp on the kanteisho for those items that pass. Knowing the knowledge and experience of this team, he had the utmost in confidence that they would do an excellent job on par with their past shinsa. Seeing the results, I saw no indication that they did anything but a first rate job.

 

Speaking of results, they passed roughly 60% of the items submitted. They told me that the quality level was higher than in past shinsa in general, with much less spread. In other words, there weren't many really bad items submitted, nor were there many really great items submitted. There were some spectacular kodogu and koshirae that went through but few really superior blades. There were perhaps 15 or so items that posted a score of 77-79, and these items are eligible for Yushu Shinsa in Japan. The best blade was of course the Soshu Akihiro. This blade will be written up in their journal, Token to Rekishi. It caused quite a commotion in the shinsa room, and rightly so. The polish, while not as good as it might have been, wasn't what I would call "terrible", especially in light of the difficulty in polishing a hitatsura blade but it certainly wasn't as good as one would have liked either.

 

The team left Monday morning and expressed an interest in returning so I would think there will be another NTHK-NPO Shinsa in the near future. Miyano Sensei expressed his desire to come again as well, optimistic he would recover.

 

I mailed all the swords back to their owners that had been sent over Monday after the team left, and returned to my room where I enjoyed 19 hours of continuous sleep. LIke I said, it was exhausting...I returned home last evening and will now spend the rest of the day contacting all of you who sent swords and are eagerly awaiting the results.

 

Again, my sincere appreciation to all who helped make the event a success!

[Brian]

Congrats to all.

Now if that shinsa panel could just take the other direction around the world next time...they could pop in here, and host our first shinsa ever...then continue to the USA

 

Brian

[runagmc]

Although I didn't make it, I would like to say I appreciate your work Chris, as well as the others who make sword shows and shinsa possible in this part of the world. Hopefully, I will be able to make some in the future... It's really too good of an opportunity to miss, even though it always seems there are things that need to come first...

 

I thought about making the 6-7 hour trip, just to stop by, look, and turn around for a 6-7 hour trip back... but it didn't happen.

[Soshin]

As has been said, Miyano Sensei was a last minute scratch due to illness. He was deeply saddened by his inability to attend but his doctor had the final say and prohibited him from attending. I know that this was deeply disappointing to many but there was nothing that could be done. He promised he would be reviewing all the photos and data taken at the event and personally review everything. He will thus be adding his stamp on the kanteisho for those items that pass. Knowing the knowledge and experience of this team, he had the utmost in confidence that they would do an excellent job on par with their past shinsa.

 

Hi Chris B.,

 

Sorry to read that Miyano Sensei was not able to make the trip due to illness. It is good that he is still going to participate in the shinsa by reviewing all of the photos and information. I hope he recovers quickly and will be attending the next overseas shinsa.