Bugyotsuji

Carlo, thanks for the link. Wow! I really want to read this when I get some time... :D

Agreed. Nice suit. Maybe he poked his head through a hole, au photoshop? Should have removed his glasses though. :lol:

Try doing searches in Japanese for 侍　写真 samurai photos or 武士　写真 bushi photos, eg http://www.google.co.jp/images?sa=3&q=% ... C%E7%B4%A2

There is a Korean one on display in the Museum on Tanegashima Island. The only shot I can find is just before half-way down this page, the middle photo of three on the left, but this photo only shows the lock section of the gun: http://www.geocities.jp/shimizuke1955/370hinawajuu.html And here's a pic of Sawada Taira giving 5 Korean-made guns back to Korea. http://www.sankei-kansai.com/2010/03/15 ... 021613.php

Well, I think the truth is somewhere in between. Second from left has his right Sune-ate upside down. One guy is definitely wearing a Hai-date around his ankles, which is unthinkable. (Did they not have enough Sune-ate to go round?) The guy on the right has his right Sune-ate on his left leg. Their Katchu are generally badly-fitting and very mixed stylistically, as if representing very different eras. They have absolutely no idea how to tie their helmets on properly. It has to be a posed shot possibly on fake grass in a studio for the camera. Still a fascinating cameo, and sets the brain juices flowing.

Excellent information Thomas. Many thanks. Actually many Japanese will say they do not like decorated guns and prefer simple sturdy ones. The highly decorated guns have mostly been sold to foreigners, goes the accepted story around here, although you do see some fancy ones in Japanese museums.

As above. What a mishmash, but a great shot nonetheless! I love it. Many thanks. :lol:

Thanks for daring to say it!!! :lol:

Tiger hunters. Are they Korean? (Chinese?) What a great photograph! The bird-beak dispensers are called Karasu-guchi in Japanese. (Crow beak) You can see separate ball bags and on the man on the left a priming powder flask and a matchcord. Almost everything in that picture I use regularly throughout the year. I have a collection of most of the equipment that was used way back when, but still missing a couple of very rare items. Yesterday BTW I saw a little glass case with a toy gun rack and two miniature Tanegashima, with all the supporting accoutrements done in miniature. Must have been hand-made by some ancient gun fan.

Well, I am feeling a little raw at the moment. The problem is that I mentioned the debate here and he said at once that with swords it's a dog-eat-dog world and you must be 100% sure in yourself and in the sword. He won't even let me see it now, for my own protection. With my first sword everyone told me it was Gimei, but it passed at Shinsa. He says it has to be like that. Thanks for the advice. And yes, I believe that the sword will find me! But was it that one???

Well, I roll my tissue up real tight and ram it down when no-one is looking just so that I can get a good report. Unfortunately a member of the public complained when a flaming ball of wadding threatened to go down the front of her dress, so I now put little rips in it beforehand to help it disperse once out of the barrel. Last summer I spent an interesting day at Bisley with a Yabusame friend firing blackpowder guns, mostly percussion cap. We had big Western blackpowder revolvers, some under-action rifle work, and I even survived skeet/clay pigeon shooting with a 4-bore elephant gun. Smashed the clay first shot too, and very proud of myself for not getting egg on my face (or a bruised shoulder).

Ron, we actually use old film containers to pour in measured amounts of the black powder, (mostly 10 gms for Shizutsu long guns, and 8 gms for the pistols, and correspondingly more or less depending on the weapon) ) but some of our members have recently made their own Hayago to replace these rather ugly opaque film canisters and before the displays they can be seen busily filling them in advance. Sometimes the gallery is quite close and they can see everything that we do. I am tempted to adopt this idea. We use thin tissue paper wadding for the first shot only which we prepare in advance. Makes for a good tight bang when we fire the first broadside. During the display there is no further wadding used, but a thorough tamping with the ramrod does seem to settle the blackpowder down into the back of the breech; lack of such prodding produces a sort of hissing firework fizz.

Sawada Taira seems to suggest in his book that the 'Karuka' ramrod was pushed through the Hayago, but I must admit that it would be hard to control the Hayago over the mouth of the barrel with the left hand and organize the insertion of the Karuka with the right. You'd have to grasp the Hayago and the barrel together like the teat of a cow's udder. I suppose you could pour the powder in with the right hand and then do the ball with the Hayago in the left hand after that. This illustration is taken from his book, Nihon no Furu-ju. It's not clear from either the text or the pic what the direction arrow indicates, a finger/thumb, or the Karuka...

Ah, wonderful. Many thanks, Morita san! How do you do it?

Thank you Keith.

A friend is trying to read this: http://forums.netsuke.org/file?id=989611 The closest I can get is but in reverse??? Would anyone be able to read the first character?

The owner has told me he does not want to sell it. So, no piccies and end of thread! Apologies for the false flag, but many thanks for the educational roller-coaster ride!

2 Shaku 2 Sun 9 Bu, I seem to recall. Many thanks for the advice, Jean. It's the romantic in me. I need to take a chill pill and make a more rational decision. (Besides which, I am not completely sure how to get the money together this month for everything that has to be done...)

Franco, thanks for the prompt. I went back and found the interesting Pressley article that you mention. My guess of 1550 may well be way out. I was told end of Muromachi, but not Momoyama. This is something else I will need to check. So Jean, you think it might be Kazu-uchi mono? The blade is quite striking and gets good comments. I may have to take a rain check on this sword... :| The Koshirae is tachi and beautifully done overall in su-aka. Not gold or silver, but inscribed red copper. The lacquered scabbard, the fittings and the Tsuba were probably made at the same time and are all of matching color and style. Everything is Mumei.

Keith, this sword and Koshirae is owned by a friend and it will be featuring in an exhibition next week. If I can find the time, I will nip round there and take some shots of it. Please watch this space if you need pics. Apologies. In the meantime all I can say is that there are two Mekugi ana in the Nakago, and a vertical line of what? ...perhaps 8-10 smallish Bonji down the edge of one side of the Nakago. They could almost have been the Mei, if only they were in Kanji. The other side has a single small Bonji up close to the Habaki, and then a gap and some small Bonji in a vertical arrangement further down. I have seen this sword once for a few minutes, so this is only a general impression. I cannot really imagine that they were on the blade at any time before a Suriage. The plan is to send my present Katana and Koshirae for sale at the dealers' auction and to use the money realized to help towards the purchase of this 'upgrade'.

Ah, Stephen and Jean, many thanks for the clarification. And Nobody San, ouch, yes, you have a point. A very sharp point. I will need to check this! Thank you.

Yes, it is probably Suriage. You think the Bonji were added later? Hmmm...but why there? Thanks anyway Stephen. I will go round and get some shots in the next few days. I am going to ask my Nittoho Sensei this question in due course as I am sure he will come up with a gem or two, but I thought I would post a general question here first as there is an amazing depth of knowledge on this site.

Just a quick general question. (I ran a search but could find no information.) Background. I am planning to buy a Koto Mumei Katana/Tachi from the end of Muromachi (around 1550?). The sword is attributed to Kai Mihara and it has Hozon paperwork. I am hoping to take it for Tokubetsu. The question? Oh, yes, the Nakago has a series of Bonji running down one side of the Nakago, and there are a couple on the other side. Otherwise there are no other Horimono or Hi. Would someone be able to read the Bonji if I took a photo of them? Are there many examples of swords with Bonji only on the Nakago? Is there a particular meaning to this? Eg Has the owner done something sinful and needs unseen protection? Why is it Mumei, but covered in Bonji where you would expect a Mei to be? Or would such a sword be displayed as protection for the Jin in battle, as one friend has suggested? Many thanks in advance! This looks like many questions, but it's really one big question mark!

My usage was picked up somewhere but I never meant it to be definitive. Thanks for the clarification. Sorry to let go of that word, it had a certain picturesque appeal to it. I do remember seeing an early woodblock print of a Western musketeer where the 'bandoliers' are described as 'apostles', but where and when? It's funny, but I have also had a half concept that a bandolier was the cartridge belt itself. Mexican soldiers? As to Japanese usage of Hayago, the leader of our group is adamant that Hayago were not used until the latter part of Edo. He says there is nothing extant to support earlier usage. This is not something I have looked into, but it would be fun to trawl the J sources and look for early mentions. He also said the other day that despite the hole in the end of some Hayago, the ramrod was never pushed through it. The ball was kept at the end with its head slightly proud of the circular lip, but it was loose and could be rolled down the length and out of the Hayago. Again I take this with a pinch of salt but it is another aspect to look into further. Many thanks for bringing this whole subject out into the light, Ron.

Many thanks Clive. This goes some way to filling a gap in my knowledge as I've had zero exposure to Showa-to. Some percentage of the surrendered swords will have been older and more valuable, I can imagine. These are the ones I was conscious of in my first post. Family heirlooms that may have been confiscated and handed over reluctantly with the ex- or implicit understanding that they would be returned. In fact it wasn't the swords so much as the possibility that we may have been guilty of underhand tactics, probably not such a big worry back then. I know that 'spoils of war' have a long history, but still hoping we have some moral highground to stand on!