obiwanknabbe Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 I have been watching some videos lately about modern sword smiths in Japan and the struggles they face. What does everyone think about having a raffle and the $ goes towards commissioning a new sword from one of the smiths? 3 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 Kurt, good idea! We would only need $ 12.000.-- or so, depending on the smith. Some ask more, but perhaps there are cheaper ones. Who of the ca. 60 (or 120 noted in other sources) starving sword-smiths do you plan to support? And would that change their situation? Quote
Benjamin Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 IMO, the only way is to promote the art : making expositions around the world, entry level books (as the last one from Paul Martin), qualitative but accessible youtube chanel or netflix-like documentaries, movies, inviting more new comers in the field by sharing our passion daily if we can... Personally I dream about a blockbuster historically accurate (for what we know) on the life of a swordsmith, like Kotetsu or Go-Toba, highlighting swordsmithing of course. Most of us came to the hobbies thanks to Kurosawa for example. 2 Quote
Brian Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 Few problems. The logistics and time involved for the forum. Also the fact that Paypal doesn't allow raffles, and that is really the only easy way to do payments. The profit for the smith really wouldn't change their circumstances for very long either. Plus you'd need a go-between to work with the smith and the forum. Not an easy task. If we had someone connected to the Japanese smith world, would be better to do a deal for a run of kogatana with nice hamon, that can be done as a pre-order for the NMB and maybe be a special NMB project. Or something like that. But again, needs someone as a go-between. 1 1 1 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 A sword is rather ambitious, a Kogatana as Brian mentioned would be a bit more realistic. Perhaps even Tamahagane Mekugi Ana tools would be another option? Perhaps Paul Martin may have some ideas on how to approach the question. Quote
Toryu2020 Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 Paul is already on the case... Shin Gobankaji Project 4 Quote
Hokke Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 I agree as others of said that smaller items like kiridashi or mekuginuki would be more ideal since it wouldn't be limited to just one smith. That of course still leaves the problem of logistics. How many smiths willing to participate for smaller pieces, how many pieces produced and as mentioned before, who is going to represent NMB members for shipping and any potential issues? Many years ago Mr. Martin (in a smaller endeavor than the one listed above) did something similar. He had a run of small mekuginuki, made from tamahagane in the shape of nakago signed by the smith. It's currently buried in the back of my safe and I cant recall the details, but as I remember it was a success in terms of sales distribution. Mr Martin was the one spearheading it and I dont know what % of funds actually went to the smith, but it seems feasible to do something similar and I would certainly be onboard. 1 Quote
Matsunoki Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 Being realistic, I don’t think we as a Forum can do anything that will significantly change things. It is the restriction on the number of swords that a modern smith is allowed to make that creates the difficulty so perhaps we should be looking to lobby the Japanese Govt. to change these restrictions? ….but in reality….it would be to no avail. It is bizarre that artificial restrictions are imposed on some of Japans most talented artisans that are admired the world over. I wonder if the NBTHK or any other Japanese sword organisations have tried? 4 Quote
KungFooey Posted January 8 Report Posted January 8 https://readyfor.jp/projects/hounoutou This is a type of 'GoFundMe' for a professional polisher who wants to restore shrine dedication swords that are rusting away. Maybe it fits your criteria? As regards Japan changing its law over the number of swords a smith can produce, don't hold your breath. When my brother was first stationed in Japan, there was a law in place saying that anyone dancing after 1 am in a nightclub could be arrested and the club closed down. This was because, when Douglas MacArthur took over in 1945, he shut down the Yoshiwara red light district and all the girls had to negotiate with the GIs while slow dancing. So, he created a law to ban all dancing after 1 am and that stayed in place for 70 years. 3 1 2 Quote
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