Will Sword Societies Survive the Post-Paper-Period?

[Peter Bleed]

Today I read (at) the recent two issues of the JSSUS-Newsletter. It was fun. And I deeply appreciate the fellows – Grey and Mark, notably – who are working hard to preserve the organization. But I have to wonder about the role and future of paper publications on swords in the modern era. Is there anything we can do to preserve our organizations and our publications? I want to be positive, but what can be do?

Peter

[Bruce Pennington]

Just like paper copy newspapers, even books, losing ground to the ebook and online subscriptions, I'd say the future is in digital format.  My Stamps document started as solely a digital product.  But one day a guy talked about how he liked to have a paper copy to grab on moment's notice, so I tried it out.  Sure enough, I like having both.  But our ability to print out documents or take something large to a business copy shop and make our own hard-copies, may be the way we will get them in the future, from digital-only sources.

[bnacorda]

I have the digital and printed copies of multiple books. Markus' encyclopedia for instance, Yurie's book (though you can argue that you can probably read her blog online anyway), and several others that are available on Kindle or as published pdf's. Honestly, digital has its place but if I'm studying a sword, I want all my books sprawled in front of me so I can quickly take a look at my references. The same goes with the newsletters. I do read Paul Martin's newsletter in pdf but I appreciate that the NCJSC publishes printed newsletters that I can collect and put in a binder. Ultimately, I scan these so its readily available on my devices but only as backup or if I'm waiting for the wife to finish grocery shopping and I have a bit of time to sit and read while on the go. As for getting printed copies of pdf files, its a bit problematic because places that print PDFs obviously don't want to be printing bootleg books. I bought Roger's Tadayoshi book a while back and I asked for his permission if I can print out a personal copy (which he said he was ok with) but I can't get anyone to professionally print it for me and bind it. I guess Lulu is already doing what you described Bruce where they print when an order comes in. But publishers like that are few and hard to find.

[paulb]

The Token Society of Gb publishes between 4 and 6 e-magazines a year for its' members. We started doing this a couple of years ago and it has proven very popular with the members. Covid and the related restrictions caused us to look at using technology and like so many other organisations we started running online meetings which  have also proven to be very popular.

As we move out of restrictions we have started to arrange physical meetings again. It is our intention to go forward with all these activities to offer the broadest opportunity we can for members to participate and to gain from membership.

The cost and time of producing hard copy magazines is prohibitive and I don't see it as a truly viable option for the future. However the use of technology as an addition, not a substitute can only strengthen Societies rather than weaken them. 

This is a long way of saying the future of societies isn't dependent on paper publications, (or shouldn't be) It depends on participation from like minded people who want to learn more and to help others do the same.

[kissakai]

For me it's books every time but I understand how having details on a phone etc can be useful when at Fairs

I've used photo books in the past but waited until they were on offer, but as my collection got bigger it was too expensive

Now I use Lulu for my two tsuba books that are for sale and a private book that combined my collection and the Birmingham collection

This was much cheaper to produce than the photo books

[Michaelr]

I like paper. Like Ben said when I am steadying swords I like to have as many books out as my table will hold. I also like paper so that I can make my own notations for future reference. Yes it would be nice to be able to have both as a digital copy could be used as a quick reference while out and about. Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s the old ( that’s me too ) saying, see it , feel it, hold it, Remember It. At least for me I seem to remember more if I read it from a hard copy. Just my two cents but I Like Books.

    MikeR

[Bugyotsuji]

For some reason I cannot force myself to read online/digital magazines, and I don’t really know how to store them anyway.
Give me a printed version anytime.

[Hoshi]

Relic of the past. Digital libraries are far more efficient and instantly searchable, not to mention much cheaper. Ipad with an instant library of a thousand volume searchable, the cognitive gains are simply immense. The current practice of reading entire volumes containing lists of smiths and work is an incredibly inefficient search methods, and impedes learning. Motivated beginners nowadays can learn at a rate unimaginable in the past and reduce the knowledge asymmetry immensely (and as a side-effect, horse trading income). 

 

Paper is tied to demographics. Collectors are a venerable population, in the US I would think it is mostly boomers who could enjoy the bounty hunting period of history. So paper will slowly die out with the cohort. The question is whether or not new blood will enter the overseas market of if it will concentrate back into Japan, which faces a similar albeit extremely skewed population of very wealthy whales competing for the top. Same story with NBTHK papers really. Should be at this stage digital certificates, but the tastes are driven by the demographics. Everything with swords moves slowly due to the preferences of the cohort. In fifty years we might see blockchain-issued NBTHK papers.

 

The new reality will take time to manifest, and Nihonto will probably be one of the last collectibles to shift into the new digital epoch. Which is unfortunate because it reduces the immediate value and appeal of the hobby with newcomers. 

 

 

[Katsujinken]

For me, I love having physical copies of especially important references—the kinds of things meant to stand for decades or more. Nihonto Koza, Fujishiro, books with very special photography. 
 

But for anything more ephemeral than that, digital is just fine. I’m already drowning in (and way behind on reading!) the monthly NBTHK magazine as it is. :-P

[Gakusee]

We seem to be conflating sword societies and paper. The original question asked about the survival of sword societies and provided a timeframe -  in the near future (presumably). However, that is only an assumption, as we do not know whether paper will be phased out in the near term or medium term. Arguably, it is a moot point in the long term. Therefore, we need to go back to basics and focus on whether sword societies will survive. 
 

This is a difficult question. Theoretically, they should, as long as the hobby and collecting interests persist. However, an alternative theory is that they become much looser associations of individuals, on a much more federated (as opposed to centralised) and possibly purely, or largely, virtual basis. If people feel sword societies bring benefits (educational, emotional, etc), they should survive as the members will persevere to sustain these organisations. However, if sword societies become irrelevant (through obsolescence of ideas, education, unavailability of study materials etc), then the threat of oblivion is very real. 

Another stream of analysis, which posters often digress into, is how best to study - with swords in hand, electronically (photos on a website or other repository), by reading books (physical or electronic). Again, this is a different topic entirely and merits its own debate. In my view, study should be multifarious and variegated - physical, electronic, by virtue of passive information absorption (reading/listening) and active participation (kantei, debates). 
 

Once, we abstract the method of information provision and internalisation as described above, as long as sword societies provide the avenues for learning or enjoyment, I hope they will survive. As Paul has outlined regarding the U.K.  and as far as I know the US NBTHK are also doing, combinations of physical meetings, electronic videoconferences, printed materials, electronic materials, debates etc energise and excite the membership and retain it. 
 

in my view, membership retention is one serious challenge. People often sign up but fall away as: personal conflicts arise, member aspirations are not met (these societies are not museums with vast collections and are not universities with dedicated teaching materials and courses; funds are not unlimited; volunteers donate their own free time for others’ benefit; societies cannot provide definitive answers members sometimes seek and definitely cannot shortcut hard work and learning) and sometimes members just join for the wrong reasons. 
 

Another challenges are the age and sex factors: middle-aged and ageing males predominate. So,  we need to diversify our membership bases by being more inclusive, more pluralistic and democratic in our outreach to prospective members, more tolerant and broad in subjects we cover (tosogu, kodogu, blades, restoration etc). 
 

There is much more to say but this is such a vast topic that has often preoccupied my mind. We try to recruit and supplant membership decreases but my observations across several societies are that we are barely maintaining membership. We are not expanding or growing and we just about manage to stay at the same size. Other societies just fold and disappear. 

[Rivkin]

All sword publications always suffer from one big issue - there are about 3-4 people who can write something rather than rehash something already published, and these people tend to have uneven output. Plus today they can reach as wide an audience through a personal blog (Markus Sesko). By comparison a periodic publication has both a more limited audience and substantially lower average quality per publication.

I am all for nihonto journal as free, open set of papers collected on a website, but with no more than one issue per year. Otherwise I don't see a point.

 

In terms of books, I would love to say digital as it saves tremendous amount of effort on the publisher's side, but... I don't think digital only is a good option today except for strictly reference volumes like Markus' swordsmiths for the time being. Maybe the best case is having a limited print run (250 copies) plus a digital version.

 

On Societies... In my opinion, they should focus far less on titles, on being called a sensei, on publications and events, and more on looking at blades. First and foremost organizing shows of good blades or tosogu. Sadly this is something they least appreciate. Working hard with members or doing infinitely harder job of getting through the screen of museum nonsense is not their forte.