SimonTV

Thanks very much for all your help and advice guys. It's been incredibly helpful. Leads on here have helped me open up a fascinating world of Edo swordsmiths! Kiyomaro and Masahide are vying for centre stage in my scene - although because of the interesting character details, it looks like Kiyomaro might snatch it. Thanks again for your help. Edit: must have been viewing an old version of this thread on my browser, because upon refreshing to re-read my response I saw several new posts. I'll read them now and follow up... So am fully up to speed now. Thanks for your responses - and for the observations about the industry, some of which are quite near the mark. I won't say which ones Rest assured that people like me working on this production are totally aware of the problems some documentaries have. Drama is the main culprit a lot of the time - and researcher/director struggles do exist - but the awareness of factual accuracy and perhaps more importantly, the accuracy and relevance of the historical thesis, is completely paramount. These days at least. All of the people working on this show are passionate about history - there are more than 3 of us with phds! - and we just want to get accurate history out there that's surprising, informative, and enjoyable. We spend hours in thr library and top experts to help us But It does have to look great and be dramatic and emotional too. Because that's what gets the wider audience hooked. And anything that gets a wider audience watching history shows is an amazing thing in my opinion! And a passion of mine. But then there's no point lots of people watching stuff that isn't true, or is fudged. There's no reward in that for us at all. In fact, it's the worst thing we could do. And we all know that. I found all the 'insights' fascinating and important, so no need to apologise for any comments (thanks though, Keith). I'd rather hear what people think is wrong with history on tv than not. I just hope I've gone some way to convincing you that things are not all like you might think. Thanks again for all your help and friendliness. Simon

Hi All, New to the board - seems like a goldmine of information. I'm a researcher on a television series for a US broadcaster, and I'm attempting to find a tosho/swordsmith character who operated in the period 1780-1850. I've spent a few 'crash course' days learning as much about the katana as possible. It's an incredibly fascinating area of history. The series is not focused primarily on this topic though - this is very much a 'side story'. But I'd love it to be a fascinating and compelling one. However, for the period in which this story must fit (1780-1850), I'm struggling to find any named swordsmiths. I'm in the process of speaking with experts, but I stumbled across this site and thought that one of you may have some info or a name. Ideally, it would be one of the most revered swordsmith's of his era. Within the date range is vital though. Apologies for contributing only with a request for info. But if any of you can recommend any names or leads, I would be incredibly grateful indeed. Many thanks! Simon T