Randy McCall

"Undated" set of four handwritten and illustrated manuscripts of the Koyo Gunkan. Listed by the seller as undated, I believe the copy date is shown on the final page, 文政 四 (Bunsei 4, or 1822) The Koyo is a set of military treatises based on the strategies of Takeda Shingen, which became one of the major ryuha of military instruction ( 兵法 ) during the Tokugawa era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_Gunkan Copied in a fine, clear hand, with excellent illustrations Condition: Good - aged, stained, cover and edge wear (at times severe). Auction ending: May 23rd Link: http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b204006436 Sample pictures:

Is there an interest in traditional Japanese / Chinese medical and herbal texts? Several items coming up with less that 48 hours notice: 1772, 1778, 1859 editions. Let me know if interested.

1789 (Kansei 1) complete edition of the Tanki Yokai (title as given by the seller): three-book set on armour and weapons Condition: Fair - aged, stained, wear, breaks, light insect damage. Auction ending: May 22nd Link: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-15-TANKI-Japanese-Armor-YOROI-Woodblock-print-BOOK-/252390541563?hash=item3ac3a608fb:g:P5wAAOSw3mpXOEUh Sample pictures:

1810 complete set of 金銀圖錄 Kingin Zuroku, "Illustrated Books of Ancient Gold and Silver Coins" A seven volume set which presents gold and silver coinage, drawn full-sized and painted in colour, from different regions and eras in Japan I'm posting this as a number of group members have expressed an interest in antique coinage. If you're just interested in a digital version of the set: http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko06/bunko06_02167/ Condition: Overall Fair (individual volumes Fair-to-Good) - aged, stained, wear, insect damage in some volumes Auction ending: May 22nd Link: http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m163453965 Sample pictures:

1842 edition 厳島宝物図会 Itsukushima Zue or "Itsukushima Treasures Depicted": single book, the third volume of the set. Part of a larger set which showed scenes at and around Itsukushima Shrine, 10 volumes bound into three. Only the last of the three volumes contains info on blades. Woodblock print book showing details of many blades and furniture which were held at or by Itsukushima Shrine. Unstated number of pages. Bids are already being recorded. Condition: Fair - aged, stained, water stained, wear, dirt, slight insect damage Auction ending: Wednesday May 18 Link: http://page19.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x446830379 (Link fixed) Sample pics (from seller's list of 26)

NOTE: Please click "Like" for posts containing manuscripts on subjects / topics you'd like to see more of. This will give me an idea of what members are actively interested in, so I can focus my searches better. If you'd like to suggest a topic or type of manuscript / book, please PM me. If you're concerned that "Liking" a post would tip your bidding hand, kindly PM me your interest in that kind of item. In keeping with book collecting terminology, all items posted will be at least 100 years old.

Early 1800s handwritten "Evaluation of Swordsmiths" manuscript; title rendered by seller as "Katana Wakizashi Meiki" Apparently listing smithing schools, lineages and individual smiths, along with at least some ranking or valuation by price. The seller lists the following lineages as being included: Masamune, Rai, Awataguchi, Tegai, Senjuin, Hasebe, Seki, "etc". Condition: Good - aged, stained, wear, what is apparently previous owner's notes or markings. Unstated number of pages. Auction ending: Sunday May 15th. Link: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Japanese-Original-Antique-Handwitten-Book-Evaluations-of-Swordsmiths-MASAMUNE-/272236961511?hash=item3f62965ee7:g:4uAAAOSwF0NXL1~p Sample pictures:

A two volume set of the Unjo Meiran Taizen "A Look Above the Clouds" (Kaei 7 / 1854), published by Takehara Yoshibei. This is a history and directory of the Imperial family and Tokugawa nobility. Volume one is a history and directory of the Imperial family, titles and the Kyoto court Volume two is a directory, geneology and the heraldry of more than 150 families of the associated nobility (Kuge) Condition of the set is listed as Excellent. Auction ending: Saturday May 14 Link: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/311605324487?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Sample images:

I originally posted about this item being sold (with pictures) a week or two back: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19425-1802-scroll-on-construction-of-traditional-arrow-quiver/ The item has now been relisted by the seller, indicating the previous winner failed payment. If you're interested the auction on this item ends the evening of Friday May 13. Bidding is already lively. Link: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/231935617478?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Sample images:

Circa 1800's hand-painted and annotated 12 page manuscript on uniform and armour decoration, military and battle flags (sashimono) of various types Auction ending: May 15 evening Link: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/351728079429?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Sample image:

I'll see what I can do, in the course of my own shopping / research. I'll post any such items under the Auctions and Online Sales forum It would be helpful if members would post categories or areas of interest for me, and let me know whether they'd rather see items with illustrations, or if there is also an interest in text-only manuscripts.

These are open auctions; this one was on eBay. I usually don't post upcoming items for a couple of reasons: First, it's hard for me to gauge what group members might find interesting. Past posts I've made which I thought people would find fascinating were panned. Others on what I thought were side items unexpectedly got huge "likes". Secondly, I've had personal experience with posting upcoming items in other forums, only to be blasted via PM (and some in public) by multiple members of those groups. These people were heavily into the online auctions, and had already seen and were going to bid on said item. By my pointing it out to several hundred other members, they felt I had greatly raised their competition and the likely final cost of the item... and they let me know in no uncertain terms that this is not acceptable (bold was theirs ) Come to think of it though, I've had similar requests for notification of upcoming items from members of my Facebook Japanese Manuscript Collector's group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/japanesemanuscripts/). Perhaps I should look a doing a Paetron.com project, where for a small sum per month users could be notified of upcoming items on eBay and Yahoo.jp... I would have to spend time every day tracking items. I'll have to think this one over a bit.

Recently sold at auction, a 1781 makimono (hand scroll) depicting 103 yanone according to Ogasawara Ryu traditions; scroll 3.6 metres in length. The seller made images of the complete scroll available, and I thought some of our members might be interested. Condition: Fair - aged, stained, wear, tears, insect damage Winning bid: $131.50 USD

Yes. The modern versions we know as "The Sword and the Same", translated by Joly and Hogitaro. The first half of their book is the text of "The Sword Book in Honcho Gunkiko" by Arai Hakuseki, with the "Book of Same Ko Hi Sei Gi" comprising the second part. A first edition was privately published in a limited run in 1913. A short reprint was done in 1962. Both editions are (obviously) out of print, and copies somewhat to very rare.

This morning a rare copy of the 1795 鮫皮精義 "Kōhi Seigi" or "The Book of Same" sold at auction. Since digitized copies of this edition are unavailable (at least, I have been unable to locate any), I thought our members might be interested in pictures of the book supplied by the seller. A bibliographic database search showed only one publicly known copy held in a museum outside Japan, that being the Japanese Rare Book Collection of the US Library of Congress. One other known copy is held with restricted access in Japan's National Diet Library. Condition: Excellent Winning bid: 63,000¥ ( $590 USD )

I was particularly watching this auction, as this is one of the book set sales which seems to have sparked the present hot market in antique Japanese manuscripts, with a very high price received at a Bonham's auction last year. Kansei 7 (1795) woodblock print book set of the Honcho Kajiko Ko ( 本朝鍛冶考 ), "A treatise on our country's swordsmiths", a set describing blades held in the Imperial collection. Publisher not stated (one of two editions published in 1795). Author Kamada Saburōdayū Gyōmiō, also known as Kamata Natae. Twelve volumes of oshigata and information on blades which were held by the Imperial family. A total of 795 pages, 292 of which have illustrations oshigata of these weapons (tachi, katana, wakizashi, tanto, yari), including horimono. Condition: Fair to Good - fine impressions, aged, stained, wear. The seller noted the book images were too large for their scanner, therefore the somewhat "zoomed" appearance of the pictures. Winning bid: $665.87 USD Auction house: eBay Notes: In fall of 2015 a similar set of this work, with an identical title and dated 1795, sold at Bonham's for $3125. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22462/lot/3350/ For those interested in browsing, here's the link to a digital version of a complete six-volume set of these books produced in 1851, held in the National Diet Library archives: http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2607453

Kunio Nakamura has been putting his kintsugi skills to use helping others for years. To this day, he repairs pieces damaged in the 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region. Following last week’s Kumamoto earthquakes, Nakamura has been sending out tweets reminding people not to hastily toss out their cracked and broken pottery. Instead, he encourages them to tape the smaller pieces to the larger ones and store the bundle in a plastic bag. Once recovery operations settle down, Nakamura plans to travel to homes in Kumamoto and offer his services, free of charge, to those with broken heirloom ceramics. Full story: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/04/22/volunteer-craftsman-traveling-to-kumamoto-to-repair-earthquake-damaged-family-heirloom-ceramics/

This video gives some background on the sword and its manufacture, as well as supplying some close-up video scans of the blade, edges and inscription, which start around the 3:00 mark

In Markus Sesko's "Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords", there's a detailed entry on tsujigiri on page 488 which includes historic references (legal and narrative): While I've found numerous academic references to the 1602 law / edict banning tsujigiri, I've been unable to locate the source document they are drawing from (or at least an English translation thereof). I'm sure it's out there, but it might take one of our Japanese fluent members to locate it. As an actual law on the books, it shouldn't be too difficult to locate the edict... the existence of which would definitively prove it was enough of a problem to warrant the creation of such a law.

I've found an online resource at the Wakou Steelmaking Museum, which is dedicated to maintaining a complete history "of the traditional Japanese steel ”Wakou” manufacturing process called “ Tatara”." A page on their site, titled 日本刀古文書一覧 or roughly "Ancient nihonto documents list", supplies an index of 561 books / documents on nihonto, their author(s) and dates of publication, from 1441 to 1955. I'm not certain if this is meant to be a comprehensive listing of all such works, or only those the museum holds, but with 500+ books being listed it seem fairly comprehensive. In Japanese only. 日本刀古文書一覧 http://www.wakou-museum.gr.jp/tosho5/

A set of books recently went at auction for (relative) pennies. It was listed by the seller as the Kokon Meizukushi Taizen, in three volumes, with a publishing date of 1611. The problem being that no edition of the Kokon with that precise name, in that number of volumes, corresponds to any official printing listed in English bibliographic databases. The Kokon itself was scribed in 1611, but according to the bibliographic databases, the earliest official printing was 1694, with various editions using different names appearing over the next 200 years. All recognized versions of the Kokon include the writing date (1611), the name of the publisher (various), and the actual date of publishing. From my information, all early versions include inkan seals and stamps as marks of authenticity. Most of these are (apparently) missing from the item sold at auction... at least, they are not mentioned in the auction listing, nor do they appear in photographs. Additionally, in the listing of official versions, only one printing uses exactly this name as the title, and that edition was printed as an eight volume set in 1778, containing all the aforementioned information / markings The database does list one "orphan" version (not included in the official Kokon listing), with the name variant of "Kokon Mei-Zukushi Taizen". According to the listing, this orphan version was printed with no publisher / publishing date / inkan, as a three-volume set, matching the description and pictures of this item. This at least suggests it was an "unofficial" printing... The winner of the auction got the set for the grand sum of $25 USD + shipping, and was the only bidder. I thought I'd post the pictures of the item to allow members to look it over and consider whether the purchaser got an amazing bargain or just an interesting historical curiosity.

Recently sold at auction, early-to-mid Edo period handwritten and illustrated manuscript book with title "Buke Gunki", roughly "Warrior battle flags / insignia". 40 pages, all with annotated illustrations. Condition: Fair - aged, stained, wear, water stains.

Having worked in the academic and research fields, I think I can say unequivocally that a down-and-dirty MMA cage match has nothing on a group of academics arguing whose theories are right. Or, usually, "most-right".

A small difference, perhaps, is that she successfully defended her research and conclusions before the University of North Carolina Oriental History Department's Masters Degree Committee to achieve her MA, a rigorous academic process at a well respected institute of higher learning. Of course an individual reader is always free to decide whether or not to accept any particluar thesis.

"Research: It's what I do" I should really make that my tag line