Bugyotsuji

Just got back from a month in Europe during which time I felt like a fish out of water. How do you honourable members maintain such a strong interest in things Japanese living in a 'hostile' Western environment? (If not hostile, then at best indifferent.) Apologies for the lack of updates this week and last week and the week before... In a London Nihonto shop I was surprised to come across a purple Jinbaori with the Bizen-Cho Mon of our local Lord Ikeda and it shouted out for repatriation. Had it been in a Scottish collection for many years? Despite the rather hefty price tag I took a risk and have now brought it back carefully folded inside my suitcase. Apologies to Clive who I was told had been admiring it. It now hangs in a friend's house among his collection of Ikeda artifacts. Lazarnick's two volume Netsuke and Inro Artists and How to Read their Signatures appeared at a reasonable price (600 GBP) so I bought that too. It takes pride of place on the bending bookshelf. Update on the Sukenobu pistol with tsuba. (Displayed in the exhibition at the castle, it has drawn interest and comments they tell me. Must go and see it.) By a complete stroke of luck a rather rare katana by this same Bizen smith (mentioned in Fujishiro) was offered locally so today after a bit of negotiation and release of other bits, I have the option to buy it. (Well, it is in the pipeline and my name is first on the waiting list) Tokubetsu Kicho paperwork. How cool is that?

Could be 三七三　373 but the photo is too small for me to see properly.

The paperwork suggests 'Manji and Hanabishi Mon'. As we have discussed here before, both versions of the swastika were used by related clans in the Awa Tokushima area. I am away from my books at the moment, Jean, but can you check Hachizuka and find out what their Ura Mon was/were? (Love the F/K BTW)

Try following Hanabishi Mon.

Anthony, if that is so, then despite some Japanese traits, it is probably not Japanese. Certainly interesting and I would hope someone will follow up on the research.

Excellent question. Although it does have some Japanese characteristics, I have never seen a Japanese teppo quite as knobbly and chunky as this. They tend to be simpler and not to use screws. My first guess is that you have a very early teppo of the type that may have served as a model for Japanese teppo in general. Are we looking at a SW Asia/Goa example? What is the story that came with this? Perhaps Ron or Ian can clarify? (The other day at a popular antiques market in London there was a dealer with a pistol which he was telling everyone was Japanese It wasn't, but I kept quiet.)

Guessing it says: "Water Dragon picture Kozuka, Mumei, Netsuke-Shi (Bakumatsu) Ivory Ji, Takabori"

You may well be right, Ron. This is not something I had ever considered. My books are in Japan. When I go back at the end of the month I will read and watch and float your idea to see if there is a correlation. I expect that every gun/locksmith was able to create every possible style for their clients, but possibly there were preferences by area or school. Certainly Satsuma seems to be mainly internal lockspring type.

Ron, here is a Kunitomo one from my camera memory. Agreed, the underneath of the barrel should also be checked, if it is possible to remove it easily.

Barry, No 3 is Mumei, and 1 and 4 are the same registration certificates.

The position of the signature is unusual, but sometimes found there on older guns. I have seen three or four so far. That one says Shibatsuji, a good Sakai gunsmith with maybe roots in Wakayama, I seem to recall. (No books here at present)

Justin, I have the English book and both of the Japanese books, I & II. The latter come up on J Yahoo auction every so often. Can you not find them on Amazon? Make sure not to expect too much, though. Lots of information, but full of inaccuracies. I have been frequently warned off them by some people in Japan. Even with mistaken concepts and categorizations, nice to have lying around and for me a good starter book with illustrations, certainly better than nothing at all!

Ron, yes, but you can see why it caught my eye. Actually there is no way of knowing how old the Netsuke is, let alone the carriage. Thanks for the Kuniyoshi link, Malcolm.

Great print there. Somewhere earlier on this (?) thread I posted some prints like that, maybe including that one, but it would take too long to find them! :lol: Here is a shot of a Netsuke from Hurtig's 'Masterpieces of Netsuke Art' p.174. Described (oddly) as a "Dutch cannon, metal, signed Ishigoro Masayoshi".

Fascinating. Now the lamp needs a jolly good polish to bring up the shine! It reminds me of a bronze mirror I saw in a museum in Japan. A golden glowing replica had been created and was displayed alongside to show what it probably would have looked like when new.

Well, there we go. That is the essence of it. Thank you. Possession of a double-bladed knife of over 5.5 cms is illegal and has been since the the law was changed 5 Jan 2009 after that loony went on a rampage with a commando dagger that he had bought and possessed legally. Registered would be legal today, yes, but nothing that size would likely pass. The only way I can see this knife above scraping through would be the existence of the square Kakumune for most of the top of the blade. Essentially it is not strictly 'double' bladed. (?) Still, that is a moot point as I have it here with me in London, safe from the long arm of Japanese law! :lol: Zenigata Keiji, come and get me! Saving Japanese culture abroad!

Since the last post I have had a long and very detailed reply from Nobody explaining exactly how the Japanese law stands today regarding such articles, especially since the Akihabara incident. Many thanks. If I get a bit of time later on I will translate as much as I can of what he wrote, with links, and post here.

Thank you Ian. The suzuri-bako paper knife is a novel idea. I will need to investigate that. The chap who sold it to me described it as having a sort of 'Netsuke' or 'Netsuke-like' function. I asked him if he meant a) to hang from the obi like a Sagemono, or b) act as a Sashi-Netsuke 'stopper' tucked into the obi to suspend something else from it. He looked unable to answer, but the impression I got was that he too thought it was to be carried somehow. (I suppose though it could also just have had a fancy tassel attached?) When setting the blade into the open or shut position there is no screw per se, but the traditional off-set twist you get to lock things together. (Loose entry, then twist to lock.) Normally if it is going to hang then I would be afraid of losing it, but it seems to be quite a tight fit. It could have been carried in the pocket of a frock coat or morning coat as a hidden last line of self-defence...if it was even a primary/secondary weapon...(just guessing here though.)

So, question one was answered, but here is what puzzles me. Is it a doctor's scalpel? This was described to me recently (his opinion regarding Nihonto I value highly), as an Anki (te-ura, shura, shuri) but the blade does not appear to have Yaki-ire. Originally I bought this in Japan but would this really be against the law there as Nobody suggests, and why? |The length of the blade? The concealment/deception? What about if someone was using it as a fruit knife, for example?

Many thanks for the information. There is no fool-proof system, but it seems better to be prepared, as far as is possible. Some friends in London were burgled and the wife gave a list off the top of her head as to what was missing. Later she remembered some other valuable bits that had disappeared, but the insurance company would only accept what she had stated at the time in her shocked state. There seems to be a wide gap between the popular perception of insurance companies and the reality of how they work.

Nice silk material. The large letters across the top say 祈奮闘.　(=奮戦) Pray for the fight There seem to be some personal names and ranks, and the name of a Jinja, 本土神社 Hondo Jinja I can also see 身体安全　Be safe in body

Haha that's clever. It must be heavy. The 'stock' part looks the wrong way round to me. Is it fixed, or possible to change the direction?

Thank you for the words of advice, Koichi Sama. Luckily it's in London. Shobu tsukuri, with a kaku-mune along the top.

An excellent lunch. Are you ready for the first answer?

Actually, I wasn't sure where to put this, Ron. Off for a bite of lunch now while you gentlemen pussyfoot around. The hint is in the section.