The Celestial Departure of Guido Schiller... R.I.P.

[Keichodo]

With a heavy heart from a recent phone call from Minako Schiller, I wish to report that Guido has taken his leave from this plane of existence! Guido was an early and a long time member of NMB! From his posts, you will recall he was not shy and well... he called a Panzer ... a Panzer! As a career diplomat, he served the German Embassy as an Attache in several Asian countries. He greatly enjoyed his two postings at the embassy in Tokyo. This was certainly his sweet spot because he was very much at home in Japan. In all our years of associating in Japan, I cannot recall a time when we didn't imbibe when meeting. any occasion was an opportunity or an excuse for a Kampai! We had no illusions of grandeur... it was either beer or nihonshu... or beer then nihonshu. 

 

We traveled a lot together domestically but only once internationally when we ventured over to Macao! Suspicious minds out there... I know what you are thinking! No, it was not to gamble! We had been invited to attend the gala events for the opening of the History of Steel in Asia Exhibition at the newly opened Macao Art Museum (MAM).  Guido, Roger Robertshaw, and I were honored guests for we contributed the entire display of Japanese swords, tsuba, and armor for the three month exhibition.  All our items from Japan were shipped through the Embassy diplomatic channel. Edged weapons from seven Asian countries were on display as the Chinese government made their pitch to demonstrate the historical importance of their homeland in the development of edged weapons.

 

Guido was an avid collector! When he was stationed in New York at the United Nations, he collected some fine Civil War firearms including a nice Sharps rifle, a Henry rifle, and several cap and ball revolvers. While in Jakarta, he put together a collection of Kris blades, and in Japan he was in Nihonto heaven and he developed a netsuke collection as well.

 

In mid 2021, during Covid, Guido was recalled to Germany to take his final posting for his remaining two years prior to retirement. To this end, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Her Excellency Ina Lepel sent out a limited number of invitations for the farewell dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Schiller held on May 17 at 7 p.m. at her residence. During this solemn period of emergency pandemic privation, on the day in question, my wife and I made our way to the German Embassy to determine if there really was cause for celebration and if the rumors were true.  In fact, Her Excellency Ambassador Ina Lepel, had indeed made great arrangements to send Guido and Minako Schiller back to Germany. It had not been determined if this action resulted from an infraction or if it were a benevolent gesture. It was entirely possible that Attache Schiller had been doing good work and this reassignment was, in fact, a reward. Yet, was it a reward to send a man home to sausage and sauerkraut after years of eating Tokyo’s finest sashimi and raw oysters? Is it even possible to willingly give up the range of heavenly sake found in Japan? What hypnotic spell could shots of Apfelkorn or Rumpel Minze Schnapps have over the infinite variety of locally brewed sake? To this day, these questions remain unanswered… unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions to compete with Guido's speculation on the missing Masamune sword. 

 

Like a Teutonic knight, loyal to the order, Herr Schiller was indeed packaged up and moved to his ancestral home. Unfortunately, the final stage of Guido's employment was not completed.  He suffered a massive stroke and fell into a coma from which he never recovered.  He remained in this state until October 10th, 2025. He is now only with us in our memories of his deeds, a man who served his country well as he rose to officer level in the army and then entered diplomatic service. Of greater importance was his service to his family, to his wife Minako and his daughter Hana. Sadly, Guido never got the opportunity to play with his new granddaughter. Guido is greatly missed... by me... his drinking buddy... I mourn this loss!

Edited October 17 by Keichodo

[O koumori]

Rest in peace Guido.

[Brian]

I have moved this to Community News, because Guido was such an important part of the community. I'm really sorry to hear this Bob. No doubt all of us were expecting it for years now. He has been in a comatose state for so long, and I was told there was no chance of recovery, so for him I think it is probably best. But it's terrible news for all who knew him.
Met him in Japan, and he was a real character. What a sense of humour! Guido was known to be blunt and to the point, which was an asset when teaching the finer aspects of collecting. But underneath that, he was a real knowledgeable guy who had a ton of info to share. And he knew how to party!
A giant of a man, I'll miss him terribly. Condolences to all who knew him and his family. What a sad loss to us all.
RIP Guido.

[Bob M.]

Very sad but not unexpected news. My condolences to all his family and friends.

 

I only had the pleasure of meeting Guido on a couple of occasions, during visits to Japan but will always remember the underlying sparkle of his personality and his pleasure in word games.

 

RIP Guido.

Your race now fully run.

[Andrew Ickeringill]

Thanks for letting us know Bob and sorry for your loss, and the nihonto community’s loss.

 

These last few years I had often thought about Guido, hoping through some miracle he might wake from his coma… not to be.

 

Guido was someone I respected very much, he was highly intelligent, full of knowledge and insight, and willing to share it, he also had a very sharp wit and more often than not our conversations would end in belly-laughing.

 

Many years ago, when I first set out to become a nihonto craftsman, there were very few people willing to help me, most would just dismiss me as a foolish foreigner, but not Guido. He offered to meet up with me in Tokyo, a complete stranger from the other side of the world, to discuss all things nihonto and nihon.

 

Over the years, we corresponded quite a bit, and we would sometimes meet up at nihonto related events, where we could continue our running in-jokes with each other.

 

He was a gentleman and a scholar... with a strong sugata!! May he rest in peace.

[Gakusee]

Many knew Guido for his acerbic wit, potent intellectual bon mot and direct, trenchant delivery. He was a man of many talents as we can see from the photos above. 
I would like to share a different, lyrical side to the man, larger than life. 
He did say he would chase any of us using his special service contacts if any of this ever surfaced but I think this is an important tribute to the great Guido. Well, I have cut the two songs he performed to a short illustrative snippet as Brian will probably not like 300MB of the entire performance on his server. 
 

[Gilles]

What a loss !

 

Rest in peace Guido.

[Brian]

My fondest memories of him are also on the yakatabune after the DTI. That is when his real character came out. He really enjoyed a party. I also have clips of him singing and entertaining us all. 
Here he is with 2.5 South Africans (because Ford lived in Cape Town for a while, we claim him just a little)


 

And on the yakatabune...I think that's Ted Tenold with him.

[Gakusee]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

My fondest memories of him are also on the yakatabune after the DTI. That is when his real character came out. He really enjoyed a party. I also have clips of him singing and entertaining us all. 
Here he is with 2.5 South Africans (because Ford lived in Cape Town for a while, we claim him just a little)


 

And on the yakatabune...I think that's Ted Tenold with him.

 

Yes, that is Ted in the second photo. 

 

So sad the the three great people in the right in your first photo are now gone. 

[Guest When Necessary]

Out of a long, cruel limbo and up into the bright stars at last.

Guido was the one man on this board I truly respected and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet him in happier times.

[Jussi Ekholm]

My condolences to family and friends.

 

I remember 20+ years ago as a young kid when I sent him a first private message at Sword Forum International, bit nervous but I was so happy that he replied. He was kind to help people with various topics and could scale his explanations so that discussion was possible with everyone.

[Soshin]

Hi Robert,

Thank you kindly for your thoughtful tribute to Guido. I never met him in person, but I remember him from the Nihontō Message Board website. My deepest condolences to his family.

[Katsujinken]

May his memory be a blessing. 

[Ted Tenold]

Robert,

 

Thank you for keeping in touch with Guido's family and letting us know.  I was so sad to hear that he was stricken with the stroke and hoped he'd somehow pull out of it.  For a while I felt that if anyone could, it would be Guido.  A couple of other European friends kept me informed of his condition.  My thoughts and wishes go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.  

 

I think of Guido often and reflect upon our "adventures in drinking"  in Tokyo when I visited, our email exchanges, and the times we share here on NMB as moderators for Brian.  Gads, how many years ago has it been now?  

 

Guido blessed us all with his glib logic, acerbic wit, and diplomatic ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way as they'd actually look forward to the trip.  :-)  I will add him to the list of cherished friends that I have been blessed to know, introduced through the joy and enthusiasm of Nihonto.  

 

While he has departed our company, there will be hearty laughter echoing from whatever part of the universe Guido wandered off to next.

 

Guido, mein freund...  Aufwiedersehen! Gute Reise! Wir sehen uns im nächsten Leben wieder!!  

[b.hennick]

Sad news to learn that we lost a treasure. The comments above are well said. He will be remembered by those who crossed paths with him. Fond memories, shared, live on.

[zanilu]

Sad to hear that! 

 

We had long private conversations on Washida school, especially on the later generation Mitzunaka. 

 

He has deep knowledgeable on the subject but he was also able to convey it in such a simple way to make it sound obvious... 

 

I will miss him a lot. 

 

Luca