Viper6924

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25% off all print products. Best chance to get a great deal on your Lulu-favorite; be it about swords or Yonezawa matchlocks Use sales code: BLACKFRIDAY25 Lulu.com Jan

Well, being far from an expert on these miniature guns/testers/artifacts, my first impression is that the touch-hole looks very small. How would it be possible to ignite the main cache of black powder? The shape of the end is also interesting. Pretty sure that I never seen anything like it before. Again, the vaste majority of Japanese powder testers I’ve seen, sports a fish tale at the back. Piers got in interesting theory about that So my humble conclusion is that this can’t be a weapon and I doubt very much that it’s a Japanese powder tester. But in this game you must have an open mind... Jan

A nice find ”Down Under”, Barry! These (genuine) bajou zutsu is getting quite rare. There are so many long-guns being cut-down and sold as carbine or pistol-matchlocks. But it’s all in the balance of the serpentine, stock and the pins holding the barrel in place. This gun def got that balance. I think the lock looks quite crude, to be honest. The possible connection to Satsuma is interesting. A lot of the gunsmiths down there, only signed with the name. Early matchlocks made in Satsuma differs quite a lot from the ones we associate with that area. But they always got one or two details that points to Satsuma. I can’t really see that in this gun. But as Piers said, the gunsmith might have relocated during his life, which might explain the problem to nail it down to one area. The muzzle is interesting and might also point to a southern origin. Jan

Sounds intersting, Ian Can you add something to your post? I’ve not read the book. Jan

I think I managed to cover all bases by calling it a ”decorative artifact” To me that elevates it from toy to something, well I just don’t know. One thing I’m pretty sure of; this is not a gun. As it doesn’t look like a genuine Japanese powder-tester, I guess it’s anyone’s guess to what it is. Jan

Well, this might be a case of ”one bad seed...” After a quick glance on the page you added, I can say that most of the weapons depicted, looks to be genuine (the multi-barrel matchlock in the top right corner, might be a bit suspect ) and demonstrate many different styles and schools. Even in the finest collections there are fakes. I have yet to find an auction-house in the world, which has not sold an object of suspicious origin. Also, this ”hand-cannon” is completely unpractical. It’s not even 9cm in total length. The reason for two sights, can only be decorative. I myself got one of those genuine Japanese powder-tester, and I’ve handled a few more. Mine only got a small front-sight, which of course is a purely decorative feature. I don’t think I can add so much more to this topic. Let’s call this a decorative artifact within the field of antique firearms. Jan

And this ”object” also lacks the classic fish tale at the end, which is associated with Japanese powder-testers. I agree with Piers that this looks to be something in between souvenir and expensive toy. Jan

Well, to me it looks to be a quite good-looking matchlock. It’s of course missing some parts like the rain-protection. The pancover looks ”modified”. The end of the rifle-butt suggests that this is Tazuke-ryu matchlock. The shape of the barrel might also suggest that this gun was made in Hino, which is close to Kunitomo. You might want to wait for the seller to drop the price a bit futher. Jan

The large dragon, currently in Tokyo National Museum, was previously owned by the former president of the Swedish branch of NBTHK. To my knowledge there are still some amazing examples of these pieces of art, within the borders to Sweden. They are truly amazing! Jan

With the same order of invocation as on the kabuto highlighted in this thread. Malcolm; as the master of the gods and kami, I would love to know the reasons why the vocations are in this order. As a warrior, I would probably have opted to honor Hachiman with the central position. Jan

With the same order of invocation as on the kabuto highlighted in this thread. Malcolm; as the master of the gods and kami, I would love to know the reasons why the vocations are in this order. As a warrior, I would probably have opted to honor Hachiman with the central position. Jan

After focusing in on the pictures I see that the flower decorations is not sakura at all. But it looks nice anyway Jan

I think this looks like a very health matchlock. Got several features besides the signature that points towards Kunitomo. The caliber looks to be just in the border region between hunting and military grade. I think the decorations at the backend of the gun might have been added later together with the brass bands. As there are four healthy mekugi-pins, these bands are purely decorative. I belive the decoration near the pan is of a sakura flower as are the flowers around the mekugi. This you sometimes see on guns made in the Osaka-region. Perhaps this gun was made in Kunitomo and then shipped off to Osaka to be sold and there getting the added decorations? Nice shape to the pan. Also liking the shape of the rear sight. A very good first buy! Welcome to the club Jan

The red Ecchu-zubari is really thick and heavy. I’ve held it a few times, so I know. Uwe, nice picture of the inside of the bachi. Looks like the wearer might have lived to fight another day. Jan

Yes, I’ve seen that smashed kabuto before. If worn during battle, I wonder if the wearer survived? It’s like the modern day race cars made to crumble in order to absorb the energy of the impact. Did this kabuto absorb enough energy to stop the ball entering the skull? That’s the million dollar question! Uwe, can you give us a damage Koboshi Jan

Orikasa writes something interesting about the 62-ken kabuto: ”Well, it is also assumed that the 62 plate Koboshi kabuto were made as a countermeasure against the teppo, and I heard from people testing matchlocks on them that they have great buffering against bullets”. So according to Orikasa, there have been tests done on Koboshi kabuto. I would really love to know more about these tests. What kind of Koboshi kabuto was used? What kind of matchlock, caliber, amount of black powder and distance to the target was in use. Jan

Dr. Carl Friday found over 1400 recorded battle injuries between 1500-1600 where a date and a reason for the injury/death was recorded. During the period 1500-1562 there were 0 reports about injury/death by way of firearm. The bow was the deadliest weapon during this period. During 1563-1600 we see that the firearm takes center stage. And I’m fairly certain that the majority of those injuries/death was caused between 1565-1590. After 1590 the wars were pretty much over and Sekigahara is not included in this study. So again, new armour-technology initiated after the middle of 1560s was most likely designed due to the teppo’s advance over Japan. The Akoda-nari is said to have been rejected due to its weak construction. But is there any reliable records to support this or is this a modern theory? Holding a true Muromachi Akoda-nari in your hands def support that impression, but again, can we find records that support this ”feeling”? Again, a very interesting topic involving several fields of study. Jan

This is turning into a very interesting topic with several valid points. As has already been stated, the development of the teppo goes hand in hand with contemporary developments within the field of Japanese armour. As I showed during my presentation in Berlin, before 1562, Dr Carl Friday didn’t manage to find a single reported injury/death caused by a teppo. This is of course not saying that no one got hit by a matchlock-ball before that, but it def points in one direction, which is, before the end of the 1560s the teppo wasn’t such an important weapon that some scholars claim it was. So with the above in mind, I think it’s fairly safe to say that armour constructed pro 1565-1570 had to been developed with focus on stopping a matchlock-ball. Hence, new style of armour made before the above mentioned years, was constructed for some other reasons. Jan

Peter is spot on regarding the flask. And the pistol is a modern construction. Both to be avoided. Jan

Nice Zunari, Javier! It’s such a classic style of kabuto. Ian; do we know if Yoshimichi stopped making 32 and 62 plate kabuto all together after he started to forge the 8-plate kabuto? It’s interesting if there are no extant Yoshimichi 32 or 62 ken kabuto made after he began working his 8-plate kabuto. The reason for that seems quite obvious. Jan

Great work with the signature, Piers! I think the shape of the stock, the rings around the pins, the rather small trigger guard all supports the notion of a 17th century matchlock. Looking forward to some better pictures when you get the matchlock. Jan

Thanks Morita-san for sharing the info about this interesting catalouge. Looks to be showing a quite wide range of items focusing on the amazing sword collection. Might need to track down a copy. Jan

Always interesting to read peoples opinion on the early use of firearms in Japan. This one didn’t bring very much new to the table. But his scepticism to the importance placed on matchlocks very early on is somewhat refreshing. This almost manic obsession from the West regarding volleys fired by matchlock-units is almost comical. Most Japanese scholars shake their heads in bemusement over this. The construction of the matchlock pretty much negates any such deployment. Well, unless you bring a huge amount of matchlocks to a battlefield, which never happened until the 1580-90s. I also noticed that most of the references is getting quite old. New research is needed to really understand 16th century warfare in Japan. Jan

I was told by a very knowledgeable person in Japan to always light some top-quality incense every time a new item arrived from Japan. A way to honor the original owners. Jan