Keith
Nobuhira Austin
July 5, 1934-April 20,1997
Keith Austin was born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota on July
5th, 1934. He became interested in art and its history at a very young age
with every intention of making it a lifelong endeavor. After completing his
high school education, he traveled to New York in 1958 to start his career
as a budding artist and painter While sharing an apartment with his brother
Neil, Keith Austin began to "break into" the New York art scene, exhibiting
his work and achieving some recognition. At the same time, he was beginning
to actively pursue his long held interests in Asian history. A dramatic
change in his life was about to happen.
After attending classes in Asian art, customs, and
religion at the New School for Social Research, Keith Austin decided to give
up his career as a painter and move to Japan to study Japanese art and
culture, firsthand. Arriving in 1961, he was to remain there for nine years.
Communication was difficult at first, so he practiced the art of calligraphy
as a way to "get into the language" and became proficient at it.
It was not long before Keith Austin was introduced to the arts of the
Japanese sword. It captivated him and he set his sights on becoming a sword
smith. Persistent and completely serious, he enlisted the help of Dr Homma
and Dr Sato of the NBTHK, Japan's leading experts in sword studies. After
introductions and much diligence, he was accepted as a student by Takahashi
Sadatsugu. The first two years of his apprenticeship were spent learning the
basics, which often meant hours of just breaking and preparing charcoal for
the forge. During the third year Takahashi Sadatsugu passed away. After his
death, Keith Austin, along with most of his fellow students went to study
with Miyairi Akihira. This was a very fortunate occurrence, as Miyairi
Akihira is numbered among the greatest sword smiths of the twentieth
century. He was a Mukansa (above competition/judgment) ranked smith, who at
that time (1963), became only the second man to be elevated to the rank of
"Juyo Mukei Bunkazai," or "Important Intangible (Living) National Treasure."
During the remaining five years of his apprenticeship with Miyairi, Keith
Austin was to meet and work with many of the best contemporary smiths. This
had a tremendous effect on his development as a Toko. With all of his
training completed, Keith Austin successfully graduated, becoming a licensed
Japanese sword smith. To this day, he is the only foreigner ever to have
attained the rank.
With his newly chosen professional name Nobuhira, Keith Austin returned to
the United States in 1970. He then traveled to a number of places, spending
time in several cities including Grand Rapids, Seattle, Portland, and
Oakland. He finally settled in Yuba City near Sacramento, in central
California.
Keith Nobuhira Austin established his forge there, making most of the tools
and equipment he would soon be using and was determined to craft quality
Nihon- To with purely American materials. He produced his own charcoal,
found raw iron ore, and developed a personal clay mixture formula for
tempering. His goal was to achieve superior steel regardless of the cost or
sacrifice.
For more than two decades he worked at reproducing the famous Kamakura era
steel found in the finest Japanese swords. Always a perfectionist and never
satisfied, he kept working to "find the way'." This often held his
production down, but a number of excellent tanto and forged iron tsuba were
made during that time. The swords are usually signed with his name, date,
and locale. He almost always inscribed tsuba in just two characters, "Nobuhira."
Keith Nobuhira Austin died on April 20th, 1997. To all
those associated with the Japanese sword, it was a tremendous loss. Although
having no sons or trained students to take his name and carry on his
tradition, he was ""Sensei" to many who had the distinction of knowing him.
At least one of his friends who assisted him often at his forge is
determined to keep the tradition of Nobuhira alive here in America. The
expertise and scholarship of Keith Nobuhira Austin, given so often and
willingly is gone, but his legacy will be preserved by his many friends and
associates, and in the art he created.
The tanto described here is one of his finest, and
shows the great range of talent he possessed. It is of typical dimensions
and shape, although other examples show an even greater reversed sori. Keith
Nobuhira Austin made swords in a number of styles, experimenting with
several traditions including Bizen and Soshu, a favorite of his. Mokume,
itame, running hada, and O'hada can be seen on his blades. Suguha, midare,
and notare hamon in both nioi, and nie-deki can be found on various works as
well. Carvings (horimono) are rare, but Nobuhira was fond of making sukashi
tsuba that incorporated a variety of well cut designs. This large and very
sturdy tanto could almost be classified as a ko-wakizashi. It has the look
and feel of a much older blade. **
**Oshigata and written information prepared by Richard Montegani. Special
thanks to Mr. Paul Allman for supplying much of the material used in the
remarks. (See the June 1997 issue, N. C. J. S. C. Newsletter)
Note: The complete article, including a description and oshigata, can be
seen in the supplement to the To-Ron dated "97-9"