Bugyotsuji

Tell me about the heat. It reminds me of Massachussetts or New York State. At 8:20 this morning on the way to work I had the air-conditioning on full blast as the sweat was running down my face, and my clean shirt was already wet despite two early morning baths. On the 29th the changing room will be packed and the air conditioning will be overloaded and unable to cope. Those of our members with any sense have already thought of excuses not to be there to help out. This is very hard work with little reward. I have suggested taking donations from participants, to help with refugees from the Fukushima disaster area for example, and people smile and nod politely but nothing happens. Still the public seem to like it and the harder we work, the more requests for more opportunities come in. The only very small benefit, is that normally fastidious Japanese/Chinese/Korean girls are quite happy to have a bunch of stinky blokes pawing them all over as they strap on pieces of strange-smelling mediaeval armor/armour.

Furikake sprinkling to make the rice more palatable? :lol: Lorenzo, I have to go there on the 29th to help out with the "Try-on-a-katchu" Kitsuke Taiken event, but not sure if my schedule will allow a general sneak-shot separate run before then. When we went to sort through Menpo and Kawari-kabuto last week for something interesting to bring back for the Evangelion display, I managed to get quite a few shots on the side.

I think you are right Ed, but perhaps more like, "Asia arise!" (?)

Occam is our man! Incidentally I had a phone call last night to say that in the first 5 days of the Evangelion event at Osafune, they have had over 5,000 visitors, which is double what they were estimating, and August, the busy season, hasn't even started yet.

Ah, thank you. You have been very helpful, Moriyama san. It's hot nowadays. Have a beer or two!

Moriyama Sama, thank you for your reply. Any reply is 100 times better than silence! May I ask you one question? I have looked at thousands of signatures in the last couple of days. This is the only example of 閑 that I can find being used by a Netsuke-Shi. It is quite close to your suggestion. Is it possible to read this signature as 閑水 or maybe 閑哉?

No luck? This is my effort...(表) 画右　X 会原議一節言誠送　雲表????? And on the back(裏) 一XXX言????? 信託かげ送竹小????? 宝?雲?民????? As you can see, hopeless.

You ask about the white design on the blue bag, but it is hard to see. Perhaps it is a Kamon (Mon) family crest.

More detail

OK, ya got me! It's a drinking 'straw', part of an Edo Period drink bottle and straw set. The diagonal cut at the end enables the drinker to get the last drops from the bottom corner, an advance on the modern drinking straw! Vessel height 6 1/4", 16 cm. Width 2 1/2", 6.5cm. Lacquered wooden stopper. Lacquered string binding at top. Iron loop for indigo-dyed string.

30 people have looked but no bites. You will not bully me into revealing the answer just yet! Hint, it's for something vital in life. (For Ninja? No...) What are the most vital things for living creatures? What do F1 drivers and Tour de France riders have in common?

Ian, yes, that makes sense. There is the other factor of whether they were cast, carved or hammered out from inside, which I also need to get to grips with.

Lovely links, Malcolm, but it is nothing so ethereal. My fault for not including the size of said object, which is boring now that you have elevated my soul! :lol: 19cm long (7 1/2") and one cm in external diameter. PS Interesting about Atsumori turning his back when swimming. I just learnt the other day that a sashimono/se-oi-bata was considered to be the soul of the samurai in battle. Although they are all nowadays depicted the same, each flag was very slightly different, allowing for individual identification. Once you turn your back, your family flag, your soul, will be besmirched forever. :|

Eric, I placed the 大の字 pad against the small of my back and tied it at the front with the long te-nugui and it worked fine. Maybe when people found their headband too hot, they took it off and tied it around their waist, at the back and out of sight. Might even have looked good! Leading to confusions for future generations! While we all struggle under this excessive heat, here is a puzzle for the membership (if I have not posted it before). What is this mystery object? (Edo? Yes...)

Oops, you saved me from editing the post to say "looks like a bamboo leaf"!!! :lol: I am quite happy with the tea-leaf, er... Camellia Sinensis leaf story.

A clasp decoration for a purse usually has two wires soldered to the reverse, and these have been cut for freeing from an old and maybe useless pouch. This Mae-kanagu shows Daruma floating on a leaf. It is small and delicate and one wonders how it managed to scrape through relatively intact like this. The present examples of a Menuki and a Mae-kanagu were bought last Sunday from a dealer in sword fittings. Neither was bank-bustingly expensive, and there was not a huge difference in price. For those members who already knew all of this, apologies. Sometimes it takes me time to get my head around unspoken but obvious things!

Just for my own clarification I took the following shots to illustrate the difference between a Menuki and a Mae-kanagu purse clasp. We all know that in many cases the same artisan may have made both. They both appear for sale as a single item; often a single Menuki can be puzzling. Essentially a Menuki has a central (rectangular) protruding chunk on the back to help it fit flush against the tsuka, without slipping sideways in any direction. There may be no other evidence of fitting on the reverse. See pine needle and cone Menuki pics 1,2 and 3. NB Sometimes a Menuki might have been used in a new life as a purse clasp adornment, and it may bear witness of such in extra (soldered) pins on the reverse.

Actually if I just had the Japanese typed in readable Kanji, then I would be 90% happier. No need for an English translation! (Not just yet anyway...)

Just this morning a friend was showing me a wakizashi saya liner from the end of Edo, signed and dated Ansei I believe. In the bottom end of it just above the swivel pin were two rectangular recesses with an Ichibu Gin fitted neatly into each hollow.

Thank you, Moriyama San. Sadly I cannot find a lacquer artist with such a Kanji (there were other "Kansai" 寛、貫 lacquer artists) who made Netsuke and presumably Inro, so it has a good ring to it, but I will keep looking. In the meantime here is another puzzle. It is a 煙管kisseru and Tonkotsu set, the tonkotsu being made of a single squashed section of bamboo. The final name, if there was one, may have been rubbed away, stopping at X雲哉? There is a poem(?) ending 雲表 on the lid, and an explanation(?) on the reverse? Apologies for the quality of the 銘 Mei photograph; the signature is very faint.

Eric, try playing with Hitai-ate (forehead pad), or Tatami (folding) hitai-ate. http://www.iz2.or.jp/fukushoku/f_disp.p ... no=0000153

A different lacquer artist with a difficult name. Can anyone help with the first character? I think the second character is 哉 -sai, (kana).

Since Ron pointed out yet another chink in my armor/armour, I have spent the intervening time chatting with collectors and dealers about the difference between Menuki and Mae-Kanagu. It is now clear in my own mind. In celebration and in thanks to the dealer today who despite the searing heat had patiently pointed out the arcane detail, I sifted through a couple of trays and bought two, one of each. A wonderful Sambaso dancer caught my eye for many a long moment, but there is often sadly a limit to one's budget. There was also a lovely pairing of a lion and tiger in copper & shakudo with delicate silver claws, and on the back were both the original block for Menuki fitment, and the two pins for Mae-Kanagu. The dealer said that it had probably started life as a Menuki, had at some point been adapted for use on a purse, and finally been released to walk alone in the world. Perhaps I should have bought this one to show the membership here, but it was a toss-up between myself and my wallet, and the felines lost out.

Not willing to be caught writing on Friday the thirteenth! Ian, may thanks for the valuable thoughts. Lorenzo, how funny! I have heard that the spear is made of various alloys so as not to fall foul of the laws which would normally require such a thing to be legally registered and papered as a viable weapon. As to the date, let's do it. All I need now is the wife's permission.

Eric, compare that with this translation. 源氏車紋の道中羽織。腹当と帯がついており状態も良い。 Travel haori with Genji wheel Mon. Comes with bib "Stomach" cover (Japanese Hara-ate is a mistake and should be Muna-ate or Mune-ate) "Chest piece" (although it does indeed cover both chest and stomach!) and sash, in good condition overall. I am still wondering if there is really a difference, or is it simply the length of cloth attached to it that defines where it is tied? PS I have heard these described as Doh-chu Baori, which seems to indicate for Bushi to wear on trips eg Sankin Kotai to Edo and back.