Bugyotsuji

Some hours later. The project is finished, (apart from some ageing) but now I am wondering whether Jinbaori go under Katchu (yes, I know they go over Katchu! ) or whether I should file the report here. Today was magical. It's a long story, but the Osafune Sword Museum has been experimenting with unusual exhibits in order to draw more visitors. Last summer they did a "Sengoku Basara" Anime/Manga display mixed with real Sengoku armour/swords and they got 42,000 visitors, greater than the total population of Osafune. This summer it will be Evangelion, and we are to provide entertainment and again some weird and wonderful artefacts as background. Today we made a trip to Kansai to choose some Kawari Kabuto and unusual/rare menpo. I was overwhelmed by the variety out there. (Actually I was along for the ride and helped out carrying stuff...) A special "ロンギヌスの槍" "Lance of Longinus" has been fashioned and it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, I believe.

You beat me to it, Eric. That is beautiful. Only just got back. In the car they were explaining that these things came along towards the end of Edo to decorate the back of the waist/belt. Many people see them and try to wear them as a Hachi-maki, but they are are too large and it looks funny, they were saying. I am just working on my travelling Jinbaori. You saw the replacement ivory button I made for it? The top of the sword slit at the back often used to rip upwards, so they had two or three ways of reinforcing the top of the divide. I have made a white leather triangle and fixed an agemaki-no-kan brass ring on a chrysanthemum base to it, and I was just about to start sewing when I saw your timely post! :D

Ate-obi? No Eric, I am sorry, although I think I have seen archers wearing something similar. When we go for Koshiki Hojutsu Shodan shiken, we wear Dogi with proper muneate and hachimaki. The Hakama has a stiff upright back section built into it. As to this Ate-obi, I will ask about it tomorrow as I am meeting a group of armor/armour experts and curators. (Unless Ian or someone answers first.)

:lol: Thanks, but it's only treasure to very few and far-between folk. To most people (like my wife) it is junk. Oh, and this house could never be called modern...

This is the Hachi-maki, the acquiring of which is an amusing story in itself. There were three of us in the room, and one guy said "choose between you who will get this". I told my friend to hold out his hand, which he did. I then made my fingers into 'chokki' the scissors, which automatically wins against 'Pa' or paper, so I took it, much to his chagrin. Then the first bloke said, "It is not always the first person who wins", and produced an even better one in deep blue with an Omodaka Mon in gold thread. "This is for you" he said, handing it to my 'friend'... grrr....

Close-ups of the feast... lid & body, bamboo, base persimmon wood. Ojime Carnelian. Scene signed 山月　刀 Silver lady's kisseru has the owner's name サダコ　inscribed.

Some more for the picture library.

Here are some pouches and their clasps, this being a good opportunity to try and take some close-ups.

and a beautiful example...

Ron, I would never set a trap for you (well, there might be an exception!) and your detailed and fearless answer is good for me to go on. I will go back home and double check the few bits that I have and maybe post them here. I suppose a Menuki could be fitted with a double pin jobbie for a further lifetime as a tobacco pouch clasp, though... (?)

http://colorisonline.com/japon/okayama01.html "Natsukawa Uchiwa fan, Natsukawa Uchiwa were first produced by vassals of the 17th Century feudal lord in Niwase, the Itakura family. Utilizing the naturally rounded shape of bamboo, Natsukawa fans have cloud-shaped patterns called Utatsugi on the upper edges and images of nature on the lower part. Each fan is accompanied by a specially chosen Haiku poem. The Natsukawa Uchiwa is one of Japan’s most refined and subtle arts." The story I was told is that Samurai would make these at home in the Edo Period in order to supplement the family income. The fans are translucent, with the picture, the poem and the maker's seal and signature sandwiched between super thin veils of paper, and appearing more clearly when held up to the light. The ragged edge of the clouds is actually a haiku poem. http://japanartsandcrafts.com/fcouc6.html On Saturday I came across three of these in an antiques warehouse and just had to have all of them, especially at the ridiculously low price he quoted! A great present for people back home.

:lol: I'll take some shots of the hachimaki later then.

Hmmm... how to preserve the wishy-washy nature of this thread? It seems to be almost impossible to go off topic, but there are flows to it. At present we seem to be an a phase of guns and illustrations such as Ukiyo-e. Just recently there has been an influx of odd bits into the nets of the Bugyotsuji which I might add if there is any interest. These include some splendid Natsukawa fans, about which I am tempted to start a different thread. Then I found three little Kutani stemmed goblets, a set of hibachi chopsticks with mekugi hammer designs on the ends, two unusual ceramic Netsuke, a girl's silken tasselled purse for the obi, some brass edge-strengtherners/decorations for the edges/corners of armor/armour sections (shikoro, nodowa, etc.) and a hachi-maki forehead band possibly for a gunner to wear on the field of battle. It never rains but it pours. Is it the weather?

These mae-kanagu are lovely. I always feel uneasy when I see them separated from from their original function. Are they Menuki or Mae-kanagu for tabako-ire? I know they were probably made by the same craftsmen, but I need a rule-of-thumb for deciding which is which; I suspect it has something to do with the vestiges on the reverse of how they were orginally fixed. Can anyone shed light on this?

Jan, well done, you've found a nice print there. In my limited experience, there are not so many Ukiyo-e showing teppo, and many of the ones that do exist, exhibit artist's license. Yours seems to be more accurate. Very envious. Can you show a closer shot of the gun itself? What you noticed there is not a bulge, but the actual size/thickness of the stock. That gun has a section cut away for the left-hand grip, and to lose weight, and then before the lock it resumes the same natural thickness again (hidden by his left hand). Normally not really visible, the artist has probably exaggerated a feature of the gun that he used as a model.

Jan, Japanese ones usually follow one of two or three patterns. The top one which you have labelled Japanese fits the profile on its own of a bulk/coarse powder flask with a measure built into the pourer. How large is it? Pretty rough condition. :lol: As an ensemble it also fits the Japanese pattern. It would hang from the belt or obi stopped from slipping by the nutlike Netsuke. The string usually had a large slider bead called an Ojime between the Netsuke and the Sagemono, or hanging object. The Netsuke can be easily tucked behind the Obi waistband, and easily removed as necessary. The bottom one is out of my area, but it exhibits little of the typical Japanese signature, although I have seen some very rough hunters' equipment in leather. Depending on the size it could be either a coarse powder flask or possibly a priming powder flask. To my eyes it could be Korean or Chinese, or even something else like Eskimo, designed simply to do a job with little in the way of decoration.

Justin it is a spiral that starts at the center/centre and just keeps going forever it seems... this spiral gradually draws (or should) the crown shape into it. You'll need to stretch, pull it every so often to make sure a nice shape is appearing. If the current band looks old (genuine) and if you can remove it, then yes, I would. (I have saved the old liner and sections of band this time in a plastic bag, just for reference. The stitching is minute! Sadly it is mostly torn and rotten.) You may want to use Fabreze or something on the rim/band to counter centuries of sweat and dormant bacteria.

Fascinating stuff, Ian. A photo or two would not go amiss :lol: First things first though. I must apologize and bow to superior knowledge. I hate to say it, AGAIN.... Ian, I have checked with some Katchu people and although there was some argument among them at the table this evening, the end result was Ukebari is how to pronounce it, although if read as written it should really be Uki-bari. Often the i and the e sound in old Japanese was interchangeable depending on who was saying it and where. So, just to make sure I looked in your eminent Sasama Sensei's encyclopedia and there he also says explicitly that it is properly pronounced Uke-bari. (Like oo-keh Barry) So I get a choice of 'humble pie' or 'crow pie' for dessert. I have gone back and altered earlier references to the wrong reading. And Justin, I asked, and apparently these liners are sold over the J internet!

The strongest candidate so far for the word Kiseru comes from Cambodian 'khsier' (pipe) apparently, but no-one can be absolutely sure. 「管」を意味するカンボジア語「khsier」からで、「煙管」と書くのは当て字。 http://gogen-allguide.com/ki/kiseru.html This tabako-bon set is quite simple. The little drawer with the slide contains sharpened handmade... pipecleaners (?).

The very first liner I did myself, conscientiously, generally as per Ian's instructions above, until my wife rather firmly said she would take over. When finished you could see my minute stitching to the half-way point, beyond which it started to go large wild and wobbly as she discovered what she had taken on. :lol: (Shortly after I sold the kabuto, at a loss, it appeared in an antiques shop with a shockingly high price attached, and immediately sold, so someone must have appreciated the handiwork.) Since then I have learned a trick or two, such as cutting the rim off a particular type of pressed cotton hat and using the crown etc. In this case I was handed a ready-to-fit uke-bari (I have seen and heard both terms uki- and uke-, and each makes its own kind of sense but you are right it seems!) and told to use a rubberized quick-drying glue, cutting three small slits for the shinobi-no-o loops. I do not know where these ready-mades are made but heard that they cost about 50 dollars each. Possibly Kyushu. I'll ask. Anyway I did it in one evening, much to the surprise of the members, but it scared the life out of me having to rely on my native wit and derring-do, above all not wanting to harm the Kabuto. I have a big head relative to this rather small Kabuto, so I had to set the cloth deep into the hachi. The construction of the above Kabuto looks as though it has to be overlapping iron triangles, but... it is actually 'neri' and nuri, paste and lacquer applied over the zunari (now completely hidden) and fashioned into that style. There were unused holes in the Zunari suggesting that the hachi itself may be older, used at a later date as a base for the present style.

Justin I certainly do not want to butt in on your thread here, but it was the mention of the Kan for the Agamaki/Kasa-jirushi that caught my eye as this is something I have just been playing with and it could add to the debate. Here are a few shots of my recent purchase. Urushi does not seem to be so popular here in Japan right now, the trend being for people to want tetsu-sabi-ji. You will notice that the Kan is offset. I have reinstated the original bow and tassel for comparison against the Shirushi/jirushi (genuine, but too long: strictly speaking for a Yari I believe). When I pulled out the old uki-bari? (uki/uke = floating taught, a bit like a trampoline?) the insides were pure zunari plates like yours, apart from the hole for the hachimanza. The three string loops for the shinobi-no-o had been cut and the remains were rock-hard (impregnated with lacquer?) so I replaced them with black leather thong/strips.

Recently I bought a Kabuto, so it was interesting to see what you have there Justin. Congratulations. Nice link, Eric. There was a last-legs molting/moulting bow and tassel tied to my Kasajirushi-no-kan, which I was advised to whip off and substitute with a real Kasa-jirushi, (quite similar to a Kata-jirushi or a Yari-jirushi). The Kabuto seems to be based on an older Zunari bowl, but it has been covered in 24 tsuji, with black lacquer and topped with a Hachimanza. It also has a Mabisashi a little like yours, Justin. Shikoro and odoshi-ito in good condition. No Mei, sadly. I have replaced the Ukibari (not Uke-, I believe) and the Shinobi-no-o as I plan to use this kabuto on display days and alternate to lessen damage to the Namban toppai.

A nice gentle thread, Ron. Some lovely examples of smoking accoutrements. Pete, that is Kizami-tabako, or finely sliced tobacco. It was still available in Japan until not too long ago, but some of these old tabako-ire do indeed have remains of kizami tabako from Edo times. My best tabako-ire is made from a single large section of bamboo, lacquered and deeply carved showing a ship on stormy waters. It has a sticker on it from the now-defunct Pitt-Rivers museum in Devon, with spidery Victorian writing suggesting a date of 1700. Eric, your manju does not appear to be Narwhal, which usually exhibits the twist of the Narwhal spear.

The idea of a running fuse is good. Chinese firecrackers have traditionally been set off by a single lighted fuse, after all. In the illustration (very poor I am afraid, but I'll see if I can get a shot from another source) the gunner seems to be holding a wooden (?) spatula pre-serpentine with a hot wire, burning match or fuse attached, so as not to burn the hand, and perhaps placed against the back of the barrel section to give an accurate rocking down of the match to the touch-hole? I did not want to use this illustration as I suspect the author of a certain book has made a composite drawing from the originals, to get two into one. At least it is clearer and quotes the original source, even if doctored! :lol: On the left above the group seems to have a Chinese or captured Japanese matchlock.

Henk-Jan, I have a copy of an old Chinese MS showing three-barrelled guns being used both on horseback and on foot.