2025 Samurai Arts Convention
On Saturday November 22nd, the Gōshū Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kai hosted the first Australian Samurai Arts Convention at the Oaks on Market Hotel in Melbourne.
This was the first event of its type and was intended to bring together people interested in Samurai art and related fields, to network, share knowledge and buy/sell items. To facilitate this, we organised some educational lectures, held a Kantei session and invited several dealers to attend.
The convention had just under 50 attendees, many of whom travelled interstate, and even from as far as Japan to attend. It was a great opportunity to see old friends and meet some new faces, and there was a good range of collectors and enthusiasts from different age groups and demographics.
Activities
The Gōshū Kai holds regular meetings, study sessions and Kantei-kai at various sites around Australia for its members.
We provide a regular online newsletter, and share information regarding Japanese swords and related artforms to our members.
We also contribute to all kinds of exhibitions and displays. From major exhibitions within museums and art galleries, to smaller scale displays within the Japanese Consulate in Melbourne.
Last year we held our inaugural Samurai Arts Convention in Melbourne, it was a huge success. Please see the write-up of the event below.
During the convention three lectures were scheduled throughout the day, the first lecture by Andrew Ickeringill was a deep dive into Nihonto etiquette, discussing the proper techniques of handling swords in both formal and informal settings, how to care for swords and the etiquette for handling and viewing swords during a Kantei session.
The second lecture by Thomas Sinclair was an exploration into the terminology, history and evolution of Kabuto, tracing the development and stylistic trends of kabuto from the Heian period through to the end of the Edo period.
In the third lecture, Justin Orr took us through the interesting history of Akasaka Tsuba, tracing the lineage of the Akasaka masters, discussing the stylistic features and designs of Akasaka Tsuba and their influence on other schools in the Edo period.
In the afternoon attendees were invited to participate in a Nyusatsu style Kantei session, featuring 5 swords. This was a good opportunity to study some excellent swords and test participants' ability to identify specific characteristics and determine the attribution.
Participation was great overall, and for quite a few it was their first time taking part in a Kantei session. This was followed by a review session where the characteristics and Kantei points of each of the swords was discussed in detail.
Three dealers were present at the convention, Nihonto Australia, Touken Takarado and Carl Wantrup Asian Art, bringing an impressive array of interesting items, there were many great deals on offer and some very happy customers. Attendees were also invited to bring along items to buy/trade/sell, and tables were allocated to facilitate this. It was much more successful than anticipated and given the popularity we will ensure that there is additional space allocated at any future events.
We would like to officially thank everyone that supported the event and those that donated their time, knowledge and expertise to help make the event possible. Looking towards the future, we will be discussing how to move forward with future events, if you have any suggestions or would like to be involved, please feel free to reach out.