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why shinshinto


seppuku

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I been pondering why do I collect shinshinto?

Is it the higher price tag or the general health of the sword, perhaps the beauty of the the sword. I find swords from all periods have beauty but why only shinshinto make me want to rip out my wallet. I have bought older and newer, but I always come back to shinshinto.

PERHAPS BEING UP THE PAST 48 HRS IS ROTTING MY BRAIN.

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I started with Hizento and collected them for many years. An exhibit of Soshu blades at one sword show made me interested in Soshu Den and koto blades. Although I still have many Shinto blades my favourites are mostly koto pieces thesedays. It took a number of years collecting to appreciate suguha rather than the exuberant midare/choji of Hizento but I now do.

Yes Shinshito blades generally in good condition but if you look and are willing to pay for it you can get Shinto and Koto blades in excellent condition. I think that the longer you collect the higher the standards that you set foryour collection become. One usually buys only blades better than what you currently have rather than worse.

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For me Soshu. And most of the schools associated and influenced by Soshu. The main reason is I find them visually stunning. Obviously all the known smiths work, but also the later Hitatsura hamons. Also Bizen as it is one of the longest running traditions. My wallet has been my limiting factor. It's not easy (for me) to afford what they (soshu) usually fetch. I found patience helps. In the process of closing on my next piece now, and I am excited to see this one. I could certainly have more pieces in my collection, but what I do have are decent examples. I've found that what older collectors told me time and time again has held true. You can learn more from a single good example than many bad ones.

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Gentlemen

I

Wondering what others members collect and why

Throughhout my collecting life, I have harboured an abiding interest in Hizen-to. This was because my kendo sensei came from Saga and arranged for me to meet a number of Nabeshima - mad collector's on visits to Saga. As I wrote in the introduction to Robert Robertshaw's fine book on the subject, these collectors saw Hizen swords as the living embodiment of Bushido, so how could I not collect them also? In those heady early days I would buy almost anything with Hizen on the nakago and so had many waki-Hizen-to but now I concentrate only on the main 4 lines, viz Tadayoshi/Tadahiro, Masahiro, Yukihiro and Tadakuni, I have good examples of all of these. I used to be asked why did I buy those boring blades with suguha hamon? Of course, suguha is only boring if you don't fully understand what you are looking at, and I have even heard it called "the conniseur's hamon"!!! Also, of course, the collecting of Hizen-to is facillitated by the existence of many good reference books, some in English and the availability of good examples at reasonable prices.

 

In more recent years, I have also developed an interest in Bizen works from shinshinto times. In particular, I have managed to acquire a very fine katana by Koyama Munetsugu a well as a good wakizashi by his teacher, Chounsai Tsunatoshi, both of which have excellent polishes. Swords such as these are eminently collectable but were less appreciated 10 or 15 years ago. However it is obvious that they are of fine quality, in healthy conndition and often affordable. In the 1970/80's one would never consider anything later than koto but this was a demonstabley naive attitude which no longer persists. It is unlikely that many collectors today would be able to buy the best koto (Masamune, Go Yoshihiro etc.) but this does not really matter. The serious student can see, study and even handle such things in Japan and I find the desire to own them, a trancetory thing anyway, is an unrealistic and generally unattainable thing.

Finally, a brief word on gendaito. There can be no doubt that many gendaito are well made and very collectable. Certainly in the 1970's the Japanese market virtually ignored gendaito as they were viewed as part of Japan's recent militaristic and inglorious past. It was Western collectors who were responsible for initially re-awakening interest in gendaito, especially with swords made at Yasukuni shrine at Kudanshita in Tokyo. These latter swords were also rehabilitated by the polisher, Fujishiro, who lived very close to the shrine. Personally, I have only one gendaito, which was made by Kasama Ikkansa Shigetsugu in 1939.

 

A collector must buy the very best quality he can afford and not harbour unrealistic ambitions a this only creates a frustrated and unhappy feeling..

Here endeth the sermon according the Clive

 

Best wishes for the New Year

Clive Sinclaire

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Clive, that was well said. I have two swords that are not Gendaito. Well one is a transition piece, as he began in Shin Shinto. This is a Bungo Hidenaga dated 1904. The other is a Koyama Munetsugu, which I managed to pick up at an arms fair very cheap. I have no qualms about collecting from any period, I have just been fortunate that, in collecting Gendaito, many good examples have and still come my way.

PS

Yesterday I picked up a Kanetoki (Kojima Kanemichi's first signature) with a Horimono.

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Clive,

I fully agree with the points you make. My collecting career which started in the early 1980,s has run through various phases including anything vaguely Japanese, Gunto with ambitions to be family heirlooms, Hizen-To and more latterly koto pieces associated with Yamashiro or Yamato traditions. I am hopeful that within the next couple of months I will have succeeded in reducing my collection to three or four pieces which represent the schools and period I am most interested in. This alongside a reasonable library which is the only thing I intend to continue to develop in years to come.

I whole heartedly agree with your comment about having unrealistic ambitions, I have caused myself (not to mention those around me) considerable heartache when trying to find ways to acquire pieces that in reality were beyond my reach. However the counter side to that is that if one doesnt have such ambition it is unlikely that we would stretch to achieve that better goal. Certainly if all planned comes off the blades I will end up with are in my view and based on my areas of interest, well beyond any expectation I may have had 5 or 10 years ago.

I think it is great that we all have different areas and aspects of this subject that excite us. It keeps the subject and discussion alive and vibrant. What I think is equally important is that our preferences should not blind us to the beauty and value of other work. I am a devoted kamakura fan but hope I can still appreciate good shinto and gendaito work. I hope those with a passion for later work can also appreciate the beauty of earlier pieces.

The key factor regardless of period should be quality. I think there is much to learn from good work from all periods BUT it must be good work. I seriously question how much can be learned from battered, tired and poorly maintained mediocre examples which are often offered as "study pieces".

 

My turn to start sounding like a preacher (sorry) I shall return to my hermits cave in the north!

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I whole heartedly agree with your comment about having unrealistic ambitions, I have caused myself (not to mention those around me) considerable heartache when trying to find ways to acquire pieces that in reality were beyond my reach. However the counter side to that is that if one doesnt have such ambition it is unlikely that we would stretch to achieve that better goal. Certainly if all planned comes off the blades I will end up with are in my view and based on my areas of interest, well beyond any expectation I may have had 5 or 10 years ago.

 

Paul

I think the key word is "nrealistic. If you are achieving your objectives that have been cultivated and developed over the years, then clearly, your ambitions are, by definition, NOT unrealistic.

Now its back to my New Year's day oshigata drawing - Happy New Year

Clive

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A collector must buy the very best quality he can afford and not harbour unrealistic ambitions a this only creates a frustrated and unhappy feeling..

Here endeth the sermon according the Clive

 

Fully agree, having learned it the hard way :)

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David,

i would be very interested to see some pics, if you have the time, of your new "kanetoki" in the military section as i have a gunto with mei " noshu seki ju kanetoki kore saku" possibly 1930's with no arsenal marks or date.

thank you

Markc

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