Bugyotsuji

Bought this in London recently. Properly framed conjoining woodblock ukiyo-e prints, either a diptych or 2 parts of a triptych (?) but apart from the single right screen of which I found one example, I cannot find another example of this work online. Created and printed in the mid 1800s, it depicts a scene from the mid 1500s. The important figure is on the horse with a yari in his right hand. A famous battle. Does anyone recognize a) The battle scene and figure, b) the artist and/or c) why I wanted this print? :| Close-ups also available upon request.

David, as Ron said above, the title is in Japanese, as is the book. It is published privately in Japan. Are you still interested?　The Hino gunsmiths section is pp 48-50... 日本の鉄砲鍛冶　－　主として鍛冶銘　－　占部日出明

Just happen to have brought one of the books with me, David, but unfortunately none of the Hino gunsmiths listed on 3 pages of signatures fits exactly with all the kanji on your gun... There is a simple Sukemitsu (if Koichi San is correct) listed but with no other information, ie Goshu Hino Ju Sukemitsu 江州日野住助光 To tell the truth, it is hard to make out the scratchings on the left facet. 木村吉本　平　? Kimura Yoshimoto ... Hira/Hei possibly? Two Kimura gunsmiths are listed but the endings of their names do not correspond.

Good stuff. BTW the fitting on the left in the bottom pic actually has 'Shibuichi' written on it.

Next Saturday, 14 Sept at the Tower of London. Is anyone else planning to go and support Ian there? :D http://www.royalarmouriesshop.org/tickets/lectures.html

My pleasure, Lance. Here he is giving his speech on Wednesday, and Tosho Mikami is behind the desk on the right. http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/news_s/news/ ... 0721420364

And then some smaller shots... :|

Three artists, one sword. In the camera I can find one bigger shot, Lance, taken before his book was placed in there... He used to write and have the illustrations done for him, so his series was always a cooperative work.

Curran, yesterday I had the fortune to attend a lecture given by the author of Lone Wolf and Cub, Koike Kazuo and he was discussing this subject. He said that swords can take on new life and meaning in the popular imagination if they are associated with a character, or characters. He called it getting the right hormones flowing. The blade Excalibur comes alive with the story of Arthur, he said. Dotanuki took popular hold when he chose it for his hero, and nowadays many people use the spelling "Do 太 nuki" he created in his story in place of the real spelling "Do 田 nuki". I thought of Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill, and some of the Muramasa legends, but kept my mouth shut. He told an amazing tale of travelling to the world Anime/Manga SDCC Comic-Con gathering in San Diego with the swordsmith Mikami of Hiroshima, carrying the specially-boxed 'Dotanuki' sword. They were stopped at customs and despite having all the proper documentation to carry it legally they were surrounded by security and taken to a special room where they struggled for more than an hour to explain what they were doing with this Samurai sword. Luckily they had a copy of the English version of the book and after many efforts of saying Rohn Ulf, they saw a spark of recognition in one of the security officers' eyes. Suddenly everyone was surrounding them for group photos and asking them for their signatures and things went smoothly from then on.

Your wish is my command! :lol:

As explained above, this is a cooperative event between three venues, so today with a free ticket in hand I took the opportunity to see how the Hayashibara Museum of Art in Okayama City are holding up their end of things. The museum is set within part of the former grounds of the castle and incorporates one of the old gates as its entrance. On display was an eclectic mix of historically and artistically interesting pieces. A cute and colourful set of Ikeda lady's armour. A marvellous see-through summer Jimbaori. Kawari-kabuto and a huge dragonfly maedate. Relics of Ikeda Tsuneoki who with his son was killed at the battle of Nagakute (1584), kept by the Tottori Ikeda branch. Several swords of interest including an Unsho tachi and a Kokuho Masamune tanto with koshirae that the museum is alleged to have purchased for 200,000,000 JPY. The anime wall panels were simply extra eye candy. More, but it's been a long day and I need to sleep! (Now I have the last of their three folders these places are handing out for the summer joint exhibition!) :D

John. Many thanks to all who took part! Ron, this is how it came to me, and I admit that I did indeed rub it a little with a very soft cloth. Pity about that patina though...

For a kiseru on the other hand, it was a little expensive for me.

Thanks for the extra shots. A tough one to shoot! Have you tried Kunikata 国方? ( From 大隈, 1716-1735 享保. p.150 in Kawaguchi & Iida's Toko Soran)

Three wider shots.

Today I stumbled over a Kozuka and after some struggle discovered the signature in the gold section reads Nagatsune, plus Kao. According to the Kokin Kinko Zenshu, and my trusty little Token Katchu Techo (with all you need to know about swords and armour at your fingertips), this would appear to be "Ichinomiya Nagatsune" of Kyoto who worked around 明和　天明, 1770-1788. It shows a well carved Chinese sage with a naginata on one side, with gold, silver and shakudo zogan, and some other hairy Yamabushi type fella on the reverse. That's all I know, plus one other thing... it was relatively cheap. The dealer gave me a reason, which apart from some minor damage, sorta, kinda makes sense. Any guesses as to why?

That's rather hopeful of you Bill. Putting all your eggs in one basket! :D If you could take separate shots from different angles of, say, each group of two characters then we might have more of a fighting chance.

Hmmm... looks like the horse gets it first.

Forgive me, Eric, I just used the expression of 'internet shop in Tokyo' in the conversation (in Japanese) with him to avoid naming anyone in particular. I am not really conscious where it is/was used, or by whom. If anyone feels offended, then I apologize. I wanted to convey the strength of local opinion on this issue but wasn't sure how. I did not mention Matsumoto Jo to him, so I have no idea about how people in that area feel about the name, although if that is what it is called there then they are probably used to it and even think of the name proudly and in a positive light. So the quick answer is that yes, he was offended that anyone might call Okayama Castle Karasu Jo as karasu has a negative connotation around here. Pimps, for example are called Karasu, that is to say, men who stand in the street pulling in customers for the ladies waiting inside. As I said in a previous post, 'karasu' is not a 'wrong' reading for the Kanji per se, it is just not used for Ujo, (Okayama Castle) as you correctly state.

Just an update to the Ujo vs Karasu Castle debate. When I floated this discussion today, a very influential local elderly gentleman was most indignant at the thought that anyone might call Ujo 'karasu-jo'. The word karasu is an insult, he said, visibly agitated. Karasu can have many meanings but most of them are not complimentary. If some internet katana shop says karasu-jo, then they are simply ignorant, he expostulated.

Now those are something special. A privilege to see them. Thanks too for the background information. Web have some odd bits around the house, but nothing like that.

Many of these zombies around. If possible I will try to get to the bottom of this at this end. At least I hope I am open to any possibility!

Rich, no sources are quoted, but I fed the wording into a URL window and several came up, including two articles on Japanese prisons, one at fresheye, J wikipedia, and in the Gree page on prison governors here, related historical events. http://dic.gree.net/entry/%E5%88%91%E5% ... /http%3Cbr There is a paragraph describing in more detail the above scenario: 日本刀製作を指導した刑務官 江村繁太郎 大東亜戦争中、岡山刑務所長、江村繁太郎は愛刀家であり前任地の四国・高松刑務所時代、教化事業としての刀剣製作を着想、計画した。 岡山刑務所刀剣工場での刀剣製作事業は、受刑者への単なる授産事業ではなく、命がけの教化事業だった。 一刑務官が手慰みの趣味で行ったものではなく、法務省=国が公認した「国営事業」で、鍛造、研磨他100名を超す日本一とも言える大規模な刀剣製作工場だった。 鍛造に機械ハンマーが用いられ、鍛造、研磨は分業化し、従来の零細個人作刀とは違う工業的製作法が採り入れられていた。炭や資材がふんだんに使えた。 刀剣製作に携わった受刑者達の多くは出所見込みの無い重刑者であり、全国から選り抜かれた受刑者が集められた。彼等は、刀剣製作に自らの生き甲斐と意義を見い出し、積極的且つ真摯に仕事に取り組んでいた。 焼入れと銘切りは必ず江村所長が行っていた。これら刑務所で造られた日本刀は江村刀と呼ばれる軍刀である。 脚注 Anyone need a full translation? (Roughly... Having found it was a good idea when this lover of Japanese swords was formerly governor of the prison in Takamatsu, he created a government recognized National Project within Okayama Prison with over a hundred smiths, polishers etc., said to be the largest such endeavour in Japan at the time and using hardened lifers chosen from throughout the country. Emura the governor always quenched them and cut the Mei on every one of these gunto, and thus they came to be called Emura swords.)

Here is one with a shorter name: http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/f00148.html According to the blurb, the prison governor, Emura Shigetaro established a forge within the prison (at Sakura-bashi back then), where many gunto were made. His own blades he signed either with his name or with the artisan Mei Nagamitsu, and he is known in these parts as 'Kangoku' Nagamitsu. (Did someone authoritatively debunk this at some point?) Incidentally there is an extraordinary story about the execution ground at Sakurabashi which I heard here maybe 30 years ago which I will tell if there is interest. 戦時中、岡山刑務所内には大規模な公認の刀剣製作工場が存在した。同所長の江村繁太郎氏は勤務の傍らに自らも作刀し、また、受刑者にも本鍛錬軍刀を製作する技術を指導し、多くの軍刀を製作したといわれている。所謂、「監獄長光」「刑務所長光」 と称される一原長光の軍刀である。銘振りは多岐に及び 「一原長光」「備前長光」「長光」「市原一龍子長運斎江村長光」「江村作」「江村」などとも切る。 PS Sakurabashi is just downriver of the castle.

Uwe. A friend was attending the sword conference in Miyagi over the weekend and seeing a Yoshiro tsuba there he asked the 'experts' around the table if Yoshiro were ever signed 'Hachiman'. "Yes, they were." "What would it mean?" he asked. "Rather like Tenka Ichi. An expression of conviction as to being the best under the sun," the gentleman explained.