Bugyotsuji

Philip, here are a few explanatory shots. The first two are the general appearance of the Saya, with the Bashin in place. My original thought was that with the kogatana/kozuka missing, someone had, at some point in history, added a Bashin just to fill the side Hitsu.

Many thanks John!

A rather sad and dark photograph. Does anyone know what kind of 'American' troops these are? A copy from the computer printer on glossy photographic paper may well turn out to be better than the original, with the added bonus that you don't have to worry about preserving it carefully.

Funny little realization this week. And a question at the end for anyone interested. The Tanto in this thread needed a narrow Kozuka for the Hitsu in the Saya. The Bashin is fine for a Kyushu saya, but it's ON THE WRONG SIDE, I was assured. Well, I have searched and asked everywhere for a kozuka, but no luck so far. Then the other day I was sorting through some bits and bobs and discovered that I already owned a 'brass' kozuka which held promise and had no other use. I took it round to an artisan and asked if he could make it a perfect fit for me. He looked at the Kozuka and said, "This is a very nice Shibuichi Kozuka!" :D Then he fitted it into the Hitsu and shook his head. "No, you see the little triangular roof there? This Hitsu is made originally specifically for a Bashin, and not for a Kozuka." It was true. Well, I took it home and pulled out my three little Bashin, of different sizes and styles. All three of them fit one way or another quite happily into the side Hitsu. Finally I have lost the urge/need to find a Kozuka for this Saya. Question. Is this a 'rare' left-handed or back-to-front Saya, or did Kyushu follow different rules as to which side a Kozuka/Kogai/Bashin fitted into the Saya?

Very nice, Ian. BTW Does it have all four of the Shio-de triangular rope attachments? (Can see one and part of another in the first pic above.)

Waki. Den. Aizu Michitoki... (I hope! )

It's just a note to remind the owner of what's inside the Kanteisho.

A pretty one there Ron. Hmmm... maybe we need a dedicated Yanone thread!

Saddles generally fetch really low prices in Japan now, but from a distance that one looks to be a very good example.

The shadow falls across the most important bit, but my instincts are telling me that it does not belong in a museum. It belongs in the hands of someone who will look after it.

An informative article and some wonderful examples in the photos there! Just a quick note on how the Japanese 'saw' arrows. Imagine them having flown and fallen into the ground all around you, like plants. The words to describe them then make sense. What we call an arrowhead, is to the Japanese a 'Ya-no-ne', or arrow-root. Alternatively for arrowhead you can say 'Ya-jiri' (jiri = shiri) ie the arrow-bottom/rear/butt. In this position they would also be in the quiver, butt down.

Hi Steve, If you really cannot post images here for some reason, then have them hosted on one of those free web sites and link them here.

No, you are spot on, Mr J. Balance and timing, yes. Part of the problem is the weight of one of these guns. You can grip the wasp-waisted butt end and hold the gun upright (think Native Americans on horseback) and then hug the gun against you to fix your match to the serpentine, but you can't open the lid at that moment for fear of the powder pouring back out of the pan; when you lower the muzzle to fire, almost all the weight rests on your left hand and arm. You have a couple of seconds before your muscles reach their agony limit. You can't really reach around comfortably to open the panlid with your right hand; it's possible, but the string had to be an attractive option.

Guns were described by the weight of ball that they fired. A cavalry pistol would be about 3 Monme, which is about 1.3 cm caliber/calibre, I believe. A good field weapon Samurai Shi-zutsu long gun would be around 6 Monme. 10 Monme is a heavy gun with quite a large bore; above this guns were classified as O-zutsu. O-zutsu generally ranged from 20 anywhere up to perhaps 80-100 Monme. Incidentally at displays I mainly fire a 3 Monme cavalry pistol Bajo-zutsu, an 8 Monme Shizutsu castle long gun, and a 20 Monme (75 gram ball) O-zutsu.

I wonder how different it would be from a Supuringu (Spring) To? PS Just had a quick look on the J internet and there were various articles on how a Japanese sword can/cannot cut through a 'teppan'. Seems to be a popular topic. May or may not have any relation here?

Mmmm.... wonderful story. Just reaching the age where I can appreciate it!

Ian, I went and asked about the possibility of it also being used as a plumb line, but our leader said the gunner would not be able to see it. There were however as you know separate elementary elevation calculators to be used mainly with cannon.

Nice find. Those are Nakashima School gunners. The end of the line may indeed function as a plumb line, but the first section is tied to the pan safety lid and wrapped around a finger of the left hand, so that it can be opened with an easy pull, to free up the right hand. Many of those larger guns have a hole in the pan lid for attaching such a line.

That one is in the National Museum of Japanese History in 'Sakura' (?)... Tokyo? So, fairly good chance of it being a real one then! :D

That is a pretty accurate and informative print you have found there, Eric. It shows each Shashu in a different stage of the movements towards firing one. Thank you. Yes, the left hand is lashed to the gun to help maintain grip.

Thanks Paul for the detailed reply. The situation is truly chaotic, but typical in a way of today's topsy turvy world. Politicians introduce so many clever-on-the-face-of-it but ill-thought-out laws, and we are all inconvenienced in the process.

John, somewhere I heard 300 meters up into the sky, and then free-fall down onto castle roofs

Is it true that Paul Chen swords are now legal in the UK as this thread suggests? http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/134762-paul- ... -sale.html

Can I step in and give a general answer before the details arrive. J Tanegashima locks fall into two types, an outer V spring type, and a hidden inner coil type. They are found in roughly equal numbers, in my experience. In both cases the spring is quite gentle, just enough to encourage the serpentine to fall gently onto the pan. (In contrast, the Japanese had to come up with a more vicious spring for the pellets and percussion caps which appeared at the end of the Edo period.) Not sure how to answer about the backsight. Wishful thinking? :lol: But they all have backsights, and some even have a third intermediate sight. Early gunnery school texts show sighting using both sights, and sharpshooters had a special folding ladder back sight for longer distance and greater accuracy.

Ron, I figured that you, piers or Ian would recognize what this was....in fact the only way I knew was from Piers picture, thats what I like about this forum...I just thought it was funny that I would see one right after reading Piers description. *****One word of warning. Originals of these are very few and far between. There are some modern repros going around the markets recently, in an attempt to catch the unwary and capitalize pricewise on the rarity factor.