Bugyotsuji

Tsukurō and Kujūrō seem to be common ways to read 九十郎

I've not seen a signature split like that before but I can see the reason for it. Late Edo at the earliest sounds about right. How would a seppa sit onto that design? (Nice design by the way) Could the Mei be 定平 Sadahira (or 次平 Tsuguhira), I wonder?

It does say he was the 7th gen smith of the Tashiro family line, serving Daté in Sendai.

No estimated year, but Shin-shintō, it says.

https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/09137.html Might be related 仙台住白龍子永繁　 Katana [Hakuryushi_Nagashige]

This thread is tapping at my shell, but it sounds like a complicated world out there. It is tempting to put my Namban together in one place and force my brain to try and categorize them. Many thanks for the patient teaching so far…

As Jean adds above, many blades were repurposed, into shorter blades, blades for cutting flowers in tea ceremony too, (especially if they had a good Mei), etc. I have also seen a collection of old Nakago with Mei. Even in Japan I have recently seen experimental transformations made with old broken blades into hunting or camp knives. (A Wakizashi I have in formal Koshiraé looks to have once been a full-length Yosozaemon Sukesada blade.)

Call that a sword?

In the top photo the first part of the left column looks to have been rubbed away.

You mean the two marks on the surface of the stand? 決 and… (弓?) The photo is pretty fuzzy. Most Japanese characters come from Chinese anyway so there is often little difference. There are strong national differences in the style of writing the very same characters. These ones look to have been written by a Chinese person, I would guess. These ivory balls are as you say typically Chinese.

Thank you John and Colin. This is all grist to the mill. Step by step one gets to Rome.

For reference, I have seen this kind of ‘Nagoya’ Tsuba described as 山銅Yamagané.

PS This quote may be describing the difference between Yamakin and Shinchū but without a background in metallurgy my comprehension rate is sluggish at best. Higo metalworker artisans liked working in Yamakin, it mentions. 肥後金工が好んで使う「山金」は、素銅に鉛・砒素・アンチモンなどの他の金属を混ぜた合金で、銅山から産出されたままの銅では無く使用目的や色合いを考慮して配合工夫されています。 　話は変わりますが、銅の合金である真鍮（黄銅）も、銅と亜鉛の配合比率によって色が違ってくるということです。 From a discussion on copper, here: https://ameblo.jp/o-deco-3/entry-12170960771.html

This Tsuba was described as “Yamagané, not Shinchū” (i.e. not brass). Having looked at many examples of 山銅 Yamagané though, they generally seem to be more of a dark reddish brown copper material. There was also 山金 which is to be read Yamakin (although many people read this Yamagané, mistakenly?) Are we aware of these differences in the namings, and what are your thoughts on the material of this hexagonal Wakizashi Tsuba? Seems yellower than brass. Note natural/artificial (?) mottling on surface. Thick, flat, rounded mimi. 7.2 cm x 6.0 cm x 0.45 cm.

So how does it look inside, and what is wrong with it, Peter?

Whoah guys, we don’t want to raise the level too high! Lovely stuff… Older wood takes on lustrous tones. For me the nuttier the better. Oh and Dale, tansu, why not? No need to start a separate thread. The more the merrier.

Definitely tea ceremony utensils. Nice reworking!

Thank you kindly, Jean. The museum sounds like a definite place to visit. Glad you were able to adjust some of their fantasies!!! If a 100 Monmé is a rare beast, then anything larger than that is quite special. There was a time in Edo when people vied for larger hand-held cannons. You sometimes come across references to 一貫目 Ik-kan-mé, which is 1,000 Monmé which must surely have been the upper limit, the ball being almost 9 cm in diameter. My chart here goes up to 5 Kan, but that would be for a ‘hand’ cannon resting on a wheeled carriage. I cannot imagine anyone firing without a support/rest; a 100 Monmé blank is usually fired squatting or kneeling and even then it’s an art, a test of mettle. I don’t recall ever seeing one being fired from a standing position. On Sunday June 12 I accepted the challenge (do not ask), rammed it tight, and (left hand bound to the barrel) fired the 50-Monmé standing up, but it nearly knocked me off my feet, even a blank. 926 grains blackpowder.

Peter, they remind me of Netsuké silk seals. https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=netsuke+silk+seal&client=safari&bih=715&biw=414&hl=ja&sxsrf=ALiCzsYJ2jRSvY30kmAD7II29dY3x9EIxQ%3A1655389585890&ei=kT2rYuX9NZeDmAXYtK3oCA&oq=netsuke+silk+seal&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAM6BwgAEEcQsAM6BAgjECc6BAgAEB46BggAEB4QCDoGCAAQHhAFOgUIABDLAToICAAQgAQQsQM6BQgAEIAEOgcIIxDqAhAnOgYIIxAnEBM6DQgAEIAEELEDEIMBEAQ6CggAEIAEELEDEAQ6BwgAEIAEEAQ6BAgAEEM6CggAELEDEIMBEEM6BwghEAoQoAFKBAhBGABQ2gpYqExgkk9oAnABeAGAAbMCiAGtI5IBCDIuMjkuMS4xmAEAoAEBsAEPyAEIwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

Kōzuke Daijō was a kind of genius, creating many variations, suguha certainly among them.

Looks like a WWII Kozuka made out of what was available in the foxholes and caves of Palau.

In the first photo where you pose the Mei verification question the text on the right says this artist had a peculiar (non-standard) way of writing the central part of castle 城 which is illustrated with the left-facing 了 hook part in bold.

These are often called drawer handles but I think they are more properly Warabité or uncurling fern frond designs. In fact I suspect that in many cases the handles on tansu themselves were designed in ancient Warabité style.

Not even sure any more why I called this a Kago yari! Perhaps it was, in a previous life, or perhaps not. Some two or three years ago I had it polished, with mixed results as you can see, but I don’t recall ever taking shots of it. So here goes with a quick series. Length of blade 2.9’ or 7.3 cm.

額縁 木枠 フレーム These will point you in the right direction, if you are looking to display Tsuba that way. 1. Gakubuchi 2. Kiwaku 3. Frame