Namban kawa koshirae

[Peter Bleed]

Dear Colleagues,

I recently discovered an interesting article on the Dutch deerskin trade out of Taiwan and into Japan in early Edo times. This link will hopefully point anyone interested in the right direction.

 

https://www.academia.edu/35305851/Emergence_of_Deerskin_Exports_from_Taiwan_under_VOC_1624-1642_?email_work_card=view-paper

 

There is nothing in the article that is directly replated to swords, but we are all aware that so-called Dutch skin or "namban-kawa" was feature of Namban style. The odd pieces of that leather that I have seen are all pretty thick. In the conversations I have had about this stuff it was always assumed to be "European" and beef hide. I THINK(!) it should be possible to tell the difference between deed and cow, so I am wondering if there are any inspectable pieces of "Namban-kawa koshirae".

Anybody got any of this stuff?

Peter