Category: Uncategorised

This month’s lecture on Japanese swords was given by the swordsmith Shigenori Ozawa.

Mr. Ozawa, age 48, lives in Ashigarayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and is a disciple of Yukimitsu Takano. He became certified as a swordsmith in 2005 and has been chosen as the winner at many modern Japanese sword exhibitions. He works with a new modern method of tempering swords which does not involve Tsuchioki (putting earth on the blade during the tempering process).
This was his second lecture, following his February lecture of last year, so there was a very relaxed, at-home atmosphere, and he explained about sword smithing while exchanging stories of daily struggles. Questions flew one after the other, and the allotted time of 1 hour was over in a flash.

The second half of the time was given to sword appreciation. Participants listened attentively to the explanations of Udagawa Sensei and they appear to have absorbed new knowledge.

I went to visit Kyoto this winter.

This makes the third consecutive year that I’ve visited Kyoto at this season, February, with my great mentor in the sword business, Mochida-san. Since it has a deep sword culture related to Japanese history, I wanted to see this with my own eyes rather than only boast about having visited on a school trip in my youth. Mochida-san, being very knowledgeable, explains things to me that deepen my understanding.

This year, among other places, we visited “Uji Byodoin Shrine”, which is depicted on the back side of the 10-yen coin, “Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine”, which has 1,000 red Torii gates and was chosen as Japan’s Number 1 tourist spot for foreigners in 2014, as well as “Nanzenji Temple” and “Kyoto Gyoen Park”.

We also visited the “Tamayama Meishi-to Kyoto Branch” sword trader in Kyoto Higashiyama, and that night we enjoyed the delicious Kyoto cuisine with the young shop owner Tamayama-san.

I returned home greatly refreshed.

Yesterday was a day known as Setsubun in Japan. To celebrate this, we have a ritual where we throw beans into the rooms of our houses and shout ‘Demons out, fortune in’.

We also stick an ornament made of the head of a sardine and the leaf of a Hiiragi, holly to door posts or gate ways.

This year, to further improve our luck and prosperity, we also put up an Omamori, lucky charm, on the wall facing south in our office. These Omamori can only be attached to the wall, at midnight, of 3 different days. These are known as Toji (the shortest day of the year), Omisoka (the last day of the year) and on Setsubun (3^rd of February).

The Omamori in our office comes from Ana Hachimangu shrine, in Tokyo. It is said that when they broke the ground to build this shrine, a cave was discovered, in which they found a statue of Amida-buddha. This was seen as a good omen and thus the shrine was named ‘Ana; cave, Hachimangu. To this day many people still come to this shrine to pray for luck and prosperity.

With this, I would like to wish all our subscribers, friends and customers the best of luck and good health for the remainder of the year.

 

 

On the 15^th January we hosted the 7^th Noda Token Ichi at Hotel Granbois. It was a 3 day event and all 3 days offered a beautiful weather to the visitors. On the following Monday, however, there was a heavy snow fall covering the city in a white blanket. I felt very fortunate that we managed to conclude the event before the snow started covering the roads.

 

Noda is our hometown as well as the place where some of our most skilled customers reside. Many of them have, over many years, developed an impressive level of skill at appraisal. They seem to have developed a special fondness for items over the Josaku level. As we were able to provide them with some interesting items to their taste, this event became the most successful to date.

I was especially happy to receive a telephone call from a valued customer expressing his happiness with a purchase of a sword.

 

It is my feeling that these events will continuously increase in popularity, as we are able to provide items that pleases our customers.

 

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for the year that has passed.
Through your support, we continue to evolve and grow.
We will continue to do our at most to keep you enthusiastic and satisfied with our services during the year of 2016 as well.
We pray for your support during this year and into the future.

The pictures attached to this New Year’s message are taken in Yamanashi and depict the first sunrise of the year and Mt. Fuji as well as the first cloudless sky at Yatsugatake mountains.

All the best for 2016.

 

Yoshiyuki Matsumoto and all the staff at Touken Matsumoto

 

 

 

Between the 12^th of Dec. and 14^th of Dec. we hosted the 8^th Okinawa Token Ichi in Naha city, the most southern city of Japan. This time, we were joined by Fujita san, a young sword trader from Kanda Tokodo.

During the four years, that I have hosted this event, it has been my intention to further the insight and passion for the Japanese sword among the enthusiast in Okinawa, since there are no sword shops on the islands. I am sometimes asked by my fellow sword traders whether I am able to make a reasonable profit on the event. I usually answer that I have a feeling for the island and the potential of it. To help with the growth, I have contacted lectures on a level aimed at beginners. They seem popular among the attendees and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others.

I am also happy to see so many of my friends there returning for each event, and enjoy catching up with them.

However, considering the cost of shipping swords to Okinawa, hotels and rent, I have to also consider the sustainability of it. Developing a market isn’t easy, but I will keep doing my best to keep the venue going in the future.

This time, we also took a trip to the Churaumi aquarium and it was a remarkable experience. I was amazed at how high the dolphins were able to jump from the water. They seemed to defy gravity.

 

During the past weekend, Touken Matsumoto took part in the Dai Token Ichi 2015. In one sentence, this year was also a successful one.

A lot of new and old customers visited us, which made me very happy. I was very pleased to see some close foreign friends at the event as well, and I enjoyed catching up with them.

As I am a newly appointed member of the management of the All Japan Sword Traders Association, I felt quite happy to finish the event with a successful result. I therefore, would like to congratulate everyone that was involved and worked so hard on this annual event.

I look forward to making next year’s event an even more successful one. It will take place at the Tokyo Bijutsu club on the 18th of November and finish on the 20th.

Thank you everyone for a very enjoyable event.

 

 

 

Once a year, the NBTHK accepts items for a Juyo Token or Tosogu evaluation from enthusiasts and sword traders alike. In September of this year, it was the 61st time that this opportunity was offered.

An item that passes the evaluation has its value increased substantially which is why most applicants await the result with great anticipation.

Yesterday, I’m happy to say, I received 2 letters of confirmation regarding 1 sword and 1 Koshirae from the NBTHK, saying the items had been given the status of Juyo Token and Juyo Toso.

When I first found the 2 items in question, neither had a certificate of any kind. I felt, however, that both of them had the character and potential to be evaluated at a high level. Thus, I decided to hand them both over to the highly skilled people at the NBTHK, for evaluation. As it turns out, my initial instinct was correct and I find myself happy and a little proud that I was able to recognize the level of the 2 items, when I first encountered them.

This feeling of accomplishing the task of raising the status level of an item from a low one to a high one, is something I think anyone involved in the sword world in Japan finds very rewarding, much like seeing your children passing through university successfully.

The 28th addition of the All Japan Sword Traders Forum is a great opportunity for anyone interested in viewing thousands of Japanese Swords, as well as other Japanese weaponry, on display. The event is hosted by 72 different sword traders, from all over Japan. This makes it the perfect place to learn more about the Japanese sword, as well as to establish new contacts and get good deals.
Held at the Tokyo Bijutsu Club in Shimbashi, Minato-ku (see map), it promises to become a memorable event, for any and all enthusiasts of the Japanese Sword and Japanese Culture.

<Additional Events>
‘Swords from the era of Yoshida Shoin’ (3F in the Jubun room)
‘Engravings by contemporary sword smith’ (4F)
‘Annual services, such as free appraisals of blades, fittings and armor, are offered daily, in the afternoon only’ (4F)

From Nov. 20 (Fri)
21 (Sat)
22 (Sun) 10:00 – 18:00
10:00 – 18:00
10:00 – 17:00

Admission fee (All three days) 2,000 yen including event catalog

Hosted by: The Japanese Sword Traders Association
Sponsored by: The Sankei Shimbun and Fuji Sankei Business i
http://sankei.jp/    http://www.business-i.jp
Tokyo Bijutsu Club
6-19-15, Shimbashi, Minato-ku Tokyo
TEL 03-5401-1339 The Japanese Sword Traders Association
Sinjuku Skyplaza 1302, 2-18-10, Okubo, Shinjuku-ku Tokyo
TEL 03-3205-0601

In a few months the doors to the 2015 Dai Token Ichi will open.

We at Touken Matsumoto have contributed by translating the catalog from Japanese to English and at this moment that process has been successfully concluded.

This is a task that we have taken on for the last few years. We have, I feel, improved the format of the English catalog a little over these years. It is however a time-consuming job trying to find translations from Japanese that will make sense to an English reader.

Although I’ve been told that just a rough translation will be enough, I feel that this would not be adequate due to the fact that there are many possible ways to misunderstand written language. Thus, I feel a certain duty to make the translation the best possible within the confines of my ability.

Soon the translation will be available for downloads from the address below;

http://www.zentosho.com/daitokenichi/the_annual_dai_token_ichi_2012.html

I hope our efforts will contribute to the enjoyment of the event for everyone that needs an English translation.