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Hi Charles, thank you for the additional pictures! Here are the signature of my example above:

...just stumbled over a specimen out of my archive: Guess we can be quite sure!

Charles, sometimes you can find remarkably diffrences in the way the kanji were executed in a mei. It depends on the person who carved the characters. You can run into simplifications, abbreviations, sôsho (grass script), or a mixture of all. There is still a lot left to explain.... However, I attached a picture of another example that might help! This single picture is not telling much. Can you provide images from the front, sides, back (all with the same angle), top and bottom?

Maybe 社 (company), Piers?

Welcome Charles, I guess your helmet is signed “武州住秀重作” (Bushū jū Hideshige saku - made by Hideshige of Bushū province). Probably mid Edo!? Pics of the kabuto are welcome

I think it is “阿州藤川正ロ作” (Ashū Fujikawa Masa ? saku). Still looking for the second character of the name… Maybe 守, but the only Masamori in the list of Ashū smiths signed with 森

I tend to think “…大矢友信” (Ōya Tomonobu)!

Can’t figure out how 紙 (shi/kami) is fitting in this context. Special name of a certain steel type of Yasugi?

I think we can agree that this hachi is “not that old” and resembles a “shihō-jiro daienzan hoshi kabuto”. Nevertheless hard to place in the time frame Luc suggested… So let me raise some questions: What are these remnants between the edges inside? Is the tehen no kanamono made of one piece? Observations later…

Right side we have “10” “?” and “gou” (号 = number, edition, make, model, issue, part of that group)…So it can well be for assembly?!

Right side looks like “十五号”. Can’t make out the second character, marked in red…

“日工納” seems to be in the cartouche (Nikkou store… possible reading?!).

The inscription on the flag above the Mon reads “八幡大菩薩” (Hachiman Dai Bosatsu)… The caption on the right refers to a certain 相馬師常 (Souma Shitsune) who “obviously” received this flag from 源 頼朝 (Minamoto no Yoritomo)….if I got it right?!

Hi Sam, I think we can interpret this as the one below. If so, then there might be a connection to Hirooka family...

Me too, Piers!

“吉氏” or “吉武” I guess…🤔

“清心子正行” (Seishinshi Masayuki), I would assume. Oh, Moriyama San beats me…

Yes, the lacquer seems not well done in these places. Along some of the suji as well (or are picture deceptive?). Anyway, we need a glimpse inside 🤓 Colin, can you take some close ups of the shikoro in order to get an idea of its construction? Are there “lacquer noses” along some of the suji?

Yes 🤓 There are several oddities leading me to this assumption. At first have look at the strange placement of the sankō no byō 😉

Unfortunately the ukebari is hiding the internal appearance, but from what can be seen and despite the rather nice shape of hachi and shikoro, I dare say …. Not Edo!

Very suspicious… Do you have a picture from the underside or/ and interior?

Hence we can be sure…!

Hello David, at a glance I would say resin copy of a Bayo-jingasa. The cracks are looking kinda strange…different than one might expect from the materials commonly used. Internal surface looks “unreal” as well. However, as you know, judging by images only is always tricky. So can you take more pics? Especially from the damages on the top and the whole inside?!

Hi Gary, guess I agree with Luc! Interesting helmet. Can you try an endoscope checking for a signature?

Welcome Saad, at first glance it seems that both pieces were once lacquered and for what reason ever, the urushi was stripped. Maybe too much damaging?! The kabuto has a nice shape. Paired with this Nara-men and the matching tare/shikoro (kiritsuke-kozane) makes it a “set”, one can say… Estimating age is, unfortunately, not that easy because Zunari-kabuto as also Nara-men were made over a longer time span. However, provided that the shikoro is original to the helmet, the small fukigaeshi pointing rather to an earlier date, backed by the overall shape of the hachi itself. I would agree with your assumption that the tsunomoto is a later addition. The two holes above might suggest that a narabi-tsunomoto was initially fitted (or the maker changed mind during his work 🤔).