Hello all,
After posting several items in the Izakaya section of the NMB, I have been kindly asked by the admin of this site to introduce myself following a thread about what members have made themselves. I have been making and restoring Japanese arms, armour and equipment for almost 25 years and I live in England. Via an introduction from Mr Ian Bottomley of the Royal Armouries, I have studied under one of the finest master armourers in Japan. In 2004 I was asked by him (my Sensei) to help make the Oyoroi seen in the attached photo. Myself and five other Japanese craftsmen worked hard to produce this exact and faithful reproduction of the famous late Heian, early Kamakura period Oyoroi. Our hard work is now in the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum, Japan. I only ever use Japanese techniques and materials including genuine Japanese urushi lacquer. I was also taught in Japan saya nuri (saya lacquering) in a wide variety of styles, fine metalwork and how to make E-gawa (the stencilled doeskin leathers). Commercially made E-gawa is screen printed and lacks the sharpness of the originals, being only used for repro's and armours used in the boys festival. The attached photo is of a stencil known as Shoheigawa that I cut using handmade Katagami stencil paper. If my Sensei caught me using commercial E-gawa I would be floating head down along the Sumida river! I will have a dig through some of my archives and post some other examples of my work when I have a mo.
Robert Soanes
