Bugyotsuji

Yuck, I was thinking, and after a couple of minutes staring at it, suddenly the picture popped inside out and I could see it properly! Mr Moriyama, clever sleuthing!

The surface does look as if it could have undertaken a flattening process, in a large press of some kind perhaps? I'll get my hat and coat, the only ones left on the stand. (?)

Many thanks, Nathan. (If you enjoyed this one, there is another one buried in the Bakumatsu Kaiei Yari thread on Gingko nut spears, Gin-nan-po, or Gin-nan-ho Yari.) Dr Fox, the dragon quest poses problems indeed! Actually, waterspouts and tornadoes are called Tatsumaki 竜巻　(twisting dragons) which seems to indicate that the Japanese and ancient Chinese might have seen (and experienced) them as terrible sea and/or heavely dragons.

Eric, if you follow the Western order of naming, he is Mr Taira Sawada, but within Japan it is reversed with the family name Sawada coming first. You often hear people referring to him as Sawada San, or Sawada Sensei, or by one of his nicknames. To help you remember his first name, it is one character 平, as in the family and the great battle between the Taira (平家 Heike) and the 源　Minamoto (源氏 Genji). Be careful of the top left pic of the man on the horse. That is a clever photoshop of two Chinese MS source images.

Eric, sometimes you make things too black and white. Please do not put this guy on a pedestal like some shining god. He is human like the rest of us, and entirely fallible. You will find opinions about him sharply divided within the J community, but he is a very persuasive character, a collector and researcher with boundless energy, and he has studied metallurgy, oriental medicine and chiropractics, clocks, guns etc. Whenever a sword, some armour or a gun comes up on the TV antiques roadshow "Nandemo Kanteidan", he is the expert usually called to their panel. He tends to model all his own photos, dressing the part, and is one of very few people in Japan who have Dan in ancient gunnery. He is head of the Sakai Teppo Kenkyu Kai, 境鉄砲研究会 which publishes much of his books and papers. Be careful if he offers to sell you something; he strikes a very hard bargain, as people have told me ruefully after the fact! Personally I like his book(s) and refer to them again and again, for the quality of the pics and for the ease of understanding when so many other books on the subject are older and drier and use old fuzzy photos or drawings and old-fashioned Japanese) but this is entirely my personal opinion and not that of many around me, who prefer to be more intuitive with the guns they are handling. He has studied Tanegashima Hinawa-Ju more professionally and historically, more thoroughly than Sugawa San, in my opinion, and taken it to another level, so if I had to give a personal score out of 100% I would give Sugawa San 60% for his book in English and Sawada San (some call him Sensei because he has his own clinic) maybe 85% for his in Japanese. There are still many places in his book where I would like more detail or more information, but if it is out there he has not discovered it yet, or has not written it down. I have five of his books here. When I had a Hino gun I found his nicely illustrated pamphlet on Hino very exhaustive and informative. He has written a similar edition on Sakai guns, his pet love as he lives there in Osaka. Nihon no Furu Ju is the one I use most, although the gunsmith lists at the end of each geographical section are limited in scope and not as thorough as other material out there. PS The follow-up to Nihon no Furu Ju is a green hardback called Koshiki Ju Nyumon, nice pics which you have largely copied here and there, but difficult text. Published in Heisei 13. Another Sawada book which you may like describes the Bunka-Tempo inventor/scientist from Shikoku, Kume Michikata/Tsuken, "Kume Michikata no Tsuho", Heisei 14. Describes evolutions of, refinements to Tanegashima guns, and other new inventions, but whether those ideas came from overseas or arose spontaneously is up to the reader to decide, in my opinion.

Hello Stephen. Are you asking about his use of English? Forgive me, but I do not understand your question. Translation of what?

The chart is good, Eric. Three little notes. 1. He calls the serpentine the 'hammer' arm in English, which is from a later age in that it is not really evolved into a hammer just yet, as it should unlock and fall lightly allowing the burning match to touch the pan hole. 2. He adds the modern readings for the Saki-meate and Moto-meate for modern Japanese readers, but those words Shosei and Shomon were not to my knowledge in use back then. 3. The Romanization is slightly different in places to what we usually see. E.g. the alternative word for Karuka he writes as "Sakujuo", when it should be Sakujo (or possibly Sakujou), and for rivet/pin he writes Biyou when we might write Byo, etc.

Eric, since you asked that question, one I have had for many years myself, it was a good chance to go back and check the literature. Many happy hours later I can report that Kusabi is good, that your use of Amaooi Kusabi would make it even clearer. There is one other written word for the same wedge, ie 竹節 which luckily is also read in the Hinawa-Ju world as くさび　クサビ　Kusabi. Why? you ask. Good question. There is a convention within Japanese writing whereby sometimes you can use 当て字　Ateji to illustrate more clearly what you are describing, with the same sound, but more interesting characters. In this case they say Kusabi, but the eye-meaning (visual meaning) is bamboo nodal/spinal sections, and in many cases the brass is carved/fashioned into such a bamboo-likeness. Incidentally this refinement came about in mid Edo to make removal of the Amaooi easier. Lack of one may be an indication of an earlier gun.

Eric, the best word that works for that little wedge is literally, 楔 kusabi (wedge).

Most envious of your metal-working skills. You show how some impossible things can be made possible.

Oops, yes definitely Jan, and his mad friend Anthony get a big thumbs-up. They have enough Tanegashima weaponry between them to defend Sweden against ISIL/ISIS. With any luck we would love to hold a teppo summit there one day. And Eric should be in the list there too, and Brian, who has firmly joined the ranks of the unprejudiced!

Eric, where I grew up the expression means to not believe something 100%, but to keep a healthy measure of doubt at least until things can be confirmed. I certainly have no desire to call him names, slang him off, etc., and have praised him where praise is due. Actually I am beginning to think that we should take any book on Nihonto swords or Teppo with a pinch of salt, some pinches larger than others. There are people in Japan who have issues with him, and conversely he surely must have fans on his blog site, but personally whenever I have been in communication with him in the past I have had no problems with the guy. None. Re Inatomi. Check your spelling in 3 places. Not 'Inatome' or 'Itatome'. 稲富 祐直　いなどめ すけなお ("Inadome") http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A8%B2% ... 0%E7%9B%B4 Inatomi is the 'correct' way to read those Kanji today, but as Wiki says, and probably very few know or even care, piece of useless information, they were pronounced differently back then by him and presumably his disciples. PS Nice chart, nice find. (Kyuchu Syu must refer to Kyushu Shu I am guessing.)

Yes, I need to read the book again, Eric, and provide a list of footnotes. Interesting where he talks about flat-butt guns there ("was probably the representative style of a particular group"), but he does not put two and two together. The name of the founder is in his own short list just above that, i.e. Tazuke (he calls him Tatsuke though). Inoue guns are instantly recognizable, by the way, and an illustration of those is a must in any text. His heart is in the right place, and to give him credit, he does go into some detail on two schools of gunnery in Book 2 of his Japanese version, Ogino (without illustrations of their distinctive butts) and Seki. Oh, and he does call them Ryu-ha in the Japanese, BTW. For a better illustration and breakdown of Ryu-ha, see Sawada Taira's book, Nihon no Furuju. PS Inatomi is the correct reading of the Kanji for the famous founder Ichimusai Inatomi, but the local pronunciation of those Kanji at the time seems to have been "Inadome".

Yes, many thanks for the links Eric. For me your late Edo early Meiji page was especially rich and rewarding. I have a collector friend who specializes in that area, but for me it has always been an adjunct, a treacherous crossover period as Japan pulled out of feudalism into the modern world, for better or for wusser. Ron, Brian, many thanks for the proposed spring cleaning. For several years I too put quite a lot of time and effort (nay, heart and soul) into this site, but in a rather serendipitous and unstructured way, and the thought of someone going in there and retrieving such bits, if such a thing is indeed possible, fills me with admiration. The idea of putting it all into one clear resource section, though, feels truly good. PS Ron very modestly omitted to include himself in the names of consultable experts who inhabit this site. His eagle eye comes with my highest recommendation.

To clarify my stand on Mr Sugawa's book, anyone reading it needs to be ready with several large pinches of salt, as there are many textual and factual mistakes in it. Eric, you asked me for examples, so I simply took the first four pages at random, with the good bits, and the slips, big and small. There are bigger omissions and whoopsies further into the book. In an ideal world it would need re-editing and I would do it, but living on a minimal pension, I have enough trouble keeping my wife at bay over any work I do for free. (E.g. I am supposed to be a volunteer at the Osafune Sword Museum, but she resents the fact that they do not pay me, and the result is that I feel fettered/hobbled.)

My NBTHK Sensei had a look at this on the iPhone and said typical tsuba of Katana Kaji. The very precise edges of the Nakago-hitsu tells him Bakumatsu. The Mei writing in question is Yamato no Suke. He then looked it up in the Meikan and found this swordsmith living in Akatsu, working in Bunka Nenkan, 1810s, in Shimotsuke.

Hello Malcolm, I thought you might pop in! :lol: I bow to your knowledge here.

Page 2, the Table of Contents. No mention of gunnery schools, but among the styles of gun you find pages 34-35 on 'round-barrel' guns. Well, most smithing areas of Japan produced barrels in a variety of styles according to the client's order, and most areas had examples of rounded barrels. I am not sure what point he wishes to make by classifying guns by the smoothness and roundness of their barrels. Page 3 is a Prologue and describes his own story and feelings. No objection here. Page 4. Satsuma guns. Nice pics of some representative Satsuma guns. But then we get a statement like this: "their ramrod holes are not cut on the outside." I know what this means, but does the first-time reader? Surely this could have been written better. Possibly the translator did not understand what he was describing.(?) Listing the features of Satsuma guns he says "screwed-on firepans" but there is no further explanation as to what this means or whether it is significant, the same as other guns, or in some way different. Here was a Golden Opportunity to explain about the significance of screws and how Japanese guns do not normally have them, and what they do have, and why Satsuma had screws etc., but nothing. He continues to say that few of these guns exist in good condition today, but the reason he gives is "perhaps due to the matchlock's fading popularity from the early part of the 19th Century, as the Western gun started to become prevalent." Well, the same could be said for all Tanegashima-style guns, nothing peculiar to Satsuma/Shimazu guns. (We all know that there were other genuine reasons, relating to the climate of south Kyushu, woodworm, and the treewood and iron used for Satsuma guns that made them prone to early deterioration, but he doesn't mention this.) His final sentence on page 4 says: "From the famous battle of Sekigahara in 1600 to the end of the Edo Period (1868), this style of gun portrays the unique character of Satsuma." (I think it should be obvious that guns were being produced in Satsuma from very early on, the first battle where Tanegashima-style guns were used, was by Shimazu in Osumi at the seige of Kajiki Castle Kyushu in 1549. Those early guns tended to be close to their origins in style, so the probability that Satsuma guns took their characteristic shape long before Sekigahara must be high.) IMHO.

Fair enough, Eric. I have just opened my copy and started to compare it with the original Japanese. In the intro he says the book "contains 60 pages of color photos featuring 50 Japanese different matchlocks divided according to locale and style...." My first sense of unease starts here. He does not mention Schools of Gunnery (Ryu-Ha), but simply 'style', and further reading strengthens this sense that he has missed the significance of Ryu-Ha completely. This is supported in the Contents page, where p. 28 promises to introduce "Flat-butt guns". Check the pics on pages 28 and 29 and it is clear that these are Tazuke School guns, but the text makes no mention of this vital piece of information. He has classified them stylistically it is true, as having flat butts, but Tazuke-Ryu guns had a series of special features that he has not picked up on. On page 1 he explains how guns were carried in 'The Lord's Parade' to the Capital and how this was illustrated in Nishikie. (I think he probably means Ukiyoe ?) Many of the English words used avoid the proper Japanese word (such as Edo for Capital, Sankin-kotai for Lord's Parade, Jingasa for warhelmet, etc.) which I think he should have included. The English text suggests that each each soldier carried a big gun in a box and also another lighter one over his shoulder. This is an awkward translation; the original text is clear that big guns were carried separately in wooden boxes, and each soldier carried a single covered long gun over his shoulder. He shows a lacquered leather Doran hipbag (for carrying Hayago quick-loading tubes and other equipment) but calls it "a bag for carrying balls etc." and says the Tomoe Mon is the same on the gun and gun case "and on the similarly-marked bag", which it isn't. The Mon on the Doran is a three-petal Katabami flower. OK a small mistake, but there are lots of these and it is often disconcerting to the point where the meaning can be lost. Otherwise no objections with page one. Nice illustrations, good cheerful start.

A copy of Sawada Taira's Nihon no Furuju came up this week but a collector in Sweden managed to snap it up! :lol: Justin Grant has a copy, I believe. They tend to be worth more now than when they were new. (15,000 JPY?) The situation is pretty much as Ron describes it. For lack of anything in English, Sugawa's book that Peter mentions above is a good starting point, but as has often been mentioned on this site, it was published with a marked lack of proof-reading and needs to be taken with many pinches of salt. Eric has asked me to list everything that is inaccurate, but the thought of such a job fills me with gloom. Sawada Taira is very forceful, but another difficult character and although I am tempted to contact him once again (yes, he is very much alive) with a view to translating his book, I have been advised to keep my distance and quote from it in a new work, which is mostly what he did with the older Japanese texts on the subject. I would have to be more thorough in attribution of quotes, which may be difficult as much of his book contains none. I do have strong contacts with two equally large collectors here, so there is no lack of source material when the time reaches maturity.

Just taking a wild guess here

Since you do not give the price, it is hard to judge whether it was reasonable or not. Now if you gave us a series of prices to compare it against, say a) 10,000 USD, b) 1,000 USD, c) 100 USD, d) 10 USD etc., then that would give us a series of yardsticks!

I'm convinced! Just putting out a few feelers as to possible costing...

Eric, how does that work? Ken, yes, I agree, very tempting, but would you attempt that yourself?

The hollow pin would have been a refinement around the time when they were experimenting with ways to fit a shroud for firing in rainy weather. Nagashino comes to mind. Certainly until then there is no reason for the hinge pins to have been hollow. From then on they would have become fashionable, in fact probably de rigueur. I have an early pistol with a solid brass pin which looks lovingly handmade, unassuming and original. The top is hollowed out though to form a bowl where you might expect a dome. I can imagine that fitting an umbrella box to a long gun was just within the realms of practical, but in the case of a cavalry pistol it would surely be just too dang complicated to fit the burning match and try to open the pan inside such a box while seated on a horse. In the case of pistols my guess is that hollow pins were in reality a decorative option rather than a functional necessity. As to Peter's collection above, it does sound as though most have been replaced by someone at some point unable to get the perfect pin, but needing something to hold the pan in place. Dropped at the wrong angle with the lid open, the pins may have crumpled or sheared easily. (Many guns have lost their pan completely. The easiest way not to lose a pan lid is to fit it back on with whatever is to hand.)