SETSUO TAKAIWA is one of Japan’s top sword polishers and is called upon by museums around the world, from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to the British Museum, to help maintain their historic sword collections.


YOSHINDO YOSHIHARA is ranked among the top swordsmiths in Japan. His family has been making tools and swords for several generations.


LEON and HIROKO KAPP have studied Japanese swords for decades and are co-authors, with Yoshindo, of The Craft of the Japanese Sword and Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths. The Kapps live in San Rafael, California. Yoshindo Yoshihara and Leon Kapp frequently lecture and give demonstrations in the United States.