Baka Gaijin

Good morning all, If this helps, there was a 1970 2 volume publication by Fukunaga Suiken called "Kubikiri Asaemon Token Oshigata". An example of the two volume set sold recently on eBay: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/KUBIKIRI-ASAEMON ... 0429038626 Cheers

Afternoon Jan This is an interesting, if long drawn out book about Oei - Hokusai's daughter: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Printmakers ... =1-1-fkmr0 Cheers

Thanks for posting Barry, I really like the Fukurokuju hachi (Images 94 & 95). Cheers

Good evening Jan, From the right top, Title of the series: Honchō　Meishō　Kagami Second right in (Red Background) "Takeda Daizen Daibu Shingen” The Artist: Utagawa Yoshikazu - signed lower left with the red seal underneath and Kiwame censor's seal in circular cartouche above and below. He was also known as: Ichijusai, Issen, Isshunsai, Ichikawa Yoshikazu As an Ukiyo-e printmaker he was active 1850-1870. Pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi. One of the major early printmakers of the Yokohama school. His subject matter included foreigners and foreign customs and manners, as well as landscapes and warriors. Also a book illustrator. (Edited to add the following 05.47 local 21/10/12) The red seal is called Yoshi Kiri and is a stylised working on the theme of a Kiri Kamon (Paulownia Imperialis). It was first used by Yoshikawa's master Kuniyoshi in 1845. And here is a really exciting piece of info I just discovered...The master Kuniyoshi had a daughter called Yoshi (1842 - 1885) She was a woodblock artist also (working in the beginning on the small vignette images on her father's prints). She signed as "Yoshijo" - The daughter Yoshi. I include this because it is interesting that a woman in this period was allowed to have "a voice" through her Art. Cheers

"What a beautiful poem. Well done and thanks Morita san." I'll second that Brian. Rennyo details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennyo Cheers

Again thank you Henry and Ford......... Cheers

Give the man a cigar!!!! Thanks Ford for the reply and Henry for the Link. Might the Noh play be Hagoromo? (Here's a bit of trivia....though Matsu can mean "pine tree" (松), it can also mean "to wait" or "to pine" (待つ). ) Veering off at a wild tangent, the axe shape looks very much like the one that Kurosawa uses for the woodcutter in Rashomon. Cheers

Good morning Grev, The design under the axe edge is stylised Pine Bark - Matsu Kawa Bishi. You will see it as a Kamon in its own right or as a surround to another. Here's a speculation for Ford, who I believe thrives upon such piquant Fayre... Does the Tadamasa original contain a message regarding a clan who bore the Matsukawa Bishi Kamon, or is it just about chopping wood....... Cheers

Excellent Cheers

Good morning Tobias, Do you know this resource? http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/graphicversio ... zou_e.html It has some extremely interesting imagery such as an army of Obakemono storming a Castle. It's in Japanese, but navigation is really easy once you get the hang of it. Cheers

Morita san どうもありがとうございます。 I'll get to work on this and post my attempt later. Edited at 08.13 Local Here is my very poor attempt: 大日本神戸(or 石 )坊前 Great Japan Patriotic Truth (Fund?) 岩本刀 Iwamoto (carved) 身を千々に砕き、 骨は戦地にさら(晒)そと、ゆく(征/行)よ 御国のためなら、いと(厭)やせぬ。 Should I die, I leave only my bleached bones on the Battlefield for the Nation. Cheers

Good morning Ed, What an unusual image, my first thought was that it may be a pun on the Basho Haiku: 夏草や 兵どもが 夢の跡 Then the thought of the skull being a victim of the Hag on Adachi Moor came to mind. Or a perspective upon the fleeting nature of Beauty. There is something O.C.D. about the way the script is written which reminds me of similar obsessive compulsive traits found in many artists' work. Bellmer, Van Gogh and to an extent, the work of a 20th Century British "outsider artist" called Scottie Wilson being brief examples. I put the image at maximum magnification and tried to find repeat patterns in the script. I wonder if the script is contemporary with the rest of the painting? After all that Artsy waffle, I haven't a clue what it's about, but it was fun to speculate..... Thanks for posting it Ed

Good afternoon all, Here is the Main carving: I am guessing a celebration of one of the generals commanding in one of the Sino Japanese Wars? Cheers

Good afternoon all, With Brian's permission I would ask for some help. The following script and signature is cut into a military themed Bamboo root end walking stick (90cms). Cheers

Again Kunitaro san どうもありがとうございます For extending the knowledge base.

Hi Tom "after being beat up by an Anthropologist" I'd pay good money to see footage of that on You Tube.... Could go viral.... Excellent and well considered points BTW. Cheers

Good morning Alex "Can someone please tell me the correct dates for the Muromachi (and/or all) period(s)?" The simple answer to that is no...... So many academics over the hundred and fifty or so years have written their magnum opus from a particular viewpoint or agenda, hence the historic rubble of dates falling over each other. To quote Diane Skoss of Koryu Books: "Some historians date the Muromachi period also known as the Ashikaga period from 1333 to 1568; others divide this era into several shorter periods, while sword collectors usually divide it into two parts with the Nanbokuchō running from 1333 - 1392 and the Muromachi from 1392 - 1573." She further advises the dating in The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords, which runs: Yamato 645 - 710 A.D. Nara 710 -794 Heian 794 - 1185 Kamakura 1185 - 1333 Nanbokuchō 1333 - 1392 Muromachi 1392 - 1573 Azuchi - Momoyama 1573 - 1600 Edo 1600 - 1867 Meiji 1868 - 1912 Hope this helps Cheers PS here is a link to Diane and Meik Skoss's site: http://www.koryu.com/

Good morning Kunitaro san, Thank you for showing the Nosada blade, it is truly fascinating. Perhaps a poetic insight into the heart of one of its long passed custodians. I have seen various invocations to Hachiman Dai Bosatsu or Fudo no Myoo for example, but never the Kuji-kiri. どうもありがとうございます Cheers

Good morning Kunitaro san, Thank you for your insightful comments, they answer a number of questions. I had no idea that Shinto (神道) does not use incense. Do you mean at all, or as a form of purification? Now regarding Tameshigiri and The Catalpa Bow. The excerpt I included above was to give a taste of Dr Blacker's scholarly approach to quite an esoteric subject for us in the West, it is the only readily available pdf text from what is quite a large and complex Book . Dr Blacker researched a number of rituals involving induced trance states where adherants would perform acts where they were said to be protected from harm by their temporary possession by various levels of spiritual beings from Foxes to Bodhisatva, Elemental beings without name to Kamisama. There are a number of photographs in the book of festivals and gatherings on Mt Haguro & Mt Ontake in the early 1960's including the Goma Fire ritual and a ladder constructed of sword blades, festooned with Gohei and a Yamabushi climbing up the edges of the blades. There are many references to spirits contained within objects and well as people, together with observations of various practices including Kujikiri and Yorigitou exorcism. It's the only book written by a Westerner, I have found thus far which covers these subjects in a rational manner. Cheers

Good afternoon Kunitaro san, This is the article in question; from paragraph 8 of the main body of text after the introduction: http://www.shinyokai.com/Essays_TameshigiriReigi.htm Cheers Malcolm PS The Catalpa Bow is a fascinating record of an almost vanished aspect of cultural heritage. Dr Blacker was researching in Japan during the 1960's Here is a pdf excerpt: https://eee.uci.edu/clients/sbklein/GHO ... nimals.pdf

Good afternoon Kunitaro san, I had heard that in the past, some Japanese people would not lightly use an old blade for Tameshigiri, because of what might be contained within the blade. The late Dr Carmen Blacker touches upon this in her 1975 work on Shamanistic practices in Japan: "The Catalpa Bow". Do you have any comments regarding this? Cheers PS Thank you for your insightful input on NMB.

Mornin Drago You may find this helpful: http://www.samurai-archives.com/ Cheers

Jean, Please understand Roy is from Cornwall, they have their own Language there.... As a test, ask a Cornishman if the glass is half full or half empty and he will invariably answer that it is not big enough.... Cheers

Morning all, One for George here, ref: PDF 1, are "Kodai zuka kawatachi maki" & PDF 2 "Kawakasane katate maki" variants of Gangi maki? And thank you Stefan for posting this valuable resource. Cheers

Good morning all, An interesting thought Luc, but I wonder whether Fukutake san would have made something so untraditional as this piece. The works I have seen attributed to him are quite traditional. For anyone who doesn't know the name, here's a couple of links with a bio of Fukutake san's work: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/i ... i-74490381 http://www.shogunart.com/Menpo8.html Cheers PS Good to hear from you DaveT