Bugyotsuji

No I hadn’t considered that Ed, but what you say makes sense. Perhaps it was a silver moon. I’ll have a closer look tomorrow. The sun on an iron background did seem rather harsh, almost as if the artisan had once been a prisoner of war in Siberia.

The sun in Japan is traditionally rendered as red, almost on an automatic subconscious level. I did a little experiment at college with a class of Japanese and some overseas students. I laid out chalks of various colo(u)rs, and called on students to come up and draw a scene (which happened to include the sun). The Japanese students all reached for the red chalk, whereas the Westerners chose yellow. In the present tsuba Jean, I am guessing that the choice of copper akagane 銅, 素銅suaka (or 山銅 yamagane) means the tsubakō was envisioning the sun. https://ameblo.jp/o-...try-12170960771.html

Love it. Age etc., very different, but a tsuba with some thematic similarity?

On Saturday the local branch of the NBTHK are holding a New Year’s party at an Indian Restaurant in town. Everyone will be asked to say a few words. As usual they have asked members to bring an object for the Bingo game. These will be laid out in advance for people to drool over. Some of the artisans bring things that they have made! Others bring tōsōgu from their collection, or a book, sword pillow, etc. Yesterday I had an email reminding me to bring something along, and now I find myself trying to find a balance between too good and not good enough… (If you are too generous then other gift givers will feel x, y or z. If you are too miserly, or your object is of little interest, it will be left naked and last on the table that people choose from.) Hmmm… last year’s did not quite hit the sweet spot!

Most sword bags traditionally have long cords for wrapping the inner sword package fairly tightly and protectively. Tying a tag to that would be quite natural.

Maybe the answer to your last question might be ‘for something valuable to the owner’? A section of wood might last longer than a piece of paper or strip of cloth, and the string looks pretty tough. In addition the writing is beautifully done in fine clear black sumi ink brushwork. Now what could be so important for an ‘ex’ soldier (perhaps upon surrender)?

姓? Could it be something as simple as ‘sei’?

Agreeing now with Koichi San!

Quick note that Jōshū 城州 here refers to 山城 Yamashiro in Kyōto. No. 6 may be 保高 Yasutaka.(?) No. 3 The last Kanji must be the old word for sei in sakusei. 製　作製　(作成) made by

Steve, it is possible that the tsuba-ko made this his art name in homage to Hotei’s child.

會津 is the old way of writing 会津 as in Aizu Wakamatsu. 會陽 may refer to the general area, (although there are other places in Japan which used these Kanji ‘Kaiyo’ or ‘Aiyo’). But Aizu Shoami are well-known.

I never did manage to find out how to read Mr Sasaki’s lower name. Can anyone help? Thanking you in advance!

(Joining Curran.) Fairly large iron 24-petal chrysanthemum tachi(?) tsuba. Sold as daishō, but they are not exactly identical.

宗兵衛 (?) Sōbei (I have found two who signed with this name, one in Asakusa, Edo, and the other in Satsuma.)

There are other expressions out there in use and waiting to be discovered, such as chiisagatana.

“The exception proves the rule.” Really interesting subject, and there is much more to it, but Jean and Tcat above have just about deconfused it for us. (Traditional Nihontō classification and modern education committee bureaucratic classifications do not always agree on the fine detail. The latter is based more on mathematics. Most Japanese seem to ride with it when there are two answers.)

Aikuchi Koshiraé = Lip-kissing sword furniture.

K Morita San is not one in ten thousand, but one in a hundred thousand, or even a million!

Perhaps one in ten thousand or even fewer native Japanese could read that script.

Member of NBTHK National, and local branch for maybe 15 years, also UK Tōken Society.

The top two are front and back of a Japanese regional mandatory registration card from Aichi Prefecture for a Mumei wakizashi. This card has to be surrendered if the blade is ever sent abroad. (The older scrap of paper is beyond me.)

Do some of you have a magnetic personality?

Kunitomo Tōbei, famous line of Kunitomo gunsmiths. 藤兵衛 Unable to get anything legible from the lower lettering… イ　十　生　ル　当 (曲)?

Mmm, good solid tsuba by the way, and as Dale said the octagonal shape is nice. Oh and Joyeux Noel, Yves!

Generally one associates this Mon with the Ogasawara Daimyō family. My gripe with the Matsudaira is that being closely related to the Tokugawa, and thus superior to everyone else, they moved in and took over various fiefdoms throughout Japan, using the regional Kamon as their own. Like cuckoos taking over other birds’ nests and eggs. Tell me I am wrong, please!