JakeNYC

Good catch, Chishiki. I would hope admin would follow up and be interested who is attempting this rather than just tell you to read posts made FOUR years ago...

. Sorry for the low resolution images. They're not my own.

It seems there used to be a group in the city. Is anyone planning on starting some meetings or (gasp!) a show even? I'm jealous of the San Francisco people---

More! We're living vicariously through this

Thank you for walking me through all of that. I was jumping the gun a bit on the last character. Best - Jake

Thank you so much for the detailed response and links! Much appreciated. Just by working with the kanji in different translation services and asking a few friends. 次兵 - tsugi-hei could literally mean "second soldier" couldn't it?

Current hypothesis: 九州肥後同田貫 (Dotanuki signature) 次兵衛丞 (dedication/ who it's for: "second guard in the *insert translated rank here*'s guards" 丞 = prime minister in Chinese, apparently, and or maybe deputy, whatever that might mean.

Thank you Piers. I'm suspecting that this was an order or a gift for a "deputy's" guards. It's a very large omi-yari from muromachi period.

So it's a rank?

Hi again and thanks for that. Here's the mei and what NBTHK had to say-

Hi Steve, thanks for the quick response. Here's the full mei: 九州肥後同田貫次兵衛丞 I have the first 7 characters to be a Dōtanuki

Hi everyone, I'm looking at a mei with four extra characters at the end. Does this say "second soldier of the bodyguard" ? Thanks! 次兵衛丞

I just got back from a few hours in the public library and enjoyed reading both of Knutsen's books. I think you'll find the scholarship in the 60s book is a bit off on some things and in some ways, but any area of research needs to start somewhere. In terms of answering your question on yari differences, Knutsen does suggest that certain yari cross sections and shapes were preferred by horsemen over others. In addition, Knutsen is in line with what the members above are stating: that longer yari were for samurai who could commission them, or were given them as gifts. I'll attach some pictures I took today. I'm also speculating here, but if you are charging someone down with an Omi Yari, you may run the risk of over penetration, and then you either get yanked off your horse with it, or it snaps. A small stout one isn't going to result in catastrophes like that. A short one will obviously cost less, too.

Thanks for the recommendation. It was interesting to read the 60s book and compare it to the 2002 one. This area of scholarship (understandably) has improved since then. Their list of smiths who made spears was very short and didn't have Masazane (disappointing). But hey, what can you do. Spears seem to be a relatively niche area of this field.

Do you have any resources on Yari that you could recommend?