Sugita Yoshiaki - juka choji

[drjoe]

one of paul martin's posted youtube videos shows sugita yoshiaki making a shinsakuto with juka choji without using clay!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_voOugY ... ure=relmfu

 

amazing! i would have never thought this possible.

 

what if anything do we know about how koto juka choji were made?

[John A Stuart]

There is much investigation of yaki-ire using the steam as having an insulating quality and quite amazing results. See Yoshindo Yoshiharu san et al. Leon Kapp. John

[drjoe]

There is much investigation of yaki-ire using the steam as having an insulating quality and quite amazing results. See Yoshindo Yoshiharu san et al. Leon Kapp. John

 

i just flipped through the book, but did not find any discussion of this, and yoshindo clearly uses clay for his bizen style choji hamon.

 

still wondering if clay-less tempering was common in juka-choji. i'm guessing not.

 

on a separate note, sounds like sugita-san just passed away this week. a timely post then highlighting his impressive work.

[Brian]

Yep, it is a great loss of a huge talent.

Condolences to all who knew him.

 

Brian

[kusunokimasahige]

Brian, do you mean Sugita Yoshiaki ?

That indeed is sad news

 

May the Kami guide his spirit on Takama-no-hara,

and may Buddha let him sit beside him as Bodhisattva.

 

KM

[cabowen]

Sad news indeed...I met him several times and he was always very gracious....best wishes to his family....

[drjoe]

Elsehwere Ford Hallam was kind enough to post a link to an entire page of Sugita-san's work:

 

http://www.justmystage.com/home/syouji3/index.html

 

I would still like to see an explanation of how the Juka Choji gets formed without clay. I can see the thickness of the blade acting as insulation and being able to see this potential in the glowing steel just prior to quenching, possibly san mai construction playing a role, and even the steam theory suggested above. What I don't understand is how you'd be able to control this -- e.g. where the ashi come from within the choji hamon, how you'd avoid getting tons of hitatsura (there is a fair amount in many of these blades), or how you'd ever expect the boshi to come our right...