I just thought I'd post this here for what it's worth. Nathan has told me that he doesn't want the forum to be solely western swords and wouldn't mind input on Japanese swords. So here you go. This was posted over on Bugei's forum in the crafts forum. Basically there have been discussions about how one goes about mixing and matching fittings on Japanese swords. Too often you see swords "designed" by guys who clearly have no idea what the significance is of the themes they've used. Often they look sterile and dead. Sometimes they look just plain silly, caricatures of the real thing. So I've had a few questions about how to go about selecting fittings for a sword made today that will still look right traditionally. This is what I wrote...

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Recently someone asked me about how to go about mounting up a sword. And by that they meant how you mix and match fittings.

Well, that is actually a difficult question to answer. There are so many aspects to it that many never consider. One obviously is fitting size. They have to be the right size for the sword. Many fuchi kashira you see for sale (antiques) are actually quite small. They made a *LOT* of wakizashi during the edo period and there are a lot of smaller fittings floating about. And many katana weren't all that big either. Today many guys want much larger swords (we are bigger folk in general after all) hence it is difficult to find the fittings that are the right size.

There is also the consideration of matching period and style. Putting some really flashing fittings from this era with really subdued fittings from another era that were identified with some province then mixing colors not traditionally used, etc., well, it can get to look like the rough equivalent of a ransom note -- nothing matches. Now people don't have to be accurate, but some traditionalist might cringe.

And while all those things are important, what I think most people are asking about is matching the themes of the fittings. That can be very tough. There are commonly done themes (tiger behind bamboo for example). But from there it gets kinda tough to figure out how to match things up.

So here's one I'm working on putting together for a future project. It started out with me getting a tsuba from Ted with abumi, or the Japanese equivalents of stirrups. Then I got a set of matching abumi menuki from ebay. Here's a pic of what I had...

[ Linked Image ]

The tsuba is a perfect size for a sword I"m working on (a folded 1086 fwiw, a very special sword). Now to complete the theme. So I sat there staring at the set and what came to mind first and powerfully was a photo I saw recently from John F. Kennedy's funeral. The riderless horse. What a powerful image. Then in thinking about Japanese culture, I was immediately reminded of a famous haiku by Basho that I had rediscovered only recently when I found an old book of mine on haiku.

Quote:

natsu-gusa ya tsuwamono-domo-ga yume no ato

Rather loosely translated, it means

Quote:

Summer grasses All that remains of soldier's dreams

The riderless horse of the samurai killed in battle.

So now I know what I need for fuchigashira -- either a set with a serene grass scene or a set with skulls in the field.

Often when I do a sword like that I don't tell people what I"m thinking or why I do what I do. I pretty much think that people will sometimes assign their own meaning. Much like the "glowing" briefcase from Pulp Fiction - everyone has their own theory as to what's in the case. And that's okay. But I thought I'd share my thought processes on this one.

Sometimes it just looks right. Sometimes I just like it. But sometimes it is how everything works together, including the sword. The theme of this piece will be dark so likely I will be lacquering the same' and using a green doeskin ito (to help carry the notion of the grasses in the haiku). And I've kinda debated doing the saya with the kanji for Basho (the author of the haiku) extremely subtley done in the lacquer work. Such that it would only show in the right light. Or maybe even the entire kanji of the haiku... Who knows...

But anyway, some have asked how I go about it. Sometimes things just come together as a feel or as a look. Sometimes things just speak to you. In this case my inspiration was of all things John F. Kennedy's funeral.

But as an old professor of mine who did work in how the creative process works used to tell me, sometimes you need to sit back, quiet the mind, and listen to your subconscious and your feelings. And to give those ideas deep inside time to percolate out. This one was one like that...

Now to find the perfect fuchigashira...

And fwiw I thought it was really obscure as a reference. And as a funny (and kinda scary) note, I send Guido Schiller (who posts here occasionally) a note with the above photo asking if he had any suggestions. I told him I was looking for fittings with bones in the field or maybe just a field scene. He wrote back that I was obviously referring to the haiku by Basho. Sheesh. I never mentioned it. That guy just scares me sometimes... Some guys just know way too much. Or else its a heck of a lot less subtle than I thought. ;)

Thanks Keith! My unscientific poll this year pointed out a real dearth of folks interested in other cultures I appreciate this fascinating post.

Yeah, and I really like this forum and its ability to stay focused on quality. But it does seem that in general the population isn't interested in the Japanese stuff. That's cool too.

I don't think that there is a lack of interest in the Japanese stuff on this forum as there is usually enthusiastic response to any Japanese post. I think rather that most of us are simply interested in swords and their ilk collectively. The European focus may be reflective of the participating industry professionals as most of them seem to owe their business to the European side of things. Regarding Russ's poll, I took this to be how we categorized ourselves and not simply our interests.

Second that, Keith any time you want to post any of your beautiful pictures I'm all for it. As a side note I've never been a big fan of the themes with skulls in them. I recognize that there's a difference in culture but to me the death motif stuff has always been carried by the "bad guys" if that makes any sense?

Yup, makes sense, but in cultural context of course. Not all cultures view death with the same attitude. And the ideal of the samurai was to die well. And the haiku itself is a very famous haiku with lots of deep, embedded meaning about the meaning of life, the waste of war, passage of time, etc. It is in a sense a very pacifist notion. Kinda cool irony if you ask me. That's what I've always liked about the haiku.

I"ll keep posting stuff periodically. I must admit I've grown very tired of trying to post anything on another much larger forum. The level has gotten so low in so many places I increasingly find myself just doing my work and chatting with friends and customers instead. So often seeing what goes on nowadays I wonder why I spent so much time posting so often before. Just reading through posts there today, well, trying to correct all the weird, bizarre, and flat out stupid stuff is like trying to put out a forest fire by peeing on it... Overwhelmingly its guys with no background, no training, no experience, who've never seen a real sword let alone a *good* real sword educating the others. And I don't even know where to begin. Let alone the flames I tend to get if I try.

Sorry, long day... And a couple dumb e-mails... Guys buy cheap production swords then wanna know why I won't fix them for them when they turn out to be underwhelming. And one guy demanding to know why I don't go on-line and point out the deficiencies... Sheesh, if the sword is cheap, well, do you really need someone to say they cut corners? Let's see... I charge more to make a new tsuka and wrap it than his entire freakin' sword cost him... Maybe there are some differences?

grumble. Time for a martini...

If you don't mind input from the peanut gallery, I like the serene grass idea idea more than the skulls.

Somehow seems more benign to me which seems appropriate for the poem. I don't understand the oriental arts or haiku but the skulls seem to blunt to me.

Anyway thanks for sharing.