The Beauty of the Sword Guard ”tsuba”

When we visited Kiminori Okumura, he showed us the sword guard or ”tsuba”.
“Look at this. It’s simply fancy. The sword guard is designed to catch the eye when you thrust the sword forward. Where and how the designs are placed is all calculated. The design itself is just fabulous. Imagine if the surface is uniform, it would just be quite dull. It is designed so you can enjoy the feel, the texture and color of the metal.”
Okumura is a silversmith artisan. He graduated from the Musashino University of Art in 1975 and became an artist. He has won many awards, such as the Minister of Education Award for Japan Traditional Arts Crafts Exhibition in 1995.

Expressions that can only be achieved with metal

In 2012, Okumura exhibited his work ”Tetsujizou Gankobako” named “Hanare” at the East Japan Traditional Arts Crafts Exhibition. It surprised Nakata because “It doesn’t look at like metal!” and looks more like a lacquered wooden box. The texture of metal is apparent when you touch it. Many of Okumura’s pieces have delicate designs but the texture remains. The rust is left on the material in order to achieve this delicate texture.
“There aren’t many types of metal to begin with, but you can expand the realm of expression by combining different techniques, and that makes it truly intriguing.” Okumura nodded in agreement to Nakata’s comment.
When restoring cultural assets, you can sense how people in the past related to metal. There is a lot to be learned from the past, and Okumura tries to integrate what he finds interesting or useful in his work.

Playing with the handle of the sword

“I’d like to have you make a pendant.”
“I’m not very good at designing,” Nakata commented. But after giving it some thought, he wrote the letter “travel”. “I’ll go with this, since I’m traveling all the time these days.”
He starts shaping the silver metal for the pendant. A fret saw is used but it turns out to be quite difficult to handle. Nakata managed to cut out a round shape. The next step was to engrave the letter. With instruction from Okumura, a chisel is used.
“The lines are crooked. It’s really difficult.”
“That’s fine. You’re still on the road, and it will convey how you’ve been traveling.” Okumura encouraged Nakata.
“I’ve never been good at making things.” Nakata says. Mr Okumura shared a story with us.
“When I was in middle school, I used to make sword handles with my best friend. We would mold it from a real sword, and used to wrap lead around it to make a design around the handle. I remember one time we were stopped by a policeman when we were carrying it across our backs,” He laughs as he recalls the day.
The pendant top was ready. Okumura helped us finish it up and a one and only “Traveling” pendant top was accomplished.

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Drawing patterns by engraving metal

”I’m not exaggerating when I say that the ”katana” encompasses all aspects of ”kogei”.” commented Important Cultural Asset holder Morihito Katsura. He told us that all forms of ”kogei” other than ceramics and porcelain are embodied in the ”katana”. Of course, that includes chasing.
Chasing is the art of engraving metal to create a decoration. It is a skill with a long history, and has been found in ruins from the Tumulus period. In Japan, it has been used in abundance to decorate artworks related to Buddhism, and during the Muromachi period, it developed as decorations on swords and suits of armor.
”During the war, warlords assigned land to reward his followers. But during Edo period, in times of peace, elaborately adorned swords and suits of armor were given instead. Embellished sword and armor were in great demand, especially among feudal lords with many followers.” In modern times, chasing was used to decorate utensils and ”obi-dome” in addition to battle gear.

Creating 3 dimensional designs

Looking at Katsura’s work, Nakata commented, ”It not only involves skill, but the design is very stylish!” ”Well, I put a lot of thought into the design as well,” Katsura answered. He creates various objects including vases, incense burners, and ”obidome” shaped like a minnow in 3-dimension.
”People judge our pieces based on whether or not they like it. Technique and skill come next. So it’s important to place priority on design.”
Design is made possible by technique. A feature of Katsura’s work is that they are 3-dimensional. It is a rare skill very few possess in Japan. In addition, Katsura is said to be the only one who can create the ”height”. A metal alloy called ”shibuichi,” which combines silver and bronze, is very hard, lacks ductility, melts easily with heat. This makes it extremely difficult to stretch to give it height.

Chasing in its entirety

Nakata had the opportunity to try engraving a relief. This ended up being quite difficult. It was hard to engrave the plum blossom design, requiring a lot of concentration, but he also needed to adjust how hard he hit the chisel to adjust the depth. Watching Nakata struggle, Katsura gave him words of encouragement ”Yes, I think you’re getting the hang of it. That’s it.”
Katsura’s work have a lot to do with inlay casting and hammering, requiring a lot of skill.
”There is a method called ”iroage” where you put metal into chemical agents, and the metal turns into its original color as a result of the chemical reaction. There are about 7 different colors of metal. In the west, metals do not have this much variation in color. ”
In addition to the variety of metals in Japan, the range of expression is expanded by pasting silver foil on the surface of the vase, or shaving a part off and adding an inlay with another kind of metal.
”There is a limit to what you can achieve with a single technique. Chasing or metal engraving is a total of all the different techniques.” Katsura said in conclusion.
Katsura continues with his challenge in pursuit of a new expression.

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Graceful and dynamic lines

Metal work artist Masami Ichikawa earns high acclaim for his delicate yet dynamic design. When we visited his workshop, his art pieces were displayed on the table. ”Cool!” Nakata exclaimed. Graceful yet dynamic lines of the piece were impressive. Ichikawa mainly uses damascening technique. This technique is so elaborate that it takes a whole year to finish just the three pieces he was readying for an exhibition.

Please let me be your apprentice!

“How did you start on this path?” “I first started with an apprenticeship of mold casting which was more of industrial metal work but I wanted to create things of my own design. I went to see exhibitions and encountered pieces by Ikkoku Kashima who was a Living National Treasure and immediately went to ask him to make me his apprentice,” he said shyly. “What was his reaction?” asked Nakata. “He was surprised of course. I was declined for lack of work space and he told me to come back when he had sufficient space. But I visited him again the following month.” “And then what did he say?” “I asked him again to let me study under him for three years and he reluctantly agreed. I stayed with him for ten years.” The techniques learned during this apprenticeship became the foundation of everything he is today. He continued creative activity, received many awards and now he is one of Japan’s leading artists.

Beauty brought on by elaborate work.

We moved on to his workshop to see his production method. ”The blade must be tapped lightly so that it does not go in too deeply,” says Ichikawa as he starts to work the carving knife and hammer on the metal surface. He taps the knife ever so lightly, as though he is not applying any strength at all. Nakata gives it a try, ”Oh, no! I scratched the metal,” says Nakata as he struggles through the process. ”Lightly, more like dropping rather than tapping,” Nakata continues to make very small markings on the metal. At the end of the tour Nakata says, ”Traditional crafts…sounds…” Ichikawa continues ”sounds very serious?.” ”I agree. There are a lot of cool things and some pieces match nicely with western interior. I would like to collect what interests me, share them with many people and surprise them in a good way. These people in turn may discover interesting aspects of traditional craftwork. Ichikawa answers happily, ”Please continue to do so.” ”These are very stylish. If you place the suits from playing cards in a row like this,” says Nakata. ” ”This is cool,” answers Ichikawa. ”But the work would be very elaborate, your arm would be…,” laughs Nakata. The techniques of metal work changes expression with each artist. Nakata was fortunate in discovering another attractive artwork.

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Returning to his birthplace to become an engraving artist

One technique of engraving is “zogan”. ”Zo” means molding and ”gan” refers to inlay. First, the design is molded, and then another is inlaid. This is “zogan” art.
Mamoru Nakagawa shared with us an episode of how he started as an engraving artist. He graduated from Kanazawa College of Art and had been employed working as a product designer when one day he received notice from home saying his mother was seriously ill and he needed to fly back home to Kanazawa immediately.

A breath of fresh air

He was somewhat reluctant to return since he was doing well as a designer. But he found out that they were looking for instructors in traditional crafts at Ishikawa Kogyo Experiment Site, and made a decision to return in hopes that his knowledge of design would be useful.
While helping on the family farm, he worked at the Kyogo Experiment station where he met engraver Kaishu Takahashi. He eventually apprenticed with Takahashi after observing and assisting with his work, which inspired him to work with ”zogan”.

While learning traditional ”zogan” skills from Takahashi, he also experimented with different skills, and began using different metals to bring out different colors. This added a new twist to ”Kaga zogan”.

Relaying the technique to the next generation

Nakata tried the ”zogan” technique for the first time. On a bowl made of metal alloy, a handmade chisel is used to engrave lines using a hammer. Nakagawa explained that different chisels were used to create lines of different width, and each chisel was made by Nakagawa himself. It was an extremely difficult task, as the chiseling had to be done little by little and it was very difficult to control.
”Zogan” works require high processing skills, only possible by a person who understands the characteristics of metal. Mamoru Nakagawa was designated Living National Treasure in 2004 and currently teaches at the Kanazawa College of Art as well as instructing at the Kanazawa Utatsu Kogei Kobo to nurture the next generation of artisans.

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