Which is true, Takamatsu Den, or the “other” side?
People say there is no proof for either side.
People say there is definitely proof Takamatsu-Den did not exist before Takamatsu.
Antony Cummins says when asked, Hatsumi would not produce the scrolls for him, therefore, they do not exist.
Think like a court of law.
Most people say there is, or is not, proof based on hearsay, not on proof. They are choosing to believe one way or the other based on pure hearsay.
Very few people will validate claims, or even hidden truths, with actual and personal research.
If someone provides YOU proof, it then only becomes hearsay to you, but if they validated the claim themselves, it is proof only for them. It can only become proof for you if you follow up on that lead and validate it with honest to goodness actual research.
Only research you do yourself can be proof for yourself only. As soon as you tell or show someone, it becomes hearsay for them and the search for their truth begins like yours did.
A book published by a noted author is not proof. It is their presentation of their proof for you to consider. At best, it gives you leads to pursue your own proof finding research.
People lie. People are fallible so mistakes can be made. Just because someone says it is so, does not make it so. Just because someone says it is not so, does not make it untrue.
In this case, if you want to prove or disprove something in Japanese, you simply must begin by learning Japanese or else everything that follows is a moo point. If it is in Japan, you must go to Japan. There is no way around a fact finding mission. Pictures of the said proof are no good. A youtube video is no good. A livestream is no good. A book is no good. These can all be leads, but they are not in themselves proof.
If you want to prove Egyptians did something based on their hieroglyphics, you must learn hieroglyphs. You must travel to the hieroglyphs in Egypt. Nothing else is admissible. Nothing.
If I tell you a pink bunny can be found around this corner, you cannot confirm or deny until you go look. You can make an educated guess based on experience, such as, I have never seen a pink bunny; therefore, experience dictates it is highly unlikely, but still you cannot for sure state proof or falsity. You can take my word for it, even if I publish a book. You cannot go telling people there is proof simply because I did so. The proof only is proof for me. Until you look, it is only hearsay. After you look, you will have proof.
In a court of law, the jury cannot accept the evidence as proof if it is not present in the room before their eyes. A prosecutor cannot say that a man killed another man with a certain model of gun that he owned, then say I don’t have it here, but I saw it and therefore it was proof, you all have to take my word for it that it is proof. No. All the details must be presented before their eyes personally.
Even if a book was proof, a book printed in English of a document originally in Japanese cannot be trusted, especially since the Japanese language is so slippery with meaning. A translation is only validated by a court of law to be a certified copy of the original language, exact in every way, but even then, as we mentioned, Japanese is a slippery language with meaning.
If you are looking at a document in Japan, in Japanese, of a claimed ancient scroll, and the Japanese owner stands with you reading it to you, and you have an English translation with you, and a lawyer present, unless you can read it in Japanese and examine available clues and details, it cannot be confirmed or denied.
If it cannot be confirmed or denied (or possibly inconclusive), you do not have the right to say “there is proof!” or “there is no proof!” You can only say, “According to such and such source, this is the claim.”
If, after all this, you can confirm it or deny it properly, it is only good for one generation: you. Whomever you tell, must begin the cycle all over again for himself in order for it to be proof.
