Bugyotsuji

Ken he was actually in the process of togi when I happened to drop into the workshop asking about bolts from heaven; he stopped and wiped in order to let me take the shot. Kozuka, kogatana, standard size, I guess, yes. The other side might have proved more interesting, but I was already feeling a bit cheeky snapping away like this. This was not the only one he was working on in this size. There were two more.

Ken, here are some shots. He said he will also have a (at least one?) sword, made too with "Ryuseitetsu" (shooting star iron) ready for this summer's exhibition. I asked him if these are/will be on sale and he hesitated a moment, smiled and said yes, as if not yet sure on some detail... (?)

Peter, yes, that is correct. Ken, they would not allow photos, so I bought the book, but then stupidly left it at a friend's house this afternoon. Here is the home page of Futarayama and a previous showing they had there, with some photos for you. (Did you get my e-mail about how Ando San has made some blades with your meteorite?) http://www.futarasan.jp/cgi-bin/imgsys/image_c.cgi?194

If anyone is in Japan this is a must-see. Just had a peek this afternoon and was blown away by the sheer size of some of these Ootachi Hono swords. This is not a national road-show. They are here for a special one-off. The original exhibition was conceived by Mr Ogawa Morihiro, special consultant for J arms & Armor/Armour at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, apparently. The big daddies are in the downstairs exhibition room as I believe the couriers and curators had an awful time just trying to move them. Words fail me. The very first tachi on the left as you walk in, with Koshirae, is silly cm long... four or five people could stand shoulder to shoulder within that length. In the catalog they list one at 330 cm (10-11 feet) total length. And they are old, many made by legendary swordsmiths of Kamakura, Nanboku Cho, etc. Tachi, Naginata and Ken. http://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/~osa-token/ And click on the poster for a larger shot.

John, yes that is just what my friend was saying. Today people still continue to come up with new variant Mon for themselves. Even something as seemingly standardized as the cross or the Kutsuwa for example came in an infinite number of refinements, as if no-one wanted to be quite the same as anyone else. "How many examples of the Tokugawa Aoi Mon do you think there are?" he asked me. "Plenty", I answered, attempting to dodge the issue, and he exclaimed, "Exactly! Look at the veins and the curls of the stems and you'll see there are endless variations." What is bubbling up regards the combination again of the two brothers and their younger sister from Satsuma. Their mother was an Ikeda princess from Tottori with Tokugawa, Date and Oda blood, who had married the 27th Lord Shimazu. In Bunsei 12 (1829) the younger brother stepped in to continue the heirless Ikeda line of Bizen/Okayama as 7th Lord, Ikeda Naritoshi. Their younger sister married the Lord Yamanouchi in Shikoku and had a boy child around 1831. The older brother became the famous 29th Shimazu Lord Nariakira. Now with the Western naval threat approaching, the Okayama Hanshu Clan Chief Naritoshi ordered some Bizen smiths to switch to gun making, and he put Yokoyama Tatsuemon Sukenobu (the maker of this gun) in charge. 'Ichinin Buchi' (? need to check the appellation), he was designated. Sadly Naritoshi of Okayama was not long for this world and he died in Tenpo 13, 1842 at the age of 32. Other known guns made by this smith Sukenobu are dated around this time. 1. Were the three Kashiwa leaves meant as special protection against illness for the Shimazu line ie, Ikeda Naritoshi? 2. Were they a symbol of the sharpshooter Kashiwagi (ie Mr Oaktree) who in shooting and wounding Ii Naomasa had allowed the remaining Shimazu troops and their Lord to flee from Sekigahara back to Kyushu? Shimazu Nariakira was a good shot, it is said. Oak leaves having within the Shimazu family story a legendary symbolic protection, perhaps even more so for a potential sharp shooter? 3. Or were the the three Kashiwa leaves of Tosa drawn around the Kutsuwa cross to protect the younger sister and her Shimazu offspring there?

Late last night a second reply came. It was shorter this time, saying that sadly it was an unknown Mon not shown in any of their Kamon books. What he can say however, is that it is not the Mon of any Daimyo class of person that he has ever seen and therefore he imagines that it would be difficult to discover the owner through the Mon alone. I am grateful for his matter-of-fact and timely replies and will tell him so. Many thanks Mr Takasawa! Personally I have another theory bubbling up... :|

Well, he sent me a reply last night which is good going. I had asked him if it should be described as Mittsu-oi-Kashiwa ni Kutsuwa and he wrote, "this Kamon is Mittsu-oi-Kashiwa ni Kutsuwa". From this I gather that it is a Kamon and not a Mamori, in his opinion. It is also clear that he thinks this is the correct name for it, although he did not say whether such a Kamon exists anywhere or is indeed illustrated or not in one of their society's interesting-looking publications. He wrote some more opinion about how he thinks it is not Daimyo class and would have been the Mon of a "Kashin" 家臣 vassal of a Daimyo. I read this out to a friend today who knows a lot about things old and ancient and he disagreed. So I have written back to say thank you politely, asked him to give me time to think about what he said, and told him a little more about the gun. If Mr Takasawa is still interested we can maybe narrow the gap. If not, well, we live to fight another day. By way of update.

Brought this up in conversation with my Nihon to teacher today and he reckons that the simple answer is the earlier of the two smiths, simply because spear production would have dropped off exponentially by the end of the 17th century. Into the beginning of Edo there were battles happening here and there, and yari still had a diminishing role to play, before the whole country really settled down into a golden era of peace and stability. Makes sense on balance, I guess.

Well, never one normally to make a real effort in life, I have just taken a further step in the search and e-mailed the Chairman of the Nihon Kamon Kenkyu Kai, 日本家紋研究会会長 Mr Hitoshi Takasawa in my best Japanese. Will he think it is a Mamori, or a Kamon, and if so what? It will be interesting to see if and how he replies. Will update as and when. Thanks for looking.

OK Malcolm, thanks for the offering. I have actually been there and tried the various links Satsuma, Shimazu, Yamauchi, Ju moji, Kutsuwa, (replacing Kashiwa with Sugi), etc., but nothing fresh came up. Agreed they look similar, but the leaf veins are slightly different. I appreciate the feedback! There seems to have been a fashion in the Bakumatsu for young and up-coming samurai to create new combination Kamon for themselves. Perhaps of this time?

It doesn't seem to go anywhere at first try. Are you saying this with some deeper knowledge or just throwing something into the pot Malcolm? :lol:

Can anyone shed some light on this silver etched Mon? I have tried everything, well, almost everything, but nothing has yet led to the big enlightenment. I have two competing theories which I threw out on this forum previously, but no proof of either. There may indeed be a third as yet unknown candidate. Thanking you in advance! I think the leaves round about are Kashiwa, as Mittsu-Oi-Kashiwa, or Mittsu-Oi-Kake-gashiwa. I am open to them being some other leaf. The central cross would seem to be Kutsuwa, or Maru-ni-Juji, (Ju no ji) of Satsuma. They are on a gun which was probably made in around 1840, although the Mon could have been added later in Bakumatsu.

OK, and the Fujiwara for good measure! :lol:

Short story. Can anyone confirm whether this Mei is Shodai Settsu-Ju Fujiwara Sadakuni, or Nidai Sadakuni? Long story. Was given the lopped-off tip of a su-yari the other day so I took a shot of it up against a similar-looking yari by Sadakuni, which I had not properly researched until now. (Neither of them in polish.) The Nihonto Meikan lists two Shinto Settsu Sadakuni, the first active in 寛永 1624-1643, and a second in 貞亭 1684-86. No example in Fujishiro. Q. Which gen Sadakuni made this spear, I wonder?

See this post regarding a Ryumin Kagamibuta Netsuke that passed through my hands last month. http://netsuke.websitetoolbox.com/post/ ... count=1240

Yes, what Ron said above. The Mei is the 'Kanamono' metalworker Ryumin, plus Kao; you can find some examples in Dieuwke's book Kagamibuta - Mirrors of Japanese Life and Legend, listed in the index on p.88. 1836-1890+?, (teacher was Tenmin).

Yoshiomi seems to be a more common way to read it in general.

Difficult to get far enough away from these, but are we not seeing Nasu, rather than Hyoutan? :|

Love those scrolls with a bit of history and stories attached. Today I was at the Sword Museum in Osafune (48 Akabane swords, from Kamakura to Edo) and they were excitedly talking about up-coming events. From the 2４th April they are displaying 10 huge Kokuho tachi from a shrine in Nikko, well over 3 shaku in length, and 31 other swords, 10 of which are Juyo. 　特別展 「日光二荒山神社　宝刀展」 期　間：平成２５年４月２４日（水）～６月１６日（日） １０口の大太刀を始め、奉納された名刀３１口（重要文化財１０口）を展覧いたします。西日本初公開。 http://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/~osa-token/ Over the summer vacation the younger Ando San is hoping to display some of the blades he has been working on, containing iron from one or more meteorites (Ryusei 流星 in his Mei inscriptions) including Ken's. I asked if they will be on sale; he thought for a moment and then said たぶん。

Just double-checked my sources here. Sorry for the panic. The problem was with the sourcing and supply of properly seasoned very top-quality wood. Apparently those Saya-Shi who have long been in the business generally have their own precious stock. Newly-started Saya-Shi cannot get good quality Ho-no-ki though, as it is no longer readily available and is not being created in the old ways. Certain exporters are able to supply wood for Saya, but how to put it, the quality may not always be top drawer.

Look at the list of speakers. No 1 is no less than our Ian here, and No 2 works at the Armouries with him. Saturday 14th Sept... hmmm.... that sounds interesting, and maybe even possible for me.

It is said that there is almost no stock of seasoned Ho wood left in Japan. There are those lucky Saya-Shi who still have some available, and others without, apparently. The race is on...

:lol: Yes, wonderful use of language by Ian!!! I was given an iron one a couple of years ago, (repro); I also bought a superb genuine article which I stupidly gave to a friend with a large enough hand cannon. Generally I find though that inter-dental brushes, pipe cleaners and an air line do the job of cleaning better. (You can also use a pricker for making sure the priming powder has been pushed all the way inside, to help avoid misfires.)

Does this look familiar, Malcolm?

No, not in this case, although it is all distantly related, going back about 50 million years. There was a material that was overwhelmingly preferred for these 'seseri' vent poker/cleaners.