Editorial
It took four years to make but it’s here now, at last. The problem is, it’s so good, and so goddam expensive, I don’t want to use it. I couldn’t bear the thought of somebody’s shinai leaving a mark on any patch of my made-to-perfection set of super bōgu. How much? Let me just say it would make your eyes water. It did mine, and my wife is never ever to know. Can I afford it? Not really to be perfectly honest, even on my comparatively generous university salary and with no “ankle-biters” to feed or care for. Still, when I was told by an old bōgu dealer friend, Mr. Tokusanai, at my sensei’s BBQ some years back that the futon used in the finest-of-fine craftsman-fashioned bōgu is as rare…
