Live By The Sword

Photo by Lawrence Tabudlo

Denichi Tanaka is not a samurai. He does, however, have a special place in his heart for the iconic blade that noble warriors once wielded in premodern Japan.

Some might say his affinity for the long, single-edge sword known as katana is genetic. He is, after all, a descendent of samurai.

Others might attribute his passion to following in the footsteps of those ancestors who, like him, became collectors of the ancient Japanese weapon.

But the truth is Tanaka is more than just an admirer and accumulator of swords. In fact, he’s quite unique within his own family line.

Tanaka is an artisan of shirasaya (white sheath) — a skilled craftsman who, over the course of his life, has dedicated himself to carving and shaping simple, undecorated wooden mountings custom fit to house katana when they are not in use.

By creating minimalist pieces for the scabbard and handle, the man with the steady hands has helped to ensure the safekeeping and protection from rust of many Japanese blades, some of which were once used on battlefields.

Today, his handiwork is enjoyed by hundreds of individuals who, within their homes and offices, proudly display shirasaya and their enclosed swords as precious family heirlooms.

“I just try to make a nice case,” says Tanaka through his Japanese-to-English translator, daughter Miho Paikai. “I always think of the sword … I want it to be taken care of and not get rusty.”

The Kaimukī resident estimates he’s fashioned more than 500 shirasaya in his lifetime, all made from magnolia wood called honoki imported from Japan. The wood is his preferred choice when it comes to absorbing excess moisture from the blade and shielding the steel from corrosion.

On one occasion, he recalls using more honoki than usual because of the atypical length of the blade.

“Normally, a katana blade is up to 2 feet long, but this one was challenging to make,” explains Tanaka. “It was a cutting-edge katana that was 4 feet, 2 1/2 inches long, and it took more than several days to complete.”

Such an undertaking requires extreme patience, but the even-tempered Tanaka has proven to be tailor-made for such work.

“Making shirasaya is a time-consuming process to trace the blade and then hand-chisel and carve out the wood to fit the actual shape of the blade and handle,” he says. “A special rice paste is made to piece the parts together; then, they are sanded and planed.”

The result has always been a magnificently shaped and tightly sealed protective skin that safely guards the katana and impresses onlookers — all while bringing honor to its maker.

At age 98, Tanaka no longer produces shirasaya, but that doesn’t mean his work should be relegated to the past. In fact, there are at least two reasons his fine craftsmanship should be enjoyed in the present.

First, both Gov. Josh Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recognized Tanaka’s lifetime of dedicated work earlier this year — Green with a commendation that cited Tanaka’s unwavering commitment “to educate the community on the many facets and nuances of the Japanese sword”; and Blangiardi with a “Mayor’s Award of Recognition,” which praised the expert woodworker as “past president, director, sensei and oldest surviving member of the Japanese Sword Society of Hawaiʻi.”

Ever humble, Tanaka accepted these laudations with grace even though public acclamation generally makes him uncomfortable.

“I think they are thinking too highly of me than what I really am,” he says.

Still, he expressed gratitude to the governor and mayor for their kind words and for being allowed to share “my passion and knowledge with fellow collectors and enthusiasts to promote and perpetuate the Japanese blade.”

Second, Tanaka will once again be appearing at the Great Guns Gun Show, scheduled for Oct. 4 and 5 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center’s Exhibition Hall. Sponsored by Hawaiʻi Historic Arms Association, the semi-annual show runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature many items for sale, including both antique and modern firearms, ammunition as well as custom-made knives and swords. Admission is $10.

At the event, Tanaka plans to showcase a portion of his sword collection and offer them for purchase. Of course, his most prized possessions will be retained and preserved for his grandchildren, but Tanaka also believes that “it’s time to let (the rest of) it go.”

In recent years, he says he’s sold “quite a bit” of his swords at the gun show. Most have fetched anywhere “from $1,000 to more than $10,000.”

“I’ve always enjoyed looking at other people’s swords and antiques at the gun show,” he shares. “But this time, I might not have as much time to look around because I have to try and sell my own swords.”

Born and raised in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Tanaka was a teenager when he first caught a glint of steel from his father’s sword collection and immediately fell in love.

“I was so surprised and impressed,” he says, recalling his moment of awe when his father drew a blade in dramatic fashion. “I thought the sword was so beautiful.”

Still, it wasn’t until Tanaka joined the Japanese navy in the mid-1940s that he realized how closely his life would be linked to the renowned weapon. As he recounts, a fellow crew member showed him how to polish a sword and fashion a wooden scabbard, and the process intrigued him. After leaving the military, he continued to study shirasaya in depth while employing the carpentry skills he learned from his father and grandfather to shape his first wooden boxes.

By the mid-1950s, Tanaka found himself in search of greater economic freedom than what his hometown offered and decided to become a U.S. citizen. After spending some time on the West Coast, he returned to Japan, got married and ultimately relocated to Hawaiʻi with his wife and their three children. It was here in the islands that he began his career as a finish carpenter.

Paikai recalls her father being quite industrious, building the family home in Kaimukī and even helping to restore the Hawaiʻi Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaiʻi Daizafu Tenmangu shrine in Honolulu in the early ’90s.

She also notes that carpentry, swords and shirasaya have never detracted Tanaka from his other interests, which include calligraphy.

“Over the years, my dad has created calligraphy templates on tracing paper to be engraved on gravestones and other memorials in Hawaiʻi,” Paikai says. “An example of his calligraphy can be seen on a memorial stone, which tells the history of the former Waikīkī-Kapahulu Japanese Language School on Campbell Avenue.”

And although his sword collection is dwindling, the shirasaya sensei hasn’t lost his edge when it comes to keeping things on point around the house.

Paikai says, “Oh, my dad still keeps all the kitchen knives, scissors and cutting tools sharp.”