Baka Gaijin

I bought my Borescope on ebay for £5.95. $8.07 US including Free UK Delivery. Comes with a neat 45% attachment.

Used by both Sakamoto Ryoma and Yamaoka Tesshu.

Here's an easy one to take John's example further: Signed Seishu Meiji era Sold for £6875 inc Premium at Bonhams London 17 May 2012

Good morning Gentlemen, Excellent idea for Chrimbo morning John, though, I suspect as the day progresses, with the time zones of the NMB Krew, chiming in, the combined effects of: Umqombothi & Witblits Surprise Campari with distilled Pontefract Cake essence Sake & Shochu Challenge (The challenge being to speak or perform anything related to hand eye coordination, after two glasses) Bollinger, Premier Grand Cru & Stolychnaya (Stolly / Bolly) Tokai Chateau D'Yquem 1847 (In Pint Glasses Of course) Albanian Rocket Fuel Absinthe (Which alledgedly makes the Heart grow Fonder) Poteen, White Lightning, Lighter Fluid & Metal Polish Frappe etc May make the comments somewhat "Idiosyncratic". If anyone wants a crib sheet, here's the complete "Legend in Japanese Art" by Joly, courtesy of those good ol' Boys at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/legendinjapanese00joly_1 So, Let's Start loading Images: Let the Games Begin......

Good morning Yurie san, Thank you for your diligence. Truly, the concept of a Book is daunting, placing your heart on display for all to see. Respectfully, please have the courage to fail. If the sum total of all you have so freely shared with us here on NMB over the past few years is a gauge by which to assess the Book, then it is surely destined to become an important resource for future generations to come. As an eyewitness to a specific aspect of History, your position is unique, your observations hold a validity which truly deserves to be recorded. 頑張ってください

Good morning Steve, Brian and Piers That's an Interesting process to get the 3D. What would Sharaku have made of it? Kuniyoshi would have been making Cats!!!! 良いお年をお迎え下さい。

Good Evening Christian, Perhaps suggest to your chum, that if he is convinced of its quality, then he should perhaps put it on Japanese Ebay, where serious Samurai and Ninja experts, who are also Medal of Honour recipients, and ex French Foreign Legion, Special Air Service and U.S. Navy Seal Operatives, who clandestinely protect the Emperor and the hidden gravesite of Hattori Hanzo, would see it, and be so impressed by its quality and rarity, that they may bid it to a final value in excess of $100,000,000,00. Just to bring this cultural icon Home. Worth a try.........

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Hi Bruce, There are also examples of a coded version of Bonji inscribed into the stones used in Castle Walls.

Sometimes, Bonji were cut into a Blade, Tsuba or Armour, for Talismanic purposes, specific to the original user's belief system. If you look at Steve M's s example above, the Katakana on the right hand side of the Bonji gives the Seed Syllable Sound , which was usually the last syllable of their individual Invocation Mantra. Fudo no Myoo - Kan Jizo Bosatsu - Ka Fugen Bosatsu - An So it was like a shorthand way of drawing down the influence from the respective Deities A little like the Omamori amulets that are available at Temples and Shrines today:

Good morning Gentlemen, The term used for hanging Tsuba etc under the eaves for natural patination is Nokishita 軒下 のきした

On the modern dual thread mekugi nuki, a simple application of a thread locking gel to the part that goes into the hammer head sorts the issue out.

How about links to their contributions and articles maybe? Lest we forget? Gratitude can have a half life in seconds to future generations.

It is really quite a remarkable resource.