Bugyotsuji

Try 柳玉亭

Ah, thank you, no I did not see that mail from Kelly Schmidt. The Japanese seller lists it only as Kitagawa +Kao, but does not attempt to read the missing kanji. I have asked someone to work on the final unread Kanji; he says he will get back to me.

Jean, I have checked right through that page. What is 23? Where do you see Udagawa? ( = 宇田川?)

Perhaps much of the rest of the gold zogan inlay was lost already, but the most important words, Mittsu-do were thought worth saving.

Jean, the seller says the name is Kitagawa plus Kao, 喜多川.口.(+花押)　 (The mystery kanji in the box has not yet been identified. The Kao is the last single flourish character.) (在銘 zaimei means 'signature present' or 'with/bearing' signature.) No-one has mentioned what the character before the Kao flourish is.

That Shochu is called Kiroku, which is Kuroki 黒木 in reverse (Kuroki Honten where it is made). Kuroki Honten's address ends in 776, too. It aso uses the play on good fortune 喜　which is written 㐂 in So-sho grass writing, associating with 77 years of age, and triple 777s on the slots. It also has the sound of 'record' as you say, as in setting a record. Explanation of the word games hidden in the name found here, in Japanese. https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1231765972

「㐂」の持つ意味など ・「喜」という漢字の草書体に基づく俗字であり、喜と同じ意味である。 ・七十七歳になった祝いを「喜寿」と言いますが、これは「㐂」が”七十七”と読めることを由来とする。 From here: https://junglewood.xyz/word-sentence/%E3%90%82-yomikata-henkan/ I guess anyone is lucky to have lived to 77...! (Still, what is the kanji after Kitagawa and before Kao?)

Ah, Kitagawa (+?) + Kao. Thank you Morita San. Ki 喜 can be written with three sevens (as above) to mean 77 years of age.

Just playing here, but further offerings for the hat, 㐂宝 川 (+?) +花押 川柳?

De-listed now, so no information.

加賀象嵌　兜　Kaga Zogan Kabuto. Nice key words! Thanks Luc.

Nice Kabuto. Look in museum collections, on the internet too. (Most private collections are private.) Pinterest collects groups of similarly-themed objects. Ask around more. Send a photo of yours to the MET etc. In my experience you will spot one just when you are least expecting it. Keep looking and learning. Run some key word searches in English and Japanese, for example 銀象嵌　鉄錆地筋兜　Japanese silver inlay russet suji kabuto ...

Congratulations, Anthony, another little jewel!

Here's hoping that the Bisen moves for you. As to the metal used to deactivate your gun, lead was indeed used traditionally. The law has been tightened up over recent years, however, so guns like these can only be legally owned without registration papers in Japan if the plug can be shown to be more difficult to remove than lead. On the other hand, maybe you can find a smith like the one our friend Anthony in Sweden has, who likes a challenge, saying he can drill out and remove anything from the inside of a barrel.

The notes or further considerations you mention there Malcolm seem to be saying, "Beginning of Edo Period, around Kanbun, Etchu smith, he cut (chiseled) '12th month' to the right of 'Kiyo...' so we can probably call this one: 'December, Kiyomitsu' "

OK, but just off the top of my head. Anyone is welcome to jump in and correct me! Starting with the right column of the grid, Kitae: Shinogi tsukuri, Iori mune, moto haba kasane jinjo Hamon: O-midare, gunome midare, nie deki, saeru Boshi: Nie deki, kaeri fukashi Chokoku:Nashi Nakago: Mekugi ana Ikko Yasuri: Suriage nakago kiri Biko: Edo Shoki, Kanbun goro, Etchu no hito, 'Kiyo' no migigawa wo 'ju ni gatsu' to ki, Ju ni gatsu Kiyomitsu to Shosu.

This paper is issued by a body called the BNTHK Bijutsu Nihon Token Hozon Kai in May this year. There is quite a bit of detail on there regarding the blade characteristics and activity, the boshi and nakago, and the reasoning behind the attribution with the remaining Mei character. Do you want all of it?

Yes, it says 旧銘　Kyu-mei Taima Cho Aritoshi 當麻長有俊　(Senjuin line)

Great, thanks Paul. I expect I'll see Eddie this summer in London anyway but just in case I forget to mention it, please do pass it on. Oh, and I will start a reinforcing rumour here that it was merely an exploratory first event.

You trecked. (I didn't.) 13th fairy, late to appear. May I say how much I enjoyed reading about this event and seeing the (mostly upright) photographs. Here in Japan little birds flitter this way and that and we hear a merry tweeting. At least one of the Japanese dealers must have heard rumours concerning possible theft and was unnecessarily over-paranoid. Security must have been a secret concern among them before they set out. I mentioned in passing that this event would not have been like your average street market. I also heard a comment that although the dealers did not sell particularly well, many of their top pieces were snapped up. So who here is hiding prized newly-acquired treasures?

Ed, I thought everything had to be bigger in Texas!?!?

Mmmm.... very satisfying. No expert on furniture here, but somehow I associate those with northern Honshu. (The lightness of the wood, the blackness, style and thickness of the fixtures.)

Sitting in a coffee shop and wondering if that last character which looks a bit like 長 might not be 製 sei, made by? (Just another idea for the hat)

Masa is often written like that. Nothing really 'bad' about it once you get used to seeing it, just a fashionable thing. Raising a cup of 酒　さけ (sahkeh) to you!

Incidentally there was one room full of swords at the Okayama Prefectural Museum, but the Sanchomo was not on display, and even though I asked for a Zuroku at the front desk they did not offer one, not even a simple list of the sword exhibits. Their attention was obviously on the armour rooms. The reason I particularly asked was that there was an intriguing hirazukuri Wakizashi, with huge wide blade, made by the Mito Lord Tokugawa in Tempo 9 (1838)and the sayagaki was also written by him. (Private owner.) 「脇差 時計紋(徳川斉昭作)」 Tokugawa Nariaki (1800~1860) who opposed Ii Naosuke. Quick search of the internet found only this one image, the sword at top. https://msp.c.yimg.jp/yjimage?q=T1RkqHsXyLHQdzvy11zKJRlufseUNG4XKc.xncbGGYkqBjSmVmWNtYCvplEjdtIymogXWVY_FLZA_7myrhJ3pUjTsdERyAlA91QH5Y2Y6sU373xbu56j28jsm2NY8ZNOc12KUdT6_NG9hgf2Ow--&sig=1389q7ros&x=201&y=251