NTHK Shinsa - Sydney, Australia

[Rich T]

Dear Sydney Shinsa Attendees,

 

The Nihon Token Hozon Kai is extremely reluctant to take the follow steps regarding shinsa fees for the upcoming Sydney shinsa; however, given the steep appreciation of the Japanese yen against the Australian dollar, the present fees are significantly less than the fees charged here in Japan. Given the added costs of airfare, hotel and meals, without an increase in the fees, the NTHK will be unable to hold the shinsa. The present advertised fees are as follows:

 

Swords: Submission A$100, pass Origami fee A$100

Koshirae: Submission A$100, pass Origami fee A$100

Kodogu: Submission A$50, pass Origami fee A$100

 

The new fees that we are forced to ask for with your patience and understanding are:

 

Swords: Submission A$150, pass Origami fee A$150

Koshirae: Submission A$100, pass Origami fee A$150

Kodogu: Submission A$100, pass Origami fee A$150

 

We realize that these increases may result in some of those planning to submit items for shinsa to cancel. Unfortunately, given the present situation, that is an eventuality we must accept. It is with a heavy sense of responsibility that we take these steps. We want to hold the finest shinsa we can, but under the present economic circumstances, without this increase, we find that to be impossible. I beg your indulgence and hope for your support.

 

Gordon L. Robson

Director

Nihon Token Hozon Kai

[Adrian S]

Hello All,

 

Thank you Richard for posting Gordon's announcement here and for your support. When we first calculated the fees we were working with an Australian dollar that was buying 100 yen, now we are barely getting 60 yen, unfortunately the economics of the situation must be faced. We can not expect the NTHK to come here at their own expense and loose money to boot. I will update the website shortly with the new prices. As stated, this Shinsa is still a great deal even at the new prices and is an opportunity not to be missed.

 

For those of you that have made bookings, I will be emailing, writing and calling you personally very soon in regards to deposits already taken. Please be patient as it will take a few days.

 

regards,

Adrian Schlemmer

info@sydneytokenkai.com

[Guido]

Please keep this thread on topic, i.e. "official" announcements only. Other replies have been deleted.

[Adrian S]

Hi everyone,

 

Well.. its done and dusted, Sydney NTHK Shinsa and Taikai turned out to be great sword fun for all. I am still getting over it, catching up on sleep and sorting out but I wanted to take the time to send out my thank yous.

 

The shinsa team was a pleasure to work with, approachable, down to earth and professional. I was extremely impressed with the standard. Gordon especially worked like a demon. All the shinsa volunteers were exceptional, we all had fun, learned a great deal and ran a slick operation, thanks guys.

 

The presenter did a great job, even with a few last minute hic ups getting the swords through customs and making it hard. It all turned out in the end, thank you for your generous time and effort. A very special thank you to Roger Robertshaw, you did the most unbelievable job mate, way above and beyond what any organiser would ask for. I'd jump on a plane and return the favour anytime mate, thanks.

 

To the contributors, we loved seeing your swords, thank you for being so generous. to the Taikai volunteers, thank you for your help too.

 

To the dealers who flew in from overseas. Your support was greatly appreciated, I'm glad you did a few good deals and I hope you made some long term contacts and friends.

 

I'm beat, so if you will excuse me I'll do a shinsa run down in a day or two. What I can say is that the standard was very high and the pass rate was much better than average. If Gordon gets to it before me he would be far more informed to fill you guys in on the shinsa results.

 

Now for the big news!! We had a huge demand to do it all again, so I am happy to announce that the Sydney Token Kai will conduct another NTHK shinsa and Taikai early 2011. If you missed out this time, it will be even better next time, so start saving for your ticket and shinsa fees!

 

Now a little sleep.

 

regards,

Adrian Schlemmer

[Ted Tenold]

Adrian,

 

Congratulations! Glad to hear you not only survived, but it went off well. Events like that are a testiment to the hard work and determination of folks such as yourself. We'll look forward to hearing more about it after you've recovered.

 

Enjoy a short pour and a pillow.

[David Flynn]

Congratualions Adrian.

 

As a volunteer and and member of the Sydney Token Kai, It must be said, what a wonderful event. Except for a shakey start (computer problems ), things went very well. The volunteers did a marvelous job. I would personally like to thank them all. The Shinsa team were quite surprised at the high pass rate and reflected this at the best of show talk at the end of proceedings. Gordon gave the talk, explaining why they had picked these particular blades. The audience were enthralled as Gordon, explained step by step, why these blades were chosen.

To our overseas Visitors, whether dealer or submitter, thank you for your attendence. You certainly gave this show an international flavour. To our interstate collectors and dealers, also my heartfelt thanks, as this event has finally made us a united band of Australian collectors insteast of just the local groups.

I would also like to thank Sensei Yoshikawa and the Shinsa team, who worked tirelessly. I can't stress enough, our deepest appreciation to the NTHK.

Hope we see many more friends from home and abroad at the next shinsa in two years. Going by our first attempt, I believe the next show will be even better.

Thanks

David

[Rich T]

Hi all, I would like to echo Adrian's congrats to all. It was blast. Some of the highlites, Roger Robertshaw presented an excellent show on Hizen To with something like 20 swords covering the full range of Tadayoshi (this included, and I kid you not, a tits and ass section at the front., nice work Rog LOL). Bob Benson came and gave the tanto lecture he has presented in the US and Dr Gordon Robson and I presented a lecture on comparison of fittings from the Ko Mino, Ko Goto and Ko Kinko schools as well as a display of early iron tsuba. All shows were well attended and were received well.

 

There were a great selection of local and international dealers and I managed to pick up a nice little something :-)

 

I have added a few pics of the Shinsa area where I was the kodogu photorapher.

 

As Adrian noted, we had a great time, learnt a lot and enjoyed some great laughs and made plenty of new friendships. Looking forward to 2011 and planning already.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Adrian S]

Hello all,

 

I was so busy during the Sydney Token Kai show weekend I neglected to get my own pictures of the displays. Could anyone who took some pictures please contact me and send me copies at info@sydneytokenkai.com

 

greatly appreciated,

Adrian Schlemmer

[Goldy]

G'day All,

 

I know how you feel Adrian, I forgot my camera completely and lived too far away to race home and grab it. My camera phone pics really didn't do the event any justice. A huge thanks to you and your team for the event. Everyone I spoke to over the weekend is really looking forward to the next one. I enjoyed meeting some of the Aussie Nihonto community for the first time, quite a few I had emailed back and forth but it's always great to meet people face to face.

 

The highlight for me was Mr. Robertshaws' display and presentation. To have a blade from each Tadayoshi generation (1 to 9) in one place at the same time was a first anywhere in the world, for him as well as us (including 2 of the 4 known 7th generation blades). To see them was great, to hold each one was simply magic . Unfortunately, the Tadayoshi I submitted to the shinsa was pinked, made by one of the later generation mainline smiths but the signature didn't match apparently. Still, I have a real Tadayoshi and I'm very happy with that .

 

The only improvement I could suggest for the next event is to have the dealer room and presentation area's separated due to the noise. Only a little thing.

 

So, from a Token Kai/Shinsa virgin, I can't wait for the next one either. I know a great spot on the North Coast NSW where it could be held, resorts, beach, bush, airport, harbour etc...hint hint

 

Once again

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

It seems the sageo knots are misplaced (excepted on tachi)

[sisounek]

Hope it is not going for fees increase in Japan and the USA.

 

Well in the end it all seems , its all about money , not swords..............

 

 

Mike

[Brian]

Mike,

That is a rather odd and jaded comment to make? Care to explain what you mean by that?

Seems to me that most of these events are far more about swords and not so much about the money, based on the time, effort and work involved.

 

Brian

[Adrian S]

G'day Mike and all,

 

 

Actually it is all about the swords. All the volunteers worked hard for nothing, the presenters came here and paid for their trips out of their own pockets. The NTHK , after expenses make much less money than if you get the origami done in Japan and what little they do make goes towards publishing and research of their magazine. The organiser (yours truely) lost nearly $3000 on the deal. If we all didn't love the swords, it just wouldn't happen. One more thank you again to all who put their hands in their pockets to make this event a success. You guys are the best .

 

 

 

regards,

Adrian Schlemmer

[Guido]

I already removed some pretty outlandish comments about the Shinsa fees etc. when this thread was started. If I have to do that again, there will be consequences.

 

@ Adrian and the other volunteers: you guys did a phantastic job!

[falconj]

Hey Adrian,

that was the best ever event!! and you need to be congratulated, you are right, all the presenters Roger, Bob , Gordon and Mal Cox, all did a magnificent job, new info was absorbed and new friends and old were met, some trades and sales were done, doesn't get any better than that, 2010 has a better ring to it, don't you think???? than 2011 (odd number?) maybe 2011 to far away

email me off list, with your address, I took some photo's during the 3-4 days but had troubles with the camera, still some good shots, will put them all on disk and send it to you, you can have a laugh and edit whatever!

many thanks again for the blast!!!!!!!

regards

John W.A.

[Dick Tait]

Are there any statistics on this event - How many swords submitted? How many papered? Are the NTHK more likely to give their reasoning behind their decision at these "Foreign" events? Just interested.

[Chishiki]

Hi,

Just want to give my thanks to the organizers and presenters. The event was fantastic for sword collectors in this country. The venue location was great with lots of restaurants and cafes.

 

I was impressed with the people involved with the event, from the guys taking and tagging swords from the hopeful to the shinsa team. Everyone was happy and friendly, in particular Gordon Robson and Richard Turner who were quick to smile and laugh even though under pressure to get the job done. Congratulations to everyone.

 

The talks from the presenters were great and thanks to Roger for bringing all those swords for us to view. Logistically it was a huge effort. His talk was entertaining and informative.

 

The event and people, organizers and attendees made this a friendly, happy and informative weekend. A good time had by all.

 

Mark

[Brett]

Hey! That's me in the Billabong shirt, front row.

 

Haha, I joke. The day was excellent - the first real experience I have had with Nihonto and one of the best days of my reasonably short life.

 

Everyone was very friendly and all the talks very interesting, with Roger's very entertaining slideshow

 

I was very happy to meet lots of people and got some excellent advice.

 

Thanks to Adrian, all the presenters and dealers, and everyone who helped to make the day as good as it was

 

Thanks,

-Brett

[Chriso]

Well, what a great opportunity to put faces to names. Adrian and the volunteers really excelled in the organisation department. I actually overheard a number of people mentioning what a good time they were having, and I was certainly one of them. Great to hear that there are plans to do this again in a couple of years.

 

In addition it was great to catch up with the Melbourne boys who have the Nihonto display at the Art Gallery of NSW, their willingness to explain the finer points to this numptie was greatly appreciated and I didn't dribble on any of their display.

 

I'm hopeing that this will now provide an opportunity for interested parties in Sydney and Canberra to get together from time to time to dabble in our interest.

 

Cheers, all the very best and thank you for a great weekend

 

Chris O

[Adrian S]

Hello all,

 

Ok, here is a run down of the best of the shinsa. The team were surprised by the quality of submissions and the pass rate was very high (67% swords 78% fittings and koshirae). This is particularly interesting considering we do not have any Japanese trained polishers in Australia and many swords were in only passable condition. Anyway, here are the highlights keep in mind many of these swords would have pointed higher in good polish.

 

* Mumei Nagamaki naoshi katana, Den Yoshisada , son and student of O-Sa 77 points ( Juyo candidate )

* Signed and dated katana nagamei Osafune Yoshimitsu , early Muromachi 72 points

* Mumei ubu katana , Mihara Masaie 70 points

* Signed ubu tanto Mino Kanemachi 73 points

* Mumei ubu kiriba wakizashi, Higo Daigo Sadakuni 70 points

* Signed ubu tachi, Fujishima Tomoshige 70 points

* Signed ubu katana , Yamato Daijo Fujiwara Kunishige 72 points

* Signed ubu wakizashi, Rai Kinmichi (3rd) 70 points

* Signed ubu wakizashi later generation Bizen Iesuke 70 points

* Signed ubu katana Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi 73 points

* Signed and dated tanto Mino Kanehide 72 points

* Signed ubu katana Echigo no Kami Kanesada (2nd) 73 points

* Signed ubu katana nagamei Dotanuki 72 points

* Mumei katana Den Higo Daigo Kuniyasu 78 points ( a beauty)

* Signed and dated ubu katana Ishido Korekazu (7th) 72 points

* Signed ubu wakizashi Iyo Kanenaga 72 points

* Signed ubu wakizashi Etchu no Kami Masatoshi (3rd) 72 points)

* Signed and dated ubu katana Gendai Ikansai Shigetsugu 72 points

* Signed nagamei ubu katana Gendai Kanemitsu 70 points

* Signed and dated ubu katana Gendai Fukushima Masakazu 70 points

* Signed ubu katana Gendai Kanenonu (1st) 70 points

* Signed and dated ubu katana Gendai Suguhara Kagemori 72 points

* Signed ubu Tanto Gendai Takase Hideyake 72 points

 

Many other nice swords, fittings and koshirae. Overall a splendid selection.

 

regards,

Adrian Schlemmer

[Rich T]

I thought I would pop up a few more images I have on my lap top, thanks to Alan and Sue for some of these.

 

Rich

[Rich T]

2 more

[Rich T]

Hi all, , one last pic, I just received this photo from a mate of the display Gordon and I put on (*mostly Gordon) for his talk on Ko Mino, Ko Goto and Ko Kinko, plus some old iron tsuba.

 

The cabinet was not so great, but we made do. (sorry Adrian :-)

 

Rich

[Goldy]

Hi all,

 

Just wondering if anyone has received their NTHK Certs yet?

 

Cheers,

[Chriso]

G'day Craig,

Still waiting, I guess these things may take a bit of time, so I'm not concerned yet.

 

chriso

[Goldy]

Thanks Chriso, you're right, no need to worry, I think I remember 3 months being touted as the usual timeframe, give or take a few weeks.

 

Still looking forward to the next big Aussie event....

 

Cheers,

[Rich T]

Hi guys, I was asked to check in with the NTHK on that just this week, so I have asked Gordon and he is going to see if he can get some sort of ETA. When I hear something I will let you know.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Adrian S]

G'day to all,

 

Have just got an ETA from Gordon on the Shinsa papers. Looks like another 4 to 6 weeks. I will be sending them out Registered Post as soon as they arrive from Japan. Will let you all know if there is any further updates on this time frame.

 

cheers,

Adrian Schlemmer

info@sydneytokenkai.com

http://www.sydneytokenkai.com

[Goldy]

G'day Adrian, not sure if you are back in country yet but thought I'd ask if there has been any news about the papers yet (it's almost been 8 months)?

 

Cheers,

[Austo1]

Also wondering when one will receive the certificates. 8 months is an unusually lengthy time to wait for a certificate.

Doug Austin