Bugyotsuji

That's great. A friend has a couple of those large arrow boxes, one with Hideyoshi's Mon on it! Another friend just bought a whole bunch of those large cutter arrowheads fom a collector; I managed to sneak just one, all I could afford! My Katanabako I took to the local sword shop to see if they might be interested, but they said that no-one in Japan wants anything so large nowadays.

Wow, yes, I haven't seen those shots for a while! The top four are indeed the large brown katana-bako which is still in the hall today. The bottom shot is the now long-lost black teppo-bako. Clever find indeed.

Ian, I reckon the boy done good in this lifetime, and his Dad would be right proud. For a man with no money, where do you find all your nice things?

Ian, what a shame! Were you able to dismiss it from your mind? It reminds me of something one of the characters in Saiyuki carried. I wonder if we can find an illustration somewhere.

Eric, I will ask my sword teacher if he thinks the pole is a dedicated one-off or whether it could have been originally for a naginata. (My own feeling is that it is somehow slimmer than those naginata/nagamaki hafts that I have handled in the past.) (Signing off for a while.)

Hmmm... interesting. The first of my two is "reinforced by sandwiching a thick metal strip in the wood; a useful feature when parrying an opponent's weapon", as your article says above.

Eric, the pole on the one you have just posted is oval in cross-section. I was assured by my sword teacher that the koshirae is genuinely old, ie Edo at the latest. The blade he feels is of So-Shu Tsunahiro lineage, mid-Edo, so it is possible that the whole package was contemporary to the blade. Sometimes swordsmiths took unusual orders when the demand for swords was scarce. PS That was why I bought each of these Kama; none of my Japanese sword-collecting colleagues had seen anything like them. This Saturday I will be taking both to our sword meeting for some light entertainment. Naturally I will be listening out for any pearls of wisdom, hiding in offhand comments!

The problem is that various opinions and definitions come together here. Not too long ago I was told that a kusarigama can have a chain from the bottom end of the handle, or from the back of the blade, the chain length and swinging style being different for each type. I was tempted to source an old chain and fit it to the blade of the first of the two Kama above, (did you see the first one, with a yokote?) but having had it polished professionally it would have been stupid to add a rusty chain to the blade. There was a candidate Kusarigama which I considered buying just for the chain and weight. Besides immediate rust, a shirasaya would have been a nightmare to create for a blade with a chain attached. Thinking about it, when the smith made the blade, he added a hole for later fitment of a chain. Imagine that the chain was never fitted. Does that make it any less of a kusari-gama? If the intention is to make a blade for a Kamayari/Kusarigama, then surely the intention of the smith defines the purpose of the blade, well before any accessories are fitted or not. (?)

Of course, clay molds for menuki were unearthed at the Sengoku Jidai ruins at Asakura Ishijodani in Fukui. So there might have been one 'original' master and many repros, even 600 years ago. (Thanks to a little bird that flitted past my window.)

Both true, Eric. You have a good memory. If there are any photos, they will be in an old memory card. The Katanabako with racks is in the same place in the hallway, just taking up less space!

Nice find. Many thanks Eric. The white paperwork suggests it was made by Masuda Genjiro Masayoshi. I wonder if the absence of a hole and the long nakago might have led to calling this one a Kama-yari? (Knudsen's kamayari definition at the top mentions no vertical point.)

My wife made me get rid of mine, but it did not have those racks in it. A superb example!

And the male has a 剣 Ken in its tail.

First rule with a Tanegashima is not to lay it on a surface with the lockwork facing downwards. Many kemurigaeshi must have been lost this way. Among the many guns with no kemurigaeshi, you will sometimes see a space where one must have been at some time.

Note that the pan itself is not illustrated in Eric's excellent photographs above. Also, a kemurigaeshi is not so commonly fitted, so omission of that would not be a serious problem. A luxury option? Looking forward to a shot of the stamp forward of the trigger, and of the Mei if any.

They look to be in understated, pristine condition. NB Post #9 should be "Cha ishime ji nuri ..." but the edit button has gone. Slip of the key. Apologies. = Brown stone finish lacquer surface. Post#11 Sunpo overall length is given for both Dai and Sho in centimeters.

The problem would be easier if you could tell me which bits you do or don't understand. If I assume you're ok up to line three, and in the absence of any photos, then the Koshirae sword furnishings are described as: White shark(skin) (which is probably ray) brown string bound in diamond shape, Fuchi (rim) and Kashira (pommel) Shakudo (black copper) relief carving enamel portrayal of wave(s) and dragon(s), Menuki shakudo yobori (feature chiseling?) enamel Tatsutagawa River scene Tsuba iron russet (is sanji supposed to be sabiji?) ground, round shape, both hitsu holes, mushroom(s) scene Mei (signed) Takuuchi made

Pan and surrounding bits!

I have never bought from them and have no axe to grind either way. Your description seems fair enough. I just felt it might be good to let them know what is coming down, or do you reckon they need to wake up and smell the coffee?

Hmmm... in the light of Ford's last comment about how such castings have been around for more than 30 years, maybe we should take these problems to the seller (Aoi Art) instead of spreading them here like this? What would be most fair?

(Ogino-Ryu). Ramrods are fun to make from a dowelling rod, either with machinery to save time, or lovingly shaped by hand!

A good-looking gun, if needing a little TLC. The Ryuha school of gunnery is easy to see. Agree with Brian, hold off on all the abrasive stuff until you are ready to go gently all round. Needing a new pan and ramrod. Nice, thanks for posting.

Or would more explanation of the meaning have helped? The old 'Translation' or 'Romanization' question again.

Ditto the above! Let us know what you have said.

Did you add the highest price you would willingly go? Someone is willing to go to 100,000, right? Did you read this page? http://www.sword-auction.jp/en/howtobid