Mekugi

[Ciro]

Dear Members,

i am looking for susudake bamboo mekugi in europe.

Any suggestions?

 

Best Regards.

Ciro

[Bugyotsuji]

Quick answer Ciro is "No, sorry." 

 

Longer answer is another question. "How soon do you need one?"

Another question, "Does it have to be perfect?"

Followed by, "Have you considered making one yourself?"

[shakudo]

Hi Ciro, not sure on susudake translation but a bamboo chopstick works when refined. I have about 3 dozen bamboo mekuji pegs- 7mm to 2 mm and about 50mm long so can be adjusted as needed- if thats what your after just postage mate but I'm  in Australia- chopstick easier and cheaper- if you cant, find a woodworker.

Cheers mate.

[Bugyotsuji]

Mike, susu-dake (as opposed to normal take) is blackened/smoked bamboo, traditionally found in the ceilings of old Japanese farmhouses. Over the centuries it turns almost as hard as iron. (Sometimes it becomes carbonized, splintery and over-done.  Avoid these.) Naturally ordinary bamboo is perfectly adequate and used just as often if not more so, but susu-dake adds the touch of the afficionado. I have a piece hanging off my keyring as a mekugi-nuki.

[Dave R]

I have bought from here, and found them helpful and relatively easy to deal with.   https://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/131

[b.hennick]

Bamboo knitting needles work well. Pre covid19 they could be found on thrift shops.

[Baka Gaijin]

Piers, Old Bean,

 

As resident, revered Japan Hand, and NMB Bugyo, your opinion would be greatly appreciated.

 

I was told, a long time ago, in a Dojo, far far away, when even God wore short trousers,  that the best Susu - Dake came from Madake Bamboo ( Phyllostachis Bambusoides ).

 

Have you encountered this?

 

Or were they just having friendly fun with the "Baka Gaijin"............

 

🙃

 

Hmm....... Perhaps another name change??

 

It's certainly an appropriate Nom de Guerre pour moi.

 

 

 

 

[vajo]

Make it by yourself Ciro. 

 

Or buy it here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mekugi-x-10-Bamboo-Susudake-Sword-Parts-Gunto-Katana-Tanto-Wakizashi-Japan-Made-/174367176211

[Ciro]

Thank you all for your comments.

That really helped me a lot.

[Bugyotsuji]

Malcolm, Madake or Giant Timber Bamboo can grow to 70 feet high. We have hundreds of them encroaching on the garden here. In our flexible friend Wiki's article it mentions how it is suited for making things such as shakuhachi. As to Mekugi, I can believe that what you heard was probably correct, although I have not run across this gem of wisdom myself. I have made pegs/pins for Netsuke, and Mekugi for guns and swords out of susudake; the patterns revealed in the cross-section can be bewitchingly beautiful. (See this example.)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllostachys_bambusoides

 

 

 

[Jacques D.]

As I practice tameshigiri, I often change my mekugi, and I make them in broken shinai slats.

[PNSSHOGUN]

For display I have found Ikea chopsticks work a treat and are inexpensive.

[jeremy]

I second Namikawa Heibei.  They should ship to Europe.