Touken Matsumoto (English)

The 20th Noda Token Ichi was held at a convention hall in a Hotel in Noda for three days from Friday the January 27th. It has been held 20 times, every six months in January and July, and 10 years have passed. Over the years there are many repeating customers that join.  More than 80% of the approximately 70 exhibited swords that are usually displayed have been replaced with new items in the six months since July last time. That means if you hesitate to buy a sword that you liked, the next time you visit, it may not be there. So be sure to buy the sword you like when you see it or you may not have the opportunity to own it in the future. Customers can also take advantage of our trade in option, where you can trade in a sword to put towards another more expensive one. It was a fulfilling three days, gaining credibility by holding events and allowing visitors to gain familiarity with Japanese swords. We would like to see you at the next Noda Token Ichi event in July.

Happy New Year. This year, we welcomed the first sunrise with Mt. Fuji under a cloudless blue sky and prayed for prosperous business. All the staff will do their best so that all our customers will say, “I am happy to do business with Touken Matsumoto.” We look forward to your continued patronage this year.

Bijutsu Token Matsumoto
Owner Yoshiyuki Matsumoto

The 6th Nishikasai Token Ichi was held at the Nishikasai shop in Tokyo for five days from Wednesday, December 8th to Sunday the 12th. As it was done last time, we placed a small advertisement about the Auction in the Yomiuri Shimbun for the Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa region. The effects of the advertisements were felt when the number of new customers who visited the shop increased. Together with our staff, we will strive to operate the shop so that sword enthusiasts can look forward to visiting us. Please stop by to say hello and don’t forget to tell your friends.

The Nada-kai Sword Auction Semi-Annual Event took place on December 3rd at a hotel in Noda. This is a special event to show our gratitude to all the sword dealers who often participate in the Noda-Kai. At this event, fifty sword dealers gathered and bought and sold a lot of swords and fittings, making this semi-annual event exciting. The Noda-Kai Sword Auction first started in 1992 and is now thirty years old. We will strive to continue to boost the spirits of our Noda-Kai Sword Auction into the future.

The Dai Touken Ichi 2022 successfully came to a close for the first time in three years. The last two years there was no event due to COVID-19. This year many enthusiasts visited the event from all over the world, including sword traders and craftsmen. However, we still took precautions against COVID-19 such as wearing masks. The Dai Touken Ichi is a great opportunity to meet and to renew old friendships with all the local and international enthusiasts and get to know each other better as well as selling our items. We all actively exchanged information, and it was a very fulfilling three days. I am looking forward to next year’s event with great anticipation.

Dear website visitor,

Our website was offline yesterday evening and this afternoon. It was due to a system software upgrade at our hosting provider. We worked to resolve the issues and are back online.
I apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Yoshiyuki Matsumoto

Yamagata Token Ichi was held at the Yamagata International Relation Plaza, known as “Yamagata Big Wing”, in Yamagata City for 3 days from Friday July 22nd. The venue was 417 square meters wide, which is three times as large as the usual place, so this time I host the event that four other sword traders; Fujiya (Koriyama City), Kimura Art Sword Store (Takasaki City), Santo Ryu (Yokohama City), Shinbori Art Sword (Yokohama City).  We asked the four parties to participate with us, and we had a wide selection of products, blades, and fittings. We repeatedly advertised in newspapers and hoped that it would reach Yamagata’s sword enthusiasts even at this first event. However, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in Yamagata Prefecture surged from 350 on February 3 to 581 on July 20. I was depressed at this worst timing. However, the Yamagata Shimbun, the most subscribed newspaper in the area, came to interview me and it was posted in an article on Saturday. They also took a video of the exhibit. Then, the number of visitors tripled from the first Friday to Saturday and Sunday. The number of visitors far exceeded the initial expectations. We were able to receive compliments from many visitors for the explanation, so they felt that the Japanese sword was a little closer to them. I could then feel that the event was a success, with all the sword traders selling items during this time.  At the end of the day of the fulfilling joint exhibition and sale, all the participants deepened their friendship with delicious Yamagata food at night.

On July 15th, we will successfully celebrate the first anniversary of the Nishi-kasai store’s opening. Because of the COVID-19, I didn’t advertise much at that time. However, recently the situation has become more stable, so I started to advertise more to raise the shop’s awareness. I placed an advertisement on the platform of the Urayasu train station on the Tozai Subway Line. Urayasu station is 2 stations closer to Chiba from Nishikasai station, which is the closest to the store. There are many passengers getting on and off at the express train stop at this station, so I expect there should be greater awareness. Last month on June 22, we placed an advertisement on the mirror board inside of the Nishi-kasai station. Starting from July 1st, we also placed an advertisement on the Fire Hydrant Pole in front of the Nishi-Kasai Station close to the shop. The third was the advertisement on the platform of the Urayasu train station. I hope for better recognition, so please visit our shop and be sure to tell your friends about us.

As this fiscal year ended in June, the staff and I went on a yearly company trip. The yearly trip is to appreciate everyone’s hard work for the year, to experience different cultures, cultivate diversity and new perspectives, and renew our spirits for the new fiscal year starting from July. This is the 8th year of our trips, but it is the 3rd year that we are unable to go abroad due to COVID-19. This year, we spent time at a resort hotel in Onna Village, central Okinawa Island, and all the staff were refreshed. I will do my best for the next year so that next year’s company trip will be an overseas trip again to enjoy and make good memories!

On June 3, as the auction organizer, we held the Tsukuba Convention Sword Auction at the Hotel Edoya on Mount Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. The first time was held for the 25th anniversary of Nodakai to show our appreciation to the participants and it has been held for six consecutive year. This year, 50 participants gathered for the event, almost all members. The yearly convention is different from an ordinary auction. There are many more attractive items up for auction. The event started from 10am and continued until 5pm without taking a break, with the exception of a short lunch. After completing the Auction, we had a good time at the banquet together.

We received visits from Fred Weissberg-san and James Lawson-san to our shop in Tokyo, who are also key figures in the American Branch of the NBTHK. The COVID restrictions coming into Japan are gradually being eased. During the last two and a half years, sword collectors and enthusiasts were not able to visit Japan and had to wait. With the eased restrictions, I am expecting an increase in international visitors coming to my shop from all over the world.  During their visit, we were able to tell various stories at the lunch we had together. Surprisingly, it was said that even in the United States, sword enthusiasts are finding it difficult to recruit younger people into the NBTHK with an eye on the future to pass on their knowledge. This problem is common to both Japan and the United States. There is no quick solution to solving this problem, but just a matter of making steady efforts.

The first Morioka Token Ichi sales event was held for 3 days from May 13th, Friday at the Aina (Iwate Prefectural Citizens’ Information Exchange Center) .  This was the first time to hold an event in Iwate Prefecture, Tohoku district. The venue, Aina is a modern 9-story building with all glass walls adjacent to the west exit of Morioka Train Station. It was a complex facility equipped with a prefectural library and a training conference venue, and was a suitable place for events of Japanese swords and sword fittings with a background of history and culture. With the help of advertisements in the local newspaper and the support of local sword enthusiasts, the three-day event was quite successful with many visitors. During the event, Yamaguchi Kiyofusa the Mukansa swordsmith, who lives and forges in Morioka visited us and we were able to talk about the stories of the precious topics of forging. There were many visitors who registered to receive information about the next event. I can see the high level of interest, and although only a few people made purchases this time, which is the first time, I feel that there is a bright future. I am happy to make a reservation for this venue again in May next year. I am looking forward to returning with excitement.

The first Mito Token Ichi sales event was held  for two days from April 22nd, Friday, to the 23rd, Saturday. It was held at the Hotel Terrace The Garden Mito, which is directly connected to the south exit of Mito train Station. We advertised in advance in the local newspaper and exhibited many swords and fittings, especially those from Mito Swordsmiths and craftsmen. It was the first time for us to hold an event at this location, but I was supported by existing customers helping to make the performance to nearly meet my expectations. Moving forward, we will try to hold more events in the area and collaborate our efforts. This time, the event was held simultaneously with the other sword exhibition, the “Mito Sword Spot Sale” by Shinbori Art Sword (Mr. Toru Shinbori) and Santo Ryu (Mr. Motohiro Yamada). In addition, we are working to increase the number of sword enthusiasts in Mito and to synergize our efforts with other sword dealers to be even more successful. Next year, I made a reservation to hold the same event at the Hotel Terrace The Garden Mito for two days on April 23rd, Saturday, and the 24th, Sunday, and I am looking forward to visiting again.

From April 9th, Saturday to May 29th, Sunday, at the Noda City local Museum, the Sword Exhibition of Noda City enthusiast’s collection is being held. The event has been supported by Noda City Art Sword Association. It is held in 3 years since the last time in 2019. In one place, there is about 60 swords, old and modern, and fittings such as Tsuba made by master craftsmen exhibited. One of our swords at Token Matsumoto is on display, a Tachi forged by Jitsua that passed the Tokubetsu Juyo Token Shinsa in 2018.  Please come to visit us.

I have started a new audio commentary on our website for certain items. However, I am sorry to say it is only in Japanese. So if you are able to understand Japanese, please give it a listen.

The commentator is Nobuo Nakahara Sensei, who has over 46 years of experience in sword and sword fittings and has written many books on the topic. Nakahara sensei was born in 1951 and in 1974, he was introduced to Kosuke Murakami, a former director of the NBTHK, who studied under Honami Koson Sensei. He became independent after the death of his teacher in 1983, and published the study group newspaper “Touen” (bimonthly) until December 1998. Currently with 46 years of sword history, he is active as a lecturer and writer at sword appraisals and study sessions nationwide. His major works are “From the Muromachi period-Swords of Oita prefecture (2001)”, “From the Muromachi period-Swords of Oita prefecture next volume (2008)”, “People of the Honami family (2009)”, “Appreciation of swords (2005)”, “Standards for appreciation of swords (2019)”.

This audio commentary aims to convey the appeal of products that are difficult to express with text and images. We hope that the audio commentary will convey the appeal of products that are often overlooked and broaden the horizons of our customers. If you have the ability to understand the audio commentaries, I invite you to give it a listen.