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  • Reviving an old sword

  • A help to pass it on to the next generation

  • like a bridge

  • Nice to meet you

  • Hello welcome

  • Can you tell us more about your job

  • When a rusted or very old sword comes out of your house,

  • I would revive it

  • or I would add life to the modern sword made by modern swordsmiths

  • Could you introduce it?

  • This whole place is the sharpening base or the sharpening boat

  • I get in so that the water won't spill

  • And there is the bucket to keep the water. It could be plastic,

  • but the wooden ones won't hurt the swords as much

  • I would ask craftsmen to make these.

  • This is made of wood. I would place my both feet on it

  • This is the carving stone. During the sharpening, the weight will be on it so it won't move

  • I would lean on it. To keep this position at first is quite difficult

  • This style was gradually modified by my predecessors going back to the Edo period to choose the optimal position

  • This is the ideal and yet most practical position to sharpen the sword

  • So it evolved until now

  • So this did not exist at first? Probably not

  • The probably just sat and sharpened

  • They found out some were not working and reached this position

  • Better barefoot so it won't slip

  • Your left buttocks should be placed here

  • The right side is floating in air

  • Place this leg here

  • If you get used to it, the legs will be easier to place

  • The middle of your body aligns with the sharpening stone

  • Hold the sword with your right hand

  • Hold the other here

  • The ideal position is your armpit on your right knee

  • It won't be easy at first

  • This one is high so your lower back may hurt

  • From the top, yes yes

  • And move it like this

  • What do you call it, your mind becomes empty

  • Nothing bothers you. You just concentrate

  • People who has a office job comes all the way and says that doing this concentrates and relaxes them more than any

  • Even though I tell them this is the most stressful job

  • It's easier this way

  • The 45 degrees is easier. A bit rusty there

  • It's not a rough stone to carve off any rust so don't worry

  • If it's on the opposite side, this way

  • And the hand? -It goes from top on this side

  • You use the rhythm? -Yes, not only power but rhythm

  • For skilled people the sound them make is comforting

  • When a sharpener stands on the side, you can tell when it's wrong by the sound

  • The sound is important

  • For the sound, there is one coming into the ear, and the one you feel through the hand

  • It says the lady who did the experience in February and entered in April

  • I'm letting her sharpen this since what I'm doing is the sheath

  • Now she's doing great. The marking from the sharpening is all lined up

  • The direction is all in one. You don't see it going everywhere

  • That is how we judge whether this person is suitable or not

  • You really can see it

  • How did you learn and how did you do it?

  • For me, I'm the 3rd generation so my father taught me

  • I would either see my predecessors work,

  • or when you see and old work, by looking at it you gradually will know the history and the technique

  • That is how I learned and absorbed it

  • How many years did it take?

  • For me, I did 10years under my father

  • Do you have any apprentices? -Yes over 50

  • Quite a lot -It grew a lot

  • What do you tell them is important?

  • As I said 10years, of them I did Base Sharpening

  • It's the basic. If you don't have the basics, no matter how polished you make it, it doesn't work

  • Like humans, base and the basics are very important so I teach my apprentices this

  • So the inside is important

  • It's the same in all jobs

  • What is the oldest sword?

  • Maybe the one at the end of Heian Era. That's around 1000 years ago

  • 1000!

  • They just found a sword in that era in a shrine near here. It's all rusted but I will sharpen it

  • It was in way back in their storage which was just found recently

  • Don't you become nervous? -More like the satisfaction of being to sharpen such a sword

  • I am more excited to imagine how it will turn out or how it will look

  • If it's all rusted dark you don't know the shape or what design it has

  • It was rusting for years

  • -Is it going to be put up somewhere? It's not only a treasure of Osaka, but perhaps national treasure

  • so it will probably be in a museum where it would be properly exhibited

  • Of the swords lined up, what are the designs in the middle?

  • It's called Kinzogan and it's gold engraved to design the 7 northern stars

  • There was a person called Shotokou Taishi in the past and it's the sword used by him

  • The real one is in Shitennoji in Osaka

  • That's a national treasure

  • It's either in Shitennoji or in the national museum in Tokyo

  • Based on that, that is the replica made by modern day sword sharpeners

  • Can you tell us the history of the sword

  • As I said the 7 northern star sword is still in the shape of where it came from. Either from China or from the Korean Peninsula

  • As you see, the shape is straight. It's called a straight sword

  • In the Kofun era, a lot of this type was used

  • Until early Heian Era, the shape was like that

  • but in the middle of Heian era, it was not functional. It was hard to take out

  • And when using it, it was made more sharp

  • That is the origin of the Japanese sword

  • It's in the middle of Heian Era, so it's over 1000 years

  • -Any injuries? -Daily

  • As you can see on the footage before, the right hand side has this towel around the grip

  • but the left is bare hands so the blade will start to get into the palm

  • It's the same as car driving. When you get too used to it, you start driving with one hand or look somewhere else

  • It's the same with sword. When you wipe off when looking somewhere else, you get into accidents

  • So it's what you do. The sword doesn't bite

  • I don't think I can do it

  • but there a few women who come to learn -Really?

  • They come here to learn and try to make a living out of this. It's great

  • It used to be a man's world but not any more. We actually welcome ladies

  • Since women have more sensitivity, I have a feeling they can do much better finish than men

  • so it's fun for the teaching side as well

  • In Tokyo there is a very famous sharpener who is a lady who appears in different media

  • Do you have any experience tours for foreigners?

  • For some of my apprentices, there are some who is in the field of martial arts and who brings their apprentices from abroad

  • They come and sit here to pose or take some pictures.

  • If there are requests, I feel that is possible as well

  • It sounds fun

  • I think it's a great opportunity for them to learn about the Japanese swords and it's something necessary

  • That was quite an experience. Thank you very much

Reviving an old sword

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