You can buy it in auction house Meissner – Neumann and on web site www.busido.cz.

This is a companion event to the exhibition of photographs from Cernobyl. The author is known photographer Antonín Kratochvíl www.antoninkratochvil.com and organized by Bušidó www.busido.cz

The recent tragedy from 11. March 2011 has been watched by the whole world and due to the modern technology it was almost live broadcasted. The earthquake of 9 degrees Richter scale and tsunami have befallen the most on Sendai, Fukushima and Miyagi. The effort to express the solidarity with the victims of this tragedy have found many beautiful expressions all around the world including Czech Republic and this exhibition together with the companion events are to join them. The parallel with Cernobyl disaster, the sad anniversary of which we commemorate these days, puts up itself. It is because even in Japan, we meet with immense suffering, deaths, loss of close people, homes etc. as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.  Fortunately the Fukushima nuclear accident is due to the Japanese responsibility and construction structure of the power plant not reaching the Cernobyl dimensions.

The suffering is universal and so should also be the compassion on the needed and suffering people. We would like to support Japan both factually and materially and morally too. That is why we decided to set up an exhibition of photographs from present Japan supplemented by various events, calligraphic workshop – overwriting the heart sutra for the victims of the tsunami and the earthquake, folding paper cranes as a symbol of luck and long age, concerts of Japanese traditional as well as classical music with Czech and Japanese interprets, exhibitions of Japanese painting and samurai swords, lectures, martial arts exhibitions and other disciplines with a relation to Japan. This little we can do is to help to wipe the tears of the suffering Japan.

From september is in Miyabi Restauran www.miyabi.cz the exhibition of photos for presentation the Book Tsuba – japanese sword guard. Exhibition is selling and will be till the end of November.

Tsuba – Japanese sword handguard

• published by: Busido association
• author: Jakub Zeman
• photography: Mgr. Ivana Matějková – Havlíková
• graphics: Milan Jaroš
• printing: FPS Repro
• ISBN 978-80-254-7973-5
• released : 2010 (1. edition)

After a long and intensive work we finally managed to publish a book about Tsubas – Japanese sword handguards. This book tries to show and introduce tsubas not only as a part of Japanese sword designed for fight, but also as a very interesting and superior artwork.

Annotation for publication Tsuba – Japanese sword handguard published by Busido association:

Unique publication describing Japanese sword handguard (tsuba) from historical, technological and art historian point of view. Its subject is some kind of a window into the spiritual and aesthetic world of ancient Japan. The extensive elaboration for the motifs acquaints the readers with Japanese and Chinese history, literature and poetry. This publication includes also so far unpublished handguards including some top level masterpieces from notable Czech private collections including former collection of Professor L. Jisl.

The author is Jakub Zeman, japanologist who dealt with these for many years as a curator of non-European collections of National Gallery; the photographer is Mgr. Ivana Matějková – Havlíková, internationally respected creator who used her rich experiences with jewels photography to photograph these exhibits. The appendix covers a history of Kinai school of Echizen from R. Banert and complete dictionary of technical terms linked to Japanese sword fittings, published for the first time in such range outside Japan.

Besides the handguards it also represents several examples of Japanese sword of high collector level. High photography level and successful graphic form on glossy paper. 160 pages.

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