Which "other" Category Is Most Complementary To The Sword?

[seattle1]

Hello:

 We have seen appreciation shown for teaware and other ceramics, netsuke, etc., but I would be curious to know what you think is the area of other Japanese collecting that is the most complementary to sword appreciation and study? By "complementary" I mean a sort of positive game outcome where each collection focus conveys gains of appreciation and understanding to the other, and why and how.

 Arnold F.

 

[Jamie]

Tsuba

Armor

[Brian]

Arnold,

A long and difficult one to answer, and the answer would probably make for an entire article. The fact is that most Japanese arts lead to a better understanding of the Japanese aesthetic and the history, and therefore complement the study of Nihonto. I would say that all of them are beneficial, but maybe not essential. Most collectors of Nihonto appreciate the other arts, even if they don't actively collect them. A hard one to really expand on in a short time frame.

 

Brian

[Rich S]

I like Japanese lacquer ware (urushi). Especially the high relief work and the gold flake works. Lacquer sake' cups from the Showa era (most military) are of interest also. I think it melds nicely with the lacquer work on saya and sword boxes.

Rich

[paulb]

Hi Arnold

As Brian says it is a big question. Along the way in my sword studies I have found that I have been increasingly drawn to other fields. The obvious next step was in to fittings but I have tended to find it difficult to understand some of the aesthetics of tsuba that seem to excite the more knowledgable.

I then started looking at other metalwork such as bronzes, vases etc where similar skills in working metal and patination are applied. Then on to painting (I was already there with a love of European art) and woodblock prints. More latterly my wife has been leading me in to ceramics as well. So I guess it is all and everything.

However I still believe that looking at a fine  blade encompasses so much of the skills seen in other fields it offers a concentrated "hit" of the Japanese aesthetic.

[Pete Klein]

I would go NHK World http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/  or to www.youtube.com and watch episodes of Core Kyoto, Begin Japanology, Seasoning the Seasons, and any other programs you run across as they are a great way to learn in English (other languages too) about the culture of Japan.  I've learned so much from them and often see something that reminds me of a fittings theme or a place in Japan which relates to sword culture.  It's a good start.

 

PS:  'Japan Spirit and Form' is a good series you can find on Youtube.

[seattle1]

Hello:

 Well, this topic seems to have run its course, so I will take a stab at trying to suggest an area of collection that I see as most complementary to sword collecting, recognizing that there are many other areas that are complementary as well. There are many legitimate candidates, the list running parallel to the interests of samurai themselves, such as Zen practice, the ritual and ware of the tea ceremony, painting and calligraphy as well as poetry, particularly haiku. For the Westerner a knowledge of Japanese history is extremely valuable in understanding the sword, but perhaps not so complementary as a two way exchange. Jamie mentions tsuba and armor, but does not address the "why".

 If we start with the premise that the most important and largest value adding counterpart study is that which helps us better understand sugata, then I believe it is armor as another area of study and collection that adds the most value. There are many windows into sword understanding, but every book on the subject seems to put an understanding of sugata as the number one insight provider. However if we looks at what sword collectors also collect, presumably to be sort of multiplicative with sword collecting, it would hands down be tosogu, particularly tsuba. We all know of the increased interest in tosogu in recent years, and show table space and interest now vie with that of swords. There are a bunch of reasons for that interest, running from minimum space requirements, to transportation ease and safety, relative value appreciation, and a fairly short and gentle learning curve in comparison of that required for sword knowledge. Nonetheless I cannot think of one aspect of tosogu, including koshirae development, that has been anything other than a dependant of sword sugata and use.

 On the other hand armor has always had a reciprocal relationship with swords that really goes both ways. The armor of a mounted warrior during early Kamakura times fitted the sword and tactics of the time, proliferation of lightly armored and numerous ashigaru of later times required different blades, the Edo samurai, two sword carrying as he was did not expect to encounter a sudden rival with much armor at all. The late John Yumoto once remarked that sword evolution stopped with the WWII gunto and gendaito which had to merely cope with mid-20th Century battle dress.

 I have found it strange that more sword collectors do not have an interest in armor. To me it seems to add much more to sword understanding than any feature of tosogu. Yes it I can be expensive, it takes space and collects dust, and the learning curve for armor knowledge is rather steep and long, but the knowledge pay off can be substantial.

 Just my two cents worth.

 Arnold F.

[jason_mazzy]

I love armor and have always wanted a decent one, but with the fakes running so high it may not ever be a reality.

[seattle1]

 

Hello:

I hear you Jason. Ian Bottomley recently posted a personal experience here on being deceived on a phony armor, and if an expert and published author on the subject can be taken, it is dangerous, but of course swords themselves are at least as tricky.

Arnold F.

[Brian]

I'll paraphrase what I just told a collector here who has moved from swords to armour, and asked me if I am going to start collecting armour now...

I said "It has taken me 10 years to know nothing about Japanese swords. You want me to spend another 10 years so that I can know nothing about armour?"

My brain is full...no more room. And armour seems far more complicated than Nihonto to me. Plus all that extra vocab to learn!

Thanks...I'll stick to having an interest in armour, but it will remain there for now.

 

Brian

[Peter Bleed]

A couple of years ago Chris Bowen taught us the focus of serious Japanese collectors - -  “Koto, Goto, Seto.”

All three are nice, and Chris shared this insights with at least a bit of irony,  but I see this as another of the rules that marks Japanese sword collecting. We foreigners either learn – and obey – the Japanese rules, OR we blaze a new trail - - and draw the approbation of the experts.

 I think that my “collection” – and my real hobby – is the process of collecting. I love hunting for stuff  (swords, buki, mingei, and militaria, ethnographica)  discovering  it, recording its lore, figuring out what the heck it is, and then having it around.  I love stories as much as I love things.

Now if I could only walk in our basement!

Peter

[Bugyotsuji]

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable mass?

 

矛盾 Mujun, ie paradox, contradiction, conflict. Hoko vs Shield. The blade and the armour kept redefining themselves to overcome the other. They surely challenged each other for thousands of years, as evidenced by this modern Japanese word Mujun, expressing the essence of an ancient Chinese concept.

 

On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for the mechanicals of 飛び道具 Tobi-dogu, rocks, arrows, throwing spears, bullets, etc. The sword stays in the hand, but many things were thrown, to hit the enemy from a distance. Hmmm... The gun does both, staying in the hand to launch projectiles. There are so many things in common with Nihonto and Hinawa-Ju guns, but they are also in a way mutually exclusive, even if they do sit happily together in my alcove.

 

The problem with the Japanese sword is that she is a jealous lover. There are Nihonto, and then everything else.

 

Perhaps a brush to write poetry?

[BIG]

Hi

 

brush and poetry,

 

BOOKS

 

Best Regards

[cabowen]

A couple of years ago Chris Bowen taught us the focus of serious Japanese collectors - -  “Koto, Goto, Seto.”

All three are nice, and Chris shared this insights with at least a bit of irony,  but I see this as another of the rules that marks Japanese sword collecting. We foreigners either learn – and obey – the Japanese rules, OR we blaze a new trail - - and draw the approbation of the experts.

 I think that my “collection” – and my real hobby – is the process of collecting. I love hunting for stuff  (swords, buki, mingei, and militaria, ethnographica)  discovering  it, recording its lore, figuring out what the heck it is, and then having it around.  I love stories as much as I love things.

Now if I could only walk in our basement!

Peter

So my comment isnt misconstrued, and to clarify, the Japanese phrase is, i believe, 骨董窃盗如 kotto, setto, goto, which translates as antiques, stealing, same as,...meaning those who deal in antiques are (often) thieves....a Japanese "buyer beware"...perhaps a bit different than what you had intended Peter....

[Greg F]

I thought it would be nice to display a nice bonsai and hanging scroll close to a sword stand on a table and now I have around 35 bonsai and counting and 5 scrolls.

Greg

[kusunokimasahige]

Everything pre-meiji has my interest.

Lacquerware, Stoneware, wood, swords, tosogu, armor, written items, books, coins, clothing.

Well. Everything.