Hi All,

I wanted to take a minute to repeat an announcement I made a month or so back. (I know that not everyone signs on to the forum all that frequently, so it is easy to miss some interesting topics.)

Next month (October), I am going to be hosting a 25th generation master katana-kaji. Fusataro Asano is a Japanese swordsmith practicing in the Kanefusa tradition. He will be here at my workshop for the month, and while he’s here, he will be offering a series of three two-day demonstrations of his techniques.

My friend Allen Rozon of Tamahagane Arts is organizing and running the events (I’m simply hosting), and he has made information and tickets available on his website, www.tamahagane.com. Tickets are around $200 each (and a ticket covers both days of each demonstration). Each demonstration will be limited to an audience of about ten apiece; these are going to be intimate, up-close and personal events, probably including some hands-on interaction.

I am sure I’m not alone among us in feeling that Japanese blades are one of the strongest sources of inspiration and excitement that feed into my practice as a bladesmith. The opportunity to experience this caliber of artist at work is seldom afforded to anyone, let alone outside of Japan.

Of course I realize that $200 (plus travel to New Hampshire) is not cheap, but I can assure you that it’s much cheaper than traveling to Japan.

To make matters more interesting, I will be hosting another world-class artist of the Japanese sword at the same time. Ford Hallam is one of the (if not THE) top tsuba-shi in the world. (A tsuba-shi is the metalsmith who makes the guard and other metal fittings for a traditional Japanese sword.) Incidentally, if you are not already familiar with his work, you should definitely check out this video, regardless of the events I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGMj7o6AwnM

Mr. Hallam will also be here next month, teaching an immersive course in classical Japanese metalworking. If you were to attend one of Fusataro san’s demonstrations, you would also have the opportunity to meet Mr. Hallam, see some of his work, etc.

I can’t stress enough how unusual or exciting it is to have access to either of these two artists, let alone outside of Japan, and both of them at the same time.

If you would like any more information, you can either Email me at: [email protected], or get in touch with Allen directly through the website: www.tamahagane.com.

Alright, thanks all!

Zack