Minneapolis Shinsa and Show

[Jimmy R]

Hats off to Chris and Larry for organizing an amazing show. Thanks to all the other people who contributed as well. Amazing stuff from the unequaled aesthetic of Nihonto. We are all packing up our treasures and heading home. Off to the airport for me.

Thanks again,

Jim

[Derek]

Wow, what a wonderful event! Huge cheer to Chris and Larry for a really great time. I met some amazing people, got to hold some great swords, and my katana papered!

 

 

-Derek

[Surfson]

I would like to add my voice to those extolling the organization of the show by Chris and Larry. Well done! Cheers, Bob

[Mark]

I agree, larry, Chris, and everyone else who helped made the weekend great! I heard a lot of possitive comments about the shinsa.

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Good to hear that the show and shinsa when well. Wish I could have been there. Maybe next year's show. That's assuming it becomes like the other regular shows across the USA. Still waiting to hear back from Chris about my tsuba being confirmed as a extra large Chinese belt buckle by the NTHK-NPO.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[Justin Grant]

I too am sorry I missed it, but Chris has my Wakizashi and I am also waiting to hear if I can use it to clear the brush on the back 40...

 

Justin

[Peter Bleed]

Let me add my positive comments. I enjoyed the gathering at Minneapolis. The gang was well-formed. There was a good mix of relatively young and relatively old collectors. There were lots of things to look at and things did move. Everything was very well run. I did some mix and match - took a risk on a blade trade, and also came home with a couple of Namban tsuba. I also watched a couple of items move thru the Shinsa (I was going to say 'pass thru the Shinsa, but that would not be semantically correct). The team worked very hard and I think gave everything a close and expert examination.

Let me also say that this show convinced me that the sword market is becoming extremely rational. The major "buyers" candidly admitted that they were buying for eBay. I think that means that almost anybody can have a pretty good sense of what stuff is worth. There are very few bargains and sleepers.

Peter

[Stephen]

Hope someone took some pix, truly sorry i missed it.

[Ed]

I felt the show went quite well overall. Chris and Larry did a great job of keeping everyone happy. It was well organized and the shinsa ran smoothly. Didn't seem to be an over abundance of general public coming in, though I wasn't keeping count. The newspaper and TV station was supposed to cover the show but were a no show. Watching the news Saturday morning, I saw where the women's basketball team had won the championship and were scheduled to return home at 1400. I suspect the sword show was brushed off to cover the return of the home towns winning team.

 

The shinsa team performed an exhausting task like true professionals. If I remember correctly, I think Chris told me that they had done 133 swords Saturday alone. The majority of everyone seemed to be happy with their results as the pass rate seemed to outweigh the fail. Of course no one is happy when a piece fails to pass, but that is human nature. Personally, my results were more favorable than not. I had submitted seven swords, and one tsuba, with six passing and two failing.

 

Iaido and Ikebana demonstrations as well as a lecture on tamahagane were given. An exhibit of Shinshinto Swords featuring some outstanding examples was well attended.

 

A very enjoyable weekend (except for when my wife dragged me to the Mall of America )

[Ed]

A few more photos of the show.

[Jean]

Thanks a lot Ed for the pictures and for people who organize it.

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just heard back from Chris yesterday night. My tsuba that I submitted passed shinsa and therefore was not determined to be a extra large Chinese belt buckle. Thanks for posting photos of the show. I wish I could have made the trip.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[sensei215]

Just getting settled in and have to take a moment to thank Larry and Chris for a tremendous job in organizing and running the show. I was able to renew several old

acquaintances and able to meet several new ones. I have done 7 shinsas before this and I think this was possibly the best in the way it was conducted. I was literally the last person to go through the shinsa and had the opportunity to watch the team at work. They were careful and took their time coming to their decisions. I

had ten pieces submited and was very happy with results. A tanto by Kajihei which he actually signed and dated along with the engravers signiture and a customer ordered tanto by Masao. All the katana did well including 3 very fine Bizen blades.

I 'm looking forward to the next one in Florida.

 

Tim S

[Nico W]

Will there be another show this year in Minneapolis?

 

Nico

[cabowen]

Nothing planned.