ironchef.

Hey Mark, I wished I intro'd myself so I could have met more of the forum members. Unfortunately, if I wasn't busy taking pics, I was helping with paper work or running errands for the Shinsa team. You are partially right in that we ran out of paper, but it was all colors that we ended up running low on. Friday and Saturday were our two busiest days and even though we had supplies, things just ran low from the volume of items that came through. This was definitely an eye opener for me being the first time I've participated in a Shinsa from the working side of it. I did have the great honor of sharing a smoke and 1 on 1 conversation with Yoshikawa sensei for about an hour. Very humble person with a great love of swords. That was the highlight of the Shinsa for me. Ricky

My first time working a Shinsa and boy am I tired. You guys are right though, lots of pinks going around. Yoshikawa was very concerned that there were so many gimei among both blades and kodogu. I have to admit I sweated a little when they were going over a little wak I submitted. Luckily it passed. The ironic thing is they needed an extra set of Fujishiro's to use and I happily brought mine. It would have been funny if they bounced my blade referencing my own books, haha. Milt, drop me an email when you get the chance, wanted to share some info with you off the forum. Oh, one more thing. My little wak is signed Soshu Ise no Daijo Minamoto Tsunahiro. This is godai Tsunahiro. The signature was spot on to the one in Fujishiro's. Not sure if anyone would consider that a big name, but it made it pass the Shinsa team. I have a scan of the work sheet if anyone would like to see. Ricky Wong chef_iron@hotmail.com