Soshin

@Scogg Nice looking first club meeting with a great collection of Japanese swords. The iron Higo tsuba on the table reminds me of one I once owned that I purchased from one of @Curran friends in the UK (sorry I have forgotten his name, but he is a big time Higo fitting collector).

Rest in peace, my old friend. Earlier this year, I wrote to Richard after my older brother Michael passed away from an aggressive form of liver cancer. They were close in age, and Richard’s kindness during that time meant a great deal to me. I first came to know him through his photography FAQ for the KTK, which I stumbled upon online. He generously helped me refine my photography skills, and thanks to his guidance I became a far better fine‑art photographer. I still use the techniques he taught me on my website today. Although I never had the chance to meet him in person, I did acquire several fine iron tsuba from him over the years. On the few occasions I attended the San Francisco show, he happened not to be there that year—something I regret even more now. Richard’s influence on my hobby work and his kindness in our conversations will stay with me. He will be missed.

Hi Sam, Will do. I will keep you and everyone else posted on NMB about the availability of the PowerPoint slides for my upcoming in person presentation.

Just a quick public notice. I will be giving a PowerPoint presentation at this coming club meeting of the New York Token Kai on Sunday, December 7, 2025, from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM, titled: "Reflections on 25 Years of Collecting Japanese Art". Check out more information about the club here on their website: https://www.ny-tokenkai.org/. After the presentation I will try to covert my presentation into a noneditable file format that will allow me to share it on my website here: Tsuba Otaku | Reflections of a Not So Empty Mind. Thank you.

I am not Robert Hughes, but I would say yes. This is from my own personal experience of having visited many museums in Japan.

Hi Robert, Thank you kindly for your thoughtful tribute to Guido. I never met him in person, but I remember him from the Nihontō Message Board website. My deepest condolences to his family.

Very nice tsuba thanks for sharing!

Hi Richard, There is the New York Token Kai that meets in NYC. Here is the link to their website for more information:https://www.ny-tokenkai.org/.

I cannot make it this year due to unemployment. Once I get that next job, I hope to go to this show next year and say hello to some of my old friends.

Here is my one hundred yen on this topic. I completely agree with @Ray Singer on this. The tsbua is nice and it reminds me of an early Edo Period Owari tsuba I once had with hakogaki by Sasano with a similar sukashi design that later traded away to the tsuba expert of Baltimore. The tsuba is fine and should be left as is. The NBTHK papers are not irrelevant, but that comment is more than a bit off topic and therefore not worth discussing in my opinion and hints at other members' ulterior motives.

I stand corrected. Thank you for the clarification. Regress I am still incredibly happy with the tsuba you made me. I still use it on my training sword, and it does a wonderful job.

He replied to me when he had his annual Easter sale last month. I Contacted him via his personal website: Markus Sesko | Japanese Arms and Armor. I picked up a nice low-priced eBook about Akasaka tsuba. I really need to get to reading this eBook once I add a nice Akasaka tsuba to my collection.

I currently only have one tsuba made Manuel Coden @C0D a student of the late Ford Hallam. When I had my Japanese art business, I sold one tsuba made by Kevin Adams another student of Ford Hallam.

Hi Bobby B., Looks great @Mushin thank you for sharing information about this upcoming show. Unfortunately, I cannot attend the Orlando Area Japanese Sword this year due to unemployment. I hope I can make it to the upcoming San Francisco show later this Summer. Take care and have a great show!

Hi @Markus, Thank you for your work, information, and the blog post. I found it interesting to download the NBTHK-Kantei Alphabetical PDF and look up different swordsmiths I have been able to examine work examples in my study over the years.