IanB

I have a very similar ko boshi kabuto with roped fukurin that is also in shakudo. Nagamichi is a bit of an enigma as nothing really is known about him other than he is thought to be early Edo period which rules him out of being connected to Kaga who were exclusively Haruta smiths until quite late on. It is probably a recycled helmet bowl incorporated into a later Kaga armour. Ian Bottomley

Malcolm, Not sure. By the time the Dutch had been moved to Dejima the whole attitude had changed. Every Dutch ship had to anchor off-shore and be searched for weapons and religious material before being allowed to dock. Anything found was confiscated but returned to them when the ship sailed. However, other material, such as scientific instruments and the like were imported and sold in karamonoya or curio shops. By far the best book on all of this is 'Bridging the Divide' Editor Leonard Blusse, Willem Remmlink and Ivo Smits, Hotei Publishing ISBN 90-74822-24-X. And of course when the panic over the coming of the Americans started, the Japanese imported mortars and other cannon from the Dutch. Ian Bottomley

The idea that the Europeans only allowed the Japanese old technology is not true. A study of the diaries of John Saris (published in 1900, as The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan, 1613, edited by Ernest M. Satow) describes how he gave Matsura Hoin in 1612 'a damaskt peece, double locked' which would probably have been a snaphaunce at that date, giving similar gifts to Tokugawa Ieyasu when he visited him in Sumpu. Richard Cocks, who remained in Japan running the factory there, writes in his diary (Diary of Richard Cocks, with preface by N. Murakami 1899, reprinted from the Hakluyt Society ed. 1883) that in 1615 ‘ And sent a present to Gonrok Dono … 2 damaskt fowling pec, cost 10 ta. \this present is sent hym as cheefe bongew of all goods brought into Firando, Langasaque, or any of these partes of Japon.’ and elsewhere ‘Figean Samma sent for 8 damaskt snaphanne fowling peeces to send for Safian Donno for the Emperor – 20 taies each’. Elsewhere in his diary he lists a further 23 guns that were sold by the English. What is remarkable is that so far, not a vestige of these guns, obviously regarded as sufficiently prestigeous to give to the shogun, appear to have survived. Ian Bottomley

The first image shows a typical Edo period armour where the maker has tried to reconcile the idea of o-sode and their cords with a gattari and ukezutsu for holding a sashimono. The second image shows a traditional armour, in fact a composite of a do-maru and an o-yoroi. The row of scales to which the agemaki ring is attached is laced in reverse so that the shoulder straps can be thrown back when putting the armour on. The agemaki bow, likened to a dragonfly with that part fastening to the ring representing the head and eyes whilst the loops the wings. Being heavy, the bow had the duel function of holding this row of scales down by its weight as well as providing an attachment for the cords that held the o-sode in position when raising the arms or bending forward. As sode became smaller during the Muromachi period the need for the elaborate system of cords was simplified and then abandoned together with the large agemaki ring. The gattari and ukezutsu were simply attachments for some form of sashimono, often a flag but also other devices on a pole, that identified the wearer or the unit he belonged to. Important accessories in the battles of the Sengoku era. By the 18th century after a long period of peace there was a nostalgic revival for the glories of the past that resulted in armours being made with ancient features such as o-sode, large spreading neck guards and the like - the latter making the wearing of a sashimono impossible yet the fittings for one were put on the backplate. Essentially the armourers had forgotten how o-sode were fastened. The central leather tie on the top plate should be tied to the rear loopon the shoulder strapp but was often tied around the shoulder strap with the standing plate that protected the neck from the sode being pierced to allow it to be tied this way. By the end of that century they had sorted it all out and good copies of o-yoroi and do-maru were being made, only to be abandoned when news of America's intentions arrived and high quality armours were produced based on Sengoku styles. Ian Bottomley

Paul, People do not realise just how efficient early ignition systems were. I have fired matchlock, wheel lock, flintlock and percussion cap guns and they are all pretty fast, with probably the flintlock having the longest delay. Ian Bottomley

Rob, A lot of what you see as matte lacquer is really light damaged. See: www.hakuminurushi.com/conservation/light.htm One of the conservation techniques used on lacquer in this condition is to wipe on a coating of raw lacquer to consolidate the original surface and restore the lustre. Having said that some original surfaces were left semi matte deliberately for the simple reason that it didn't show fingermarks. I'm sure a lot of saya were given textured finishes for exactly the same reason. Sakakibara Kozan in his book on armour talks about high gloss lacquer applied with tissue and no doubt some armours were finished this way. Ian Bottomley

Ford, An excellent point. Mortimer Luddington Menpes in his book about his time in Japan describes his association with a Japanese curio dealer and how the market adapted to appeal to the tastes and needs of Victorian tourists, producing such things as embroidered Buddhist temple hangings that had no existence until that point. There is a delicious sequence about a door knocker that Menpes wanted for his house in Cadogan Gardens that he was fitting out in the Japanese style. In the end a contraption consisting of a metal ball dangling on a silk cord was devised and shipped back to England together with lacquered doors, ceiling panels and all the rest. Ian Bottomley

Ford, Your entomology ain't too good. Ian Bottomley

Piers, The tick indeed does go to the left - I bow to your knowledge of calligraphy. The Spanish archives describe the original maedate as being two 'tufts' or 'tails' of black hair between which was a device of a 'cross of that country'. I need to alter the records since I read the kanamono as the kanji JU which the Shimazu did use - see catalogue of the Nishimura Museum, p25. So the original owner of this armour reverts to being uncertain. Ian Bottomley

The Shimazu kutsuwa kamon was a modification of their original kamon of JU in a circle that was in use during the second half of the 16th century. A Shimazu armour given to King Philip II of Spain in 1585 has the older form and was thought to be a Christian cross as late as the 1960's. With a lens a small tick can be seen at the base of the upright stroke showing it was JU. Ian Bottomley

Whilst the Tokugawa shogunate did persecute Christians, and with dreadful violence, they were rather more pragmatic in reality. Luis Sotelo was a Franciscan preaching in Edo when a Spanish bullion ship floundered at Chiba. These ships, often of enormous size (Will Adams says this one was 1000 tonnes), were involved in trade between Mexico and the Chinese in SE Asia who would only deal in silver. On board was Rodrigo de Vivero who agreed with Ieyasu and Hidetada that it might be possible to establish a Spanish trading post in Edo if the Japanese would allow Spanish ships to shelter in Japanese ports during storms. A ship was dispatched with Rodrigo de Vivero and a Japanese bullion dealer called Tanaka Shosuke on board to negotiate with the Mexican authorities. Meanwhile Sotelo, who had translated for de Vivero, cured the favourite concubine of Date Masamune of an illness and was invited to Sendai. It was at this point that the Tokugawa expelled all priests and other Catholics from Edo and other Tokugawa contralled areas, but allowed the daimyo to chose whether to do the same or not. To cut a long tale short, eventually the Tokugawa decided to negotiate with the Spanish King directly rather dealing with lesser authorities in Mexico. Sotelo was needed as translator for the mission but he was in Sendai and the Tokugawa could hardly be seen dealing with a priest - nor could they be seen sending a mission to a Catholic king. As a result Mukai Shogen the Tokugawa Admiral and Will Adams acted as intermediaries and ordered Date Masamune to organise the Keicho mission to Spain. It was while that mission was in Europe that the ban on Catholicism was extended throughout the country. On the missions return, Date got a right roasting from the Tokugawa but rather bravely wrote back pointing out that it was they who had written letters of introduction for the Spanish king, had the ship built the mission sailed on, supplied samurai bodyguards for Hasekura and supplied the gifts including armours and swords. Never let your beliefs get in the way of a good deal! On another tack, the Royal Armouries have a kozuka with a stream along which are floating three leaves and above which flies a butterfly. With a glass, the separated leaves can be seen to be aoi leaves - perhaps indicative of the break up of the Tokugawa with the butterfly perhaps implying a short existance. Dangerous stuff but very subtley hidden. Ian Bottomley

Anders, It looks like a bayonet for an Enfield rifle that was much used in the Boshin wars. What you read as PO willbe BO or 'Board of Ordnance'. Ian Bottomley

Chris, Yes that explains it. The lower part of the zunari peak has been cut away and the remainder hammered outwards to attach the new peak to. The fact that it was a zunari explains why it looks too deep. You often see this trick done with 6 or 8 plate helmets, and surprisingly with a lot of Muromachi akoda nari kabuto, but I don't remember seeing a zunari that has been given the treatment before. A very interesting helmet - but still ugly. Ian Bottomley

Uwe, I know exactly what you mean but as far as I can see the bowl does look to have some age. If you look at the flange of the koshimaki just above where the fukigayeshi should be, you can see the iron has the normal layers of kokuso and tonoko under the tetsu sabi nuri - I cannot see that a faker would bother to do that. It is not the work of a professional armour for sure, the bowl is too deep and the arching koshimaki prevents both the top plate of the shikoro and the peak from fitting properly - in fact I would guess the shikoro is off another helmet. Amateur work or made by someone 'way out in the sticks'. I saw an armour in Matsue castle that was if anything even more ugly than this. Ian Bottomley

Chris, Certainly not a modern reproduction and probably Edo period, but odd. The pronounced arching of the koshimaki (the plate that runs around the base of the bowl) over the peak is far from common and might give a clue as it its maker. Get your friend to have a look inside and see if there is a signature on the inside of the back plate of the bowl. Ian Bottomley

Darius, I would add to what Steve and Robert have said by adding that there are a very few kanji that are easily remembered and which will identify the parts of a signature. I know there are exceptions, but what follows works the vast majority of times. The smith's working name will be two characters, either at the bottom of the signature or followed by saku　作, tsukeru　造　or saku kore 作之 - all of which mean 'made' or 'made this' . Higher up in the signature may be ju 住, meaning 'living at' or sometimes 住人, 'inhabitant of', both of which follow the smith's address - so above either of these will be a province or province plus a town name. All the provinces have two character names but were often abbreviated to one kanji plus shu 州. So if you see shu then you know its a province. If there are more kanji above ju, there will be a town name under the province name as well. Finally there is kuni 国 which sometimes follows the province name, written as a box with all manner of ticks and lines inside. Again it tells you that the two characters above it is a province name but it is often used as part of a smith's name, but that will be below ju so it shouldn't confuse. Hope that helps. Ian Bottomley

Rob, I answered a similar thread on the Armour Forum about mon, so I thought I would respond to your quest in the same way. I have owned an armour for almost 50 years that gives a considerable amounts of information about it. On inscriptions inside the helmet, on the mask, on the sleeves and on the side of the dou it records that it was made by a Ki Yasukiyo living in Nagato province in 1847 and that he was a pupil of Myochin Muneyasu. It also states that it was made for a samurai / retainer of the Chohan called Nakagawa Mochinori. Now you would have thought with all that it would have been easy to find out more, but it was decades before I did. Yasukiyo was totally unrecorded in any literature I had access to as was Nakagawa Mochinori. The big break came when a diary of Myochin Muneyasu came to light which recorded that Yasukiyo was indeed a pupil who was 19 years old when he arrived at Muneyasu's workshop and that he studied for 3 years before returning to Nagato. Clearly he was already an armourer beforehand but had been sent to Edo to learn the latest styles and techniques. The armour is a very high quality and must have been expensive yet Nakagawa Mochinori, who must have been a person of some standing in the Han, remains a total mystery. The mon on the fukigayeshi of the helmet is of two dear antlers, but this is normally listed for the Kondo family not Nakagawa. On the textiles is the same mon plus another of a four petalled flower with sword blades between, all in a circle. This I assume is Nakagawa's secondary mon but again not listed for Nakagawa. As it happens, there is a vast body of literature about the Chohan, its politics, structure and its involvement in the overthrow of the Tokugawa, but nowhere can I find anything about Nakagawa Mochinori. I keep looking but it does show how difficult it is to track down the user of a particular mon. Ian Bottomley

Of course its a pig - I'm going blind in my old age - I took it for a fat puppy. Help! Ian Bottomley

Dee, I am afraid your netsuke looks like ivory. Bone always has small dark flecks in it that were the channels for blood vessels when it was living tissue. The two other possible materials would be stag horn, which has only a skin of dense bone-like material around a spongy core, the other being 'vegetable ivory' which is from a type of nut and lacks the subtle patterning that ivory has. I'm afraid I cannot help you as to the possibilities for disposal, but I deplore the destruction of works of art in the name of conservation. Having said that I deplore even more the killing of elephants to supply Asian carvers, much of whose output is utterly banal. Here in the UK ivory items can still be bought and sold if they were created before 1947. Admittedly it isn't always easy to establish when something was made, but the fact that your netsuke has developed a crack suggests it is probably of some age. I wish you well in trying to find a home for your puppy. Ian Bottomley

Jussi, Not 'Hisayuki' but Tomoyuki 友行 I think. A smith who signed with the same signature on Richard's blade was working in 1394 but that is way too early. A far more likely candidate is a smith working in 1688 who usually signed Hoshu Takata ju Fujiwara Tomoyuki, 豊州高田住藤原友行 is a better bet. Ian Bottomley

Well done to Mike - a really nice job. Ian Bottomley

Rob, For most of the time during the Edo period the armours would not be on show but packed safely away. Most of the traditional stands I have seen are terrible for anything but short term display with no real support for any of the parts. It was recommended that during the humid season they should be unpacked and placed out on the veranda covered with a cloth to prevent them going mouldy. When travelling it was required that all but the lower ranks of samurai be accompanied by a retinue that included an armour bearer who either carried the gusoku bitsu on a pole or with shoulder straps. There would also be a spearman and groom to lead the horse. I suspect that in some cases the armour box was empty unless it was intended to be worn. Armour was displayed indoors on occasions and what is not generally known is that the wife of high ranking people like daimyo also had armours that were displayed alongside that of their husbands. I once had the privilege of seeing the store at Sendai Museum and there was a row of armours belonging to the daimyo of the Date family together with the armours of their wives. I doubt the wives ever wore them, they were there just as symbols of their presence. Ian Bottomley

Kurt, Since nobody else has stepped in I will. Kogatana are made by welding a piece of high carbon steel to a piece of iron, the steel being on the lower side of the blade. Apart from the advantage of not using much steel, this structure is to some extent self-sharpening since the iron wears faster than the steel. The reason why only the underside is polished is because you cannot get a hamon on the iron so there is no point in polishing it - it is just filed up. Ian Bottomley

Ed, The ho-o bird is exactly the kind of thing Unkai Mitsunao used to apply to his dou but I don't think it is by him or his immediate successors. He was an Haruta smith working in Kanezawa for the Maeda in the early Edo period and his work shows some very definite and often very odd characteristics: Almost invariably there will be a waist-plate that is often shaped to look like stylised clouds that will either be covered in leather or lacquered in a different way to the rest (see Luc's example shown above). The waki ita under the arms are sometimes curved, again like Luc's, and fastened on top of the nakagawa rather than being laced or riveted inside. There is often a strong Buddhist theme such as the backing washer for the saihai no kan on the breast that is often shaped like a lotus and the use of Bonji on the fukigayeshi of helmets. All of the Unkai do I have examined have had the interior finished using an open weave cloth glued onto the surface and then lacquered in either gold or red rather than byakudan nuri. Your dou might well be Kaga, as suggested by the zaboshi, but other characteristic such as mokko shaped kohaze and the shaping of the upper edges of the plates (other than that bordering the vertical edges of the backplate) are absent. So what, it is a lovely dou no matter who made it. Ian Bottomley

Further to Peter's comments, the Japanese also made flintlocks, snaphaunces and even wheel lock guns, the latter being very ingenious with a spiral spring inside a hollow wheel having a steel rim. None of these were made in any numbers because there was no real need in a time when the Tokugawa regime imposed a rigid peace. One triple barrelled snaphaunce with a mechanism that was distinctly retrograde came out of Mexico City with very faint Tokugawa kamon on the barrels. We know Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga visited there and that the Tokugawa provided the bulk if the gifts and I suspect this formed part of such a gift, having been disposed of as basically ineffectice. What is interesting is that during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the English gave richly decorated flintlock guns as gifts and sold a considerable number of similar pieces from their trading post on Hirado, and the VOC gave the shogun pairs of flintlock pistols, yet not a trace of any of these guns seems to have survived in Japan. Ian Bottomley