Randy McCall

It could be, Malcolm. I was also wondering if the first character might be 日 For viewers, I'll post two closeup pics of the text. The first will be the two characters in question. The second, for context, will be the entire two-line passage; you may need to click on the thumbnail to see the image full size. Characters Two line passage

The book has just come in... amazing. Around 100 pages, each page with an average of 4-5 rubbings. Unlike the previous oshigata notebook, the author of this work put few notes next to oshigata, but did put some text at the beginning and end. However, the author wrote in sosho, in a very refined brushwork, also but very tiny and idiosyncratic in style, which may make it hard to decipher. I'll post pictures of the text below for the use of those who might be interested, full size so they can be blown up (click to view) On a side note, the paper of the book itself is very light, and on some pages you can see text through the page, on the inner part of the pocket fold... so this paper for this work was salvaged from something else. I'll eventually be posting the page images from this notebook on the hidensho.com site, once I have the rebuilt site functional. Inner front cover notes Glued-in insert note, second last page Inner back cover notes

Well, I've recently acquired a new oshigata notebook at auction; it would appear to be late Meiji or Taisho, though I haven't had a chance to examine it in person yet. The contents will be listed for appreciation / identification on my new website (hidensho.com), when it gets re-launched. At the moment the rebuild is still a work in progress

Hello all. Thanks for your concern, Brian. Let's just say the past year has been very challenging. On the topic of copies of the digital notebook, I stopped offering those when I posted them to a public translation project on one of my websites. While there was some initial interest in the projects (the Nakamura notebook, the 1620 Ono clan oshiata scrolls, and a mid-1800's manuscript copy of a section of the Heiho Yukan on fortification), over time use of the site was at best intermittent. Meanwhile, I've been indulging myself in the collecting, study and identification of period Japanese manuscripts, mostly dealing with the topics of nihonto, military tactics or strategy, and kojitsu (etiquette and proper behaviour at court). Thus I've recently made the decision to repurpose the translation project site; it is presently presently undergoing redesign, and will eventually reappear as Hidensho Antique Japanese Manuscripts and Scrolls. Through this site I will be offering Meiji-and-earlier period Japanese woodblock print books, hand-written / illustrated manuscripts and scrolls for sale or auction (auction would likely be in concert with eBay). In addition, I will be posting articles, academic items and news related to antique period Japanese manuscripts. A simple discussion forum will be provided for those who wish to discuss aspects of antique Japanese documents or collecting. Finally, and of most interest to NMB members I think: there will be a "Projects" area where the pictures and translations of the Nakamura, Ono and Heiho Yukan manuscripts / scrolls -- which were almost totally translated by volunteer members of NMB -- will be made available to the public, albeit in a somewhat different format than present. Additional projects for translations / identification may also be be posted, if there are enough interested volunteers.

This is also an excellent background piece on how (and what) people of different rank ate in old Edo A Peek at the Meals of the People of Edo: https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_12/e_002_006.pdf

Congrats Fred! I'm glad it found a home with someone who can really appreciate it.

The oshigata notebook which I've made available at: http://hidensho.com/-- from roughly the same period and with five times as many pages -- cost only a fraction of what this item went for. Either someone identified rare (perhaps no long existing) examples of metalwork, making it worthwhile to go large, or else a collector for whom money was not an object took a liking to it. The last few bids were in 10,000 yen units, so the latter seems more likely to me.

I was bidding on an interesting item this morning: an Edo / early Meiji period notebook filled with hundreds of sketches and rubbings of tsuba, sword fittings, kozuka and other metalwork. The seller said the book was some 62 pages, all with somewhere between five and a dozen sketches / rubbings (or more) per page. Hopefully someone on the board acquired it. The price went sky-high for such a book, and I bailed in the last minutes. Final price was 62,000 yen. Comments I've had from others suggest there are a lot of kinko by famous artisans; your mileage may vary. Here are the shots of a few pages, for the interest of members

Posted in error. Didn't catch it was an old thread.

As listed by seller, a 12.4 metre long scroll dated at 1651, containing a treatise on (as given by seller) "sword wrap, tools, kozuka, menuki". Auction ending: Oct 30 The scroll is written on very thin paper, very aged and worn. The protective outer wrap is still intact, and the scroll is mounted on a wooden central spindle. Text only, with characters brushed in both kaisho (block) and gyosho (mixed) styles. Condition: > Fair - very aged, worn, edge damage (small tears, breaks, etc.) https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h287505615

$50 sent, Brian. Hope it keeps the ball rolling

Just to note that I've corrected the closing date of the auction to Oct 1.

NOTE: I've corrected the date the auction ends to Oct 1. I found this listing at auction and thought some of our members might be interested: Undated Edo period handwritten manuscript book on the use of cannon. The seller says this book is a reference on the use of maritime artillery by the Mito clan. Auction ending Oct 1 Includes many illustrations of cannon, equipment / vehicles used by early artillery units, formations, emplacements, signalling and uniforms. The characters are written in very simple but clear block style; the writing columns are tightly aligned, organized and placed. The illustrations are precise and in a style seen in many military books of the period; so much so I suspect they were traced from another volume, with the writing added later. There are no signatures nor inkan marking this book as being an official clan or military branch reference, nor as a personal possession. Note this volume has attracted a lot of attention from bidders. As of the time of posting, with four days yet to go, bids have reached 31,150¥ Condition: Excellent - aged, moderate foxing. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e242565918

It would make a great study sword for someone new to the hobby. Mine cost twice as much (pleased as I am with it )

No, it's something like 50 positive sales before Buyee lets members bid. Not sure of the exact number, but approximately 50 or so. In such cases, it's always a good idea to be a member of more than one proxy. From Japan has good recommendations from people I know, but also demands you bank cash up front before you can participate. It's the give-and-take of what services you want, what cash you're willing to invest, and what percentage of the sale you're willing to pay for it all.

It's interesting to see the translator of Masahide's notes mentions that some blades had a wide hamon, and some a narrow, but that Masahide considered such features of relatively minor importance, as a good smith would engineer other features into a blade to render it less likely to fracture or break: "It is true that there are many Saijo Wazamono smiths that made a hade style hamon. Kiyomaru, Kotetsu, Tatara Nagayuki etc..... Koyama Munetsugu should be mentioned as a maker of a very functional choji hamon in Shin-shinto times. (A nioi deki hamon is not as brittle as nie deki) Also, with koto there are a great many famous cutters with a wide hamon. The core steel of the blade has much to do with its ductile properties, thus its durability. A very skilled smith could overcome the brittle nature of a widely tempered nie deki blade by introducing other durability promoting elements into the construction of the blade. Masahide's observations are hard to put into context but none the less, they are enlightening." http://www.nihontocraft.com/Suishinshi_Masahide.html

Supplimenting Ken's link above to the paper: Impact Analysis of Medieval Weapons, I'd like to supply the following link to an extensive (150+ page) paper on the physics of dynamically wielded weapons, before and during impact, which in part looks at percussion points and vibration nodes in a blade. Dynamics of Hand-held Impact Weapons: http://armor.typepad.com/bastardsword/sword_dynamics.pdf

I've posted the all the Ono scroll transcriptions of mei into modern Japanese by Yo Goshiro (found at: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22606-digital-copies-of-1620-ono-oshigata-scrolls-available/?do=findComment&comment=232876), and the English translation of the mei of Image 1 of the nakago oshigata section of the scroll posted on NMB by Darcy here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/22606-digital-copies-of-1620-ono-oshigata-scrolls-available/?do=findComment&comment=232770 ) on the Hidensho Ono scrolls pages. Due to each of these fine folk transcribing / translating whole page(s), I've credited both for their work as appropriate under the "Comments on the whole page" link on each page, rather than in the comments for each separate item. If this is not suitable, please let me know. Thank you both for your efforts! Direct link to the mei section of the Scrolls project: http://hidensho.com/ono-oshigata-scrolls/scroll-two-oshigata/2-image-1/

Hi all. I'd like to just let this go. Looking back, I'm more upset at myself for making that post than anything else. For many years I worked with victims of crime, government and the courts while running a small NGO. During that time I was the recipient of real hate mail; compared to that, comments from the peanut gallery are nothing. I was caught at a time of high personal stress and I severely overreacted when I normally would have (and should have) just laughed it off. I'd take it as a kindness if we could put this behind us and move on.

My apologies to the membership; my previous post was uncharacteristic and unnecessary drama on my part. I've always disliked such scenes when I've seen it done elsewhere, and I'm unhappy with myself for having given in to the impulse to do something similar. A lot of the members here worked on he Nakamura oshigata translations, and are working on the Ono scrolls, as a real community effort. It's not for me to take their work and disappear. The site is now back up; still requiring users log in to contribute, for the reasons previously described. I'd also like to thank the members who posted notes of support. They are appreciated. At this point though, I think it best that I step away from NMB for a while

Wow... thank you NMB person who emailed me to tell what an ignorant parasite I / my Hidensho site is. Apparently putting free photos of my acquisitions on my site, with the opportunity to let people view, translate / identify and and make free use of all posts and translations of period documents, for what I hoped would be to the benefit of the community, was actually me displaying my ignorance, my unwillingness to study, and my demanding people for knowledge "I haven't earned". This is quite enough. I quite understand my position here now; in fact, it's been made crystal clear. The Hidensho site is now offline. I will have the domain permanently removed later this week, so as not to impose on the "secret knowledge" of others. Be assured I will not be bothering you again with these or any future acquisitions. Brian, feel free to delete this thread. It no longer serves any purpose.

Thanks for your kind suggestions and work, Darcy. I've taken the image controls off the Hidensho site, so people can now click on the images to view the medium and full resolution.. The requirement for registration / log in on the site has to stay however, for the very reason Brian requires registration here... a no-registration "open posting" site fills up almost immediately with spam postings, porn, ads for penile enlargement and offers on how to make a million dollars a week while only working an hour a day. The concept of the Hidensho site was to be able to present the images in a congruent fashion, with easily visible main postings and discussions; this pretty much requires a separate site with the right features plugged in. I'm using Wordpress and have turned on self-registration; there's really no way I can make logging in on such a site any simpler than it is. Unfortunately, there's no way I can make it so someone logged in here is also automatically registered on Hidensho as well. The new URL for site registration / login is http://hidensho.com/oshigata You'll find this on each Hidensho site page under "Apply for Registration" and "Log in" in the top left column. I suppose I could just post such images here in threads, but then we'd lose some of the presentation features which make it easy to connect the base images, the posts and the connected side-discussion thread. Brian would also have be be willing to host all the images... which, due to their very nature, are quite large, and -- between the two oshigata references I have up at the moment -- presently number in the hundreds.

That's a very evocative translation, Morita-san. Particularly the somewhat eerie personal ending comment about (paraphrased) "The faint discharge of cannons can be heard in the distance". Suggesting perhaps the author was in the military, or at least lived close by a military base.

Thank you Morita-san!

Ah, apologies for not being clear: I was referring to the Shinto Oshigata Shu's two volumes as being two of the three items, with the third being the Meibutsucho. Thanks for the confirmation!