Kanji quiz

[Bugyotsuji]

Are you sitting comfortably?

“Saaaa……….. ikimashō!!!!”

 

Question!

If the left (hidari) is 左 sa, …. drumroll, … what is the right (migi)?

 

 

 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Spoiler

I believe it is National Treasure, meitō 太閤左文字 - Taikō Samonji

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, Jussi, you cleverly side-stepped the question,  but 

[Bugyotsuji]

Today a bunch of us went to see the Masamune exhibition at the Fukuyama Museum of Art. It was a collection of swords in three general sections, those who influenced him, those swords that Masamune made, and those swords made by his disciples or by smiths strongly influenced by him.

 

 

And unveiled in the castle museum park today!

 

 

 

[Jussi Ekholm]

I have heard that it is spectacular exhibition.

[ROKUJURO]

How fascinating! Must be very educational! I wished I could see that! (being a bit envious)

[Bugyotsuji]

For me it was pearls before swine, Jean, or 猫に小判 Neko ni koban. I rented a headset for ￥600 and followed the numbers around the display cases. The place was quite crowded, mostly with ladies who probably play the Touken Rambu, so I had to jostle with people to see the specific blade points being made. Educational it was, but I would need to go round and round again to get fully charged with what was on show.

 

Afterwards I was looking forward to heading home for a cup of tea, but everyone wanted to attend the discussion on Masamune between the Head of the museum and Mr Mikami the swordsmith. 100 attendees limit, so we joined the growing queue.

 

Masamune featured Nie, and managed to produce an unusually bright hamon, it seems, some kind of inventive genius. His ten 'Jittetsu' deshi/disciples attempted to emulate his work, to varying degrees of success. Examples of their work were also on display.

 

Meanwhile that statue above was being unveiled in the park outside.

[Matsunoki]

47 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Meanwhile that statue above was being unveiled in the park outside.

Been better if they’d left it covered up?

I’m guessing some fantasy manga or whatever character?

[Bugyotsuji]

See this thread for video in Japanese.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/48062-masamune-ten-tetsu-exhibition-–-master-swordsmith-masamune-and-his-disciples-in-the-fukuyama-museum-of-art/#comment-499304

[John C]

12 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

And unveiled in the castle museum park today!

Is that Masamune? It looks very manga to me.

John C.

[xiayang]

2 hours ago, John C said:

Is that Masamune? It looks very manga to me.

John C.

 

It's a character from the online game Touken Ranbu (刀剣乱舞), which anthropomorphises famous Japanese swords as young men.  This particular one is meant to be the personification of the national treasure Kōsetsu Samonji (江雪左文字).

[sabiji]

Is this the same exhibition that was recently on display at the NBTHK Museum in Ryogoku in January/February 2024?

[stackinnutts]

On 3/2/2024 at 9:05 AM, Bugyotsuji said:

See this thread for video in Japanese.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/48062-masamune-ten-tetsu-exhibition-–-master-swordsmith-masamune-and-his-disciples-in-the-fukuyama-museum-of-art/#comment-499304

Were you able to take any good photos of the swords? 👁️ 🍭 that you might share with us???

[Bugyotsuji]

Big Jimmy, some but not all of the exhibits were marked 'No Photography'. You had to pay attention to each little card.

 

Normally I do try to get a series of photos, but this time I selfishly wanted to just listen to the soundtrack and try and focus more subjectively on the display blades. Like drinking a fine wine just for the pleasure of it? The only photos I took that day were the ones above. Please see the other thread linked above for further comments.