Modern Sword Craftsmen Exhibition 2023

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NBTHK has being holding “Modern Sword Craftsmen Exhibition 2023” at the Sword Museum in Ryogoku between August 11 and October 15. One day before the opening of the exhibition, they implemented award ceremony and reviews of all divisions.

Mukansa smith Miyairi Norihiro gave a review of the sword making division as shown below:

„The number of the entry for the 69th sword craftsmen competition was less than previous years’ but I recognised that there were some highly-motivated works amongst them. Some of them forged refined and clear jigane. I am glad to see signs of thoughtful devising by them. Meanwhile, there were critical comments on forming of sugata including the balance of mi-haba, Kasane and weight.”

Photo 1: Award ceremony and the chairman Sakai Tadahisa

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Photo 2: Prince Takamatsu Award winner smith Morikuni Kiyohiro

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Photo 3: Mukansa smith Miyairi Norihiro

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Photo 4: Winners of the divisions of tachi, katana, wakizashi, naginata and yari

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(Front row from left)
Kitagawa Tadamasa (NBTHK Chairman Award)
Komiya Kokuten (Kunzan Award)
Ando Hiroyasu (Prince Takamatsu Award)
Tomioka Yoshimasa (NBTHK Chaiman Award)
(Winners of tanto and ken devisions in the back row)
Kimura Kanemitsu (Kanzan Award)
Takahashi Tsuneyoshi (Kunzan Award)
Matsukawa Kiyonao (NBTHK Chairman Award)

Photo 5: Prince Takamatsu Award winning tachi (photo offered by the NBTHK)

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Photos by Miyajima Susumu

Translated by Mishina Kenji

Reported by Tom Kishida