Bugyotsuji

Good set of photos. Well used set, but probably quite good quality in its prime. The pipe doesn't quite look silver to me. The computer translation of the Notes if AWFUL, yuckkkk............cringeworthy.

Me too!

Henk-Jan, what a wonderful picture of you two together! Excellent! Behind your nice cups and pipe there is a castle. One of your creations? I have a few pipes myself, but do you smoke yours? The idea of sleeping in the castle is great. No, we are far too civilized for that, and it is only by mistake really that we get to taste real history sometimes. A couple of years ago we went to Tsuyama Castle to the dedication of a new corner tower, the Bitchu Yagura. The dignitaries were all seated in rows by the tower, so we were asked to change in an old ruined raised section some distance away, above the castle walls and looking down on the town. It was very cold, and the early morning sun was just touching the great stone blocks. As the soles of my feet lost their warmth into the formidable rock surfaces I felt contact with the people who manned those walls hundred of years ago. We were all jumping up and down to keep warm as we hurriedly tried to get our kit on... As to archaeology, I can't really answer your question properly. Many Japanese are superstitious and dislike disturbing the past if there is any possibility it still has a connection with them. Sekigahara visitors' hall is built upon the mound in which the dead were buried in a mass grave, I have heard. Our troop members shiver and tell vividly the various misfortunes that have happened to them since they last gathered there in a national re-enactment. (Luckily? I wasn't with them that time.) There is an ancient (-7thC) Korean-style mountain-top stronghold near here where archaeological excavation has just started, and this is fascinating, but it may be more possible because people do not feel a direct descent from it. They even rebuilt one of the gateways, using the same pillar holes: http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/yagumo/kino.htm

If it's a recorded Netsuke artist, the Mei will be in the Lazarnik index - "Netsuke and Inro artists and how to read their signatures", 2 volumes by George Lazarnik - (which is based on photos of Mei). Quite expensive, but well worth the investment. My books are still packed, but I'll check after returning from the DTI. Possibly then it's not a recorded artist, as the bloke seems to know his oats and I am sure he will have Lazarnick. As to the Sosho script download advice, I will need a little time to pluck up courage to try what you suggest. Thanks Guido in the meantime!!!

Tsuru or Tancho have a short straight beak & red skull cap... Japanese Red Crowned Cranes? http://www.allposters.co.jp/-sp/-Posters_i1244789_.htm

PS Just found some old footage of our lot taken at the Toki-no-week festival in Akashi in June last year, in case you've not seen it. Apart from the photos, you can see two video clips at the foot of the page. We have become a bit more disciplined since then! http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/tokodreamsto ... 706100000/

Either tonight or tomorrow I must prepare the guns by removing the oil film from the barrels and pans, and then pack a large black bag with every conceivable piece of armour/armor that I might need for this weekend's enactment, including sword belt and wakizashi. Preparation means a couple of hours' fairly intensive work at least. (Actually I am not sure if enactment is the right word.) We are going to support the Amako (some say 'Amago'), a Han originally based in the virtually impregnable Gassan Toda Castle west of Yonago. Their mortal enemies were the Mo-ri in the West, and at one point the Amako allied themselves with Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in hopes of getting their power base back. Unfortunately they were surrounded by 30,000 Mo-ri men in Kozuki Castle, and just as they were waiting for half of Hideyoshi's army to arrive as promised, Nobunaga was assassinated, so Hideyoshi called his men back and left the Amako to their fate... their descendants still gather every year to commiserate over their eternal loss. There is a festival, so we will go and get drunk on Saturday night, and then shoot things up a bit on Sunday! See last paragraph here: http://www.nihonto.ca/yosozaemon-sukesada/index.html

Thank you for the link. It looks amazing, but I don't know much about computers and would be afraid to click the download button in case something went wrong in the process.

Well, personally speaking I agree with Brian. I can see why you like that. Pity about the saya, but a good opportunity to ask for a special deal. It'll look stunning once it's done! Go for it, is my feeling. Some quality work there. Sakura bark often has a peeling effect. You don't think it's possibly deliberate?! A former girlfriend has a phobia about snails; stick a mouse on top and it would be very unpopular!!! :lol:

Moriyama san, do you ever use this page? http://www013.upp.so-net.ne.jp/santai/santai.htm

Recently saw a Nanban-tetsu tsuba on sale in a net auction and the very smooth quality of the iron looked rather similar to the one I posted above. My certificate makes no mention of Namban-tetsu, but does anyone think it is possible that it is? This is the Myochin tsuba I bought a couple of days ago. I was about to erase one pic which I took by mistake with a flash, when I noticed some colouring/coloring in the steel that I hadn't seen before. Covered in urushi? Not huge at 7.4 x 7.1 cm. Thickness at Mimi and throughout 4.5mm?

What a great video! hahahahaha..... :lol: Lots'n lots of Last Samurai around, it seems!

Thank you so much for appearing, Koichi san. You were just about my last hope!!! So you feel that the first Kanji must be 蔦　and the second 亭 regardless of the reading? I cannot find Tsutatei in any Netsuke artist list, but then again I can't find any other possible reading either! :lol: Thank you very much for your very precious input.

Ah, Bordeaux. I was visiting just three weeks ago. Sunshine, vinyards, hilltop villages, old churches and castles. Heaven. So, if 400 of us come to visit we can empty your cellar in one night, Jean? Very glad Ford has elected to refresh and revitalize. Excellent!

The following Mei is on a Netsuke with very good provenance. It is Japanese, antique, and finely carved, the owner assures me. He has tried unsuccessfully to read the Mei: http://forums.netsuke.org/tool/view/mb/ ... &id=671031 even enlisting the help of two Japanese native-speaking scholars in the US... I have offered the following possibilities, but without much confidence Can anyone help in any way, please?

The Last Samurai, hmmmm................. The Last REAL Samurai?

I have a feeling that it won't make any difference to ivory Netsuke values. There will be separate antique Netsuke markets around the world. Stupid, but that's life and politics nowadays. Perhaps now is the time to invest in non-ivory? Dunno. This is just some people feeling good that they've forced a high-profile business to make a public statement, IMHO. I won't be selling mine.

Trojan elephants! Elephant-shaped tanks with machine guns in their tusks! Actually it's all a big mess. The elephants are increasing, their land is being fenced off, the human population is upset when the elephants lumber through their fences and crops, people speak of the need for culls...

Henry, the late Edo Myochin tsuba I bought last night is covered with similar surface swirls to yours. PS Forgive the thread-napping, Milt. I saw your cranes/snipes/ibises? and admired them! :D The Japanese must have loved such outlines.

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to hold some swords. My Sensei must be desperate to get me off the ground! :lol: While I was there he showed me a Myochin Tsuba, which I bought. The swords were: Nanbokucho Mumei Kanenaga Katana Bizen Morimitsu O-ei 31 Wak Bichu Kunishige (Otsuki-Yogoro) Edo shoki wak Inoue Shinkai Kanbun Kikumon Wak Nobuhide （Kiyomaro's disciple) Shinshinto Katana (Kyoto) Ryokai Katana x 2 Mumei Aoe end Kamakura Katana Fukuoka Ichimonji Sukefusa (Yoshifusa's father) Katana Still feeling that tonight was a special evening. PS A friend writes to say that there is a Nihonto up for sale at Christie's for 280-300,000 GBP.

Yup, Milt, those are they! I am not quite sure what to tell the good lady. She says she has some more pics which she will post in due course. I have written and asked her for some overall measurements.

Nice find! PS How large is that?

Maybe if they cut all the tusks off African elephants in advance, so the poachers wouldn't feel the need to kill them, (and gave all the elephants a pair of implants, mammoth/plastic slip-on tusks instead ) then ivory could be used legitimately as 'renewable, responsibly-farmed' ivory. :lol:

... and Brian is? :lol:

Thanks, Brian. I can sort of see what you are seeing, as you describe it. She was just passing through. Maybe there is still time to check the blade length. I'll ask. Later!