Placing a blade in space and time There us a traditional order to looking at a blade: Shape (sugata) tells when it was made Sori:koshi zori: Heian, Kamakura, Nambokucho torii zori: Nambokucho, Muromachi saki zori: Later muromachi, Shinto Taper: how much and where? Width: motohaba, sakihaba. Width from back to edge Thickness at the mune: motokasane, sakikasane Shinogi: high or low. High shimogi gives the blade a diamond…
September 29, 2018, lecture on Soshu Den at the gallery Seattle Art Sword Token Kai Japanese Sword Study Series #5: Soshu Tradition 1:00 PM Saturday, September 29, 2018 Japanese Art Swords A gallery of fine blades and related art Located in Rain City Fencing Center 1776 136th Pl NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 This seminar will cover the history and general workmanship of the Soshu sword making…
July 28 seminar at the gallery Seattle Art Sword Token Kai Japanese Sword Study Series #4: Bizen Tradition 1:00 PM Saturday, July 28, 2018 Japanese Art Swords A gallery of fine blades and related art Located in Rain City Fencing Center 1776 136th Pl NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 This seminar will cover the history and general workmanship of the Bizen sword making…
#3 in a series of seminars on the appreciation of nihonto Seattle Art Sword Token Kai Japanese Sword Study Series #3: Yamashiro and Yamato Traditions 1:00 PM Saturday, June 2, 2018** Japanese Art Swords A gallery of fine blades and related art Located in Rain City Fencing Center 1776 136th Pl NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 This seminar will cover the history and general workmanship of the two earliest…
References for the Seattle Art Sword Token Kai meeting I have found these two sites to be excellent resources for research and interesting stuff about Nihonto:https://markussesko.com/kantei/http://www.sho-shin.com/contents.htmI referred to them extensively while putting together my talk. I also used a number of books from my own reference library, but these two sites are out there and available. I highly recommend them.
Photo essay on Yoshindo Yoshihara and Yoshikazu Joe Pierre posted a nice link on FB (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1725109617721256/) to a photo essay (text in Japanese) on the Yoshindo forge. Some nice pictures of the forge in operation, and photos of blades by four generations of the family. Enjoy!https://www.starflyer.jp/inboard/magazine/special/pdf/201711.pdf
A note on blade photography I am constantly experimenting with better ways to photograph a highly reflective, compound curved, multi-angled, shiny surface to actually reveal some of the crytal structure that the human eye sees when examining a blade. Some blades are pretty simple. A wakizashi or tanto in a transparent sashikomi polish is fairly easy to photograph. You can either use a longer lens or bring the camera…
Two new shinsakuto in the sword gallery Two blades, both made in the fall of 2006, have been added to the sword gallery. There is a truely lovely blade in koshirae by the shinsakuto smith Higo Kikuchi ju Koretada. It is pushing ni shaku go but the shape and bohi give it a light and very balanced feel. The mounts are a combination of new saya and tsuka with an Edo period tsuba and menuki. A very nice piece of work.The second blade…
