【完全密着】実力派研師が挑む“刀剣研磨”の神業｜刀剣研磨の全工程を記録した貴重映像

【完全密着】実力派研師が挑む“刀剣研磨”の神業｜刀剣研磨の全工程を記録した貴重映像

Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture “Token togi dokoro (Sword polishing studio) Akita” near Tsurugaoka Hachimangu it is a Japanese sword polishing studio established in 2021 This time we had a close interview with a togishi (polisher), Akita Yūki-san! We have spent many days covering the process of a Japanese swords being polished beautifully by Akita-san Well, then, please enjoy until the finish! Akita-san became a disciple of a master togishi named Sasaki Takushi After about 15 years of training, he established his own studio in Kamakura City, in 2021 He won the Chiba Prize and third place in the special award category in the polishing division of the Modern Japanese Sword Craftsmen’s Exhibition in 2020 He is one of the most promising togishis of the future It all begins with an “encounter” with a single sword The sword that will be polished from now on is quietly revealing its form (Staff)
How do you like it? The sword this time This is a sword modeled after the “bungoto (sword of Bungo Province)” from the Heian to Kamakura period (794-1333) (Staff)
Have you decided how you want to finish it? Yeah, I have The texture of the jitetshu (sword’s surface steel) looks minute, so I will finish it in a way that brings out that minuteness The hamon (edge pattern) is interestingly midare (irregular hamon), so the key will be how to express that This sword was made by Shinna Komei-san (swordsmith name: Taira Kiyoaki) In 2019, Shinna-san established a forge in Oita City, Oita Prefecture and has been working to revive the “bungoto,” which had been lost for over 100 years In May 2023, he was awarded the Silver Prize at the exterior category of the Modern Japanese Sword Craftsmen’s Exhibition
He has been nominated for three consecutive years, including this silver award This time he will polish this modern Japanese sword Before you start polishing
bending of the sword is corrected with the tamegi (wooden jig) The process of Japanese swords polishing is there are two main stages: “shaping polishing” and “finish polishing” First, let’s look at the shitaji togi (shaping polishing) stage About 7 types of whetstones are used for the shaping polishing From left to right, they are arranged in order of coarseness
Polishing is performed by sequentially replacing the finer grit with a finer grit Kongo whetstone (vitrified whetstone #220) The first step is “kongo”
This step shapes the entire piece and removes rust (Staff)
Is there a specific order of parts to be polishened? We do the mune (ridge) We do the shinogiji (shinogi surface) We do the ji (hamon surface) Finally, we do the kissaki (point of the sword surface) (Staff)
Is the first step, kongo, an important step? Yes, the first step, kongo, where you create the shape, is the most important step There is no more important work than this When you look at a sword, the first thing you see is the shape When people see the sword, Togishis and swordsmiths must touch a person’s heart with its shape Becouse, the first thing that makes people think, “Whoa That’s amazing!” is the overall outline and the reflection of the light First, we amaze with the shape
Jigane (surface patern) and hamon (edge patern) can come later Currently step, the sori (curvature) and the width of shinogi surface do not match At the kongo step, I will adjust the width and angle of the shinogi surface The kongo step takes about 8 hours kongo whetstone are the fastest-wearing of all shaping polishing whetstones
In a single day’s work, the stone can wear down by as much as 1 centimeter And the next day Binsui whetstone (vitrified whetstone #400) The next step, “binsui,” involves removing thin rust and removing the kongo whetstone marks The shaping process is completed in this step The binsui step takes about 5 hours Done! After each polishing step
wash away the sand from the previous step from the work area While Akita-san was thinking about the next step… His apprentice, Nakamura Yosuke-san, visited his studio He usually works as an industrial engineer at a company while also running his own business on the side He got to know Akita-san, who was posting about Japanese sword polishing on social media, after asking him a question Currently, he is officially apprenticed to him and is learning the techniques and spirit of sword polishing
*By the way, I (Yosuke) translated the English subtitles for this video
I hope you enjoy it! : ) Now that the work is over
Let’s take a lunch break Akita-san was in charge of cooking since his apprenticeship days As an anecdote from his apprenticeship, his master was very particular about taste, and if he didn’t like what Akita-san made, he would order takeout (Staff)
Is the work going well? It’s going well It’s a little ahead of schedule Now, let’s take this opportunity to introduce the tools used for sword polishing The platform on which the togishi sits to work is called a “togi-fune” (polishing boat) “Togi-oke” (polishing bucket) “To-daï” (polishing stand) “Tomakura” (polishing pillow) “Todaimakura” (pillow of polishing stand) “Fumaegi” (stepping stick) “Tsumagi” (toenails place) “Shogi” (stool) Let’s continue watching Kaisei whetstone (resinoid whetstone #600) The next step is “kaisei,” involves removing removing the binsui whetstone marks (Staff)
What inspired you to become a togishi? I originally wanted to be a swordsmith At the time, I was in junior high school
and had told people close to me that I wanted to become a sword craftsman my mother’s coworker introduced me to my master, Takushi Sasaki I went to visit him, and “You can’t make a living as a swordsmith,
but if you want to become a togishi, I’ll teach you” Well, I thought I’d like to be able to work with swords So I knocked on Sasaki’s door (Staff)
This is still the shitaji togi(shaping polishing), right? It’s still the third one from the bottom (Staff)
The sword is already beautiful, though Well, it’s good enough for practical use (Staff)
The sound is nice, too Yeah, it is My master said “When I hear this sound in a studio, I sleep well” “If someone unskilled is doing it, it makes me irritable and I wake up” (Staff)
I totally get it That’s why it was so hard to watch my senior apprentice work When I was told, “Watch!”
I started to get sleepy (Staff)
How did you acquire your knowledge of swords? You pick it up naturally as you do it Go to appreciation events where you can see good swords
Attend appraisal events And then go to customers’ homes to maintain their swords Visit museums and art galleries While doing that, I started to think, “I wonder how this works” or
“How do I go about it?” You have to learn by doing If you don’t learn by doing, when you polishen a sword that comes into your hands, you don’t know who it belongs to You won’t know who made the sword or
what they were aiming for You won’t understand what the swordsmith wanted to create First, let’s figure out that part You’ll use the whetstone after you’ve done that After kaisei whetstone, use chū-nagura whetstones (#1000) and koma-nagura whetstones (#1500),
and then move on to finer whetstones to continue the work After that, the sword is temporarily returned to the swordsmith
and work begins on making the scabbard and habaki Furthermore, holes for the pegs are drilled into the tang,
and the mei (inscription) is carved at this stage The sword will return to Akita-san in 2 weeks 2 weeks later It has been returned from the step of sheath The sword has returned to Akita-san The process of polishing the swrod is finally coming to an end Uchigumori whetstone habiki (natural about #3000) This step is “habiki” involves removing removing the koma-nagura whetstone marks and the hamon (edge pattern) is polished At this stage, with the finish in mind, the whetstone marks made when pushing and pulling are made as parallel as possible so that the whetstone marks do not form a mosaic when stopped I proceed with the work so that the whetstone marks are easy to remove with the next finishing whetstone Like this As much as possible, when you stops Carefully apply the whetstone so that the vertical lines are not noticeable (Staff)
When you receive a request for polishing from a swordsmith
do they ask you to finish it like this? (Staff)
Or do you interpret the blacksmith’s intentions
and proceed with the work based on your own ideas? Yes, generally speaking I look at the finished sword and guess that it was made around this time period then I contact the swordsmith once so to confirm our understanding Okay, the shitaji (shaping polishing) is done Next, the “finish sharpening” process begins Various tools are used for the finishing polish Hazuya stone (thin piece of uchigumori whetstone) Now I will proceed with the hazuya of finishing polish process The first step in the finishing polish is “uchigumori hazuya”
This reduces the inner cloudiness of the hamon and makes the blade white and bright Powdered deer antler First, apply this to the blade
and remove any oil before starting work Okay, the hazuya is done Jizuya stones (thin pieces of narutaki whetstone) The next step is “narutaki jizuya”
This reduces the the whetstone marks in the jigane (surface patern) Okay, the jizuya is done The next step is “nugui” Kanahada (iron oxide generated during sword making) powdered oil solution is filtered with a paper spoon
and then applied to the knife and polished with cotton Okay, I’ll start the nugui (Staff)
What effect does “nugui” have? Further refine the jizuya whetstone marks, and strengthen the contrast between ji (surface patern) and hamon (edge patern) Now that the “nugui” is over
Let’s take a lunch break (Staff)
Do you also need to concentrate during the finishing process? Yes, I do The more I get into the latter half, the more often we need to concentrate Rather than that, You can do the shitaji (shaping polishing) on autopilot For example, pay attention here… pay attention here…
There are key points like that in shitaji The more it becomes the latter half of the shitaji work, you have to be careful about everything from here to here The only place where you can relax is here like that, the ratio changes Let’s continue watching Hadori-zuya The next step is “hadori”
First, cut the hazuya into a circle Then, polish it a little more from here to make it thinner Once everything is ready, begin the work Hadori-zuya is used to polish the hamon pattern beautifully white according to the aesthetic sense of the togishi and the intention of the swordsmith The next step is “migaki” (roll polishing) Use a special tool to polish the mune (ridge) and the shinogiji (shinogi surface) In the past, carbon steel that had been heat-treated was used for migaki
Nowadays, super-hard alloy polishing rods are used “Makeup polishing” involves using a polishing rod to draw nagashi (lines) This is a kind of signature of the togishi
The number and style of lines vary depending on the togishi and school Sujikiri-zuya The next step is “sujikiri”
The position of the line of kissaki is determined using the sujikiri-zuya (processed hazuya) The final step in the finish polishing is “narume” Narume-zuya Using the narume-zuya (processed hazuya), polishen the tip to a smooth, shiny finish Okay, that’s a wrap After these multiple layers of steps, the sword quietly reveals its form As a unique crystallization of skill, heart, and time

🎥 チャンネルメンバー限定動画公開中！
刀剣研師・秋田勇喜さんに本編では語られなかった、貴重な話の数々をお届けします。

【未公開インタビュー】
▼視聴はこちら

・研師として一人前になるには？
・なぜ刀を研ぐ場所は“神聖”なの？
・流派による違いは？

【未公開シーン】
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・本阿弥流秘伝！止まり目の消し方
・現場で交わされる“リアルなやり取り”

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