Bugyotsuji

And the sune-ate shin guards are upside down. The brown patches go on the inside shin above the ankle.

爲　為 are both Tamé, (the former an older Kanji), with a slew of meanings, generally something like ‘for’.

That's a Date' scabbard. (Yoshida branch of the Uwajima Date' Han.) Very nice.

Old story, but in Heisei 26 NBTHK still insisted on calling it a Naginata, I see. Yet this, called a Naginata by Aoi is a Nagamaki according to the NBTHK paperwork. https://www.aoijapan.com/naginata-fuji-sabanosuke-minamoto-yoshimune/

Just a stab in the dark, but to start the ball rolling, 兼経 Kanetsune?

Ah, given the size yes, a good idea Malcolm!

Sebastian, the pictures do not show any more detail. When you click on them they merely get smaller. Click again and they are still frustratingly distant.

If it's about the size of the end of your thumb, then it's more likely to be an Ojime, judging by the holes above and below, i.e. a slide. Possibly imitating the shape of a 瓶子 Heiji/Heishi sake jar. The pattern on the side can be seen as a (Hoshi-tsuki) Hanawa/Shippo Mon/Kamon design. This white ceramic is typical of Hirado or Imari/Arita, I think, but that's reaching the outer limits of my knowledge. PS A sweet little object, either way, IMHO.

Andy, there’s nothing else written on the tang?

Steve, utsusu/utsushi, surely?

The Suzumushi started about 10 days ago. They really do sound like little bells. I recorded them one evening! And the cool evenings they bring with them are sooooo refreshing at last, after weeks of stifling heat and incessant cicadas.

The Bluffer's Guide to Curating. I guess that museums have to write something, even if they are not sure what they are looking at, in the absence of the fuller or more satisfactory story. In Barry's case, it is possible that the museum has specific people who can verify what visitors tell them, and who are allowed to go inside their displays. When you say 'never', Barry, some time must have passed after you told them, right? Some years ago at the Hayashibara Museum of Art I noticed that the Sune'-ate' below a suit of the Lord's armour were the wrong way round, so I casually mentioned it to the lady at the entrance desk. No idea whether they subsequently adjusted them...

Averting my eyes for a quick moment, in order not to spot the Ninja, may I just add to the anti-thesis, a comment from a dealer/collector friend yesterday who said, 'probably Edo Period.' This guy is usually pretty good, but he is not almighty as they often seem to say about each other. オールマイティではない。 Then he says, 'I'm sure I have one of those, ...somewhere,' crinkling his forehead.

Today I brought it to the NBTHK local meeting and asked my sword appreciation no Sensei. It’s a seppa, he said, back from Muromachi when thin-walled iron tsuba were in the majority, to give added strength for warfare. There would have been one more. A very rare object, he added, admitting that he had never seen one himself before. So the jury is still out...

Peter, Anthony had huge grief trying to get his cannon sent from Japan. I am not sure that he would ever want to go through that again. Well, maybe he would, but what I am implying is that for a medium-sized (?) cannon you’d probably be best sourcing one from within the continental US. Recently I had the ‘pleasure’ of helping move one through the different stages of registration here.