TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography

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David Carradine – Kill Bill – Hattori Hanzo – Kiyochika Kanehama

Published by travel67

It was announced on the news today that David Carradine is dead. I am a little too young to have grown up watching the TV show Kung Fu, but I am sure that for many this will be a sad day. In recent years Carradine returned to fame as Bill in Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies.

For those who haven’t seen the movies, in one of the scenes in Kill Bill Part 1, Uma Thurman travels to Okinawa to get a samurai sword made by sword smith Hattori Hanzo.

A couple of years ago I did an interview with the only real sword smith in Okinawa – Kanehama Kiyochika. I even got to ask him about Kill Bill…

Okinawan Sword smith Kanehama Kiyochika

From the age of 22 to 31, Kiyochika Kanehama trained as an apprentice swordsmith. At a forge in the Japanese Alps, his sensei Kiyomune Miyairi taught him how to create a blade from lumps of iron ore. For years, he studied the process of folding and honing metal to produce edges so sharp that they are considered a thing of legend. In 1983, he returned to Okinawa to open his own forge. There, he continues to practice his ancient art creating blades fit for a samurai.

What are the different types of samurai swords?

“There are three main types. The first is the tanto, or dagger. It has a short blade less than 30 centimeters long. The second type is the wakizashi; the sword has a medium length blade between 30 to 60 centimeters long. The wakizashi was used for fighting in confined situations such as inside a house when a longer sword would be too cumbersome. Finally, there were the katana and tachi. These were the full length swords the samurai used with deadly efficiency.”

What makes samurai swords so special?

“Small lumps of iron ore are heated to between 1400˚C and 1,500˚C using pine charcoal until the metal fuses. This molten mass is stretched, folded, and beaten. The process is repeated until the steel is made up of thousands of layers. The secret, however, is not just in the number of layers, but also the different types of steel that make up the blade. High carbon steel is very hard and can be honed to a sharp edge. It is also very brittle, and a sword made entirely of high carbon steel could shatter. Low carbon steel is softer and more flexible. A samurai sword, therefore, is constructed with a core of low carbon steel surrounded by layers of high carbon steel. It produces a blade that is both strong and razor sharp.”

How do you know who made a blade?

“The name of the swordsmith, along with the town or region he is from, is etched into the steel on the tang of the blade hidden beneath the hilt. If you take any of my swords apart, you will see my name there.”

How do your swords differ from those on the mainland?

“The scabbards of the blades are made using Ryukyu lacquerware techniques. Many of the sheaths also have Okinawan emblems such as the dragon on them, or they include local materials in their construction like shark skin for the hilt.”

How much does a sword cost?

“A tanto dagger with a lacquerware sheath is around ¥550,000 (US$5500). A katana with plain wooden scabbard would be upwards of ¥1,300,000 (US$13,000). If money is no object, the hilt, handguard and scabbard can be adorned with gold and precious stones.”

In the movie Kill Bill, Uma Thurman travels to Okinawa, so that she can get a katana made by the swordsmith Hattori Hanzo. There is even a little shîsâ on the blade he makes for her.

“I’m afraid there’s only one swordsmith on Okinawa and that’s me. As for the movie, well to be honest, I haven’t even seen it.”

Etched into the tang of the blade is name and town of the sword smith

(Interview first published in Okinawa Living Magazine January 2006)

Gran Turismo 5 – the trailer

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Gran Turismo is a car racing simulator for the Sony Playstation. As the Playstation evolved from PS1 to Ps3, the game also grew in size and complexity, each time amazing gamers with super realistic graphics and incredibly realistic driving. The popularity and importance of this game to Sony is huge, over 50 million units have been sold.

The release of Gran Turismo 5 is comparable to that of a hollywood blockbuster. Although there is no set release date, the first trailers have appeared.

Things have certainly come along way since the days of Pong.

The Beastie Boys – Japanese Street Icons?

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At the 2009 MTV Video Awards Japan, the Beastie Boys were presented with the Street Icons Award by Nigo.

Not sure how this award was decided as most young Japanese have no idea who the Beastie Boys are.

The Beastie Boys are however obvious fans of Japan. Why else would you dress up as Japanese construction workers and dance in Shibuya and Shinjuku train stations. And who better to defend Tokyo from an enormous octopus headed monster than the Beastie Boys at the helm of a giant robot.

Print Prices – Why the change in currency?

Published by travel67

As some people have pointed out, a few months ago the prices for limited edition prints available on my website suddenly changed from US dollars to Japanese yen.

At exhibitions in Japan all the prices for my prints are in yen. With fluctuating exchange rates, the only way to guarantee that the prices are the same whether you purchase on the website or through a gallery was to have everything in the same currency.

You can check the prices in your local currency using a universal currency converter.

Paypal will convert the amount from yen to your local currency when checking out, along with taking all the necessary shipping details. As always, A2 and A3 size prints include free international shipping and insurance.

Okinawan Bull Fighting

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During the summer months bull fighting takes place in several bull rings on Okinawa.

I have mixed feelings on the whole situation. Compared to Spanish bull fighting it is delightful. Okinawan bull fighting is a battle between equals rather than men against beast. The Okinawan bulls lock horns and then push each other until the weaker bull turns and runs. The bulls are not killed, and are looked after by their owners better than many pets. Near where I live, you regularly see the bulls being taken for walks. ( Something I really should photograph now that I think about it. )

Some bulls however do get injured, which is hardly surprising when both combatants have a big pointy horn on either side of their head. With the potential for animals to be injured or even killed is the cost of this entertainment too great?

Okinawan Bull Fighting

Happy Birthday Big Ben

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Today is the 150th birthday of Big Ben.

Happy Birthday Big Ben!

I am aware that Big Ben is the bell rather than the building surrounding it, but you can look at the photos and imagine the bell nonetheless!

These pictures were taken a couple of years ago when Britain was having a terrible summer of almost constant rain. Just happened that the weekend I was in London was glorious weather. Hoorah!

Blue sky over London.

Dragon Boat Races

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During May and June dragon boat races are held across Okinawa with fierce competition between local towns.

I would love to take photos from inside the boat during a race, but for now this shot is my favorite.

Dragon Boat Race, Okinawa

Ryukyu Shimpo

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In today’s Ryukyu Shimpo (one of the newspapers in Okinawa) there was a short piece about my exhibition at Cotonoha.

Ryukyu Shimpo 29 May 2009

It’s a bit of a shame that it was published when my exhibition is only up for another couple of days, but better later than never.

I’m going to be hanging out at Cotonoha Saturday and Sunday afternoon, so if you are in the area drop by and say hello (or konichiwa).

Turin Shroud – An early photograph?

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The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History

The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History was lent to me on my last photo trip so I had something to read on the train. The book is the research about how Picknett and Prince came to the conclusion that the Turin Shroud was not just a forgery ( as previously shown by carbon dating ) but that it was a primitive photograph created by Leonardo da Vinci. Most of the book is not particularly well written and was a bit of a struggle to get through. They go into detail about the history of the shroud, and the various different theories regarding its creation. The book did become interesting in the penultimate chapter when they describe how they tried to create a similar shroud image using techniques da Vinci (in their opinion a skilled chemist, artist, physician, physicist, and heretic) may have used.

Their process involved producing a simple camera obscura with a primitive lens to project an image onto a piece of white linen. The authors thought da Vinci even used a model of his own face as that of Jesus. The image was fixed to the linen by coating it with a mixture of chromium salts and an organic component such as gelatin, gum arabic or egg white. The mixture in areas hit by light became insoluble. Once the image had been projected onto the linen for many hours, the cloth was then heated. The fabric was scorched in the areas where the mixture had hardened. Areas of brightness in the original image now became dark producing the negative image you see on the shroud.

Another process done by Nicholas Allen was to coat the linen in silver nitrate or sulphate , project the image onto the linen then fix the image using ammonia.

The final chapter goes back to the rather less interesting debate over authenticity between the Shroudies and non-Shroudies.

If you found the Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons fascinating then this book is well worth checking out. If you are interested in photography then chapter 8 is perhaps all you want to read.