Bugyotsuji

Great stuff, Sam, way to go!!!

It rather looks like iron from the inside shot. What are the four byo rivets for I wonder?

Which one remains?

Dale, that's just terrible. What kind of camera are you using, and if it's a phone, what kind of phone?

So thanks to Steve the answers are shippo (cloisonne) and makijiku (Gion-mori = crossed scrolls). Neat to have those stamps on the back plate of your tobacco purse clasp though! For me I have been coincidentally doing some research into fundo (scales weights) so it was interesting to see one listed there as a treasure.

It suggests the end of Edo, a kenjohin for one of the three great Tokugawa families. Sandwich with a middle iron layer, doro shippo on the external plate. The holes look to be for pinning on solid gold seppa, the author thinks. The print is so faint at maximum magnification, that it's actually quite difficult to read. 15 mm x 9.1 cm.

Yes, it could be a perfect shape for skulduggery.

LOL! ..................................... where is Stephen by the way? I can feel his eyes on this thread.

For example, we can find ladies in kimono wearing tanto decoratively at the kimono foldover. Such a tanto could be used for self-defense, or more likely, as Stephen suggests, for suicide to prevent desecration and protect virtue. (But is this one designed for a woman? And in the case of defensive attack or suicide, I can imagine a lady using anything to hand, e.g. that of a retainer, or even her husband's blade.)

It's a good question to stir the old brain cells, Henry. I had to ask myself, would a lady fancy such a shape? But no answer came. I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts. I have a tanto which lacks a kurikata sageo cord bridge. A collector friend said "Oh, this makes it for a lady." Another collector friend said, "No, not necessarily." I am still learning.

Because the smith made it that way, and because you bought it that way. But then why or for what purpose did he make such a small Tanto? Hmmm... they came in all sizes. (How does your u-no-kubi blade length work out in centimeters?)

Not a menuki, methinks. What's the oval hole for? Some kind of fastening device? Two pin holes for.... an obi-dome? The original Japanese site will sometimes give more information. You can often learn something from the backs of these things.

Leaving behind centuries of Muromachi warfare, and gradually drifting away from actual battlefield practicality, the Edo aristocracy indulged more and more in gaudiness and showing off.

I don’t think it is a set per se, more like assembled parts, but some of it could be from the late 1500s, and some later. (The shikoro on the kabuto could well be a more recent addition.) Let’s give it a 24-hr day Tyler and see what others think.

Most of that looks good, Tyler, modern armor, i.e. 'Tosei Gusoku' of the late feudal age. Maybe a mishmash of good to mediocre parts, but you have a box for it to sit it upon, and the main thing at the time would have been to protect oneself. Great going, and congratulations on your first acquisition!

Hi Robert, it says Myochin Muneyoshi Saku.

Not only a merchant, but an artisan for example who had been elevated to bushi status, or granted permission to carry a sword might order one from a swordsmith, or possibly even buy an antique one.

For a shirasaya and habaki, if you want them made in Japan, you'd have to send the blade there, which is normally a huge hassle for most people both sending and receiving.

Some years ago I asked around for someone here in Japan to make me a shirasaya. Among the replies was one which surprised me. "Why don't you make your own?" "Must be joking!" I thought, but this person was serious. Since then I have paid more attention to shirasaya in general, and although most are beautifully created, many of them do indeed, judging by the material and shape, look to be homemade. (So not totally impossible. I would want to learn how to do it first, though, if ever I were to try my hand!)

From everything I see written there he is thinking of you and your pocket. A shirasaya is not for display, but for protecting the blade when it is not in full koshirae display mode. Perhaps you could ask him for rough estimates of what a shirasaya, habaki and polish would cost in Oz? I reckon you could pay well over $2,000 for these, on top of your intial purchase price of $1,000.

Could be seawater damage, from the cargo of a wreck.

We have to ask you Hannah, what kind of camera were you using? Those are some of the fuzziest, strangely colo(u)red photos I have seen.

Just had a quick peek against my better nature (always afraid of looking at unknown files!) and in some of those shots it looks almost like two layers (of a layer cake) with a visible separation between them. Hmmm...