Justin Grant

Here is my drama- Take it for what it's worth, and it is not an indictment on anyone- For swords, we (NMB) have pressed it upon many to memorize certain kanji, names, etc in the translation section, Jean is a fanatic about this. Why don't we have the same set of rules for Tanegashima If you can determine the province is was made in Hino, Omi, Goshu, etc, you can narrow it down a bunch. Smiths used a lot of the same kanji, so if you know the Togishi mei, I am guessing it won't be hard to figure out the Hinawaju mei. If you memorize the parts of the gun in Japanese kanji, that too will aid your ability to figure out what is going on in the book(s). The book in question is less a story and more a narrative on specific parts. Look at this page (larger version on page one of this topic). It lists the kanji for the parts of the gun, then he talks about locks, names them even, then he talks about ama-ooi, etc. This page he identifies guns by school, specific size, and maker. Again, a few kanji memorized will enable you to make serious headway into the book. Will the book be fluid? No, but you will make more use of it than simply a picture book. I'd use this section for help in translation of pages if needed. We have a lot of people that can read Japanese on here, so I am sure they can help. Just my thoughts

Funny Brian. I knew Harlan Sanders when I was a kid, my mom was one of his top executives before he sold KFC. Bit of trivia on his name - Colonel Sanders. The Colonel attribute may suggest a military association, but it is not. It is a special, and highest award bestowed by the Governor of Kentucky. It was a military position of leadership awarded by the Governor before Kentucky was a state, but now, just an esteemed award, used by a special group of people. I too am proud to be a Kentucky Colonel, now if I could just manage to develop another 37 Recipe for tasty chicken.....

Brian- 日本の古銃　（Nihon No Furu Ju)

Sorry Jan, et al, Yes, the book I have scans from is 日本の古銃 (Nihon No Furuju -Japanese Antique Guns). The Blue Covered Book. There is only one "Blue Book" like above, the Book 1 and Book 2 are a different Author Shigeo Sugawa, he made these two books Sugawa-San is the collector, and author, Sawada-San (Blue Book) is more of a scholar/educator. (IMHO) Sorry..

Eric, I copied a few pages of his book, and attached links to the PDF's here. My intent is to show you, if you have not seen it already, the difference in the material you get in his book(s). This is just a sampling, and the book is far greater in detail than I show here. http://www.alexander-grant.com/book1.pdf http://www.alexander-grant.com/book2.pdf http://www.alexander-grant.com/book3.pdf Copyright is 澤田平

He is a physician, born in 35, and is the head of the Sakai Research Association on Japanese gunnery. He is also a specialist on Japanese Edo period clocks. 日本の古式銃　translates into Japan's Traditional Gun, I think

I am interested in a gun he has and his research of it, but he won't talk about it, or at least not with me. Eric, I think the book is a great introduction to 火縄銃、but far from a serious study piece. It is great an introducing the concept and showing you pictures, but falls short for any serious collector. I own the book, and the second book (in Japanese) and I still refer to them from time to time for photo reference. The book Nihon no Furuju is far superior, even if you can't read Japanese, the detail photos, drawings, and classification are well worth the extra money. He goes into construction methods, how parts are made, how they fit together, tools used to make the bisen threads, etc. How locks are made, what they do, etc. This book can be understood if you memorize about a dozen or so Kanji and then you can figure out what he is saying, or you can scan the page and then use an online translator to help you with the translation. Not perfect, but you can get the drift. I think what Piers, Ron and others, including myself are saying is, the book is great for an introduction into this area of study, but by no means a serious authority on the subject, but great at what it does. Just because it is in English does not make it any more serious or valuable to us as students, it just allows a new group of people to be exposed to the area of study, but is not designed to give you any deep knowledge. It is not made form whole cloth, but is not a tanegashima codex either. Your mileage may vary. Me

Hi Jan- I find his lack of English odd, considering he spent extensive time in the states on business, and where he purchased his first gun, and then a series of more over his subsequent trips. Maybe time has withered his English. He and I conversed real-time, within minutes of each reply on several occasions. I agree, it's a great start to refine and build upon. Justin

The back of the naginata looks to have a casting bubble on both of them, and the finishing of them looks rough on the back. Just my opinion.

Great tutorial Ron! I will note that my Bajou-zutsu (馬上筒) has a one piece pan cover cut out of a solid piece with a thin liner that is secured on the top that slides under the ama-ooi. My long gun has what appears to be a piece made like you describe above. Well done! Well done! Justin

I am dipping my tow in this heated pool,. only to say I do not believe Sugawa is a scholar or that his works are scholarly. To be such, in an academic fashion, they should be peer reviewed, and given approval. Not my rule, but an academic rule. That does not rule out the validity of his work, but had he gone thru this process, many of the items that are being picked on would have been uncovered. Even Ian makes reference to "hangers" in his books, so they do happen to the best of them, as this proves, but this also does not render the work meaningless. I think what Piers is saying is that to be a scholar, Sugawa would have or should have dug deep into each area, but he did not, he glossed over the areas. It is a good book, and as Eric says, the only one in English. His second book is not in English and when I asked him why, he said he did not have the desire. He claims to have a gun signed by the same person as my long gun, but he won't provide mei pics or details of what he thinks about it. He is the only person I know that has one signed like mine, so I was hoping to learn more about it and mine, but no luck. C'est la vie. Regardless of his standing in the Hinawaju community at large, he is one of the better known players. I have the other book in question, and it is not hard to translate, if you spend the time. The same reoccurring words appear time and time again, so just like memorizing Nihonto mei, if you put these kanji into memory, you can start to make sense of the book. Nothing good comes easy. I'd be the fist to offer up $ to anyone that wants to translate Taira book, but I manage with it, and actually find the translation hunt fun. But I'm odd like that.

Ron, Here is the book I have that Piers refers to. Is this the book you speak of? If so, I can loan it to you. It took months to source this book, he would not deal with me directly, so I had to pay for an intermediary to get it.

I too get the email and password screen when I click the link.

Brian, I don't think you will find two alike. Nothing on these things were interchangeable. On one gun, the groves in the barrel were not the same as the other gun. On one I had (bamboo piece), the ridge was an "L" shape that ran 3/4 of the way down it. The Ama-ooi had a light lip on the back bottom that set in the groove, and the lock piece shaped like bamboo wedged it all together just like the photo above.

Malcolm, You are correct, but you will see it expressed both ways. When you see the double, you just put a pause in the speech. I-kan vs. Ikan. Justin

Thanks Piers. I am not sure where I picked up the word for the band along the way, and I will change my future use of the word. I will use Dai-shime-gane going forward. Thanks for the help.

Brian Check here, it has a great view of the parts that connect

I have not, but now will try. I am making a round faced dugane for my long teppo and will give this a try. I'll post results. I know with the vinegar, the brass can green if not careful, and if you apply to much heat, from the vinegar, it can pop the solder joint. I fume, buff, fume, buff, over and over to keep the green down and the brown aged look growing. Justin

To make it easier to read, it needs to be flipped 90 degrees to the right, and mostly it is a bunch of numbers.

Ron, Sorry it is a cell phone pic. Here are pics of my tools and starting materials The finished oversize version The piece I cut off The piece before I aged the brass

Here is the dugane I made, you can see the scrap brass that is shiny and the one I used my vinegar trick on. It aged in 30 minutes and the longer to leave, the more it happens. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B9iAc5pKPTg/UvwqwIwvxlI/AAAAAAAAD40/x_cvoWZ1B2Y/w1051-h592-no/IMG_20140212_211359943.jpg The shiny piece is the whole piece I made, then I cut off the narrow section I needed.

Brian, I aged my brass by boiling vinegar in a jar, then I suspended the brass from a wire thru a lid and dangled the brass above the hot vinegar. The fumes aged the brass, then you take an oxy-acetelane torch and make it smoke with the adjustment valve, then wave it over the brass a few times and the torch will add a decent amount of soot to make it just right. Also, I used 1/8" brass for mine

David is not a traditionally trained polisher, he is better than most, but not what you send Nihonto to. Contact Bob Benson or there are several people on here, including Chris Bowen who can help you locate a person to do this for you. It will cost money, and anything of worth has a price. If you value your blade, don't be tempted in spending pennies when it calls for dollars.

Several things: 1.) It is near impossible to date Meadate and the such. Unless it is signed and dated and the mei is verified, then you have a solid date. So buy what you like and take dates with a grain of salt. 2.) I could be wrong, but I have seen zero Nazi symbols on Japanese armor, be is Taisho or Showa, and all earlier periods had nothing to do with the Nazi's. In fact the symbol has been around for a very long time and the Nazi's adopted it (and in my opinion tainted it). If anyone is familiar with Japanese culture and or Buddhism, and sees this on Japanese good,s would never assume Nazi's.

Thanks for the education Ron, you are a brilliant man! Brian, I used cardboard to make the amaooi shape, and then scribed it on the brass, then cut to shape. The notch can be soldered on or you can cut one out of thicker material and file away the ice skate shape of the ama-ooi. I'd suggest you make a clay or putty mold to figure out what you are dealing with in terms of shape for the groove. I am going to redo mine later this year and will use all my lessons from the first to improve the second. I found making the bands much easier! PM me your address and I'll ship you some brass, it's available in all places here in 1/8" and 1/4" thickness (flat or round)