Naginata bogu

[Kent Enfield]

I was browsing through eurobogu.net, as it was mentioned in the supplier thread in the kendo forum. I noticed something about the naginata bogu that I think somewhat odd. Now, I don't do naginata, so I figure that there is a straightforward reason that I just don't know.

What I noticed was that the naginata bogu had very wide stitching, compared to that of kendogu. It only went up to about 6mm. So here are my questions: is it normal for naginata bogu to use wider stitching than that of kendo, or is this a retailer idiosyncrasy? If it's normal for naginata bogu to use wider stitching, why?

[hamish]

Basically, its cheaper!

The market for naginata bogu in Japan is quite small, so there is usually only a very small range of bogu available, in the cheaper, wider stitched style. (you can always buy top quality kendo gear and just add on the naginata kote and sune-ate)

Those doing naginata are predominantly women, a large portion will probably give up once they've graduated from university (as with kendo also) or gotten married, so they don't seem as willing or able to spend as much on bogu as the average kendoka.

The other factor being that bogu use only makes up a part of naginata, and the older women tend to spend less time in bogu,�@hence there's a much smaller repeat market due to wear and tear.

Nothing, of course, stops you from getting a good set order made, but I don't think the demand is there to justify the higher priced, closer stitched sets sitting on the shelves gathering dust.

Hamish

[Kent Enfield]

Arn't naginata men different as well, with small mendare?

[hamish]

Yeah, but I've been doing naginata with a normal kendo men for 10 years or so now, and once I got used to it I never noticed any problem.

That's another thing that you can specify when you get bogu made for you, so you don't have to stick to the wide 'for naginata' bogu if you don't want to.

Hamish