Juyo 2018

[Guest Rayhan]

Hi All!

 

So I would like to know how grueling it was for many of us who submitted to Juyo this year? I had many promising swords that just did not make the cut and 2 that did. Anyone else happy or frustrated? let us share and sing campfire songs. 

 

Ray

[Surfson]

How many did you submit Ray, and what are the two that made it?  Neither of my two made it, unfortunately.  

[Blazeaglory]

Would you mind sharing the two that made it Ray ?

 

Congratulations anyways!

[Guest Rayhan]

Sorry for the delays guys, I was downloading files. So, the reason I am starting this thread is to see by was of pass or failure what parameters went through this year in a a small way and what did not, but a little participation is needed from the NMB if you choose to of course. 

 

The Juyo or NBTHK Shinsa in general is only available in Japan and there are many ways of submitting to the NBTHK. For foreigners the dealers themselves can submit on our behalf, there are other sources like Paul Martin who can help us with import-submission-export (I have been working with him for years now, excellent. Then you could fly them in yourself and submit but please note that you should have an NBTHK membership (it helps). This is for the NBTHK. The NTHK has other avenues of submission...but, I have no experience with them and prefer NBTHK (http://nbthk-ab.org/Standards.html)

 

There is an amazing post here on Juyo and Tokuju https://yuhindo.com/ha/hozon-is-a-test-juyo-is-a-competition/#more-110Read it, then read the whole blog guys that have not.

 

Now on to Juyo 2018:

 

Starting with the two that passed

1) Enju 

 

The Enju was polished before submission and has the following parameters: Nagasa 73.3 Cm, Sori 3cm, Mihaba 3.05 cm and Kasane 0.7 Cm after polish. The sword is healthy and full of activity, Mumei and Suriage

 

 

2) Hasebe

 

The Hasabe is a powerful and intimidating sword, extremely heavy and well balanced it was almost a guaranteed winner and presents with the following parameters: Nagasa 74 cm, Sori 1.4 cm, Mihaba 3.23 cm, Kasane 0.65 cm it is also Mumei and Suriage but looking at the sword even the first time it might as well have had Hasebe hot stamped on it. 

 

 

Both very respectable submissions that did well...More interestingly is what did not do well and why, some much more obvious than others and please discuss and let me know if you feel differently (next post) 

[Guest Rayhan]

What did not go so well:

 

1) Tsunahiro - Edo (Earlier gen) - This sword has decent measurements as follows, Nagasa 69.4, Sori 1.7 cm, Mihaba 2.9cm and Kasane 0.6. This was the weakest sword in the submission. Some may remember it from Christies last auction (https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/arts-samurai-dolphyn-collection/sue-soshu-katana-16/51098). My feeling is that even if the sword was polished (Submitted in the same polish from the time of receipt in UK after the auction) it would not have passed. The sword is on the modest side for Edo period and Edo Soshu has not got the same rep as Kamakura for sure. It was a huge gamble. The sword is Ubu and Zaimei

 

 

 

2) Yamato Tegai – This sword was submitted without any polish so there was a strong chance of rejection. The reason for the submission was the time factor as it had come back from Koshirae maintenance late and the polisher was not available. I decided to try anyway as in hand this sword still has noticeable activity but again I should have known better, a good Juyo level polish is required before submissions at this caliber (there is no real "Juyo level polish", we are talking about a high level polisher doing the job) Nagasa 70.9 cm, Sori 1.1 cm, Mihaba 3.12 cm and Kasane 0.73 cm

 

The sword is Mumei and Suriage

 

 

3)Nio (Kamakura)  – This was a bit of a disappointment as I feel it has a great overall profile and I will try this one again in future. Perhaps a new polish? Nagasa 74.1 cm, Sori 2.1 cm, Mihaba 2.9 cm and Kasane 0.7 cm. I think the Mihaba is a negative but who knows? I did not think there would be too many Nio for it to go up against but the predecessors that are Nio at Juyo are very healthy swords so that could be the factor.

 

The sword is Mumei and suriage

 

 

 

So there you have them, some obvious fails and some not so obvious. Please share your experiences and the reasoning you may believe an item failed or passed.

[Katsujinken]

The Hasebe is a slam dunk! 74 cm! Well done.

[Blazeaglory]

Love the first two! Well I love all of them to be honest????

 

As for the 3 that didn't pass. I would say that 2 of them would have passed if they had signatures for sure. I'm guessing that was a big factor in not passing? I know I'm a rookie but from what I've read, Juyo is more strict when dealing with mumei blades and hold them to really high standards. So I'm thinking they wanted to pass them but held to the "Mei standard" (just an expression)

 

Compared to the two that passed, the three that didn't kinda look a little tame. Maybe if you would have submitted them next year and not next to the "better" blades they might have passed????????

 

Anyways, I'm impressed! 2 out of 5 isn't bad at all considering the standards.

[Guest Rayhan]

Love the first two! Well I love all of them to be honest????

 

As for the 3 that didn't pass. I would say that 2 of them would have passed if they had signatures for sure. I'm guessing that was a big factor in not passing? I know I'm a rookie but from what I've read, Juyo is more strict when dealing with mumei blades and hold them to really high standards. So I'm thinking they wanted to pass them but held to the "Mei standard" (just an expression)

 

Compared to the two that passed, the three that didn't kinda look a little tame. Maybe if you would have submitted them next year and not next to the "better" blades they might have passed????????

 

Anyways, I'm impressed! 2 out of 5 isn't bad at all considering the standards.

Thanks Dwain. In the event a collector finds signed Kamakura or Nanbokucho swords Hozon would be enough. Those swords command the highest value no matter the paper as long as they are healthy. I think its a multitude of factors that pass or fail in Juyo but the mystery on why some healthy swords fail is the learning part. It forces you to search harder.

[Darcy]

Your answers:

 

The Tsunahiro is machi-okuri (i.e. it is not ubu, this kind of description is an asterisk and better described as "ubu nakago but machi-okuri") and will never pass Juyo in this condition.

 

The Tegai is ato-bori bohi and not just ato-bori but awkwardly ato-bori in an eyesore manner and cannot pass Juyo in this condition.

 

Nio is a third tier school and is in general not a good candidate for Juyo. The photo is not good but from what I can see the jigane is not good enough for this school in order to get past middle rank amongst all works of the school and is not a good candidate for Juyo. Mumei Nio needs to be understood as not-as-good-as-Aoe-or-Rai-or-Enju.

 

These three were wasted money to submit.

 

The Hasebe is excellent and should be tried at Tokuju.

 

Enju is Enju, maybe your lucky day.

 

Your Nio should not be polished in an attempt to change the colors of the papers. It is fine as it is for what it is. Furthermore the measurements do not mean so much as the quality of the blade. Longer is not a compensation for lower quality. Longer separates two blades of equal quality. Mihaba of 2.9cm is not a negative on a Nio it is a kantei point on the blade that helped bring it to Nio. Not every blade is a big chopper, you would not dock a Kagemitsu for being 2.9cm motohaba. It's just part of a blade being late Kamakura period. 

[Guest Rayhan]

Dear Darcy

 

Thank you for the answers, i did not notice the Tegai Bo-Hi until now, experience shows as always. Would you still polish it if it were you? (Barring selling it on)

 

The Tsunahiro was a long shot, yes. The reshaping on the Nakago I did not see but machiokuri is something i keep failing to see, especially in Edo Hizen swords and such, i need to train that, it's one of main mistakes i make too often

 

The Nio, in hand is a much smarter sword than in the picture. The 2.9 is still a respectable size Mihaba, my comparison was to past Nio at Juyo.

 

This discussion important to learning and learning is a gradual process and in my case can be costly. So observe the mistakes of others and do not repeat is the lesson here.

 

 

 

But they are still close to my heart i love them all

[Darcy]

1. The measurements do not mean anything in the context of that blade. 2.9 mihaba is correct for the school. One of 3.4 mihaba is not "a better Nio" because it's wider it is "maybe it's not Nio it's something else like Rai Kunimitsu. This is what I am getting at. You don't understand the context so you are applying a simple measurement as a global indicator of quality at Juyo and it does not work like that. Mihaba is not in the discussion for Nio unless it means it's a kodachi and it weakens the submission. Needs to be accepted and understood. 

 

2. All of them are close to your heart / Darcy you don't understand it's a nice blade, I hear this so many times from everyone. What they are is defenses of the decision making process that got us up to the present. If that cup is full of ego it has no room to hold knowledge. You need to dump this equal love for inequal blades. You need to fight to the death someone who wants to take the Hasebe from you and shrug if they want the Tegai. You need to look at the Tegai as simply: this is a mistake and here is why. And then separate it from the Hasebe and put your love where it belongs, with the masterpiece. If the Tegai is the best blade you can own then it is the one you can love best. If it is not you should have no love for it. This thinking blocks you from learning.

 

3. You have no feedback in your acquisition process because you buy almost completely from one dealer who has a policy of "problems are for the buyer to find amongst our photoshop and nice oshigata that all look like kokuho". And if you are not equipped to see these obvious problems as in 3 of the above blades, they apparently do not have the desire to tell you you are wasting your money at Juyo. Because you believe that you bought a blade for X price and its quality is at or above Juyo. And it's not. But they don't want you to shake that impression because that will shake your faith in them. So they let you waste your time and money submitting and after you don't come to the conclusion that there is a show stopping problem... no you come to the conclusion of hard shinsa and maybe I need to spend $3k polishing a turd and then sending it in again. Yeah an old beater in a messed up polish because it wasn't cared for can get a shiage and contend but you can make that choice when you know what it is that is the problem. 

 

Just randomly polishing failures with the hope of improving papers is not only failing to understand why it is not passing, it's causing damage to something that is already in its best state and should just be preserved as is. Anyway the core issue here is you won't get feedback that you need to increase your knowledge from a dealer who's goal is to provide the perception of value at all costs and who lets you load the sword shotgun and fire it at the target, the few hits you get confirm you're doing the right thing but the failures you're not using to understand what you're doing wrong. They don't intend to help you and if you repeat the same stuff and confess your love for all of the weak items to be equal to masterpieces then you are deluding yourself for ego reasons and cannot progress in knowledge. 

 

Now with that in mind tell yourself the Tsunahiro had no chance because you made a major error in evaluating the blade at purchase, and at the time to submit it. It has a major issue in terms of Juyo, though not collecting a sword or its functionality, but that makes it one of the least ideal types of its kind, rather than the banner carrier for the very best of the Shinto period as you believed it (you need to believe that to submit it).

 

If you can do that, swallow your ego, discharge your equal love of that blade to the Hasebe which is a great masterpiece, then you will have learned something from what you have done here. 

 

Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.

 

Your failures tell you far more about what you know than your successes do. 

 

Remember random selection among the body of Juyo works will obtain a 10% success ratio in Tokuju. Exceeding that means you are beating a random number generator at understanding sword quality. Below that and people should be asking the RNG questions. Similar number goes for Juyo. 

 

There exists a spot for: "My belief is that this will fail, and here is why I think it will fail, so I am going to test this theory" as a one time case in point in order to expand your knowledge and establish a new portion of a theory that can be used to understand overall importance. I sent in a published tosogu this year that I fully expected to fail and I knew why I thought it would fail. It is legitimate and masterwork but it can't pass for a simple reason and I wanted to test that theory and it did. 

 

I sent 3 items in I selected for passing and all 3 passed and I am not surprised. I will be wrong in the future and I will use a bit of hope from time to time but this stuff was not any worry, confusion, stress or whatever. I went through those stages 10 years ago and I dumped my ego and then tried hard to understand what was greatness. 

 

When I do not share my love with things that are not great, I am called a snob. But someone may love their daughter's 1st grade drawing, however that love should not be the artistic love for the work of Rembrandt. It is love because your daugher made it. 

 

Unless she's a swordsmith then you shouldn't love them all. You should make them compete for your love. Compete to the death.

 

Goes for everyone.

[Bazza]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh (slow release of breath...)

 

There is still a lot of room to love lesser Nihonto if only for the people who created them.  Whilst I love the zenith of Darcy's exposition there has to be wriggle room for the rest of us who are struggling up...  Otherwise NMB would be either non-existent or a very, very small Forum indeed.

 

BaZZa.

[Guest Rayhan]

Dear Darcy

 

I could not hope to compete with your experience in submission of swords to shinsa. What you've been doing for decades i have only been doing for 5 years.

 

With regards to measurements i am fully with you on 2.9 being the respectable mihaba on a Nio, i was simply asking if compared to others in Juyo Nio, is there a trend for larger measurements, i understand it is not the case but i do believe the parameters around a Tachi matter in submission as does quality of course. Point understood and accepted.

 

All of them are close to my heart but i have no illusions about the collection, some are grand and some not so much but they all play a part. And why not, there is something for every era and i like that. Not to say i do not appreciate some more than others, even parents have their favourites.

 

I will still polish it (Tegai) whilst it is in my care and see what that reveals, it may well reveal a stinker but at least i will know for sure and there will be something to learn from the exposure of activities under the dull surface...or will there?

 

The buying from a single source, this is not true as with the 5 swords. The Nio came from Touken Matsumoto and was submitted on their advice. It is a Nio after all and i was willing to try as even a THozon would be fine for me at this caliber of sword, but i felt it had a shot and i still think it could be worth one last hurrah!

 

The Tsunahiro was a buy from auction so that was a judgement call on my part. The 2 that did pass were both from Aoi and this year I have had the pleasure of 1 Tokuju and 2 Juyo with Aoi, i am not complaining, not one bit, I'm over the moon. But i agree with you that exposure by some dealers is more educational than others, agreed. And i also agree that my learning curve is slower , but there are elements to every business relationship that must also be considered.

 

All in all i think it depends on the goal at hand. You have my list so you can make much tougher points with that information and those points are all valid, no argument, if the goal was to only have juyo or better, but, in my collection the goal is a fair spread between Hozon to Tokuju. From Heian to Heisei and a lot of learning along the way still.

 

In short I agree with your points, i can't argue with experience

[Guest Rayhan]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh (slow release of breath...)

 

There is still a lot of room to love lesser Nihonto if only for the people who created them. Whilst I love the zenith of Darcy's exposition there has to be wriggle room for the rest of us who are struggling up... Otherwise NMB would be either non-existent or a very, very small Forum indeed.

 

BaZZa.

Agreed! But i think it's still awesome how many swords can still be found, cared for and certified and the process is the fun part!

[Vermithrax16]

Fun thread and hope more will chime in if they had blades submitted. 

[mywei]

I submitted a signed late kamakura katana nagasa 72cm, healthy that didn't pass. However it was a hari-mei and by waki line Bizen Shigenori.

 

I took a punt as I noted a contemporary signed Bizen Nitta school katana passing last year. A learning experience I guess!

[Blazeaglory]

I'm still trying to attain Hozon, but I will say this:

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but not in the eye of Juyo. So JU better KNOW YO Nihonto!

 

Yasurime...now ya don't

[Vermithrax16]

Hope Darcy will post full results. I do wonder if any Shinshinto works passed this session.

[kissakai]

Although I don't collect swords I found this a great read

I have heard a few times that a sword that failed Juyo was submitted at a later date and passed

One collector submitted a swords a few times until it passed!

Is this a myth or does anyone know if this has happed in the past. If they have then it needs to first hand knowledge rather than 'info from a friend of a friend'

[Guest Rayhan]

Yes, it is true that one can try again after a failed result, once the next year's Juyo session comes around.

[Gakusee]

Gentlemen (Grev et al) please re-read this thread and the original blog of Darcy’s. A sword can be submitted seveal times (if one has the money and inclination to do so) IF the sword has sufficient qualities and state of preservation to qualify as Juyo in the first instance. Darcy explained above why in his experience some of the swords did not qualify out of principle, on the basis of judgment criteria.

But also he clearly explains in his blog that Juyo is a competition where one needs to put blades that meet the criteria in the first instance and then out of those - the best get selected of those submitted.

So sometimes you get great blades failing that might qualify for Juyo but were trumped by a slightly longer blade, or a zaimei ubu blade (whilst the failed one is orikaeshi mei) etc etc. So if they meet the most important criteria then it is worthwhile trying but otherwise why waste money and effort.... This is a very short and incomplete summary of points covered so many times here and on Darcy’s blog.

[Jean]

From Darcy:

 

« you must try 3 times in a row, if you pass a shinsa year you will have to queue up again from scratch ». Guido stated in a post he had a sword which passed on the second try.

 

Needless to say that Darcy’s posts are based on two decades at least of top blades ceaseless hard studying.

 

That is why it is difficult for most of us to really understand Nihonto, you must spend years to exercise your eyes on the best swords, difficult when one is on a limited budget.

 

The rest is hours of studying the why’s of the shinsa, for this you must have done what is written in the precedent paragraph.

 

Remember Sherlock Holmes (nothing new under the sun), I try to quote:

 

« If you know by heart the details of one thousand crimes, it will be easy to solve the following one ».

[PNSSHOGUN]

If there aren't any better examples by that smith or school for the submission (assuming the blade is actually Juyo quality) then you would have a higher chance of it passing at that point than other submissions, theoretically.

[Guest Rayhan]

When I do not share my love with things that are not great, I am called a snob. But someone may love their daughter's 1st grade drawing, however that love should not be the artistic love for the work of Rembrandt. It is love because your daugher made

But Picasso would disagree

[Guest Rayhan]

If there aren't any better examples by that smith or school for the submission (assuming the blade is actually Juyo quality) then you would have a higher chance of it passing at that point than other submissions, theoretically.

But this would be a stretch as there are reference examples in mass and the judges have seen most. It's a good question and points to the fact that very rarely do the offshoot schools pass, there is favouritism for popular schools at Juyo and Tokuju

[Vermithrax16]

But this would be a stretch as there are reference examples in mass and the judges have seen most. It's a good question and points to the fact that very rarely do the offshoot schools pass, there is favouritism for popular schools at Juyo and Tokuju

Is there any thought if this could change?

 

I LOVE Juyo results and I like to review them. Rayhan has been an exceptional member by including full results, that's just not something most non connected folks get to ever see. Massive props. 

 

Not to open a can of worms with all the input in the above thread, but........ (you knew there was a but coming)....

 

Every year I see the same names, lines, works. A few outliers, but usually the same swords I have seen 10 times over. As an art and a desire, I do think there are more examples out there worthy of a look.

 

My 2 cents. And no, you can't get a bus ride with it.

[Guest Rayhan]

I think a full list of passes would help with this but my Japanese is negligible so hope another member with access to this years list will translate it? There are very deserving swords from outlying schools that deserve the honour of Juyo for sure

[Jussi Ekholm]

I can post the translated results when the issue with results arrives to Finland (if someone hasn't provided them before that).

 

Here are some thoughts, these are all pretty much just theory as Jūyō is way out of my league.

 

Hasebe - I have to backup Darcys opinion on this, looks like a spectacular sword. Hasebe Daitō are relatively rare, usually you'll encounter Wakizashi and Tanto.

 

Enju - I am pretty sure your Enju is a nice sword. Mumei Enju tend to have decent track record going from Tokuho to Jūyō. As there was talk about signatures earlier, if you have a legitimate signed Enju I'd think it is an instant Jūyō. And while length in general might not be defining anything I can easily note that the is higher number of 70+ cm blades that passed compared to blades under 70 cm. There is also one mumei Enju JūBi at 72 cms.

 

Niō - While it sounds harsh to say that Niō is third tier school, it is actually quite the reality. As I've been documenting the good swords from famous references, I've found out that in Niō school after Kiyotsuna there is nobody of note. Sure Kiyotsuna has couple of JūBu and JūBi and he is appraised very highly the drop after him is rough. To give an idea of Niō Jūyō rates I can put out some statistics. I have 24 Niō swords listed, 7 of those are Kiyotsuna and the 1 mumei attributed to Kiyotsuna is Jūyō 48. I have 2 mumei tachi and 13 mumei katana for Niō (yours is the longest one). Out of those 15 there are 2 Jūyō swords and both are quite short katana, 69,4 cm and 64,7 cm. And to be perfectly honest I'm remembering both of those two might have been "weak" Jūyō, not too spectacular.

 

Wake Shigenori - While I tend to really like some obscure schools, their importance in big picture is very miniscule. There have been some Jūyō Wake swords (even mumei) and I'd think yours having hari-mei it would be on the "upper bracket" of Wake swords.

 

In general - There is a preference for some smiths and schools and it is understandable as those smiths are important. You'll find the same thing when you browse sword books and magazines, good smiths get most space and once in a while you might find some lesser known smiths in books and having high rankings (usually when that happens the work is probably among of the best from that smith or among the few remaining signed for example). I think Tokubetsu Hozon has fallen a bit in the gap and does not get enough recognition. They are already judged to be good swords, not everyone can be on the top. And it is unfortunate fact that for many good swords Tokubetsu Hozon attribution is as far as they will go in the NBTHK ranking system.

[Guest Rayhan]

Thank you so much for offering to help Jussi and as always the great feedback.

 

I think we need to reinforce the fact that Tokubetsu Hozon is the prerequisite to Juyo, so,if a sword is tokubetsu hozon it has a lot to be proud of for sure. In many cases and especially for mumei this ranking says worlds about judgement. It has become very hard for swords to reach Tokubetsu Hozon as well.

[Darcy]

It is not hard for a sword to reach Tokubetsu Hozon.

 

Tokubetsu Hozon is a default ranking for a sword that is intact and has some basic criteria associated with it being a good antique. 

 

A sword that cannot get out of Hozon, with the exception of gendai blades, is a problem blade. It has been given the rank of Hozon to show it is antique and worth preserving but it can't get to Tokubetsu Hozon because it has some issues that make it considerably less than average. 

 

Tokubetsu Hozon was promoted as a "high rank" in the west for marketing purposes. 

 

A blade that has achieved Tokubetsu Hozon can be considered to have met the base standards for being a good sword. But it is not something that makes a blade special, it is the default situation for a well preserved work by a smith of adequate skill. 

 

About favoritism.

 

There is favoritism for the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Van Gogh and Da Vinci. 

 

The reason there is favoritism for these works is because they are outstanding masters who elevated their art past their peers and those that came after. When someone comes after who is another standout master like Renoir they are given additional favoritism.

 

There are two sets of mentality when you get bad news. The one is that the judges are corrupt, that the system is rigged, that what you have is just as good as everything else and bias is what stops it from going higher. The other point of view is that the failure is data you can learn from and become a better student. 

 

There is routinely this idea in foreign circles that the game is rigged.

 

When people succeed it is because of their merit, judgment and intelligence. 

 

When they fail it is because of bias and corruption.

 

So what we have is a tautology, both successes and failures confirm what people want to believe about themselves and their judgment. 

 

As I sat with a client earlier this year and he reviewed his 30 submissions to the NBTHK, 15 of which returned as gimei, he scratched his head and he said to me, "I don't understand how the judges could make so many mistakes."

 

There is only so much you can lead the horse to water but in most cases it will refuse to drink. There is nothing I can say to this kind of guy because if I say yes it's gimei then he categorizes me as just another bad judge. What such a person is looking for is ego satisfaction, and confirmation of their savvy. If you don't give them what they want, then you will be judged yourself. 

 

As a result, especially from dealers, a lot of collectors get patted on the head. If the dealer does not pat you on the head and give you the warm and fuzzy feeling in the stomach then you will leave there with a bad taste in your mouth. Eventually someone will come along and pat you on the head and tell you what you want to hear. Many dealers are masters of this. 

 

One of the best things I ever heard from a dealer was Bob Benson telling me, "Why did you buy that piece of junk?" 

 

On another blade: "It's a toothpick."

 

This is how you cut your teeth and learn something. 

 

So understand Tokubetsu Hozon should be the default level. One that cannot break through is like Tokubetsu Hozon --. Juyo is not awarded by bias nor is there bias for schools.

 

Failure to understand this is failure to understand that attribution is the first form of quality assessment. 

 

If a sword is attributed to Kagemitsu it is because the sword represents master skill. As such it is already a Juyo candidate. When it passes Juyo it is not because there is bias towards Kagemitsu. The sword in part got attributed to Kagemitsu because it was master work. You cannot be a crap sword and get a Kagemitsu attribution. 

 

Similarly if you get Norishige it means that the sword represents peak level Soshu den. If it gets Tametsugu it means Norishige--. It is a near miss, it is high skill work but it is just not enough to get into the consideration of Norishige. If it just gets Uda it is Tametsugu---. If it gets Shimada, god help you.

 

If you are angry when your Shimada does not pass Juyo because you think it's a nice sword and you say the NBTHK is biased towards Norishige, then it's because you have got the entire system understood backwards. Shimada can pass, and it is better if signed but it will always be third or fourth rate Soshu-like craftsmanship.

 

As such it is a bucket, like Ganmaku that is ill-defined and it does not actually matter. People get upset and they call judges into question for failure to be consistent in assessing these third and fourth tier works. But to understand it, these things are like me taking a bucket of paint and throwing it at a canvas and then asking an art critic to evaluate who made the painting. The answers are going to be random.

 

But if you have an unsigned Rembrandt then the focus becomes extremely narrow and the judgement becomes much more accurate. The threshold is very high and the ability of someone to do it within the time period is narrowed down to almost just a single individual.

 

Rembrandt does not get put into museums because there is bias towards him.

 

Museums exist because of artists like Rembrandt. 

 

There is no bias toward Go or Norishige or Rai at Juyo.

 

Juyo exists because of artists like Go or Norishige or Rai. 

 

"nice sword" does not cut it for Juyo. 

 

Juyo means "important" not "nice". 

 

There is a huge problem in the western world when echo chambers build up around certain ideas, one of which is the bias of judges and and things like a facebook discussion on whether or not Masamune existed, with the table pounded and theories promoted by people who never held or looked at a good Soshu sword let alone one attributed to Masamune. 

 

At this last Tokuju shinsa I picked 6 items from what I had and sold and 5 of those passed. If i were to do that 10 years ago I'd have gotten zero probably. The difference between then and now is about 15,000 hours of studying, documenting, and identifying what makes something important. I am only scratching the surface but I have an idea now. 

 

But I listened for 10,000 hours before I started even talking about it. I went another 5,000 hours before I started to feel comfortable. 

 

And even now I will sit and just absorb when I am surrounded by those with deeper knowledge. Some of that I toss, some of that I try to integrate with what others say, I am trying to stitch together a truth that comes from a dozen viewpoints plus a metric xxxxton of data. 

 

In all of that I can just continue to distill down to those who have only 15 minutes to listen that they need to understand that Juyo means Important and Tokubetsu Juyo means Extraordinarily Important. If you can just sit and meditate on those two ideas for a week and then look at something in your hands and say, "Is this important?" or ... is it just a nice blade? 

 

If you can do that you can take a few steps into the light and understand what is trying to be assessed.

 

I go into the museum and I still don't understand everything. I get angry at some things I see and others I dismiss but I do so always with the voice in the back of my head, "Maybe there is something here you don't understand still." 

 

I never throw out bias, there is no bias. 

 

It's like saying there is bias for the $100 bill over the $10 bill. It's not bias. It's recognition of innate properties. If someone can't tell the difference between a $10 bill and a $100 bill because they are both greenish and printed on paper and have an old white dude printed on them, this is a fundamental lack of understanding of the currency and as Tanobe sensei says, "More research is necessary." Many questions have only this answer and what anyone needs to do is to look at the results and then let the results filter into their brain, instead of taking their brain and trying to impose it onto the results.