The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths
Tamio Tsuchikois a writer and editor of numerous publications on Japanese swords and Japanese craftsmanship in general, including traditional crafts as well as contemporary engineering. Tsuchiko has been involved in the sword world for more than thirty years, and is one of the executives of Nihon Bunka Niju-Isseiki Iinkai, or the Japanese Culture Twenty-first Century Committee. He has carried out detailed research on the history of Japanese swords in modern times. His latest book,Kurihara Hikosaburo Zen Kiroku("The Complete Record of the Life and Times of Hikosaburo Kurihara"), published in Japanese, was well received by sword enthusiasts. His workNihonto Niju-isseiki e no Chosen("A Challenge for the Japanese Sword in the Twenty-first Century"), upon which the present book is based, has won acclaim as the most extensive and illustrative study of gendai-tosho in sword literature. He lives in Tokyo, where he is active in the promotion of Japanese crafts and the Japanese sword.Kenji Mishimais a sword polisher who served as chief instructor at the Nagayama Kenshu Jo (founded by Kokan Nagayama, who features in part three of this book) for seven years beginning in 1979. He has been authorized by the Japanese government to restore swords that have been designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Assets. He spent six years in the United Kingdom from 1986, where he worked for the British Museum, lectured at the monthly meetings of the Sword Society of Great Britain, and received a request from the British royal family to polish its sword collection. He is the translator ofThe Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords.