Henry Wilson

Someone please correct me if I am wrong: The 駿河 (Umagawa) Fujiwara Yoshisada worked in Tenmei (1781 to 89) and made katchushi sytle work. The same province Yoshikazu had a pseudonym of Nobuie and there is work cut with an inscription "age of death 84". (行年八十四歳). He lived in Shizuoka and it is said he died in early Meji period aged 105. His work was iron, round shaped, squared rimmed and takabori (high relief) carving. He did eccentric large kanji style. You can see rustic work.

A few words on the symbolism of the turtle and shrimp. The turtle is called minogame (蓑亀) in Japanese, which is so old it has a train of seaweed growing on its back. It is a symbol of longevity, felicity, good luck and support. It is a positive omen bringing 10,000 years of happiness. As for the shrimp, here is an interesting site: http://www.printsofjapan.com/The_Many_Uses_of_Ebi.htm

Hi David I am glad you like the write-up. Thank you very much for the permission on picture use. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.

Good joke Jean Mike, how much was the bet? Who won?

The snout sure doesn't look like a rat. Could it be a shape-shifting fox or tanuki known as mujina 貉?

Is the dragon giving birth, generating or otherwise producing the furry animal?

Hi Mike The pictures are bit hard to make out but here are my thoughts. The menuki look like a small furry animal fighting with a dragon. Or the dragon is changing into the animal or vic versa. The rat and dragon are supposed to be a good combination for some reason. I am sure some net searching will reveal more. How much is the bet?

Many thanks everyone for the kind words. The article is being edited and should be in a JSSUS magazine sometime soon.

Hi Mariusz Thanks for the kind words. The dragon is a common motif so felt it was worthy of a bit of research.

Here is some research I have done on dragons. David's tsuba and the motifs got me thinking and below are some notes I have made. As always this is intended to generate discussion, so feel free to add to or comment on. Japanese Dragon 龍 (ryu / tatsu) The dragon is a mythological creature that originated in China. Japanese dragons are believed to be a derivative of Chinese ones and are generally regarded to be not ferocious and bringers of wealth and good fortune. They can change shape and mate with humans, which these days would probably have a niche market for certain kind of people! :D The physical characteristics of a dragon are well documented in books such as “Legend in Japanese Art” by Henri Joly and "Myths and Legends of Japan" by F. Hadland Davis. As a summary, they are a composition of many exotic animals such as the camel, carp, tiger, deer, hare etc. Their breathe is said to turn to rain or fire and they have the power to shape-shift and of invisibility. In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is closely associated with water and in artwork it is usually surrounded by water or clouds. In Japan, there are four dragon kings who rule over the four seas which means the whole of the earth. They are: -Celestial dragons who guard the lands of the gods -Treasure guarding dragons who protect precious metals and stones -Spiritual dragons who rule wind and rain and can cause flooding -Earth dragons who clean the rivers and deepen the oceans Chinese and Japanese dragons resemble each other, with the exception that the Japanese dragon has only three eagle type talons, while Chinese dragons have 4 or 5. Another myth goes that the further the dragon gets from China, the less talons it has. Also　I think I read somewhere that Japanese dragons are slimmer. The image we have of dragons today is believed to have first appeared in Tang dynasty (9th century AD) tomb paintings. The figure of a serpent-type animal is said to related to Buddhism mythology, however they seemed to have evolved independently in China with dragon shaped jade and bronze items being found dating to Shang and Zhou dynasties (16th-9th centuries BCE) . Below is a plate that is part of a set of 5 that belong to my beloved wife. They are sometsuke 染付 meaning a style that is hand-painted in under glazed blue which is generally cobalt oxide. I think they are Japanese but if I recalll correctly they were sold as being Chinese. The centre kanji reads kotobuki 壽 which means happiness and longevity and are about 10 cm in diameter．The central ring could represent waves or clouds. The four dragons depicted on the rim to me are stylistically similar to the dragon in David’s tsuba and which in turn to me seem to be stylistic similar to the Shang and Zhou dynasty dragons pictured above. That is, there is a naivety to the form and shape when compared to dragons that we commonly see in items such as Goto fittings, such as the one below: An interesting feature concerning the plate and tsuba dragons, apart from the floppy hair (and lack of horns), is the detail of the eyes. Below are a list of some of the main dragons found in Japan. However it should be noted that dragons are very hard to "pigeon hole" and finding examples of types is quite difficult because they all seem to look more a less the same, to me anyway: -Sui Ryu is a rain dragon, which when in pain causes red rain, coloured by its blood. -Han Ryu is striped with nine different colours and is forty feet long. This dragon can never reach heaven. -Ka Ryu is a small dragon which is about seven feet long. They are apparently scarlet and a fiery red and are sometimes referred to have a body of fire. -Fuku Ryu is the Japanese Dragon of Good Luck. Usually depicted as ascending since an ascending dragon is a sign of good luck. -Kin Ryu is a golden dragon. (maybe the Goto above?) -O Goncho is a white dragon that warns of famine. -Uwibami is a huge fearsome flying beast that snatches and eats men off horse's backs. -Yamata-no-Orochi is an eight-headed dragon. -Ri Ryu has very good eyesight and can see more than 100 miles away. (Which is the approximate distance from Dublin to my hometown of Belfast, by the way!) There are more types, but I think from the above list we get the point. Now, I wonder if the dragons on the plate and tsuba depict Ri Ryu, as the details of the eyes and the gold inlay could indicate exceptional eye sight. In David’s tsuba the work on the omote rim is interesting as it is similar in composition to the inner ring on the sometsuke plate, however it is more carefully executed and to me it seems to represent triangles. According to legend, the first Hojo regent (shikken 執権) of the Kamakura shogunate, Tokimasa Hojo 北条時政 (1138-1215), visited a cave in Enoshima (near Kamakura). He prayed to the dragon living in the cave to grant prosperity to the Hojo clan. It was granted and as a token, the dragon left three scales which are said to be the origin of the three triangles of the Hojo family crest, known as the Mitsu Uroko 三つ鱗.

Hi Ed Samurai is a generic term and I was pretty sure I knew what you meant when Junichi and yourself used it, so again sorry for the quibble, but I thought it was worth pointing out. Hi Boris Can you recommend any translations of these texts? I would be especially interested on getting something on Kindle if possible. Cheers

Interesting post and lots of great pictures. Thanks for sharing. I wonder if to call the mounted warrior in the picture a samurai is in fact correct. I think the term samurai was not coined until around the Heian period in the Kokin Waka Shu (古今和歌集, Collection of Poems of Ancient and Modern Times) which dates from around 900s. I think the photoed warrior pre-dates the Heian period by a few centuries and if so, he was probably nobility or an enlisted warrior for the then national military or "Gundan-Sei" (軍団制) serving the emperor. Sorry to split hairs and quibble over words, but just a few thoughts to encourage a bit of discussion

Well done, they are nice pictures David. Have a nice honeymoon.

Cheers Paul. I opened a dusty sword book for the first time in ages. Much appreciated.

Thank you Paul for this very interesting exercise. I will have a go: 1 Soshu 2 Bizen 3 Yamashiro 4 Yamato Looking forward to the answer.

You could try rubbing the red spots with bamboo, bone or something like that, wiping the residue with a moist cloth and drying the surface properly. From my experience lacquer is very stubborn and hard to remove so there is little danger of removing it if you go slowly and carefully. By the way is the tsuba boxed as direct exposure to air might be causing the rust.

Hi Ian Thank you for more information. If the koshirae is from 1500s (I am not doubting that it is), then it is in excellent condition. Congratulations on finding such a nice old original peice. I have recently realised I base judging age a lot on condition, which is why I said late Edo. I need to stop doing this and look harder at what is presented, rather than focus on condition. Thanks for sharing.

To me it looks like a nice late Edo handachi with all the original pieces intact and in good condition. I especially like the profile of the koshirae in general. The colour of the fittings and the leather, as well as the patina look very nice too. Can I ask where you bought it? There is a chance the leather and lacquer might crack. I am sure someone could comment on ideal storage conditions. Markus Sesko's book on koshirae gives a good overview of handachi.

Hi George. That seems to be so. It is Jacques who is disagreeing thought .... :D

Thanks Christian.

Good old inome. That is a nice spread Mariusz. Someone should comment on inome. It could be quite interesting. Sorry about the hijack.

Thanks Eric for your input. Concerning the Heiji Scrolls, these lines are of particular interest to me. Concerning the Mongol Scrolls. This is on the man who commissioned them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takezaki_Suenaga If you study them carefully, the Japanese are done in great detail. The details on the Mongols is not as elaborate and I love the way their faces are (inaccurately) depicted!

Again George, many thanks. I completely agree with. I have been trawling through the scrolls and I have noticed that the detail of the koshirae and tosogu is very good in many cases. There seems to be attempts to depict and differentiate between different types of koshirae and tsuba as well as tsuba shapes.

Many thanks George for your thoughts. I entirely agree with you. From what I understand, Sasano does regard the scrolls an impression of life in the 11th century not the 9th century. I personally feel Sasano has a very valid point but I believe that people have dismissed his work and I have never fully understood why. The other scrolls, The Tale of Heiji and The Scrolls of the Mongol Invasion seem to be slightly different as they depict Kamakura period incidents and both paintings seem to be contemporary to the incident they describe. I wonder if that gives them more credibility?

I have been looking in detail at the old hand scrolls at the link below: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15253 The detail in them is excellent and the artists have tried to depict as much as they can. It would be easy to assume that they are totally accurate especially when looking at the very small details such as tosogu. As most of us know Sasano based a lot of his later theories on the hand scroll called The Tale of Great Minister Ban http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Dainagon_Ekotoba which he uses as his main source of dating in Tosogu no Kigen. It makes for great reading however his writing and his aggressive dating of tsuba have been criticized because the reliability of his main source is said to be questionable. So as a very open discussion topic, how reliable do you think these scrolls are? Have a look through the scrolls at the above link. The web pages contain background notes, and points of interest have been highlighted and are discussed. Below are a few images to whet the appetite!