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waljamada

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Everything posted by waljamada

  1. Bummer its s good little video. Took screenshots of the view and the little hidden shrine.
  2. Not sure if this works but there's a picture of thr level up shrine in this little sideshow video my brother made of the trip. https://www.facebook.com/thebestlaw/videos/619249921723/ Its at 6:54
  3. Not quite the same...but its a positive side of the coin of something like that. My brother and a childhood friend of mine came to visit me in Japan. We did this thing I liked to do of hop on the trains, take random transfers and get out at a random place. We probably switched and rode trains for 2 hours and got out in a more rural town 2 hours outside of Tokyo along the shoreline. We wandered and wandered and found an empty temple. These temples have a different air to them when empty. An old energy. An aware yet not necessarily Intelligent ancientness. Like the start of a few horror movies we decide to enter the forest behind it which was mostly pretty tall hills or kind of small mountains. We hiked for maybe 40 minutes and after we reached the very top of one of the higher hills amongst a beautiful view of the shoreline and horizon we found a small little shrine. Far away from everything and everyone. We decided to call it a level-up shrine and that those who reach it level up in some way. +1 to some attribute of yours, or maybe even a few. Its one of my favorite memories.
  4. I worked at an International Japanese Film Festival in Tokyo for a few years after graduation from University. One day a visitor came to our offices in Ichigaya and left three masks (one more of a carving...see pics) for whoever wanted them. All my Japanese coworkers claimed they were haunted or scary but I loved them and was allowed to claim them all. Sadly an oni clay mask was destroyed during shipping back to the US but I still have two. Then maybe four years ago I found this other oni mask that must have been produced by Yamaha for some reason or another at a thrift shop. Thought I'd share them and see if anyone else has cool masks to share.
  5. George, thank you. Thats the first bit of info I received on the menuki. Will have to see if I can find out what family it represents. As to the tsuba, my thoughts on that are that it obviously is done in a style of some old paintings and scenery. So if done as a homage piece then it would look like this and resemble the original work/style. The Kanji and even the little seal are all quality work so I haven't let the scenery/Chinese painting style rule it out for me completely yet. Might be a fools errand but my data is insufficient for a complete write off yet. My eye tells me as well that this is a much simpler design than the others I've seen (which isn't many especially from someone with a long career), but the form and edges match some of his work so there's little bits keeping me going. Plus half the fun of getting a new sword is going down the roads it presents. Like an Easter egg hunt.
  6. Well I'm coming up pretty paltry on any searches. Not really find much to compare it to. Heres what I have found searching for Hashimoto Isshi (橋本一至) and Yūshūsha (夕秀舎)
  7. Ahh, the ancient oni demon playing guitar motif. Goes back to the ancient shredding technique of the heavy metals. It is said that it beats rock and even when it rolls. Wish I could add more than a stupid joke and that I personally really like them. Can see the detail and quality and oni are a somewhat uncommon theme to see really well done in my searching experience. Plus they are just cool.
  8. Steve, thank you very much. I really appreciate it. I will dig into Hashimoto Isshi (橋本一至), also known as Yūshūsha (夕秀舎) and see what I can learn. I'm excited by the possibility it could be from a well respected maker so hopefully I can find some good comparisons. Will keep my hopes tempered due to the many fakes.
  9. Wondering if anyone can translate this tsuba. I can tell it maybe refers to a mountain but beyond that I am unsure. Does anyone recognize the maker symbol, mei and school? Was told it was Edo period. This menuki is interesting to me but I don't know what it is other than a leaf? Also I believe it is gold (plated?) but not 100% sure. Do you think the "stem" parts are just there to slide under the leather ito to secure the menuki or also meant as part of the decoration on this one? Also told the entire tsuka is Edo period. The sword is signed Ashu Ju Michimasa from 1840. Also told it could be one from the 1700's.
  10. Ok, reading between the lines in my searches/research thats basically what I saw. I could tell they were being used kind of interchangeably. One pattern I did notice is the carved wood demon/oni heads or little figures that were on kabuto used the term maetate more often so had the theory it could be based on the materials/style. I really love the carved wooden ones as I imagine they could have even been made by the samurai/soldier that wore it. A form of trench/war art. Obviously too they are one offs but may follow a larger motif or famous imagery/story/legend etc... They have that personal touch on history that gets to me.
  11. Here's that terrible photoshop of my pieces.
  12. So I had been on a maetate quest for a while now. Found a few I loved but I had a $200 max budget I was willing to spend and lost out on all the others to other bidders. One I just went too cheap and still kind of regret it....but I'm happy with the one I found and I stayed under my budget. As a fair warning im positive this maetate will not "float everyone's boat". But I have a penchant for folk art and things that give me a feeling and this checks both boxes. It was only described as "old" so I'm not sure how old it is but it is simply a carved wooden maetate. I think this will go well with my old rough edged yoroi armor, menpo and zunari kabuto. Still haven't put everything on the stand I built due to lack of space currently but ill photoshop this new piece on my old photoshop of my pieces (sadly seller didn't have a straight on shot of the maetate and I don't have it in hand yet). Few questions...1) is the difference between maedate and maetate the construction/materials? Google isn't helping me solve this. 2) anyone else want to share their carved wood maetate?
  13. 16k I didn't purchase it, just found bits of it quite interesting and hoped to see some other examples of mounted ubu nakago. I also really like the tsuka katate maki as it really does seem pure fighting utilitarian but still has some elegance. Im not positive of the age, going by seller description, but somewhat seems plausible. The rust on the nakago seems younger but due to condition I assumed it could have had some rough exposure and new rust layer in recent past as I do see darker patches underneath. Also I'm not sure when the longer nakago went out of fashion but seems that most mountings ive seen even going into early edo don't seem produced at large able to hold an ubu nakago of this sort of size. Or perhaps even this nakago is longer most ubu? The mei might be a lost cause but could help serve a better understanding of age. As to the sugata its hard for me to judge as each resource I look at has slightly different standards on era shapes and I cant find anything showing how the ubu nakago were originally for each era (Maybe there never were full standards?). I can see it looking close to a few of these eras but I agree seems closest to shin shinto actually, good eye.
  14. Came across a sword that I just kind of find interesting, 26.5" nagasa 1.1" wide. I thought it was neat seeing a muromachi era sword that doesnt appear to have had its nakago cut and how they mount it...I can finally actually picture the length of what "ubu nakagos" could be originally compared to the cut/shortened versions. Secondly this sword has the longest/tallest habaki I have ever seen. I kind of like the cut of this sword/mountings jib in a way (boshi looks gone and I can tell its been polished down a lot). Also has a perhaps lost signature....maybe see a kuni? Wondering if you guys have seen or have any other examples with really long habakis which I'm guessing is to mount it in a shorter tsuka than might otherwise be required. Anyone have examples to share of uncut nakagos and how they were mounted?
  15. Impressive tsuba. Love the imagery and characters.
  16. waljamada

    Ito color?

    I couldn't decide on one so went with a top 3.
  17. Shooting blind, randomly and dangerously from the hip.....I'll say "Spies Like Us" with Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase..."The Master of Disguise"..."Pink Panther"...also I remember loving how Kurt Russel's character quoted that Robert Frost "the woods are.." poem in the Quentin Tarantino film "Deathproof".
  18. Bob, thanks for the advice. I will search out Sesko. Stephen and Tom, thank you both for the kind words. I will keep on that shared diligent nihonto path learning along the way with inevitable waylays and stops and the adult table to ask for wisdom. Aim to return the favor in the future to those starting along. Gonna quote another author Robert Frost that ill use to starting in Nihonto, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."
  19. Thank you everyone for helping me learn about this blade, both its good and its bad and its inherent "qualities". This one feels a bit like an poor orphan sword to me that im taking under my wing warts and all. I will one day have it polished and the sumo wrestling toads will stay as.....I just like it. Also, I finally upped and purchased two books as a start so that I may upgrade my knowledge and ability to contribute. Shout out to Paul Martin.
  20. George, wow and thank you. Sumo wrestling toads...I'm a fan now. John, here is the best I can do with a cellphone that fights against close shots, an old polish and choji oil (i think i use too much). The boshi is hardest to capture but is visible in perfect angles as the kissaki has taken the most brunt of time, but here's what I've got.
  21. Ha, Vonnegut left us a quote for almost everything. The quote I use the most is from a novel of his called "Timequake" which is one of my favorites. It goes simply, "you were asleep but now you're awake and you've got a job to do." I tend to use it when someone learns something new and then has to do it. Can be used quite effectively and very smarmy like. Also "If there is one thing I know, damnit child, you've got to be kind".
  22. Michael, Thanks for that. Thats good to know actually. *hops on soap box* I understand and respect the notion of quality over quantity. It not easy in this bracket but for the health of the hobby and to absorb the wider variety of blades that do require care and inherent value it is important to acknowledge the middle road. The ideal path is rarely traveled and most go off on side trails that potentially lead to beautiful views and new expanses. Yes, you may also hit a dead end or find yourself looking or falling down a little cliff. You can recoup a wiser individual. But the wary yet adventurous traveler arrives at the destination with unique insights. Like that Kurt Vonnegut quote, "I want to stay as close on the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." However the knowledge of the ideal path is important to share and the pitfalls mapped and marked for those that follow. I appreciate those that share it. George....would have preferred a kappa but ill take wrestling toads.
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