Gassan Sadatoshi: Japanese Swordsmiths for 800 years.

I'm on a quest to find the family of the man who made my great grandfather's Samurai Sword.

A good first step is to find one of Japan's best swordsmiths... but that was not my plan.  Finding Gassan was a gift from my new friends in Asuka Village and Sakura City near Nara.

More about how this came to be... coming soon. 

Click HERE for more about my visit with

Gassan Sadatoshi and how to visit his

Sword Making Studio near Nara

I rushed back from my pilgrimage to Hiroshima to meet one of Japan's National Living Treasures:

I met Gassan Sadatoshi at his home and sword making studio in Sakura City, not far from Nara and discovered his philosophical world view:  "Swords are not for fighting."

In the short documentary above, it makes sense to pair Gassan with my memories of the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, I met him less than 24 hours after walking across Little Boy's ground zero, the first nuclear weapon used in warfare.