Modern Horimono

[nihonto1001]

Does anyone know who does an excellent job with horimono carving in this day and age? Any examples of their work would be interesting.

 

Thanks,

Jon

[b.hennick]

Hi Jon:

I e have ko katana by Yoshindo Yoshihara. He did the dragon horimono. It seems to me to be well done.

[Gabriel L]

I seem to remember a whole online gallery of masterful contemporary horimono. Right now the mental cobwebs are hampering the search, I'll post back if I can figure out where I saw it.

[Ford Hallam]

My teacher, Izumi Koshiro Sensei frequently does horimono. He has done a number of them on blades for Hiroki Hirokuni.

 

This man, Shuha Hashimoto is very well regarded in Japan also. The link takes you to some images of his work as well as an amusing cartoon strip that illustrates the carving process. No pandas carve horimono in Japan afaik

 

ford

[nagamaki - Franco]

Does anyone know who does an excellent job with horimono carving in this day and age? Any examples of their work would be interesting.

 

Thanks,

Jon

 

Hi, doesn't the annual NBTHK sword making contest include a Horimono contest? I'm almost certain I've seen the horimono entry results posted online before. Ginza Chosuya had a page up on modern horimono artisans at one point.

[nihonto1001]

Folks, thanks for the info. Please keep it coming. Some examples would be nice.

 

Are there any horimonoshi in the US?

 

If there was any sword art I could learn, it would be this (for pragmatic reasons).

 

Ford, did you apprentice in Japan? Was it a full time commitment? Is it realistic to think I could take something like this up as a hobby, or is it more a way of life?

 

Jon

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Jon,

 

oh yes! This is a life time commitment for me :D ...you'll find quite the details on my website and blog if you're interested

 

As to getting into the work, It depends what you want to do. Horimono work is extremely exacting and demanding of very well devoped skill. Starting with simply carving tsuba might be a more realistic approach. As with all things, what you achieve depends on what you put in.

 

Many studies seem show a very direct correlation between hours spent in training/practice ( and this is real, directed work, not just repetitive, mindless "running on the spot"). It seems 10 000 hours is what it takes to achieve mastery of a craft, be it classical musicianship, calligraphy, Formula 1 racing or the Beatles "over night" rise to stardom. Even Bill gates put in his 10 000 hours ...apparently. But that's world class mastery we're talking about....there are many, perfectly reasonably levels below that. I don't have the book that describes these studies to hand but it also describes the amount of time on average, it takes practitioners to attain various levels of skill. It might give you some idea of what, realistically, may be achieved.

 

In Outliers, Gladwell states “…[T]en thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything...” (P. 49)

 

and this too;

"In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals," writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin, "this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years... No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

If you have a poke around on my forum you'll begin to get an idea of what's involved and see quite a bit of inspiring work my many of the "followers of the iron brush".

 

regards,

 

ford

[reinhard]

"In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals," writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin, "this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years... No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

 

Jon,

If it takes 10'000 hours of practice to become a master criminal, you can probably achieve your goal in less time. Comparing Mozart to Bernie Madoff or Jack the Ripper seems to be an interesting approach though.

 

Welcome to NMB's comedy corner.

 

reinhard