Bizen-Osafune Sword Village trip

[Ken-Hawaii]

With Piers' able help, my wife & I took a quick trip from Hawaii to the Bizen-Osafune Sword Village last month. I've created a PDF presentation of what we saw, including a lot of photographs, & am posting it as http://www.militaria.co.za/articles/Bizen-Osafune_Sword_Museum.pdf. Please feel free to download & view the slides, & to comment on the great Nihonto we saw.

 

Please note that I had special dispensation from the museum's director to take photos, as I am putting together a sword exhibition in September (which of course I will post) & needed to get ideas on lighting angles, draping katanakake, etc. There are large signs all over the museum forbidding photography, so please don't take my experience as typical!

 

Ken

[NihontoEurope]

Very nice Ken!

 

I have saved a copy!

 

I will probably go there in October this year if it fits in.

 

/Martin

[tony edmunds]

Hi Ken

Thank you so much for the account of your visit, My wife and I are hoping to fit in a trip to the Museum after the DTI in October so your post was timely indeed.

 

Regards

Tony

[hybridfiat]

Thank you Ken, it is a very informative presentation. Im looking forward to my next trip to Japan and will include the museum.

[george trotter]

Ken, thanks for posting. I really like tanto 7.

Dang, my daughter just finished 3 years next-door in Himeji and while I did visit Okayama during that time I didn't know of the Osafune museums etc. I did drop in to Ando san's (the sword dealer - I knew his father Hiromichi).

I have heard from others also that the craft is in decline...I think the government must re-assess their restriction on the amount of work a tosho can do each year...after all it is classified as art and other artists don't have such impediments...imagine a Hokusai only being able to sell 20 prints a year....hen no koto da to omoimasu.

Regards,

[Ronin Akuma]

Thank you for sharing your trip and photos, Ken.

Looks like an amazing tour.

[Guido]

Thanks for the article, Ken. One small correction, though: 大太刀reads Ôdachi.

I think the government must re-assess their restriction on the amount of work a tosho can do each year...after all it is classified as art and other artists don't have such impediments....

The smiths already have problems selling the few swords they produce, so more swords would only mean more unsold items.

[Eric H]

An impressively documented report on the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum.

Thank you

 

Eric

[Drago]

Wow. Thank you very much.

[cabowen]

The smiths already have problems selling the few swords they produce, so more swords would only mean more unsold items.

 

This would only be true if one makes the erroneous assumption that prices are fixed. They are not.

[Brian]

Yes, but there is a limit to how much prices can come down. And for what is put into the swords, you cannot expect much of a lower price structure, as you just devalue the art itself. I don't know the answer to the decline though

 

Brian

[cabowen]

Yes, but there is a limit to how much prices can come down. And for what is put into the swords, you cannot expect much of a lower price structure, as you just devalue the art itself. I don't know the answer to the decline though

 

Brian

 

You have some smiths selling swords for $50,000 and others for $5,000, with fundamentally the same costs. Smiths could make up to 12-14 swords a month of the government let them. Prices really got inflated during the bubble years and have only recently started to retreat a bit. Check the prices in Ono san's book from the 1970's "Gendai Toko Meikan" in which most smiths list pricing. Even adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, you will find the prices much lower than what they became during the bubble years later...

 

The value of the art is not determined by the smith, but by the buyer. Smiths can only raise prices if there are buyers willing to pay. Top smiths will always survive but If we are discussing the survival of the craft, we need to talk about removing artificial barriers that force smiths to charge more than what they may otherwise. A robust and healthy craft means more than a few national treasure smiths charging $75K for a blade. They too were beginners at one point and if beginners are forced by government restrictions to charge prices few people will pay, just to survive, then the craft will not thrive, if it survives at all....

 

There are really two issues in regard to prices at play: one, the production limitation and the other, the psychological barrier to selling something for half, or less, of what you have gotten in the past. I have had this conversation with many smiths and most would rather sell one sword for $50,000 than 10 for $5000, for obvious reasons. The economic reality is, though, that when there is no food on the table, you sell for whatever you have to....Most I have talked to would really like an open and free market to make what they want and price accordingly. The top smiths will still sell their swords for huge money, but younger smiths, and those that are simply industrious, can make up for a lower price with volume.

[runagmc]

I think Chris hit the nail on the head. Granted the amount of work and time going into a finished sword is a lot, but should one cost the same as a high end automobile? The higher your prices go, the more potential buyers are forced out of the market, since most of us aren't wealthy enough to spend that kind of money on something that isn't a necessity. And we're already talking about a fairly small market to begin with, since the people interested in Japanese swords is small, relatively speaking.

 

The argument about high prices is obviously only relevant when talking about the "big name" tosho who charge those high prices. Lesser known modern tosho will probably never have an easy time getting work... unless we go back to sword fighting, which doesn't seem likely.

[CSM101]

Hello Ken,

 

Thank you very much.

 

To give you just another idea for display and light I have 2 pics added. The first is from the ´99 Fujishiro-Exhibition in Solingen and the other from 2002 "Selected Fine Japanese Swords" in Solingen, too.

 

Uwe G.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Very nice layout, Uwe - thanks!

 

Ken

[Curran]

Your trip is much envied.

I appreciate it 10x over for your documentation and sharing. I may follow in your footsteps next year, though not sure if to beg Piers hospitality or make my way with my own limited Japanese.