Bugyotsuji

An enthusiast, yes, but a collector, no. To rephrase, I have a small collection of almost anything Japanese, just not specifically Nihonto. Two tanto and one Katana do not really a collection make, I suspect. Plus five J spears of varying lengths. And seven or eight J arrowheads. When my ship comes home, however, I may venture into deeper waters... Once a month I take part in a Nihonto study group here in Japan. One or two of the members are in their 20's, a couple in their 30's, one or two in their 40's and so on up. Evenly spread, I would say. Oh, and most of them probably do not own their own blade. PS Does that chart above suggest that people start selling off their collection in their 60's???

Is 'we' a shop, or a number of people?

Mark, The replicas here are not generally able to shoot anything and people avoid them if they can, unless they want a wall decoration. It is much simpler to find a real one if you want to fire one. They were so solidly made that they go on and on, with perhaps an occasional bit of repair. If you want to fire one abroad, you may be able to find replicas made in the States, for example, but again I would look at several genuine old ones and choose one that is in good condition. Gunpowder is strictly controlled in Japan, so you would have to join a club and get special permission from the police, or join one of the reinactment groups, none of which are easy things to do here. If you managed to buy gunpowder somehow and set it off in the hills, someone would surely report you, and it is a very serious offence if you are caught. No fun, agreed. Thus there is no market within Japan for good solid reliable replicas, and even if you made one you could not register it legally anyway. PS I like your hand cannon experience! (I have a Chinese three-barrelled pole arm, possibly from the 1500s)

At Ako Castle Fair last week I found these two little fellows, A and Um. Brass. The seller knew nothing about them, but suggested they might have been part of a set of candle holders. You will notice that they have squared hollows and Ichi-moji and a Ni Moji on their bellies, supporting the idea that they were probably created as a pair. Nothing missing or broken, despite tempting ears and fancy tails.

Some of our members carry a Hora-gai (Triton's Conch), which was blown in battle to signal charges and retreats. (Yama-bushi famously carry/ied them too.) Before a matchlock demonstration our 'Kai-tai' step usually forward for a special blast, but I have been resisting carrying one for two reasons. We carry so much clobber already that it would drive me insane to have to look after a large spiral shell on top without breaking it; more importantly, I have never until recently been able to get a good note out of one. On Sunday I secretly brought one along just to see if there would be an opportunity, having practiced a bit at home, and without telling anyone in advance I decided to give it a go. Our lot are Pics 11-18 below, from someone's 'Ryoma' blog. You can see me in pics 11 and 15 blowing the Triton, recognizable by the Tora-no-o Maedate. Not too sure as to the comment about why there is a foreigner blowing a Horagai... grrrrr.... :lol: http://ryoma00.at.webry.info/200904/article_21.html

Carlo, keep us posted on this!

Well, I enjoyed that, Rich. Thanks!

Embedded with the regular privateers (not Ashigaru)

Just WOW! Best place to test the Ko-te, though, I guess. Thanks for the feedback.

Carlo, have you ever drunk tea with that splendid purple Mt Fuji set? (Looking through the woods from...)

Henk-Jan, the feeling is mutual re your fascinating Roman stuff. It's wonderful, but we risk going even more off thread!!! :lol:

Tuesday night in the gardens.

Yes, sir! And here are the little Kutani milk jug pics:

It's really, really hard work, John. The vans are loaded with trolleys and stands and Taiko drums, gun boxes, bags of armour/armor, flags and posts, Shogi folding stools, bentos, ad nauseam, and all this has to be lugged in and out of every venue by us poor suckers. I will see if anyone got some moving pictures for YouTube...

'Safely' (?) back in Japan under the flightpath of the Taepodong and now readjusting to life with a wife and resumed responsibilities. We had a full display on Sunday for the cherry blossom Matsuri on the main steps of Tsuyama Castle. I wore my 'new' Toppai Kabuto for the first time and it was well received. It is becoming clear that the better off Samurai would have picked and chosen what bits of armour they would wear for each occasion, a sort of fashion show each time, and they would have gone round commenting on each other's appearance and discussing the relative merits of their latest piece of kit / fashion accessory. Swords, their Koshirae and Tsuba would also have been part of this kaleidoscopic ever-changing display. Last night we dressed in full armour/armour for the Rotary Club dinner. The curtains on the big plate glass ballroom windows were pulled and there in the garden, in front of the cherries and the waterfall they saw us lined up under the spotlights, bowing in salute. We marched into the dining hall to the banging of gongs and drums, and the blowing of conches, where we did a full Tanegashima display, to the amazement of the 100 or so guests. There was Imperial family staying at the hotel last night, so the police presence was heavy and thus we were not allowed to carry real guns, or even set off the planned fireworks. We had to find replica guns; one way or another we managed to get about 18 for everyone to hold. This involved borrowing the display guns from a very famous castle near here, which only happened because of 'Ko-ne' (connections), and actually making some guns up from scratch. Some of the results were stunning, including two O-zutsu 30 & 50 Monme guns which a couple of drunken guests picked up and waved around. The bang of the big drums to indicate the guns going off was a bit disappointing, though. As we were changing, one of our group offered me a little Kutani milk pourer with a naval scene and a battleship on it, possibly ”Yamato” he says(?)　（Two funnels... I'm now thinking "Mutsu"). He said he has the teapot that goes with it, and wants to give me that too. He absolutely refuses to take any money for it (them). Hoping to post pics when I get a minute.

As you all know, Japan is constantly shaking from earthquakes (see the last couple of weeks for an average example) http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/ but even so, this Italian earthquake was large by any standards and hit where there are many old and heavy buildings. My feelings go out to the families...

Carlo, You never miss a trick! This month I have been in London and cut off from the 'normal' environment. It's been a fall-back to my second hobby, which is messing around with fast cars and racing circuits, interspersed with quick visits to antique fairs and auctions here and there. There is very little Japanese on offer, and what there is tends to be cracked or broken. Missed out on a lovely Satsuma vase at auction though! Tomorrow I fly back to the Land of Wa and resume my 'Shima-nagashi' lifestyle. The only things I have found so far for the collection are an 1860 'SC' (Special Constabulary) London policeman's truncheon and two tiny (overall length 4 cm) fully-working rim-fire... (edit, 'pin-fire', thanks to Brian for the correction) pistols, which were described by the two traders variously as 'fob pistol' and/or 'cyclist dog scarer pistol'. (Chatelaine?) None of these, however, would be suitable for this thread, so I have remained silent. Tomorrow morning I am planning one last flying visit to Bermondsey antiques market where I continue to hope to find some little overlooked Japanese Edo Period gem.

Doesn't that say Yoshimichi PS Nobody beat me to it! PPS Your unusual Tsuba has a fairly strong resemblance to mine @

Just "Ouch"......... Thanks for the warning (reaches for the water bottle) Hang in there and get the system clean!

Ah, Kyoto, yes. That would explain the owner's choice of shop name. The Kanji Kyo, the capital, which is shared by both Kyoto and Beijing, and Sanjo, a famous street in Kyoto.

There are some sites, like Frank's useful one above, but none of them are exhaustive and each one gives only part of the picture. There are hundreds of exceptions which don't seem to appear anywhere on the internet, but if you want detail you really need to source a good Mon book, in my experience. Also remember that family Mon changed over time, so you would need to be clear as to what time in history that you are interested in, as each family's Mon grew in number through intermarriage, granting of Mon usage etc.

Yup! Stupid of me. Now I am embarrassed at stepping into the gap, my greed for a nice morsel of translation, and my own lack of care with it, but many thanks for the correction Markus. Strive to do better! :lol:

Kyo Kingu shi means a Metal fittings worker from Kyoto. (NB Later corrected to Kanagu-shi by Markus below in following post, for which thanks.) Quick translation, level of certainty 93%; L1 Menuki Mumei Kyo Kingu shi (Kanagu-shi.... See NB above) L2 Scene of autumn insects. Shakudo ground. ??? carved moulding (?) Yokei, Iro-e L3 Two types of insects, Kamakiri & grasshopper, carved L4 Each pretty well and realistically L5 rendered with the bellies covered in gold Iro-e L6 On balance more of a folkcraft creation L7 Simply(?) humorous, worth having, L8 A pity that one of the grasshoppers' antennae is partly broken L9 Mid Edo L10 Comes with Hozon Tosogu paperwork 38,000 yen

In my experience yes, in general. There are however, a few who get on their high horse and give you a lecture about manners. They would give the same lecture to Japanese people, not just because you are a foreigner, IMHO. You get to learn who will bargain and who will not. Certainly some are more willing than others. It's partly trial and error, partly a question of choice of words, (E,g. "What is your friendly price?" nudge, nudge, wink, wink...) and partly a question of building up a relationship with one particular dealer. Some will not bargain first time around. Good luck!

Steve, I have been thinking all day off and on about what you suggest. I had a look at Yari-kanna sites all over the J web. What you say makes a lot of sense. There is a slight curve, whether intentional or accidental in the blade. The original bend in the iron haft/Nakago suggested that quite a bit of horizontal weight had been exerted onto the top of the neck and body at some time. These Yari-kanna tend to have a Nakago set into a wooden handle, I see. The haft of mine has some indentations in it, suggesting possible elevation of grip for gluing/binding/fixing within a wooden handle. One question pops into my mind. Yari in general had square or rectangular cross-sectioned Nakago, so what about Yari-Kanna Nakago? Mine is oval in cross-section, which would stop it spinning within a Shikomi Kanzashi, yes, but... would an oval be strong enough to stop circular rotation within a Yari-kanna haft in the hands of a Daiku or Miya-Daiku? Surely for a Kanna it should at least be square in cross section for maximum grip within the woodwork?