EastCoast

Just a little back story. Was going to hold on to this information for a little bit, but I'd thought I'd share. I'll post a full thread later. I've found an out of the way little town that is loaded with trophies from the war. I've already seen Kamakura forward.... all untouched since the war! Also a ton of Nazi artifacts. It's a historical goldmine!

Better shots:

Here is a better shot of the stamp...

Piers, Thank you! Do you have a resource I can reference? I may be able to build that into an exhibit. Best, James

Ray, you Sir are the man! Thank you!

All, I picked this while up burning up the rest of the exhibit budget. Was surprised it had a mei. Translation assistance would be much appreciated. Best, James

Thank you all for the outpouring of support! I will keep everyone in the loop as we get closer. Per some suggestions, we will be creating video content to document the journey. More to come on that!

Ken, Thank you for the suggestions! We are going to use custom built climate controlled cases similar to what you what find at the NBTHK in Tokyo. Space is our enemy right now. With the sqft we will be working with we have to be very selective. For the soft open we will likely display around 30 swords, 5-10 armor, 5-10 yari & naginata, and many other items. The rooms will be broken down by era, but I may need the help of the board to ensure the groupings are proper. I am sorry you had those issues with your university. This is a self funded project for now, but we have interest from other parties for support. We will see what flushes out. I believe my university may back it if I can built out a large enough section to cover the rise of Christianity in Japan. On that note, it has been very difficult to locate reasonably priced (crypto-Christian) items that touch on this subject. In any event, I'm really glad I have people such as yourself, and other members of the board, willing to share their thoughts and experiences. It will help tremendously.

All - Per my most recent post, you could probably guess by now that this was a test build for the museum. We learned a lot from the build including lighting techniques and general aesthetic approaches. This room will now be used to keep items during off rotation periods. I'll post updates as we learn more and design new things. Thanks again for your support!

Thank you Dr. Shuttleworth!

All, I was going to wait until everything was formalized, but I thought I would drop the news here anyway. My wife and I are in the initial phases of opening up the Samurai Museum of Lynchburg, VA. The exhibits will feature arms, armor, and other items from the kamakura through the meiji periods. The targeted space is 1800 sqft. If the venture is successful, we will look to expand. I hope you can all stop by at some point! On a side note, I have been watching the sale section closely for lower priced items to round out certain eras and themes. If you have any suggestions please PM me. Finally, I always appreciate and welcome your thoughts, comments and concerns. Sincerely, Dr. James B. McNicholas III

All, I have two papered swords that I lost the translation sheets for. Can someone help me out here? Many thanks in advance!

Michael, It cleaned up well without the heat gun. My concern was any wax that may have settled in tiny crevices. At 140 the wax instantly evaporates. Best, James

All, This update has been a long time coming. I wanted to be able to give things time in order to provide an accurate and comprehensive review. 1. After years of display the only thing I have had to do is give the wax a quick swipe with the microdear to enhance the shine. There has been no clumping. There have been times when the wax has ever so slightly hazed, but those were only on blades in areas without dedicated climate controlled cases. 2. I recently removed and reapplied the wax. I do not think this was even necessary, but I was curious about how hard it would be to remove after sitting. The process I used was to wipe the blades with denatured alcohol. I then used a heat gun set to 140 to quickly pass over the blade followed by another wipe down. It removed 100% of the wax. 3. As to protection, I had tools rust in the same area I had some of the treated blades displayed. There was absolutely no corrosion on the treated blades at all. If I receive enough requests, I will make a video on the application and removal. Best, James

Hi Ron, I'll be standing by for your listings. Best, James

Drop it in the good old Google translate and you get this (no idea if it's even close): Bizen Mayor Ship Norimitsu Produced in the 9th year of civilization Saemonnojo Saemonnojo, 72 years old This sword is a relatively short sword, and it's a fine sword.

Michael - Thank you for the kind words! As for the walls, they are actually reinforced concrete and was part of the original room design by the previous owner. I didn’t like it at first, but it adds a little depth in the correct lighting. I will take pictures with a better camera at the end and hopefully that will better capture what I mean. I did flirt with the idea of adding rice paper panels or something similar, but am just not quite there yet. Greg - I like the idea of the scrolls. I will need to keep an eye out as I currently do not have any. Perhaps when Japan reopens its boarders! 😉 Richard – It is funny you mention the door. The original owner of the house was a previous SWAT guy. He used a steel door with locks everywhere and added extra reinforcement to the casing and walls. I did learn something interesting; apparently doors with deadbolts at both the bottom and top are almost impossible to breach using regular means. Now, that doesn’t mean it cannot be breached, it just means I will have plenty of time to put on the armor and pick the perfect sword…. before the concussion from the charges they will have to use obliterate me – lol. George – You read my mind…I plan on building out the entry way (first picture) and doing just that! It will be another couple of weeks before I get there, but I’ll post pictures for you. If anyone is in Virginia or nearby and would like to meet up send me a PM. I teach at Liberty University located in Lynchburg. I may be able to reserve a conference room if we get enough interest. Or even better, perhaps we can arrange a show.

Things are still coming together. My wife was getting angry with me having everything randomly around the house, so I placed everything in the room. Here are the things I still have to do: 1. Build armor stand. 2. Assemble armor. 3. Clean sword cases and prep blades for display. Am I forgetting anything? Here are some pics to keep things interesting (again sorry about the quality): And all 10 volumes of Dr. K's book for good measure.

11. I propped a few cases up on the left wall to examine the lighting. I noticed a few things and am now debating moving the lights back for a wider field. For one, the lights are only hitting the bottom portion of the stands. I could of course just place the koshirae on top with the blades on the bottom, but the bottom most blade would not be in optimal lighting. Again, please ignore the quality of the photos at this stage. Either way, here is a preview. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you all for your support! Note - I am taking pictures on an old phone. I will take HD shots and video with the A7S when finished. 10. I just finished placing the brackets for the right wall.

9 (Cont). Beams:

7. With the beams in I decided to start in on the lighting. I used Hampton Bay mini tracks for this project. Here is what it looked like as I was installing: 8. Lights - check! Time to install the J brackets for the sword shelves. Or in this case level: B-A-L-A-N-C-E...balance (Can you guess the movie?). 9. With the brackets in - it was then time to install the beams. I used 2x4x8 stained in Kona.

Geraint, Great question! I scrapped it more out of frustration. Around that time I started to uncover wiring issues and other structural defects. I will likely loop back around to this later. I love the idea of the drawers!! Best, James

6. Quick humidity check for good measure: I'll post another update tomorrow. Please let me know if you have questions, thoughts, or concerns. Also - if you do not find this useful please let me know.

5. I toyed around with the idea of building a stand for my armor, but scraped the idea. Here are some shots of what I was playing around with: