[Keith Larman]

I figured I'd post this photo here just fwiw. It is a kogatana by Mukansa smith Ono Yoshimitsu that I recently obtained.



A kogatana is the small utility knife you sometimes see on the side of the saya of Japanese katana and wakizashi. They are traditionally made of tamahagane with a traditional heat treatment and full Japanese polish.

For those who do not know about Ono Yoshimitsu, he is a Mukansa smith living in Japan today. Mukansa is a title awarded once someone wins so many bloody contests that it's no longer fair for the other smiths competing. So they give them the title "Mukansa" and they are "above competing". They can still enter the contests, but they pretty much just enter the contests to show off their work. That allows the "up and comers" to continue to compete with each other for various prizes.

Many in the Japanese sword world consider him a "shoe-in" for being named a Living National Treasure when he manages to get a bit older. For those of you who saw the (generally horrible) documentary on the History Channel on Masamune, he was the smith profiled in Japan as "today's" Masamune with rather typical British gravity. I don't know about that last part, but he is one of the best alive today.

He was originally a student of Shoji and Yoshindo Yoshihara way back when and he is famous for his version of the Yamatorige. At the recent Yoshihara tradition exhibition held at the Pacific Asia Museum people were absolutely blown away by his work (myself included). I'd long been an admirer of his forging but seeing them in person was a revelation to me.

Anyway, I've long thought it is a shame that we don't get to see more of the work of the great Japanese smiths working today. Many don't market at all let alone have anyone to do it for them in the US. I'd personally like to see that change as there are people doing really fantastic work in Japan that rarely have their work seen outside of the shows in Japan.

Enjoy.

[Peter Johnsson]

Thank you Kieth.
Truly beautiful and very inspiring.

Congratulations to obtaining such a treasure.