Baka Gaijin

Thank you for the directions Kunitaro san. http://www.shinjukuku-kankou.jp/english ... ya_12.html Cheers

Thank you Ken Cheers

Good morning John What do they say about not seeing the wood for the trees.............. Thank you Cheers

Thanks Ken, Is the grave site at Zojoji 増上寺 which is near the old Tokyo Tower? Cheers

Hi John Can you explain 花押 please. I get 花 as hana or ka and 押 as ō or osu I'm missing something here. Cheers

Morning all, Somewhere on NMB is a photograph of a group of high end Japanese collectors of the best quality Kiyomaro blades. If I remember correctly, the gist was that they deal amongst each other and the best blades never see the "oxygen of the open market", so to speak. Cheers

Good afternoon Drago, Not exactly what you asked for, but in that direction: http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/arti ... amurai.pdf Cheers

Hi Ken, Works just fine from this neck of the woods. Cheers

Good morning Ron, Thank you for the excerpt, Wyler is a very interesting book for its period. If you are into Silver, let me share a really useful site re Silver Makers Marks http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/index.htm I use it every day, it's more comprehensive and way faster than the standard tome "Jacksons ". It's really easy to use, go for the Assay Hall first, then the maker's initials. If the maker does not show for a Provincial Assay Hall refer to London and more than likely it will be there. Cheers P.S My factotum Cringeling is responsible for the polishing of all the Silver, so I will take a stick to him and give him a damn good thrashing.... (Cheaper than paying him I guess)

Good morning Ron, You said: "The true patina on silver should be a slightly bluish tinge ( very subtle ). You must have seen Georgian Sterling Silver to appreciate." One of my many hats involves the sale of Georgian Silver.....If your Georgian Silver is in this condition, your Butler needs a damn good thrashing..... Here is a meagre example of some lesser Georgian tat by a maker of dubious quality: http://www.pashantiques.com/pd866/paul_ ... mports.asp Cheers

Good morning Kunitaro san Thank you for the example of a Memento Mori (Remember that you will die). Vanitas raised it to quite a high art. Here's the operative quote from Ecclesiates 1:2;12:8 "Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas" - Vanity of vanities; all is vanity (King James Vulgate version) Here's some examples of the artist movement known as "Vanitas" by the Dutch Artist Pieter Claesz: http://www.pubhist.com/person/159/pieter-claesz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Claesz The main elements of Vanitas would be a Skull, a lute or violin with a broken string, a candle with smoke twirling upwards from the wick as if the flame had just extinguished, a flower with fallen petal or a wine glass on its side as if its contents had spilled away. Cheers

Thanks Ed Amazing image Here is a translation of Nozarashi Kikō 野ざらし紀行 by Matsuo Bashō 松尾 芭蕉 http://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/61100.pdf Cheers

Good morning Henry "To be cut under the long sword is hell, to advance forward is paradise" I have a recollection somewhere of a Carpe Diem type Japanese saying which is anecdotally linked to something one of the founders of a famous Ryuha (Martial school) said like this regarding timing and distance and closing in rendering the use of the enemy's katana length sword useless. Cheers

Good morning Mike, Thank you for the Tsuba shown, at first I didn't understand the context of term nozarashi. 野ざらし weather beaten Is it this? Matsuo Basho - Nozarashi Kiko 　野ざらし紀行 Nozarashi Kikō 　 Record of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton Journal of the Bleached Bones Account of Exposure to the Fields Skeleton in the Fields Records of the Weather-Exposed Skeleton The Weatherbeaten Trip 貞亭元年 - 貞亭2年 - (1684 -1685) Leaving Edo in August, returning the next year on April 10 Via the Tokaido to Nagoya, Iga, Yoshino, Kyoto, Otsu and back on the Nakasendo. Cheers

Good morning Ford, Maybe the opening lines of Hojoki 方丈記 express something of the feeling also. "Ceaselessly the river flows and yet the water is never the same, while in the still pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment. Even so is man and his habitation............. http://www.washburn.edu/reference/bridge24/Hojoki.html Or the opening lines of Heike Monogatari 平家物語. (A.L. Sadler translation) The sound of the bell of Gionshoja echoes the impermanence of all things. The hue of the flowers of the teak tree declares that they who flourish must be brought low. Yea, the proud ones are but for a moment, like an evening dream in springtime. The mighty are destroyed at the last, they are but as the dust before the wind. http://library.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/re ... -whole.pdf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7udqvSObOo4 Cheers

Good evening Tobias, You asked: "So this is what, some sort of mono no aware heroism thing?" I don't think this has to do with either heroism or what we in the West commonly associate with the term "mono no aware". It's way more subtle than that. A little like trying to grasp smoke. Maybe a way to get an inkling of this it is to relate it to Umami うまみ, umami is a kind of savoury taste, almost indefineable... yet when you taste it you know it, however it just defies classification and you cannot explain it to someone else. A bit like Giri ぎり, obligation, debt, the burden hardest to bear, even god, or none of those, it's just Giri; Don't worry about it. (Due homage to Takakura Ken and Sydney Pollack) Cheers

Morning all, I'm told the skull or bones is not exactly the same as the aesthetic of Vanitas or Memento Mori in western art. It may often be interpreted as a reference to the Matsuo Basho Haiku: 夏草や 兵どもが 夢の跡 Natsukusa ya Tsuwamonodomo ga Yume no ato The summer grasses— For many brave warriors The aftermath of dreams. (Professor Donald Keene's masterly translation) (I have a recollection of a similar topic on NMB some time back.) Cheers

Good evening all. I can recall in about 1970, a European based Japanese Budo Sensei using a Shin-gunto wrapped with white gauze bandage. He said this was in case the handle split. Cheers

Good evening all, Here is a link to a Tsuba on Tsuruta san's site. http://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumei-uns ... a-zu-tsuba Cheers

Good afternoon Kunitaro san & Morita san, Having now read quite bit about Yoshida Shoin and his times, I have made an attempt to transliterate the poem. I hope I will not do it too much of an injustice. I know truly how this will end..... Yet I am bound resolutely to my course of action.... For the pure spirit of our Ancient Motherland pleads in my heart that I continue..... In the course of this research I came upon an essay about Yoshida Shoin (Yoshida Torajiro) by Robert Louis Stevenson, I share it here for those who might have an interest: http://archive.org/stream/worksofrobert ... 6/mode/2up Very best regards to you both and thank you for your help.

Morita san, Kunitaro san, Thank you so much for replying so swiftly. I think there is a question here about literal translation and transliteration. I will try some variation on the theme and see what evolves. どうもありがとうございます

I think this is a poem by Yoshida Shoin かくすれば 　かくなるものと知りながら 　　　　やむにやまれぬ大和魂 　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　 吉田松陰 I've had a go at translating it half way, can someone take it the full mile? Kakusureba Kakunarumono to Chiri nagara Yamu ni yamarenu Yamato damashi Yoshida Shoin Cheers

Thanks Chris, Very interesting site, particularly the Calligraphy and Painting page. Cheers

Hi Veli, Try these as a starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibui One word of caution........when you think you understand it, you don't!!!! Cheers

Thank you Guido. Cheers