Hans Koga Book - YUHI

[Barrie B]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone purchased or received a copy of Hans Koga's (Koga-bijutsu) book, YUHI - Mindset and techniques for crafts of handle-wrapping and Japanese sword furniture? 

 

I would be interested to hear back about the book please if anyone has received a copy.

 

Thank you.

 

Barrie.

[Ken-Hawaii]

I can't even find it in a Web search, Barrie. Must be pretty specialized.

[cuttingedge59]

Hi ,

This is a self published book thru a Japanese  printing company. 

I think there was a post on  facebook recently.

 

regards

Chris NZ

[Barrie B]

Hi,

 

Yes, it was posted on Facebook and I thought it might be a good read, since I like Koshirae and he purports (is that the wrong word?) to make Koshirae and Tsuka.. I know there has been some bad press about him recently and I don't want to get into that. FWIW, he is not replying to my emails either. 

 

I was just wondering if the book was worth having..

 

I am guessing no members have purchased this book.

 

Barrie.

[Brian]

I think we would like to, if anyone finds a source.

[Lee Bray]

Seems Hans Koga has used this apparent book as a scam.

 

Paul Martin's page -

https://www.facebook.com/The.Japanese.Sword/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARAIWFEVRNzY8BPXcdiCVf8ogJr__M6oo8Blr_Ktd1LcYiZLuZiUiOrPyEWHtotdzaZmwow8tIp9lTVt&hc_ref=ARSGqcU46uACoBszNulDiNr2da2uIQNz2dIYcGCzJm_7_lhxPc1_EQHe8JWss09nrlc&fref=nf

 

A translated post from Izumi Koushiro -

From now on, we would like to particularly warn international sword enthusiasts to please be careful of the Swedish person who goes by the name of Hansuke (Hans) Koga (Real Name Hans Igelstrom) who currently works as a Tsukamaki (handle wrapper) in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. He appears to have studied a little, but is not a fully fledged craftsman. However, because he can speak English, he seems to get some requests for work (from overseas).

When he appeared on (Japanese) TV last year, he claimed that he was the only person who could do Higo Koshirae (mountings). As you would expect, the local craftsmen complained to the TV station, and the program was stopped from being rebroadcast.

First of all, Mr. Koga was looking after about ten swords of an acquaintance of mine, but he sold two of the best ones out of them without permission and has not returned the money. That is a crime. Since last year, the victims (my acquaintance) appointed me as an agent to pursue Mr. Koga. I consulted with a lawyer, but even if we filed a lawsuit in a civil trial and Mr. Koga did not have the ability to pay the money, it just costs more money such as lawyer fees. As there has been no attempts by Mr. Koga to pay money back, my acquaintance is trying to make his case.

Furthermore, Koga Hansuke recently wrote and published a book. He has received payments from customers but has not sent the books. This is a complete scam.

Mr. Koga was renting a workplace in a private village run by Tamana City in Kumamoto, but he stopped renting there at the end of March (2020). It turns out that he was only renting the space at the Folk Village, the problem was that they allowed it without properly vetting Mr. Koga. I realize that the person in charge understands that non-Japanese who live in places like the private folk villages will also become a kind of advertisement/attraction. However, I would like to ask those who lend without checking carefully to reflect a little on their actions .

In any case, we will pursue Koga Hansuke to stop using Japanese traditional crafts as a cover. This is a notice for Japanese and International swords enthusiasts to be careful.

Koushiro Izumi
Trustee: Nihonto Bunka Shinko Kyokai (NBSK)

[Guido]

And another statement by the accomplished tsukamaki-shi Iiyama Takashi:

 

Koga Hans has been featured in various media. Among them, was an article saying that he trained at my place, etc. So, I requested a correction to the WEB page because it was incorrect. They corrected the article to say that he learned in Kameari. He paid me for a few months tuition and I only taught him some basics. Additionally, he cancelled lessons three times without notice. So, I stopped teaching and told him not to come anymore. Therefore, he must have continued to do it self taught. Of course, he can teach himself if he wants. However, I must say clearly that I am not his teacher. He doesn’t want to be told that. I think that he has been using my name to make people think he is properly trained to procure work. He is a nuisance.

[Gordon Sanders]

Spoke to Hans recently and appears that most all books that he has are sent, he is waiting on another print run to fulfill the rest.

 

Any received them yet? I can imagine with the challenges in shipping these days because of the virus that there are even more hiccups.