Send Brian Robinson to DTI 2020!
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Reward Our Quiet, Fearless Leader!! The Brian Robinson Inititiative
The Nihonto Message Board's leader (Robinsonius incredibulus) is one of South Africa's most-endangered omnivores, with only one of his kind in the wild. Do you enjoy Japanese swords? Have you been part of the Nihonto Message Board Community? If so, then you probably know of the Website's owner, Brian Robinson. Located down in South Africa, Brian has done a wonderful job of managing to keep thousands of NMB members engaged and informed for over 13 years.
At the very top of Brian's bucket list is to once again attend the Dai Token Ichi (DTI) in Tokyo. DTI is the largest annual meeting of sword dealers from all over the world, who gather for the three-day event, along with many NMB members. However, since South Africa is more than 14,000 km (8,700 miles) away, and all of his spare personal funds go to keep the Website running, Brian hasn't been able to travel there since 'way back in 2008, when he cashed in a few policies and made some sacrifices.
Well, our GoFundMe initiative is intended to change that!
This GoFundMe initiative will allow Brian to attend DTI 2020, from November 1-3, including airfare and hotel room. Since he has a ruptured-disk back injury, we're not going to make it worse by stuffing him into a cheap economy-class seat...he needs more leg-room than that . And we're sending along Nicky, his girlfriend of 25 years, to make sure that he takes care of himself...I mean, somebody has to make sure he takes his meds!
Any excess funds that may be raised from our new $5,000 goal will be used to upgrade Brian's Web-server and Internet bandwidth. He has already spent a ton of his own money to upgrade the software that operates the complex site, and foresees a number of additional required major updates in the near future.
If you aren't already a Nihonto Message Board member, you are invited by Brian to visit the Website, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/. Joining is free, and our members are knowledgeable and (fairly) friendly. If you are already a member, well, you know what to do!
UPDATE!!
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, Brian realizes that his plans may have to change, possibly delaying a bit, or arranging other Nihonto-related activities. But, the trip WILL take place, as long as the airlines are still traveling to Japan.
Brian asked me to mention that the Nihonto Message Board forum runs for free, offering translations and advice and experience from members at no cost, and has become the largest Japanese sword forum for English-speakers in the world. We're a very-diverse bunch, too, as this chart shows:
Brian & Nicky did get one chance to travel to Japan, about a decade ago, thanks to her parents. But, of course, it's different when you're paying for things yourself, especially when you're not rolling in money, which few of us are, these days.
This trip, Brian is dedicated to meeting with local Japanese dealers to arrange discounts for NMB members. With over 5,000 of us, that should motivate sellers to take a hard look at what will entice us to purchase from them. However, we do need to get him there first!
One question I'm asked is, why do people get interested in Japanese swords? It's not like you see people carrying them down the street, even in Japan. So, I asked a couple of our newer NMB members, & one old-timer, what had gotten them started:
From Oshy, in Minnesota, 32 posts:
As a new NMB member I cannot recommend this community enough. Ive held a fascination for all things Japanese for many years dabbling with modern blades the past year or two which recently lead me into nihontos over the past few months. Since then I have been able to witness, utilize and learn from the vast knowledge and resources of other members. Many thanks to Brian and his efforts over the years to foster such a great community!
From Steffieee, in the UK, 130 posts:
Having a background in oriental weapons and general arms and armour, mainly Indian and Islamic related, although some European, the sphere of Japanese arms and armour and particularly Nihonto seems strangely removed from the rest of this field worldwide. The blades are similarly revered in the other cultures that I am familiar with, high quality swords often signed or marked, with complex watered and other manufactures, but even so the detail present in Nihonto study is mainly not present. Early swords are rare in Indian and Islamic study, yet they seem to be fairly commonplace in Japanese sword study, at least those dating back to Muromachi times, and the condition far surpasses those in western collections because of the reverence and care in which they were kept. So to me there are three strands of interest; the historical side of the swords themselves, age, style and past use in Wars etc, the manufacture and study ie recognizing dates and schools of swords from their individual characteristics, and for me the relationship with other cultures generally, Japanese arms and armour and weapons, most notably Chinese and other neighbours.
From Yurie, in California, 91 posts (Owner, studyingjapaneseswords.com):
My father was heavily involved in sword collecting and sword museum (NBTHK) while I was growing up. My house was always filled with many kinds of antiques, like Kakejiku, Yoroi, plates, etc. As the time goes by, it got worse. Our house was in Minato-Ku Tokyo until I was high school, then moved to Kamakura. My father had a friend (his name is Mori Sensei) near our house in Kamakura who was also a administrator of NBTHK. He asked me if I want to join his sword study group. Since I was always surrounded with sword, I decided to join them. Because he was one of the administrators of NBTHK, he could bring top swords as our study material, also he owned many valuable swords in his house. On top of that my father really liked the idea I joined Mori Sensei’s group, he insisted to teach me with his swords at home too. Meiji University where I attended required students to do internship to receive a curator license, so my father arranged me to do the internship at NBTHK.
From John, on the Arctic Coast of Canada, 7,692 posts (NMB Moderator):
I have had an intense interest in edged weapons for as long as I can remember. I am sure that as I am part of the baby boom generation and therefore one of those that grew up with Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, on the TV as well as healthy doses of Errol and friends plying their trade on various decks and in various castles in the movies. We were all the heroes of our own stories on the playground and in the neighbourhood in imitation. As a young boy a treasured possession was my pocket knife and later hunting knife and hatchet. Helping the Arbuckle brothers when I was about 12 years old to build my uncle's log cabin taught me the value of sharp tools and appreciation of steel that could retain an edge through a workday. In my early teens the collecting bug drew me to Indian tulwars, crossbows, various knives and odds and ends; all replicas, at the time pure gold or so I thought. At school, grade seven, was when my martial arts journey began, which of course renewed my zeal for edged weapons.
After high school I entered the iron and steel industry, forge and foundry. This helped me to understand the magic done with this base element which raised it to a treasure of highest value. More informed now I sought out swords that were the best of kind. Of course among these were what we called Samurai swords and it was to these that I had the most interest. Style, most sabre like; beauty of construction, the steel was amazing and the accoutrement, amazing little bits done with great artistic ability. They have found me a willing student. I hope everyone can feel as excited as I when seeing and perhaps holding a Japanese sword made by exceptional artists.
The Nihonto Message Board's leader (Robinsonius incredibulus) is one of South Africa's most-endangered omnivores, with only one of his kind in the wild. Do you enjoy Japanese swords? Have you been part of the Nihonto Message Board Community? If so, then you probably know of the Website's owner, Brian Robinson. Located down in South Africa, Brian has done a wonderful job of managing to keep thousands of NMB members engaged and informed for over 13 years.
At the very top of Brian's bucket list is to once again attend the Dai Token Ichi (DTI) in Tokyo. DTI is the largest annual meeting of sword dealers from all over the world, who gather for the three-day event, along with many NMB members. However, since South Africa is more than 14,000 km (8,700 miles) away, and all of his spare personal funds go to keep the Website running, Brian hasn't been able to travel there since 'way back in 2008, when he cashed in a few policies and made some sacrifices.
Well, our GoFundMe initiative is intended to change that!
This GoFundMe initiative will allow Brian to attend DTI 2020, from November 1-3, including airfare and hotel room. Since he has a ruptured-disk back injury, we're not going to make it worse by stuffing him into a cheap economy-class seat...he needs more leg-room than that . And we're sending along Nicky, his girlfriend of 25 years, to make sure that he takes care of himself...I mean, somebody has to make sure he takes his meds!
Any excess funds that may be raised from our new $5,000 goal will be used to upgrade Brian's Web-server and Internet bandwidth. He has already spent a ton of his own money to upgrade the software that operates the complex site, and foresees a number of additional required major updates in the near future.
If you aren't already a Nihonto Message Board member, you are invited by Brian to visit the Website, http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/. Joining is free, and our members are knowledgeable and (fairly) friendly. If you are already a member, well, you know what to do!
UPDATE!!
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, Brian realizes that his plans may have to change, possibly delaying a bit, or arranging other Nihonto-related activities. But, the trip WILL take place, as long as the airlines are still traveling to Japan.
Brian asked me to mention that the Nihonto Message Board forum runs for free, offering translations and advice and experience from members at no cost, and has become the largest Japanese sword forum for English-speakers in the world. We're a very-diverse bunch, too, as this chart shows:
Brian & Nicky did get one chance to travel to Japan, about a decade ago, thanks to her parents. But, of course, it's different when you're paying for things yourself, especially when you're not rolling in money, which few of us are, these days.This trip, Brian is dedicated to meeting with local Japanese dealers to arrange discounts for NMB members. With over 5,000 of us, that should motivate sellers to take a hard look at what will entice us to purchase from them. However, we do need to get him there first!
One question I'm asked is, why do people get interested in Japanese swords? It's not like you see people carrying them down the street, even in Japan. So, I asked a couple of our newer NMB members, & one old-timer, what had gotten them started:
From Oshy, in Minnesota, 32 posts:
As a new NMB member I cannot recommend this community enough. Ive held a fascination for all things Japanese for many years dabbling with modern blades the past year or two which recently lead me into nihontos over the past few months. Since then I have been able to witness, utilize and learn from the vast knowledge and resources of other members. Many thanks to Brian and his efforts over the years to foster such a great community!
From Steffieee, in the UK, 130 posts:
Having a background in oriental weapons and general arms and armour, mainly Indian and Islamic related, although some European, the sphere of Japanese arms and armour and particularly Nihonto seems strangely removed from the rest of this field worldwide. The blades are similarly revered in the other cultures that I am familiar with, high quality swords often signed or marked, with complex watered and other manufactures, but even so the detail present in Nihonto study is mainly not present. Early swords are rare in Indian and Islamic study, yet they seem to be fairly commonplace in Japanese sword study, at least those dating back to Muromachi times, and the condition far surpasses those in western collections because of the reverence and care in which they were kept. So to me there are three strands of interest; the historical side of the swords themselves, age, style and past use in Wars etc, the manufacture and study ie recognizing dates and schools of swords from their individual characteristics, and for me the relationship with other cultures generally, Japanese arms and armour and weapons, most notably Chinese and other neighbours.
From Yurie, in California, 91 posts (Owner, studyingjapaneseswords.com):
My father was heavily involved in sword collecting and sword museum (NBTHK) while I was growing up. My house was always filled with many kinds of antiques, like Kakejiku, Yoroi, plates, etc. As the time goes by, it got worse. Our house was in Minato-Ku Tokyo until I was high school, then moved to Kamakura. My father had a friend (his name is Mori Sensei) near our house in Kamakura who was also a administrator of NBTHK. He asked me if I want to join his sword study group. Since I was always surrounded with sword, I decided to join them. Because he was one of the administrators of NBTHK, he could bring top swords as our study material, also he owned many valuable swords in his house. On top of that my father really liked the idea I joined Mori Sensei’s group, he insisted to teach me with his swords at home too. Meiji University where I attended required students to do internship to receive a curator license, so my father arranged me to do the internship at NBTHK.
From John, on the Arctic Coast of Canada, 7,692 posts (NMB Moderator):
I have had an intense interest in edged weapons for as long as I can remember. I am sure that as I am part of the baby boom generation and therefore one of those that grew up with Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, on the TV as well as healthy doses of Errol and friends plying their trade on various decks and in various castles in the movies. We were all the heroes of our own stories on the playground and in the neighbourhood in imitation. As a young boy a treasured possession was my pocket knife and later hunting knife and hatchet. Helping the Arbuckle brothers when I was about 12 years old to build my uncle's log cabin taught me the value of sharp tools and appreciation of steel that could retain an edge through a workday. In my early teens the collecting bug drew me to Indian tulwars, crossbows, various knives and odds and ends; all replicas, at the time pure gold or so I thought. At school, grade seven, was when my martial arts journey began, which of course renewed my zeal for edged weapons.
After high school I entered the iron and steel industry, forge and foundry. This helped me to understand the magic done with this base element which raised it to a treasure of highest value. More informed now I sought out swords that were the best of kind. Of course among these were what we called Samurai swords and it was to these that I had the most interest. Style, most sabre like; beauty of construction, the steel was amazing and the accoutrement, amazing little bits done with great artistic ability. They have found me a willing student. I hope everyone can feel as excited as I when seeing and perhaps holding a Japanese sword made by exceptional artists.
Organizer
Ken Goldstein
Organizer
Kaneohe, HI
