As I noted in last week's "A Little Cold-Forging Metal Work", I recently visited a craftsman in the art of traditional Japanese swordmaking.

I have no interest in swords as weapons, historical items, or even as pieces of art (such as seen in "A Few Japanese Swords of Note"), but I find how they're made to be facinating. (See this video for a superficial overview.)

Later this month, Pierre, a Canadian working in Wakayama, Japan, will take the test to be an officially licensed Japanese swordsmith. If he passes, he will be only the second non-Japanese in history to do [...]

I was hoping to post by now about last week's visit to a traditional Japanese swordsmith, but I've been down with a cold for the last three days. Unfun. So, here's a "What am I?" quiz to pass the time... what is this implement from the swordsmith's workshop for?

Having finally obtained a manual for the lens I got last week, I've learned a few things. One, it seems that it actually has a built-in slide-out lens hood in addition to the big detachable hood I'd been using. You're supposed to deploy both.

Also, for some reason, it says that proper focus can't be achieved without a filter installed in the filter holder. It can be simple optically-inert glass, but you've got to have something. I don't know how it could matter, but I'll trust the maker on this. Unfortunately, the only filter holder it came with is for [...]

This weekend I had great adventure in a visit to a Japanese swordsmith, about which I'll write soon. One side event was that the swordsmith, who normally works with 1,000-degree metals, was also visited at the same time by a cold-forging metal smith, and the two traded notes and techniques of their vaguely-related crafts.

The swordsmith is used to hammering, but not to touching what he's hammering with his bare hands (because it's normally glowing red hot).

An hour and a half later....

This is, of course, the answer to the "What am I?" Quiz that will stump you from [...]

Michael Lambe over at Deep Kyoto posts about a Benefit Sale for Tohoku Disaster Relief on May 28th, in the Demachiyanagi area of Kyoto. If you'll be in Kyoto then and have interest in either helping towards the disaster relief, or picking up some deals garage-sale style, check out his post for more info.