The Art of the Japanese Sword
A special exhibit by the mukansa Japanese swordsmith, Yoshindo Yoshihara (吉原義人)

August 17 and 18 (Friday and Saturday), 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm
August 19 (Sunday), 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Presented by
Japanese Art Swords
A gallery of fine blades and related art
1776 136th Place NE
Bellevue, WA 98005
http://www.japaneseartswords.com/
On the mezzanine of Rain City Fencing Center

This event will be a great opportunity to talk with Yoshindo about Japanese swords and culture. Several of his blades and related metal work will be on exhibit. His latest book will be available for sale. A special feature of this exhibition will be an opportunity for five individuals to make a gassaku tanto with Yoshindo sensei.

A gassaku sword is a blade made cooperatively by more than one person. The tanto will be forged by Yoshindo and his apprentices in Japan. You could work with Yoshindo to apply the clay to the tanto’s blade to form the basis of the hamon and then fire and quench your tanto with him. He will sign the blade with both your name and his.

This special gassaku workshop is available by reservation for five individuals. The price includes the blade, gassaku workshop, polish, habaki, and shirasaya. For questions about reservations and cost, please e-mail [email protected].


About Yoshindo Yoshihara(吉原義人)
He is the third-generation swordsmith in his family. Yoshindo lives and works in Tokyo . Yoshindo has been named an Important Cultural Property of the city and prefecture of Tokyo, and is a mukansa (top-ranked) swordsmith in Japan.
He is the only contemporary swordsmith from which both the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art have purchased Japanese swords for their collections. He has also dedicated many swords to the Ise Shrine in Japan.