Bugyotsuji

Hi John, Welcome to the site. Did you study in Japan?

Well, the third illegible Kanji throws the first part of the name (upper two characters) into doubt for me. The lower part of the name is probably the following two characters Kane-hisa, and the final character means something like 'made this'. Look for Kanehisa in your sword books and see if you can find one that might match!

All I can see from that photo is

On a simple level, there are two plants there, Hana-Shobu and Yomogi. The Yomogi is great for cuts. I fell off my bike on Monday and cut both hands and my left elbow and knee. Squish up some Yomogi with a mortar and pestle and slap it on. Heaven. Magic stuff. Next morning with minimal bandaging, I dressed in full armor/armour and performed the display without a whimper. The word Moxabustion comes from J Mogusa, another word for Yomogi, a kind of Mugwort. Shobu, a kind of Iris as John said above, with long spiky leaves, symbolizes Victory. These bunches of Shobu and Yomogi are handed out to the visitors to the shrine on Children's (Boy's) Day. Not sure what the symbolic meaning of Yomogi is. Anyway, the wife asked what O-miyage I had from the day and when I presented her with the bouquet, she put it straight into the bath to make it healthy, and smell nice, I guess.

In the beginning I used to feel uncomfortable watching my own children bowing at a shrine. I needed to be able understand how to explain to them what might be common between my Western religious background and my wife's Japanese background. I needed to sort myself out first. Through meditation I came to understand that an intelligent power pervades everything. If there is a local god inside the shrine, then he or she will be infused with this greater universal spirit. If there isn't then nothing changes. I bow my head to the larger power behind everything and in such manner find that I lose my fear of how things might look. If I keep my consciousness on that, then I can bow to Mecca, or to Jesus, and there is no sin. Even bowing at a shrine is an opportunity for me to remember what is important. When I got married in a Shinto shrine the Kannushi said to me 'God is everywhere, so these promises you make should be kept." Difficult to argue with that! And then, yes, I am free to enjoy things in the spirit you mention above, John!

John, I should have asked you to stand over with Koichi san! Yesterday there was the annual Kobudo-sai at Achi Jinja. We had our bad stuff removed by the Kan-nushi san, and representatives of the different Martial Arts bowed to the main shrines and put on their various displays. Tameshi-giri, Iai, Bo-jutsu, etc. We split into two groups, one in Do-gi and the other in full armour/armor for our display. We were presented with various objects during the day... and at the end I won a huge bottle of Holy Sake.

Thems the chaps! Today's puzzle. Last night I found my bath looking like this; can you guess why? A big hand for the right reply. Koichi san probably knows the answer, so could I ask him to hold back for a while? Hint. The question contains a clue. 2nd hint. This is not off topic.

Pics would be great, whichever way you cut the cake! Thanks.

The two scythes/sickles seem to be Kanzashi for fixing a lady's hair. The bone needle was described as a needle for sewing Kome-dawara, not modern rice sacks exactly, but those cylindrical handwoven rice straw Tawara (Ip-pyo) bales. Is this what you were describing, John?

LOL @ Jean. John, you are very close to what was suggested to me... Any further ideas about either before I offer what was suggested?

Jean, you could be right on either count. Whale bone sounds good to me. Someone who knows quite a lot about old J customs offered a different suggestion and conferred with an old customer who then agreed with him.

Nothing to do with reindeer, I wot, but here are this week's mystery objects. Picked them up at the antiques market, but the seller scratched his head. The two scythes (Length 16 cm) appear to be made of some dark wood, like Shitan or Kokutan? The other is made of... bone? (L 18 cm) Some ideas were suggested as to what they are, but what do you guys think?

The Wakizashi should be 1 shaku 3 zun in length...

Jim, Most of that is fairly easy, and certainly good material for attacking the Japanese language. It is NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho paperwork from Showa 46, for a Tempo Wakizashi owned by a Rodini (Rodney?) J Henriksen. How much detail do you want?

Just had some feedback re: 'Sekigane' and 'Ategane'. Although the received literature says Sekigane, the word Ategane has been observed in NBTHK paperwork for Tsuba, regarding for example the reinforcement strips in the photos earlier in this thread. ('Sekigane' is still used for Nakago Ana though.) Apologies to Brian.

Rich, point taken, but I have a fundamental dislike of lead, even though I know the Romans used it for plumbing etc. I have to say, however, that I do like the look of both of those Tsuba illustrated above, and the lead is almost forgivable in that wonderfully eclectic scenery. Then I notice that the Sekigane or Ategane? of the hitsu-ana is missing in your Tsuba on the right. Would you be tempted to replace that, knowing that the job is reversible, and it can be removed if ever necessary? PS I can hear you saying "NO! WHY ON EARTH?" :lol: from here...

PS What about a Tsuba with the hitsu ana blocked off with lead? I am tempted to take the lead out... :|

Had a chat with a Shirogane-shi the other day about this. He collects Tsuba as well. One of his mostly perfect old Tsuba had lost a section of Shinchu flower Zogan, and I asked him if he was considering restoring it. He said that it would be nigh on impossible to get the exact mixture of metal to reproduce the same color/colour as the rest of it. In a word, the colour would always look odd. He is a perfectionist, and to illustrate he showed me an iron Kashira and the gold wing of a tiny sparrow that he has just restored. If you look very carefully, and with advance knowledge that it has been repaired, you can see a faint line in the wing feathers, but I would never have noticed it otherwise. Maybe a good idea to experiment with a hopeless Tsuba to start off!

Hi Carlo, thanks for the thought! I wonder if those musket related bits are not new?

Agreed with Henk-Jan above. What an interesting discovery. Thanks for passing this on.

Henk-Jan, I have banged it a few times, and it makes that sort of sound, but the wife grimaced. Stephen, it's a bit late now, hahaha :lol: The paint is a non-gloss water-based paint and looks fine, so apart from the general light clean-up I have left the work almost reversible if necessary. Ian, many thanks for the pics. Your taiko is magnificent. The wash-tub lid (?) is fascinating. Are you sure that's what it was? Not a lacquer tray? As to the bill-fold/hold, it's Kinkarakawa, isn't it. Quite valuable even today. The double Mon could be what you say, or it could be the two Ura and Omote Mon of a family made up like that as a special order. As you can see in the below photos, there are two Netsuke with Mitsu-domoe Mon, the bone one in the shape of a drum like yours, and the other in ivory with a silver centre/center. The two pouches are kinkarakawa, with the one on the left having a brass tang for slipping behind the belt and possibly being part of a soldier's equipment. The one on the right is a fold like yours with no holes or anything. In the back outside section was a wad of folded Washi paper (see photo) as though for writing or drawing or poetry.

Thank you, Koichi san. The Taiko with Mitsu-domoe Mon. The skins are flabby, and one side has a small hole in it. There is something rattling around inside (like Ian's!). It would really need to be completely recovered in new skins, but it still looks pretty good to me as as a decoration, so I plan to keep it this way. (The wife is not convinced. She doesn't want it in the house.) The wood rim is fine, and the iron byo and three iron rings are in good condition.

Yes, their mouths do seem to be open and shut (like the Shishi?) http://ise-miyachu.net/SHOP/266647/list.html

John, thanks for the feedback. I have put that in the pot! When you say Kamiya, are you referring to some kind of Kamidana?

Many thanks Ian. Did you buy those in the UK? It's pouring with rain here so the proposed touch-up with black 'Cashew' is not looking too feasible. Will take some pics anyway.