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Originally shared to Highlander Sword Shopper's Guide on Facebook, this post discusses the origins of the theme used for Ramirez's tsuba. Although more crudely rendered than the antiques, the similarity is undeniable.
The Hidden Christian Origins of Ramirez's Katana.. and reproducing an original tsuba.
Sean Connery's Katana in 1986 Highlander had a Tsuba with a "Hidden Christian" Motif. In this article you can see a 'Bamboo' and 'Geese' tsuba on the bottom right. It's the same theme & layout as the tsuba used in Highlander '86. I purchased an antique that is identical to this piece, made a CAD model of it and printed in steel.
"Japanese feudal era sword guards might have been owned by 'hidden Christian' samurai"
Several Japanese feudal era sword guards on display at a museum might have been made or belonged to "hidden Christians" at a time when Christianity was banned in Japan.
"It is extremely rare to find sword guards used after the adoption of anti-Christian policies," said an official at the Sawada Miki Kinenkan museum, as quoted by The Asahi Shimbun. "The findings indicate that they kept their deep faith (despite persecution)." According to the report, since November 2015, Yuhiko Nakanishi, chairman of Nihon Token Hozon Kai, a nonprofit Japanese sword preservation association, had been examining the 367 sword guards owned by the museum. The materials and techniques used to make the artifacts as well as design and other factors were also considered in order to make an estimate on when they were created. Forty-eight were identified to have belonged to Christians, and more than 10 of these could have been created somewhere between 1467 and 1568 during the Sengoku period. It was duriing this Warring States era that some warlords were believers of Christianity. The other sword guards are estimated to have been made after 1596, the year that warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi adopted anti-Christian policies. Christians then hid their Christian faith, only expressing it by drawing crosses on different objects.
The sword guards, having been among the samurai's most the important ornaments for their swords, is believed to have been designed with hidden crosses to prove their Christianity, albeit in secret.
"A characteristic of sword guards made after anti-Christian measures were taken is that Christians carefully hid crosses in their designs," Nakanishi said. "We concluded the designs show the faith of hidden Christians."
However, Waseda University history professor Yukihiro Ohashi said that caution must be taken since it's too early make conclusions that the sword guards were actually owned by Christians.
"We can say the sword guard that has a statue of Jesus Christ inside it belonged to a hidden Christian," he said, "but others need to be carefully examined before confirming that they belonged to Christians."
The sword guards have been on display at the Sawada Miki Kinenkan museum since May 10.
Making the Tsuba
The antique tsuba was purchased from Artur Drogamiecza. The 3d art file was made by an artist in CAD based on reference photos. The file was sent to Sculpteo be printed in a 420 Stainless & bronze composite metal, finished in a black powder coat. Delivery time was two weeks and the tsuba mounts on swords with no modification.
Binder Jetting was "Initially developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s, … an additive manufacturing process in which an industrial printhead selectively deposits a liquid binding agent onto a thin layer of metal powder particles… The process is repeated layer by layer, using a map from a digital design file, until the object is complete.
… (it is) cured and sintered after printing to achieve densities greater than 97%, in line with metal injection molding (MIM) and better than investment castings. … (stainless steel was) infiltrated with (bronze) to create a desired matrix or composite material."
-ExOne
Sources:
https://www.christiantimes.com/news/...n-samurai.html
https://www.exone.com/en-US/Resource...binder-jetting
The Hidden Christian Origins of Ramirez's Katana.. and reproducing an original tsuba.
Sean Connery's Katana in 1986 Highlander had a Tsuba with a "Hidden Christian" Motif. In this article you can see a 'Bamboo' and 'Geese' tsuba on the bottom right. It's the same theme & layout as the tsuba used in Highlander '86. I purchased an antique that is identical to this piece, made a CAD model of it and printed in steel.
"Japanese feudal era sword guards might have been owned by 'hidden Christian' samurai"
Several Japanese feudal era sword guards on display at a museum might have been made or belonged to "hidden Christians" at a time when Christianity was banned in Japan.
"It is extremely rare to find sword guards used after the adoption of anti-Christian policies," said an official at the Sawada Miki Kinenkan museum, as quoted by The Asahi Shimbun. "The findings indicate that they kept their deep faith (despite persecution)." According to the report, since November 2015, Yuhiko Nakanishi, chairman of Nihon Token Hozon Kai, a nonprofit Japanese sword preservation association, had been examining the 367 sword guards owned by the museum. The materials and techniques used to make the artifacts as well as design and other factors were also considered in order to make an estimate on when they were created. Forty-eight were identified to have belonged to Christians, and more than 10 of these could have been created somewhere between 1467 and 1568 during the Sengoku period. It was duriing this Warring States era that some warlords were believers of Christianity. The other sword guards are estimated to have been made after 1596, the year that warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi adopted anti-Christian policies. Christians then hid their Christian faith, only expressing it by drawing crosses on different objects.
The sword guards, having been among the samurai's most the important ornaments for their swords, is believed to have been designed with hidden crosses to prove their Christianity, albeit in secret.
"A characteristic of sword guards made after anti-Christian measures were taken is that Christians carefully hid crosses in their designs," Nakanishi said. "We concluded the designs show the faith of hidden Christians."
However, Waseda University history professor Yukihiro Ohashi said that caution must be taken since it's too early make conclusions that the sword guards were actually owned by Christians.
"We can say the sword guard that has a statue of Jesus Christ inside it belonged to a hidden Christian," he said, "but others need to be carefully examined before confirming that they belonged to Christians."
The sword guards have been on display at the Sawada Miki Kinenkan museum since May 10.
Making the Tsuba
The antique tsuba was purchased from Artur Drogamiecza. The 3d art file was made by an artist in CAD based on reference photos. The file was sent to Sculpteo be printed in a 420 Stainless & bronze composite metal, finished in a black powder coat. Delivery time was two weeks and the tsuba mounts on swords with no modification.
Binder Jetting was "Initially developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s, … an additive manufacturing process in which an industrial printhead selectively deposits a liquid binding agent onto a thin layer of metal powder particles… The process is repeated layer by layer, using a map from a digital design file, until the object is complete.
… (it is) cured and sintered after printing to achieve densities greater than 97%, in line with metal injection molding (MIM) and better than investment castings. … (stainless steel was) infiltrated with (bronze) to create a desired matrix or composite material."
-ExOne
Sources:
https://www.christiantimes.com/news/...n-samurai.html
https://www.exone.com/en-US/Resource...binder-jetting
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