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June is the end of our company’s fiscal year. Our staff and business partners travel together on an overseas trip as a reward for the year of hard work and to revitalize ourselves. 2024 marks the 10th overseas trip that also includes the Okinawa trip during the Covid crisis. This year we spent 3 nights and 5 days relaxing in Cebu, Philippines.  Everyone had a great time and we enjoyed the sights and foods of Cebu.  All of our staff thoroughly enjoyed this trip and are looking forward to next year’s trip, which will motivate us to work harder for another year. We will do our best again this year to provide our customers with the highest level of satisfaction at Token Matsumoto!

To express my gratitude to all the sword dealers attending the Nodakai Sword Auction that we hold every year of June 3rd, we held the Auction again at the Business Hotel Noda.
On the day before Auction, we held a banquet of 20 participants. We had a great time where we were able to enjoy a magic show by KYOO’s magic tricks and participate in a rock-paper-scissors tournament.
On the day of the Sword Auction, 55 sword dealers gathered from early in the morning to buy and sell a number of attractive items, and the busy trading continued throughout the day until the evening.
As the host, it was a hectic two days, but the staff worded very hard to prepare in making this a great event. I was very happy with the turnout and the event.

The 2nd Mito Token Ichi was held for two days from May 31st to June 1st. It took place at the Mito Civic Center that is a modern and functional art and cultural facility that opened in July last year in Ibaraki Prefecture. Due to its central  location, the event was full of visitors from both Mito City and other parts of the prefecture. 

Many of the Mito Swords and the Mito Fittings were purchased during the event and far exceeded my expectations and I felt a strong admiration for the local area’s love of the Mito Tradition. I was thrilled to see many well known Mito collectors in attendance. I am grateful that this event was a great success when the first Mito Token Ichi didn’t turn out well. I can feel a sigh of relief and am already looking forward to the next Mito Token Ichi. 

The 3rd Morioka Token Ichi was held for three days starting on Friday, May 10th at the Aina “Iwate Prefectural Information Exchange Center” in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. This time, in order to reach out to sword enthusiasts beyond Iwate in Aomori and Akita Prefectures, we published an ad in their local newspaper. We were interviewed by the Iwate Nippo and the event was published in the Saturday morning edition, and we also actively used social media to spread the word to the younger people who don’t often read newspapers, which resulted in an increase in the number of visitors. On Sunday morning of the third day, I presented a basic lecture on Japanese swords for one hour to help increase the overall interest. While the event did not meet our expectations, we felt positive because we saw familiar faces and people who came to visit and purchase from us. The next Morioka Token Ichi will be held for three days starting Friday, May 9th 2025. We will do our best to make the Morioka Token Ichi an event that sword enthusiasts from the three northern Tohoku prefectures (Iwate, Aomori, and Akita) will look forward to!     

The 4th Sendai Token Ichi was held at Yume Messe Miyagi conference building for three days starting from Friday, April 5th. An increased number of sword enthusiasts, including members of the Miyagi Prefecture NBTHK, visited this event. I provided a basic sword lecture to beginner collectors.  In the evenings, we enjoyed the local Sendai cuisine with local sword craftsmen, making each day a fulfilling one.  We will continue our efforts to increase and vitalize the sword society in Sendai as much as possible! The next Sendai Token Ichi will be held in October of 2024. 

The 10th Koriyama Token Ichi was held for three days from Friday, March 15th at the convention complex “Big Palette Fukushima Convention Center” in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. With published interviews by the local newspapers, there were many visitors. This time, I was able to give a lecture for “Japanese sword enthusiasts beginner’s course from a sword dealer’s perspective.” I did my best to explain the basic knowledge of Japanese swords and make them feel more familiar with Japanese swords to increase their interest. The next Koriyama Token Ichi will be held in August for three days. I will make efforts to expand our product lineup and deliver items that will please sword enthusiasts in Fukushima.  

We want to showcase our wonderful items through discussion and video and not just showing them in photos. Our business partners, Robert Hughes of “Keichodo” and Paul Kremers of “Tsuba Info” introduce and explain about our items through the Super Samurai Market videos. Please watch and enjoy. 

 

https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/info/video_archive

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year of 2024.
This year as well, on New Year’s Day, I prayed for business prosperity and for everyone’s health while admiring Mt. Fuji and the first sunrise of the new year. 
As our top priority, all of our staff will work hard to earn the trust of our customers. Thank you for your continued support of Token Matsumoto and we look forward to your business.

The Nada-kai Sword Auction Semi-Annual Event took place on December 3rd in a hotel convention room in Noda. This is the third time this year that the semi-annual convention was held on December 3rd in line with the annual convention on June 3rd. Thanks to all of you, this year we were able to set new records, albeit only slightly better than the past two years, in terms of attendance and turnout. It was a fulfilling day for all the staff.  The Noda-Kai Sword Auction first started in 1992 and is now 31 years old. At this event, fifty-five sword dealers gathered and bought and sold a lot of swords and fittings, making this semi-annual event exciting. We will strive to continue to boost the spirits of our Noda-Kai Sword Auction into the future.

On Saturday, November the 25th, the 3rd National NBTHK Convention was held at Hotel Ryogoku in the presence of Her Royal Highness Queen Akiko. It also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the NBTHK,  a public interest incorporated foundation, as well as the 45th anniversary of “Tatara,” method of iron manufacturing. Nearly 300 participants related to the sword society gathered that day. I also attended as a member of the All Japan Sword Dealers Association. It was a rare opportunity to meet with many sensei, friends, and acquaintances, but due to an injury I was unable to move around and only made conversations with those around me. I was filled with honor. In addition, Hiroshi Yamada, a member of the House of Councilors, gave a congratulatory speech and mentioned the selection of the living national treasure swordsmiths, the international appeal of Japanese swords (contemporary swords), and the traditional method of iron manufacturing “Tatara culture.” These three items are expected to gain support from politicians. It was a major event for those involved in Japanese swords to aim for future development.

The Dai Token Ichi 2023 was held successfully. This year, the number of participants was 70 dealers. The event was held on November 18 and 19, since the period was shortened by one day to make the event even more fulfilling. From the opening time of 10 am, the waiting line was 30 to 40 minutes long, but because of the good weather, many visitors from Japan and overseas didn’t mind the wait. This shows just how enthusiastic they were to enter and view the items that were for sale. Unfortunately, just a few days earlier I injured my Achilles tendon forcing me to sit in a chair for most of the event. When I met people, everyone was asking why I was wearing the cast on my leg. I was embarrassed but was grateful for everyone’s concern. I really enjoyed this year’s Dai Token Ichi. I could meet many old friends, acquaintances, and was even able to make new friends.  I am already looking forward to next year’s Dai Token Ichi. 

The 9th Koriyama Token Ichi was held at Big Palette Fukushima for three days starting from Friday,  September 22nd. In addition to advertising on social media such as Facebook and local newspapers, the local newspaper came to cover the event and published articles about it, making it a lively event with many sword collectors and future sword enthusiasts in attendance. There were many visitors at the event who purchased Japanese swords for the very first time. We were happy that this was the result of our careful customer service and thorough explanations so that they could make their purchases with confidence. They could rely on us to provide the information they wanted to know.  The next Koriyama Token Ichi will be held in March of next year. We will continue to do our best to offer attractive products that sword enthusiasts in Fukushima Prefecture will look forward to seeing! We hope to make it another successful event.

The 9th Nishikasai Token Ichi was held at the Tokyo Nishikasai shop for five days starting from Wednesday, September 6th. This time as well, we placed advertisements in the metropolitan area editions of the Yomiuri Newspaper morning edition that covers Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa Prefectures. Also, we utilized social networking services, such as Facebook, in an effort to attract customers. It is my impression that the social networking services were effective since in addition to familiar regular customers, there were many young people visiting the shop for the first time. We made every effort to create a good shop atmosphere and provide detailed explanations so that these new faces will become sword enthusiasts and regular customers in the future.

We will place an advertisement in the Toto Yomiuri newspaper on August 25th in the edition No. 1930 as an advertisement for the Tokyo Nishikasai shop. The Toto Yomiuri Newspaper is an affiliate of the Yomiuri Newspaper and was first published in 1975. It is distributed as an insert in the morning edition of 15,000 Yomiuri Newspaper readers’ households in eastern Tokyo; the entire Edogawa-ku, Koto-ku, Sumida-ku, and Katsushika-ku, and some areas of Adachi-ku, Taito-ku, and Minato-ku. After many meetings with the representatives of Toto Yomiuri, we were able to come up with an ad design that we were satisfied with to help promote our shop. We hope to increase our local awareness and attract more customers in the future.

       

The 2nd Yamagata Token Ichi Sales Event was held at the Yamagata Big Wing for 3 days from Friday, July 28th. The weather outside was scorching hot the entire weekend but the venue inside was air-conditioned and comfortable.

There were many sword enthusiasts who visited thanks to the kind words from the NBTHK branches located in Yonezawa, Shonai, and Yamagata and advertisements in the local newspaper. At the event, I was able to enjoy talking with the local enthusiasts and collectors. We didn’t meet the goal of selling 10 swords, but we were able to sell 6 and 3 of those were to first time sword buyers. I feel this was a good result for the 3-day event. During the day, I gave explanations to visitors, and in the evening, I was able to eat delicious Yamagata cuisine.

Next year in 2024, the 3rd Yamagata Token Ichi Sales Event will be held for 3 days from Friday, July 26th. We will do our best to prepare a wide range of attractive swords and fittings so that Yamagata enthusiasts can look forward to the next Yamagata Token Ichi Sales Event. We look forward to seeing you then!