Bugyotsuji

"A white face and long black hair"? "Good with the sword and with the bow"? She is wearing a busty Do. And the portrayal looks very similar. By Jove, Koichi sama, I think you've got it! Tomoe Gozen. That's brilliant. We live and learn. I have the Heike Monogatari beside my bed. This what I am now going to read next.

Well, that is a very good question, Koichi sama. Do you know something that I don't? These Kuchi-e or Sashi-e were folding inserts for novels around the turn of the century and usually featured Bijin, I have read. Kajita Hanko illustrated for the Bungei Kurabu, etc. http://www.oberlin.edu/staff/fzwegat/Default.html#Iris http://www.ukiyoe-gallery.com/kuchie.htm I have searched for another example of this picture but have not yet been successful. Was there a famous man in the Tale of Genji who looked like a woman? Or in the Heike Monogatari? The Tales of Ise?

Kajita Hanko's resting lady in armor/armour with Sakura as in above post.

There are lots and lots of these. All you need is a site with a list. There should be one around here somewhere. Many common expressions come from the world of Tanegashima matchlocks, too. There is a nice little expression from swords that 'Sori ga au', or 'Sori ga awanai', usually used in the latter, ie negative usage. The sori of the sword does or doesn't fit smoothly into the scabbard. It means you don't get along with someone, for example with your wife.

Just such times, Ian, when you find something. Good luck.

Braving cold, whistling winds I shuffled around the Farmers' Market, a twice-a-month anything-goes early-Sunday-morning fair today. Besides getting everyone's coughs and sneezes, I managed to find some interesting Hanga color/colour prints. The wind was tearing at them as the dealer tried and failed to read the artist's names, and he slashed the prices for a quick sale. I took them home, spread them out on the kitchen table and spent a Sunday afternoon taking off some of the grime and attempting to discover how to read the art name and who had created them. Four turned out to be from a set of the 47 Samurai by Ogata Gekko, 1859-1920 but not in very good condition, and the last single beautifully hand-painted (?) Kuchi-e print of a woman in armour with sakura (Heike Monogatari?) turns out to be by an artist called Kajita Hanko 1870-1917

If you're interested in Bizen, try and fit in a Sunday at Osafune Sword Museum. They have a courtyard with people working in the forge and in all the little koshirae-related workshops on Sundays, (urushi work, tsuka-maki, horimono, etc.) and there is usually some sort of relatively local-flavour, fairly good quality sword exhibition in the Museum part. There is a shop with knick-knacks, books, etc. If you have extra time, the two top sword shops in Okayama City with decent swords for sale are Ando Bo-eki, and Tamayama Meishi-to. My experience has been solely with Tamayama where you can bargain to some extent, and the son speaks English, but I expect they have similar staff at Ando too. There is another shop/museum out of town with a big website called Touken Sato, but I am not qualified to guarantee the prices and business practices there.

That is a brilliant idea. Many people would like to see something like that, I can imagine!

John, that sentence above that you have toppled to the horizontal seems to have gained several 'mistakes' in the process; this could well explain the inability of your translation software to make sense of it.

Hey, that's MY brain. Where did you find it?

Got a copy of Art of the Samurai 1156-1868 Metropolitan Museum of Art today! Very pleased with this. New Yorkers don't know how lucky they are. They can just wander in and with minimal effort sample the cream of Japanese history.

Good photo that!

Sounds like a keyboard slip? :D

秀 so this is superb work, if not of the highest grade of excellence, according to his grading system? I am starting to see Ran (orchids) in the sukashi.

You are right in that it can be used interchangeably with Karakusa, according to the explanation beside Nobody's Mon link. It does not refer to any particular flower, but is a Kara-type pattern that found its way over from the continent way back in Nara times. The 5 petal version is most popular. (Can I see shades of the Chinese bellflower in some of those Mon?)

I ran a Japanese Google search on it and looked at the common readings and meanings, John. There was so much that it was difficult to reduce to one line!

Karahana seems to be the reading, and refers to certain patterns on materials. Comes in many forms. It is also a Mon. A shot of the Tsuba might clear up what it is referring to.

Reminds me of the man who walked into a pub and asked for a pint of bitter... When you know you are right but the other bloke is not listening, bide your time. It will come...

Tsuguhira?

Now that is too good to be true! :lol:

Just the one pic?

I mean I shot the picture Ian, not the gun!!! :D

More amazing stories from Ian. I love these. Many thanks. Here is something I showed you in the summer, but to put it in perspective I shot it next to a genuine 1580-1600 Japanese matchlock cavalry pistol, signed: Kunitomo-ju Tokusaemon Ju-to.

It looks very good!

Carlo, that lacquer looks new! I have a spear with red lacquer in the Hi, but the lacquer looks quite old. It's a good question to ask locally here and see if anyone has a different take on it. The sun is usually painted red in Japan, so there could be some connection with the spirit of the Emperor. Kou-haku utagassen is the great New Year's singing contest from throughout Japan. Red and white are the colour of elementary school caps, harking back to the flags of Heike (red) and Genji (white). (A bit like the wars of the Roses?) Just had a chat with someone whose opinion I usually value. He suggested that red is Kou-ki na iro, 高貴 being associated in Japan with high rank, and high in value. White urushi never existed way back when, but a creamy colour would sometimes dry to a sort of off-white. Another (Japanese) friend has just suggested that red is one of the few primary colours of urushi that were available at the time. It would also raise the fighting spirit, he offered. Black would look wrong, he said. (On another note, the floor of the surgery in Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory was always painted red, apparently.)