'Blue' Samé Sharkskin Questions

[Tcat]

Dear all,

 

I am searching for some 'blue' samé.

 

Some of you will know this as the type of samé which can be found on WWII naval issue kai-gunto and kyo-gunto saya.

 

If a source does not currently exist for this type of samé, could anyone provide me with the name of the species of shark from which this skin comes? I really want to track down a hide of this.

 

Any and all help is much appreciated,

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Alex

 

Try this as a beginning:

 

http://www.sharkleather.net/

 

http://www.sharkleather.net/shark.asp

 

http://www.sharkleather.net/stingray.asp

 

As you are UK based, perhaps investigate Fashion Accessory Importers, it seems to be the realm of wallets, handbags etc...

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[Tcat]

Malcolm,

 

Thanks, but I am going to need rawhide rather than anything tanned.

 

Also, it shouldnt matter that I am in the UK....I am actually currently in China.

The rawhide however needs to get to the US somehow...

 

What I really need is the name of the species of shark from which 'blue' samé comes.

 

Regards,

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Alex,

 

A thought:

 

Is the colour a result of the original skin or the lacquer coating?

 

See Ohmura san's site for some different Kaigunto samegawa saya colours.

 

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_002.htm

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[Tcat]

Malcolm,

 

Thats great.

 

I have been in touch with Ohmura san about another question in the past - but what I need to know is where to get the rawhide!!

 

Shark species please, anyone??!!

[Guido]

I think it's called Aizame (アイ鮫) in Japanese, but I couldn't find the scientific name.

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Guido & Alex:

 

Bit of a long shot but there is a quasi medical product called Squalene made from Aizame Shark Liver:

 

"Squalene (From Shark Liver Oil - 500 mg)

by Ecological Formulas, Cardiovascular Research.

Squalene from shark liver oil is extracted from the Aizame shark whose natural habitat is in unpolluted ocean depths of 3000 feet in 35F waters. This superior source of fish liver oil is a product of Japan. Great care is taken in its preparation to insure potency and stability. 60 softgels."

 

http://www.rmsmedical.com/Merchant2/mer ... Code=NTanm

 

By extrapolation if you contact the Squalene production source, might they have skins left over?

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[Ian]

Hi This guy may help, and he is in the UK!

 

 

http://stores.ebay.com/Pietra-Dura-Etce ... 34.c0.m322

[sanjuro]

Guido.

 

Aizame is the skin of the white shark called Shirobuka in Japanese. There are both Chinese and Japanese sub genuses. The Chinese is best, being a bluer colour. The Japanese variety is called Kambarazame. I cant find the scientific name for either of the genuses< although by deduction it is probably a type of mako shark or possibly what we call a blue whaler in Australia.

[Tcat]

Many thanks for the info all!!

Guido, I guess I owe you another beer.

I am trying to track down some of this rawhide for a project, but apparently it is very difficult stuff to find..

Ide be lost without NMB, cheers guys

[Guido]

Aizame is the skin of the white shark called Shirobuka in Japanese.

Aizame is to my knowledge a species of shark - the skin would be called "Aizamegawa".

I can't find "Shirobuka" in any of my dictionaries, what are the Kanji?

[sanjuro]

Guido.

 

No kanji attached to the reference I came up with. The book I'm taking this from is the Book of Same' (Page 30) contained in Joly and Hogitaro's Sword and Same' by Arai Hakuseki. This information dates back to the 17th century, and although he usually gives the kanji for this type of reference, it is sadly missing on this occasion.

[Guido]

I just remembered that "Fukahire フカヒレ" is shark fin (usually in the form of a soup ), so the Kanji are probably 白鱶. I then googled both Aizame and Shirobuka for pictures, and found the two in my attachments. I also looked the entry Aizame up in The Book of Samé, and the sketch there resembles clearly the Aizame pic. I guess Inaba Tsûryû Shinzaemon (the original author) somehow got it wrong - or I'm missing something ...

[Justin Grant]

The aizame looks a lot like the Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Very common shark, easy to catch. Very coastal, and can be caught with nets.

[Justin Grant]

The aizame looks a lot like the Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Very common shark, easy to catch. Very coastal, and can be caught with nets.

[drbvac]

We even have them up here = they dont get very big though and I thought the same was mostly from rays?

Does sharksin have the bumps - I thought it just had ripples like sandpaper??

[Kevin]

Must admit that, looking at Ohmura's site, they all looked to have lacquered samekawa.

 

If you can't find whichever sharkskin you are looking for, we do dyed samekawa. The rawhide stuff used on swords, not the tanned material. No, the dye doesn't come out of the grip side onto your hands - not the way we do it. We've had someone using a sword with our dyed skins for training for a couple of years now with no problems. Since the skin isn't lacquered, it doesn't chip either.

 

Somewhat untraditional but it works, and doesn't have the drawback of lacquered samekawa. :-)

 

BTW, edited to remark that the shark skin - and dogfish skin - that I'm familiar with isn't bumpy, but very smooth, with lots of little denticles. They're like minute teeth - very rough if you try and rub your hand from tail to nose, but very smooth the other way. It's used as sandpaper in some parts of the world. You can find images of it on Google.

 

Kevin

[Guido]

Alex, Aizame seems to be still commercially available: just found pics on Iiyama-san's website (you have to scroll down a little): http://www.yk.rim.or.jp/~ryusui/tokukai.html. He understands English, so you might want to contact him about buying a skin.

The name is also given in Kanji there (藍鮫), so I found the scientific name: Centrophorus atromarginatus.

[Tcat]

Wow Guido, nice job!

People were starting to tell me you cant get hold of the stuff.

A great many thanks for this. Interesting to see the other types of samé on offer as well...