So obviously not all seki stamped blades were as inferior as first thought but when I mentioned my findings very few of the serious nihonto collectors would consider what I tried to tell them. . . and 5 years later here we are. But have things changed that much? . . . not really! So who are these people buying up Gunto, well from what I can gather it is a mixture of new nihonto enthusiasts some of the older (not in years…but experience) but open minded nihonto enthusiasts and militaria collectors. What does this mean for the future of collecting? . . for starters… a bigger bank balance to afford the price increase, this also means that the guys just starting out have fewer options for a cheap beginners sword. But does greater interest mean we will make more discoveries into the manufacture of blades made during the showa era?. . . . maybe but that would mean often challenging established views and opinions.

I will make brief mention that Adrian Schlemmer has been working on chemical analysis which is already proving to be useful in uncovering information on the manufacture of nihonto. Craig has been polishing Gunto and other modern steel blades for a few years now but has always stuck to the more classical old school japanese Sashikomi. Over the last year we have been working on discovering different polishing methods and materials to bring out hada that has been hidden under a war time polish. Craig has been producing some very nice jobs recently with some startling results, I would like to see these blades in a couple of years time once the polish has time to season. Now on the other side of this coin while we have a larger amount of ww2 era swords going into private collections (often permanently or until said collector dies) a good deal of these are Militaria collectors which means for them the more original condition the better. Now while I personally think Gunto koshirae is ugly and impersonal, that’s just my opinion…others may love it which in itself is fine and good for posterity, what the real problem is that a lot of these guys would choke on their beer if you suggested that they get the blades polished even if it was an Ikkansai Shigeteru because then ” it’s not in it’s original condition”.

Then there are the ones who enjoy “restoring” the sword to it’s former glory, yet still insist on sticking the polished (and often straightened and repaired) blade straight back into the saya it was originally housed in. Now this is where the problems begin, firstly putting a fresh polished blade in an old un-cleaned saya is inviting trouble like dirt, grit,and possibly old rust, now with Gunto mountings you have the additional problem of corrosive lubricants. It seems illogical to go to the effort and expense of “restoring” a blade either by full polish or even just a surface polish to counter oxidisation with nugui and then stick it into the very item that aided in it’s deterioration.  Now here is where things get even more perplexing… when the koshirae is not original to the blade or they pieced the koshirae together themselves which sometimes means that the saya is not original, yet they still insist in putting the blade right back in there. The other problem is when I have seen great antique blades stored in gunto koshirae (blades from smiths like Rai kin michi, Uda Kunimune, Soshu Tsunahiro and many others) yet when I suggest storing them in a shira saya I’m met with a death stare like I ate their dog (and maybe I did…but that’s besides the point…hahaha).

Anyway…the point is if a lot of blades continue to go down this path the ww2/Gendaito/Showato era of swords may lose some very special pieces and ignorance will prevail.

“Hair washed with the juice of women藁灰, and then scrubbed, dried hard in high quality lacquered hair, wrapped in a sheet of cypress make. Among those with red hair is good hair to be used.”

I had a good giggle… not sure I want to order paint brushes made of that kind of hair….

Just had to share…

T

Hi All
Just back from Sydney, feeling tired but pleased with the outcome of the Taikai/Shinsa.

While a couple of my blades got pink slipped (much to my surprise) I feel the trip down was well worth it. It was nice to catch up with some old faces and to meet some new ones, as well as put some faces to clients that I have known only through emails or phone calls. David’s talk on Gendaito was great despite some distractions from the back (Dave your focus was terrific). Adrian was busy juggling everything as always but was kind enough to remember to put his pants on before answering the door after having a sleep while guarding the Taikai room after hours….thank you Adrian.

My bujutsu student Isaac did an excellent job as Security…no one was going to get by without a metal scan including the Shinsa team LOL. I had a chance to catch up with Andrew Ickeringill (another Melbourne boy) who is studying to be a Togishi (sword polisher) in Japan. We discussed a number of things from reptile collections to graffiti art as well as possible future joint projects. His talk on his experience in Japan was professional and well presented, the room was silent for the whole duration as everyone listened intently.

John and his partner (Nihonto Australia) did an amazing job at juggling child responsibilities (and Tina and I know how hard that can be) and professionalism and had a fantastic range available over the two days. Craig (togishi of Gunto and Iaito) worked well at answering everyones questions at our table when I was not available.

Jerry from Melbourne was kind enough to loan me his sword for display that I had previously mounted… this sword also generated a lot of conversation as [1] it is a stunning example of a Hitatsura hamon especially for a Shinsakuto and [2] the Shinsa team couldn’t find out if the smith was still alive, and still cant. The blade is on the front page of the Jigoku Studios website and will be on display in the gallery in the next couple of weeks.

Scott from Enhance Wealth came down with us and was kind enough to donate his time to discuss the future of swords for investment and why now is the time to get into Nihonto instead of the more traditional investments. He was also kind enough to take a lot of photos and videos for me while I was busy with clients.

The 2011 Taikai Book will be available in a couple of weeks with only 100 copies published for the first edition (make sure you reserve a copy). I have to thank Jim and Terry for additional photos and videos some of which will be put up on youtube in the next week or so. More info on the book will be available in the next day or so.

In the lead up to the Shinsa I had some over ambitious ideas about what I would take and how I would present it, I had planned a number of unique artistic pieces as well as the standard buke zukuri koshirae all to be displayed under lights with discriptions of each. Unfortunately I had spent a lot of time on unavoidable day to day issues as well as the usual networking and accommodating requests from clients (all of whom I consider friends) all ways telling myself that I can squeeze them in. The end result was I ended up only taking about an eighth of what I wanted and still having to finish a couple of tsukamaki jobs and final lacquer polish on a couple of Saya there. Although I would have liked to have had it all completed and as planned I was pleased with the response I received from all that stopped by.
The Wakasa nuri was very popular as well as the Jabaramaki Tsuka giving me a chance to hear from collectors what type of tastes and styles they would like to have available as well as giving them a chance to discover styles they were unaware of. I will be finishing the remainder of the jobs that got left at home and will be making a number of them available for purchase over the next month or so. This will give people a chance to own some very unique pieces well below the cost of having it custom ordered.

All in all it was a great trip and it would not have been possible for us to have been there or for Jigoku Studios to exist as you know it if it was not for my amazing wife Tina who took time off work to help volunteer at the Shinsa and help keep me organised and the website on line…. Thank you Boo you rock.

Kam

We are looking to move away from using our home number for the business to help us gain a little more home/work/life balance (and stop the baby being woken up at night by calls).

The home number will still be in use, and don’t be afraid to use it, but please remember that we have a young family, and avoid using it after 7pm at night, particularly on the weekend.

You are always welcome to call our new mobile number (Kam’s) 0447 004 368 which will now be our main business number and should help us having to change numbers each time we move house.

Til next time.

T

A few people have spoken to us in the past about getting together a sword study group. An informal get together once every few months where we can gather, share our new acquisitions and hopefully learn from each other. If you would be interested in being a part of such a group, leave us a comment. If there is enough interest, we’ll make a time for the first get together.

Our new location is in Sippy Downs, it is a bigger place which allows Kam more space to work and more space for our little family and for myself (Tina) and my business.

We’re still playing a bit of catch up after last years delays, but we will get up to date as soon as we possibly can. We are still trying to contact Michael T, so Michael, if you are reading this, please call us because we have tried contacting all your details and cannot reach you.

We look forward to 2011, its going to be a big one, a busy one, but a great one, we have a lot of changes and new things coming… so keep an eye out!

Happy March to All.

T