HON’AMI KOSHU – POLISHING & CARE OF THE JAPANESE SWORD

The Polishing and Care of the Japanese sword – Hon’ami Koshu

The Hon’ami Family – At the peak of Japanese sword appraisal and polishing.

There’s a phrase, “Origami Tsuki”.

It’s a phrase that conveys a guarantee of merit in terms of quality and craftsmanship. The origin of this phrase comes from the peak of pioneering in the appraisement and polishing of the Japanese sword. The Hon’ami family uses the twice-folded Houshoshi paper in validating the sword certificate, and swords with this certificate are therefore called ”Origami Tsuki” swords.

In 1996, he inherited the Hon’ami line, becoming the 18th generation. He has polished about 1,500 Katana and Tachi at this point. In October of 2014 he was recognized as being a nationally designated important intangible cultural asset, a ”Living National Treasure”, becoming the 7th person in the field of sword polishing to receive this distinction.

This DVD features the Japanese sword polishing techniques by Hon’ami Koshu.