The Marriott Hotel on the bay was again the venue for the latest To-ken Taikai hosted by the Northern California Japanese Sword Club. This is the fifth time that I have attended the show and, as much as seeing many Japanese swords, for me there is a great social aspect to the show, as well as the opportunity of exploring this great city and the surrounding countryside. For the first time the show was extended to cover 4 days allowing exhibitors to take advantage of the interesting and educational lectures whilst still having plenty of “selling time”. Whilst this was a good idea in principle, the long hours were tiring
For the student of the Japanese sword, there were many fine swords to be seen in the room. Especially interesting in a display case was a daisho, with koshirae of 2 Bizen Nagamitsu blades. I was anxious to see these blades in my hands and planned to “ambush” them as the display was dismantled at the end of the show but unfortunately my timing was poor and it had already been taken away when I checked at the end of the show. I would have liked to have also known the age of pristine koshirae. The local sword enthusiasts mounted a display of the work of the modern swordsmith, Yoshihara Yoshindo (who was present with Lonnie Kapp) that unusually included a modern made naginata in the Bizen style.
Naginata by Yoshihara Yoshindo
Elsewhere in the room were first class swords, nearly all in good polish with shira-saya, papers and often with saya-gaki by Tanobe Michihiro of the NBTHK. On several tables first class fittings could also be found. For me, this provided excellent viewing opportunities as I was not really in the market for buying and I am grateful to those dealers who allowed me to see and handle their pieces.
Nagamitsu Daisho
The lectures emphasised Yamato den, which does not seem to be encountered with the frequency of other traditions. This was started by Dr Gordon Robson of the NTHK who had brought along nine swords from Japan, which included a couple of Kanabo blades from his own collection, I believe. Gordon’s talk was interesting and accompanied (eventually!) by a printed hand out which included oshigata of the swords present. The following day, Bob Benson continued the Yamato-den theme. Bob’s talk and display had a slightly different format from Gordon’s and included a very early ken dated Genki period (877-885). There was also a Kamakura period naginata blade. A surprise to me, particularly evident on the naginata as well as on other blades was a distinct shirake-like utsuri; a feature usually associated with Muromachi period Mino or Kaga-mono. In reply to my question about this, Bob said (if I understood correctly) one might expect to find either shirake or tsukare utsuri on these blades. Either way, I did not find this a particularly attractive feature. Surprisingly, on both days, although it is undoubtedly churlish to point it out, several ha-giri could be detected, but I must say this did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the study. Bob also mounted a somewhat impromptu display and lecture on Etchu swords, which unfortunately I was unable to attend. This included blades by Yoshihiro and Norishige!
On the Sunday the American chapter of the NBTHK had a kantei meeting organised by Mr Mike Yamazaki. This was a most interesting affair and involved four swords, all with suguha hamon. The first of these was a short, broad katana and had many of the attributes of early Hizen-to and indeed it was the work of Shodai Tadayoshi (orikaishi-mei). A mumei koto blade attributed to Rai Kunimitsu followed this. I had some difficulty with this sword and was annoyed with myself as I first thought it was sue-Bizen because of the utsuri and then thought it might also be an early Tadayoshi. This should have led me to Rai school but it went right passed me as I had failed to
The happy smiling face of Colin Griffith
appreciate that the utsuri was actually nie-utsuri. By the time I reached the third sword I thought that everything I was looking at was Hizen-to but could not believe that the organisers would have three out of four swords from the same school. However, on close inspection I was convinced it was indeed from Hizen so I cast my vote again to Tadayoshi. This was OK for dozen as it in fact was by Shodai Tadakuni. Lastly, there was a graceful tanto, again with a narrow suguha hamon but obviously from the late Kamakura / early Namboku-cho period which could be deduced from the sugata and thin kasane. As my head was by now buzzing with Hizen-to, Yamashiro-den etc, I cast my vote as Rai Kunimitsu on this sword! Of course this was correct jidai but the wrong school. I had seen the masame-hada, which I incorrectly thought might indicate early Nobukuni work. Considering all the Yamato-den information available over the weekend, it was unforgivable that I had failed to realise this tanto was in that tradition.
When all the papers were in, the kantei was explained by Mr Michael Hagenbush (chairman of the NBTHK European chapter). His dissertation and explanations were clear and very well delivered. However, I was surprised to hear that of all those attending, only fifteen persons attempted the kantei nyusatsu as it seems many are still reluctant to participate in what is really only a game but one from which a great deal may be learned, especially when wrong answers are given.
As previously mentioned, I combine the SF Taikai with a few days vacation and, although financially the trip was less than profitable, the free time and the educational benefits, made the trip an enjoyable and sword appreciation success.
Clive Sinclaire
Bexley, 30th August 2004