Japanese Sword polishing, sayagaki and tsukamaki DVD reviews
Mar 14, 2024 16:50:55 GMT
Post by larason2 on Mar 14, 2024 16:50:55 GMT
Namikawa Heibei has some videos about the process of sword polishing and other related arts (Sayagaki, tsukamaki, and sword forging). I got four of them, and a cheap DVD player that can play region 2 DVD’s, and wanted to pass on my experience. I didn’t watch any of these with audio (I watched them on a computer monitor!), so I’m unable to comment on that.
Here's the first video on sword polishing:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/771
the content is similar to this video available online:
However, they portray a fair bit more. They focus on Honami Koshu exclusively here. Aside from the documentary stuff, there is details about every major Japanese sword polishing process, including applying the nugui, using the migakibo to burnish, applying the jizuya, applying the kissaki, etc. There's a fair bit of close ups of swords to help you figure out what they should look like. They have quite a bit more about the stones here than most other ones. Practically all the stones he uses are enormous and beautiful heirloom stones that have probably always been unobtainable! But, they are cool to see. The whole DVD only runs about 30 minutes, but that's still better than the 10 minute one I linked above, and I don't think videos of the particular processes are available anywhere else. It seems like it was filmed somewhere in the mid 1990's.
Here is the second one on sword polishing:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/352
This video is 25 minutes of Honami Nisshu (Koshu's father), and 25 minutes of Ono Kokei (who maintained the collection of the Shogun's swords). As mentioned, English subtitles don't work for this one. It looks like it was filmed earlier, maybe in the late 1980's. The process that they undergo is very similar to Honami Koshu's, with some idiosyncracies of the polisher. They do also include for each one some shots of every major process, so in a way that is valuable. It's probably half them talking, half videos of them working though.
So overall, they are helpful in particular to show the execution of certain techniques, such as the burnishing with the migakibo, that aren't available elsewhere. If you want this though, then the Honami Koshu one is probably the only one you need. The techniques are very similar in the other one, and it doesn't have the benefit of working English subtitles (not that they are very necessary, if you just want to see how they do it).
Their technique is also fairly similar to the one used by Abe Kasunori (link below), but again it doesn't show every technique.
Also, Abe Kasunori does some things like the “test painting” before applying the final hazuya that just seems risky to me!
There’s also the following video:
I found this video had minimal helpful shots of how to polish, focusing mostly on the (dysfunctional) relationship between Takushi Sasaki
and his 3 students, Yuichi Sagara, Yuki Akita, and Yoshimasa Mizuta. Comparatively, the Honami's are a fair bit more respectful of each other and collegial (at least in the video!).
This is the one on Sayagaki:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/1672
For the Sayagaki one, it details the work of Takayama Kazuyuki. He actually also studied togi and Saya lacquering, but those other two arts aren’t detailed in the video. It’s also about 30 minutes long. The first about 10 minutes is his biography, the next 10 minutes is his going through how he makes the saya/tsuka blank (the most useful part), and the fittings for the kozuka, etc. The last 10 minutes is him going through some of his works and explaining what was his creative process for making them. It appears that these days he mostly just makes the saya/tsuka blank, and sends everything away to other makers to finish, then does finishing touches when they get back. The bit on how he makes sayas is instructive. I follow much the same technique, but I use a few different tools. I did learn that he tends to use kiridashi for a lot of the finishing, which helps explain how his results are so good! He also, of course, has a lot of carving experience. He uses a saya nomi with a rounded bottom a lot, so I may have to make one. They seem to be useful, and you can’t really buy them.
Here is the one on Tsukamaki:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/772
Of all these though, the one that probably has the best bang for the buck is the tsukamaki one. It weighs in at 2 hours and 14 minutes. The first 15 minutes or so is talking about the various types, then the rest of the 2 hours are all techniques of wrapping. There’s a lot of techniques here that just apply to the most advanced students of the art, but there’s also a lot of solid teaching as to what’s the best way to carve the wood of the tsuka, the best way to prepare the samegawa, and some really good hand techniques for wrapping with silk so that you keep it tight the whole way through. Both of the common end knots are discussed in detail, and a lot of the specialized tools are shown that make things easier and better. The last two chapters cover the method of tying the very intricate jabara-ito-dome knot, and what master Mitani Shuji does so the wrap is absolutely perfect before heading out the door. While a lot of this is probably too much for the student that just wants to wrap a sword, and most of it is definitely too much work for a reproduction, it’s nice to have a record of what is possible, so that you can always dress up your tsuka if you want!
Here's the first video on sword polishing:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/771
the content is similar to this video available online:
However, they portray a fair bit more. They focus on Honami Koshu exclusively here. Aside from the documentary stuff, there is details about every major Japanese sword polishing process, including applying the nugui, using the migakibo to burnish, applying the jizuya, applying the kissaki, etc. There's a fair bit of close ups of swords to help you figure out what they should look like. They have quite a bit more about the stones here than most other ones. Practically all the stones he uses are enormous and beautiful heirloom stones that have probably always been unobtainable! But, they are cool to see. The whole DVD only runs about 30 minutes, but that's still better than the 10 minute one I linked above, and I don't think videos of the particular processes are available anywhere else. It seems like it was filmed somewhere in the mid 1990's.
Here is the second one on sword polishing:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/352
This video is 25 minutes of Honami Nisshu (Koshu's father), and 25 minutes of Ono Kokei (who maintained the collection of the Shogun's swords). As mentioned, English subtitles don't work for this one. It looks like it was filmed earlier, maybe in the late 1980's. The process that they undergo is very similar to Honami Koshu's, with some idiosyncracies of the polisher. They do also include for each one some shots of every major process, so in a way that is valuable. It's probably half them talking, half videos of them working though.
So overall, they are helpful in particular to show the execution of certain techniques, such as the burnishing with the migakibo, that aren't available elsewhere. If you want this though, then the Honami Koshu one is probably the only one you need. The techniques are very similar in the other one, and it doesn't have the benefit of working English subtitles (not that they are very necessary, if you just want to see how they do it).
Their technique is also fairly similar to the one used by Abe Kasunori (link below), but again it doesn't show every technique.
Also, Abe Kasunori does some things like the “test painting” before applying the final hazuya that just seems risky to me!
There’s also the following video:
I found this video had minimal helpful shots of how to polish, focusing mostly on the (dysfunctional) relationship between Takushi Sasaki
and his 3 students, Yuichi Sagara, Yuki Akita, and Yoshimasa Mizuta. Comparatively, the Honami's are a fair bit more respectful of each other and collegial (at least in the video!).
This is the one on Sayagaki:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/1672
For the Sayagaki one, it details the work of Takayama Kazuyuki. He actually also studied togi and Saya lacquering, but those other two arts aren’t detailed in the video. It’s also about 30 minutes long. The first about 10 minutes is his biography, the next 10 minutes is his going through how he makes the saya/tsuka blank (the most useful part), and the fittings for the kozuka, etc. The last 10 minutes is him going through some of his works and explaining what was his creative process for making them. It appears that these days he mostly just makes the saya/tsuka blank, and sends everything away to other makers to finish, then does finishing touches when they get back. The bit on how he makes sayas is instructive. I follow much the same technique, but I use a few different tools. I did learn that he tends to use kiridashi for a lot of the finishing, which helps explain how his results are so good! He also, of course, has a lot of carving experience. He uses a saya nomi with a rounded bottom a lot, so I may have to make one. They seem to be useful, and you can’t really buy them.
Here is the one on Tsukamaki:
www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/772
Of all these though, the one that probably has the best bang for the buck is the tsukamaki one. It weighs in at 2 hours and 14 minutes. The first 15 minutes or so is talking about the various types, then the rest of the 2 hours are all techniques of wrapping. There’s a lot of techniques here that just apply to the most advanced students of the art, but there’s also a lot of solid teaching as to what’s the best way to carve the wood of the tsuka, the best way to prepare the samegawa, and some really good hand techniques for wrapping with silk so that you keep it tight the whole way through. Both of the common end knots are discussed in detail, and a lot of the specialized tools are shown that make things easier and better. The last two chapters cover the method of tying the very intricate jabara-ito-dome knot, and what master Mitani Shuji does so the wrap is absolutely perfect before heading out the door. While a lot of this is probably too much for the student that just wants to wrap a sword, and most of it is definitely too much work for a reproduction, it’s nice to have a record of what is possible, so that you can always dress up your tsuka if you want!
