Toryu2020

Not fair! now you have to show us the armour! 上野沼田藩三万五千石 土岐山城守 沼田城王

Bruno - A lot of folks will be away from their computers on the way to Tampa. Think about how signatures work. They follow basic rules. For three character signatures on swords one expects to see "saku" or "tsukuru" as the the third kanji and the first two by elimination are the smiths name. On fittings this is a good place to start, but we also have to add the frequent use of kao. Sometimes three characters are actually two kanji with a kao. Unlike in swords, fittings artists often use "art names", inspired by the practice of lay-priests and scholars. These names are often rendered with Chinese readings. A common character used is 齋(SAI)　 denoting an old man or scholar. I think your three characters are; 涼晴齋

How about Higo Dotanuki Matahachi saku? 肥後同田貫又八作？ cool stuff keep those pics coming - this i think will be a neat exercise... -t

I too "get a buzz" when viewing his work, Thanks for posting, -t

GREV - Love that Mitsunobu - ignore that static and keep posting, my friend. -t

Beautiful! thank you for sharing,

Before ploughing through this thread I too thought Ezo was a school or at least a place of production, however as suggested I went looking for references and so far find little mention of Ezo among the few kodogu references I have. There is however an entry in Fukunaga Suiken Senseis' Nihonto Daihyakka Jiten if I understand correctly he says; Ezo Koshirae - From the 14th century there was a thriving trade with the north, one in which all that was old or no longer in fashion was traded to the Ainu. Once into the Tokugawa period there were a number of rebellions and whichever Daimyo was successful in putting down the unrest won the rights to this trade. There was a caveat however imposed by the Bakufu and that was that no "Swords" or other weapons were to be traded. So there developed the practice of selling old koshirae with cracked, chipped, rusted or otherwise useless blades as tsunagi. At the time of the Haitorei many swords were sent north - there was a fad for swords in "silver" koshirae so enterprising sword shops in Edo took old blades and made them up in koshirae wrapped completely in copper sheet which was then "silvered". ( I am sure Ford will know what he means) In the Taisho period many of these were brought back by tourists enjoying tours of the exotic north. Naturally among these travellers were sword enthusiasts and they were shocked to find 1000 year old koshirae hanging untouched on the walls of the Ainu lodges! So there began a re-imporation of sorts with collectors buying old swords and fittings from "Ezo". There were early Mino and Early Goto items found, so much so people even theorized about an "Ezo Goto" school or that Yujo or some of his kin had been exiles. (He implies of course that we now know none of this to be true.) He describes two kinds of koshirae; one with no tsukaito and no tsuba often with a kodachi similarly outfitted but all looking very much like Kamakura era katana koshirae. The other wrapped all in silver with copper bands but make no mistake he says these were all made on Honshu. He also has an entry on Ezo menuki which is relevant; 磨り剝がした目貫 Surihagashita menuki also known as Shima-menuki. A style of menuki created by the Kyoto Umetada group around Kyoho (1716) - a base of shibuichi is "gilded" (Kinmekki) and then the high-points are sanded down revealing the base metal. As an example a gold mountain rubbed down would reveal a "snow capped" peak. In the Bakumatsu period the Edo Umetada group revived this type of menuki. (He says nothing here about Hokkaido or the Ainu) I also found in Haynes Catalog #3 pgs 13-15 and #9 pgs 168 and 169 several examples and he seems very careful to call these "Ezo" style. One description reads; "The base plate is a form of yamagane with a gun metal color. The gold is the usual heavy sheet both rubbed and carved from the surface. This type is classic for the school..." This describes a pair of menuki which he gives a very early date to, otherwise sounds a lot like what Fukunaga Sensei describes. I wonder if we havent misunderstood the appelation and these are more of a style than of a school or specific region? -t

For the record the implication in the original post was clear enough, The NTHK under Yoshikawa is a "business" if you like, but we are not for profit, no one draws a salary, any fees collected support the clubs activities such as the magazine, monthly meetings and shinsa. There are differences in the groups, yes. One is WE dont take every opportunity to impune the reputation of others... -t

I would point out that that the Nihon To-ken Hozon Kai under Yoshikawa Eiichi is not a "business" never has been in its over 100 year history. It is a group of collectors and scholars dedicated to the study and preservation of Japanese swords and nothing more. I refer you to Fukunaga Suiken, preeminent scholar of Japanese sword history: http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/NTHK.htm -t

I thought it was gonna be Milton Ong!

Junichi - I would say in the case of the Mino and Goto pieces there may be quality we are not seeing in the photos. The base material is so very important and seeing top quality shakudo amid other examples for comparison really is the only way to understand. As far as composition and execution there is a rustic simplicity in very early fittings that appeals to Japanese sensiblities. This quality is generally never equaled by the sloppy work using inferior material done by later artists, that are almost always copies. At first blush they might seem similar. You might miss these Ezo menuki on a table of odd pieces but as has been said a little study goes a long way. There is a lot to be said for the great artists of the Edo period but from my perspective it is this early stuff that really excites. -t

Love number three - best of the lot in my opinion If collected in the 19th century they may have known the swordsmith - regardless interesting grouping -t

Still awaiting it's arrival on the West Coast, Watching Sumo highlights from 2013, Best wishes for a bountiful New Year!

Looks like Higo Dotanuki - Count me as another one very curious to see more of this wonderful find... -t

Definitely Raijin and I love this expression of the theme! Nice one Doctor, -t

Sorry i missed the mystery post - What i would say is that you cannot separate tameshi-giri (suimono-giri) from executions. Under the Yamano family these were official sword tests, using the bodies of executed criminals. Under the Yamada sword testing was a "service"provided as a side business to their profession as executioners. It all got codified and routine under the Tokugawa. Yari were used for crucifixions and were tested on heads as described in the article. They may not have recorded tests on yari but they were in fact doing this kind of thing. If youll allow me to paraphrase my teacher, " it is exactly because the world of the bushi was so harsh that they could produce such sublime art" the two are in separable... -t

Props to Dr Data for postting this a very interesting study, We need to remember why mutilation of the body was considered "judicial punishment" with official sanction and not just some grusome torture carried out by corrupt officials. In Chinese culture just as in Japanese culture it is believed that when you return as a spirit you take the shape of your earthly body. Thus in China the death of a thousand cuts was not a torture where you agonized thru 999 cuts, rather the criminal died rather quickly but was punished eternally in that he would be unrecognizable to his family or friends if hereturned as a spirit. The same logic applied in Japan, death by decapitation and use of your corpse for suimono-giri was the second worst punishment on the books. The very worst punishment was death by decapitation, suimono-giri and then your body was dumped in a potters grave with no proper Buddhist ceremonial. This was punishment not only for the criminal but also for his family and it was eternal. The fact that these two bodies were buried in a family plot in a temple suggests to me that they were most likely related. Also it suggets that while thier crimes were serious, they did not receive the severest punishment or we would not have their bones as evidence today. -t

George - As I tried to explain in the previous post the difference is clearly stated in Japanese; Futatsu Do means two do - the little tsu tells us this is how it is to be read and understood. Ni no do means "number two" do cut - when the little no character is included it clearly indicates this is how it is to be read and understood. The same will be true for three, four, five though multiples over three are rare. Since "hitotsu do" is not that impressive a single body cut will say something like Dodan ori meaning cut thru one body and into the dodan (mound). hoping i made this clearer... -t

Sennin is clearly visible looking straight up to the heavens his robes blend with the bird but if you imagine an old man riding "backward" on the crane you'll see all of him...

Looks to be based on a toppei koshirae, very nice find! -t

Higo - many designs were copied by later generations. Very popular designs were copied by other artists/schools to some degree of success or not it seems in this third case... -t

http://itokumihimoten.com search Kumihimo 組紐 there are lots of sources, none of them cheap. i am away from my files this week, but will look when I get homefor the card of the shopthat did custom sageo for the Kanagawa Kendo guys... -t

Gentlemen- The great thing about Japanese is the use of kana to give us reading hints. in this case Ninodo(弐の胴 ) is the second do cut while Futatsu do (弍ツ胴) means cut two bodies. this is an impotant distinction when looking at Tameshi-mei - you could cut five in a row rather than five at once or use well aged bodies but i think if it is Yamano or Yamada family work they did not get up to such shenanigans. There are plenty of fakes and some questionable testers and tests out there. Clive Sinclair has a good article on the subject on the TSGB pages i believe. while the lacquer mei raises some questions it is an interesting artefact given as Chris says it cut two bodies, twice! -t

Miwa hasnt been to the show with her handmade sageo in several years, I think Junichi must be speaking of Dick Dodge and his wife who are always over in the far left corner. Im surprised Curran there arent good links on this site - surely this has come up before, or are you just hoping for something appropriate in somebodys junk box?

I would go with "withered" tree and see these as empty branches as Ito Sensei has suggested, -t