Iaido dude

The passage he brushed is a very well known writing (my wife knew it from her study of Chinese classical literature and religious studies) and there is another example of this same daruma painting and calligraphy in which the kanji in question is rendered in an identical manner (below). The only difference is the variation in the way he signs. Yamaoka’s cursive script is very idiosyncratic (and recognizable), but also very consistent. His brushwork of “mu” and even his signature evolved profoundly over the course of adult life, dramatically informed by his enlightenment experience. I have asked the Rinzai master of Shodo at Chosei Zen Monastery for help translating the other work. I also noticed the commonality of those three characters to be striking (“…instead of water…”). When you study his many known works just focusing on recognizing the characters by form alone without comprehension of meaning, recognizable patterns emerge. The Chosei Zen approach is to experience the calligraphy for its expressive power rather than its literal meaning.

Daruma Yamaoka Tesshu (山岡 鉄舟) was born in Edo June 10, 1836 and died July 19, 1888. The vast majority of his works were calligraphy from the Jubokudo lineage of Shodo established by Wang Hsi-chi (Wang Xizhi), a Chinese calligrapher of the 4th century. Yamaoka created a calligraphy manual based on the 154 Chinese characters of a poem – “The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup” – by the Tang Dynasty poet Tu Fu (712 – 770 A.D.) that is still practiced by the Chosei Zen Rhode Island Zen Dojo in the US. This powerful depiction of Daruma, the patriarch of Japanese Zen Buddhism, is a rare subject matter for Yamaoka. The calligraphy is taken directly from a famous poem Xinxin Ming (心性铭) attributed to the great Chan master Jianzhi Sengcan (鉴智僧璨). The translation is "Directly pointing to the human heart/mind, seeing one’s true nature leads to Buddhahood [直指人心見性成佛]. Brushed by Yamaoka Tetsutaro, Senior Fourth Court Rank." The Chinese pronunciation is "Zhí zhǐ rén xīn jiàn xìng chéng fó." The origin of this line is the Platform Sutra of the 6th Patriarch of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism who was named Dajian Huineng or Hui-neng (638-713). The scroll painting and calligraphy (kakejiku) comes in a fitted paulownia box on which has been brushed "Yamaoka Tesshu Buddhist Layman, Bodhidharuma" on the outer lid and "May 1990, Follower of Xuanzang (early and influential Chinese Buddhist Monk of the Tang Dynasty)" on the inner lid. This Zen painting with calligraphy dates to 1885 (3 years before Yamaoka's untimely death and well after his enlightenment experience at age 45, based on his seals and during a time when he was the personal bodyguard and advisor to the Meiji emperor. He played the central role in the bloodless surrender of Edo castle--one of the most important events in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Fearing the loss of traditional Yamaoka was born Ono Tetsutaro. A samurai and master swordsman who founded the Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū (一刀正伝無刀流) school of swordsmanship ("Sword of No-Sword). He was also a master calligrapher who is said to have completed 1 million works, and a recognized lay Rinzai Zen master who died in the seated meditation position at the age of 52 from gastric cancer. Aside from being a master of Ken-Zen-Sho (Sword-Zen-Calligraphy), he was renown for his love of drinking sake and sleeping. At 62.5 cm x 137 cm (excluding mount), this work is among the largest of his works.

Steve Waszak gave me some advice early on that was mostly about determining if a tsuba attribution is correct, but it extends to fakes and reproductions: “Assume the worst case scenario and only acquire if you have painstakingly convinced yourself that the tsuba is genuinely what you think it is.” I fell prey to a reproduction recently and am implementing a systematic approach to avoid “magical thinking.”

Cast tsuba? https://www.jauce.com/auction/1188262208

Early in my collecting I brought a fake to the attention of Galerie Zacke in order to have my bid retracted. They were a bit indignant, but allowed me to withdraw my bid. They did not pull the item.

My other prized Yamaoka Tesshu painting is shown below and has a place of honor on the high wall where I hang my small collection of museum quality and published Zen calligraphy and painting. I see it every day walking down the hallway. Poem translation: "Point directly at the human heart, see into nature, and become a Buddha. Brushed by Yamaoka Tetsutaro, Senior Fourth Court Rank." The depiction of Daruma, the patriarch of Japanese Zen Buddhism, is also a rare subject matter for Yamaoka. At 62.5 cm x 137 cm (excluding mount), it is also among the largest of his works.

I have exhausted all of my books and on-line resources trying to obtain a translation of the following kakejiku of a work by Yamaoka Tesshu that has been in my collection for some time, but just recently taken out of storage for permanent display. The original documentation from the Zen gallery owner (Belinda Sweet, retired) was lost during a move from Boston to Florida, although it may turn up eventually. Although Yamaoka brushed as many as 1 million works, the vast majority are calligraphy alone. There are a few common subjects for accompanying paintings (Daruma, various other Buddhist themes, ships, Mt. Fuji), this one is a combination of a vine-like plant and what I believe is a waterfall because of a similar rare published work also shown below along with translation that has the phrase "...gentle waterfall of sake.". The last few characters on the left column and that read "sezu" may be identical to mine, but is not followed by "Sake" as the first character of the next column. It reads like "Abundance" in kanji. Like a few of his works, the order of the characters and columns in this published work is read from left to right even though he signs in the left lower corner. Yamaoka Tesshu (山岡 鉄舟) was born in Edo June 10, 1836 and died July 19, 1888. This Zen painting was brushed in the last year of his life (well after his enlightenment experience at age 45) based on his seals and during a time when he was the personal bodyguard and advisor to the Meiji emperor. Yamaoka was born Ono Tetsutaro. A samurai and master swordsman who founded the Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū (一刀正伝無刀流) school of swordsmanship, he was also a master calligrapher who is said to have completed 1 million works, and a recognized Zen master who died in the seated meditation position at the age of 52 from gastric cancer. Aside from being a master of Ken-Zen-Sho (Sword-Zen-Calligraphy), he was renown for his love of drinking sake and sleeping.

Thanks, Steve. It’s good to know that the association of Nobuie with Christian iconography and practice during his time is likely not just speculative and is supported by published scholarship. Perhaps the best conclusions we can possibly reach should always frame the question against the historical, sociocultural, political, religious, and known aesthetic landscape that existed at the time. The question of whether Nobuie was himself a Christian may not be easily determined (I was under the impression that there are no reliable supporting historical records to this effect), but I’m convinced that he made Christian tsuba whose meaning was clear to those who openly displayed them.

There appears be an amida-yasuri motif of fine lines radiating from the center. There are eight sets of an outer horizontal bar over an inner circle. The radiating lines actually go nearly to the rim, but are broken up by the bars (these were carved out after lines were made). This may be another stylized depiction of the Buddhist 8-fold path.

This is the link to the Ryuken site of modern reproduction tsuba that are treated with a special patination technique. http://tsubaryuken.com/ I noticed that the upper sekigane on all of the tsuba look like a sword had never been mounted because there was no attempt to replicate the upward indent to accommodate the ha. We see this often extending into the seppa-dai on previously mounted tsuba when the sekagane fall out over time. I also noticed that the vast majority are only 4 mm thick, although some are 5 mm thick (none are thicker). The carving/filing of sukashi walls is less even than we see on genuine old iron sukashi tsuba. The precise work on the hitsu-ana on the Jauce tsuba is more like we would expect from many genuine tsuba, so Jean may be right that it is genuine. I think these points should be kept in mind when considering a tsuba that we can't examine ourselves in hand or that don't have papers. If I were seriously interested in this tsuba, I would have request more images from the seller.

There are only 3 images provided and it is not papered. Hard to say. Ryuken makes reproductions that are even more intricate than this one without charging more than for simpler designs. What I gather from the comments on this post is that nearly all designs and construction types can be and will be reproduced/faked.

This current Jauce auction is a bit suspicious. Has the kind of surface of the Ryuken copies including absence of indent in the upper sekigane. https://www.jauce.com/auction/k1187148258

Nobuie is speculated to have included Christian iconography in his works. We also know that stylized renderings are common and may not be intuitive in their intended meaning. Even if Nobuie were not a Christian, he mat have made it as a hidden Christian tsuba on commission for a high-ranking buke who practiced Christianity. That would explain the stylization of the motifs. And I would agree that rosary beads are common to both Christian and Buddhist practice. If that Nobuie we were discussing does have a somewhat hidden Christian symbol on the right side, it is a possibility that the Christian rosary is depicted on the left side. This rendering of the rosary is identical to the one I posted from the Iida-Koendo site, which has quite a few Nobuie and Kanshiro Nishigaki works. I would think this seller is reputable. There are well-known Momoyama works y Nobuie that feature distinctly Buddhist iconography such as the 8-fold path. We can’t very well ask him what his spiritual practices were, but he lived in a time when Christianity was being practiced and often simultaneously along with Buddhism since the eastern orientation is toward a “both/and” sensibility.

That’s in the description on the link.

The motif on the left is stylized rosary beads. https://iidakoendo.com/11883/

Looks like it was crudely added later and hidden beneath seppa.

The tsuka and saya are carved from poplar due to ready availability and low cost. Honoki is traditional, but can only be sourced from Japan at a high cost (~$100+ for a katana saya). Future efforts will use alder. Over the weekend, I planed two pieces of poplar with a traditional Japanese flat plane ($25 Amazon.com, below left) to allow the two halves to be eventually glued together without any gaps. Then I traced the outline of the blade and then 1/4" around the blade that will form the outer dimensions of the 32" saya. An oil collection slot is carved at the tip. Again, I've had to scrap the result of my first attempt at carving with a specialized saya-nomi ($169, square-tipped bent chisel made by Walter Sorrell) because it takes practice to achieve control of the depth and extent of carving of the walls for each half of the saya. The bent configuration is crucial for this undertaking. The challenge is that since the sword blade is "triangular" in configuration and must be seated perfectly between two halves, the depth has to be adjusted along the entire length. This can be readily seen in the pic of the habaki seated at the opening. A piece of wood was inadvertently carved off, which ruined the work. However, the learning curve is extraordinarily steep and rewarding. The whole experience of carving is meditative. I don't feel the pain from chronic neuropathy of my left neck and arm that is otherwise my constant companion during every waking moment. I've saved this failed saya carving attempt so that I can glue the two halves together and practice shaping the outer surfaces of the saya before I tackle a successful carving attempt. A small radius plane ($100 Amazon.com, below right) is used to shape the convex side of the saya. The initial investment for good tools cost about the same as for the bare blade.

The tsuba ($112, 116 gm) is an excellent cast steel replica of an Ono school iron sukashi tsuba with bamboo and bracken shoot motifs. The solid silver fuchi-koshirae ($165) feature a bamboo motif and the solid silver menuki ($60) feature a tiger in the bamboo grove motif. The tsuka is lined with genuine black ray skin same and the tsuka-ito is genuine black leather ($20) and is in the process of being wrapped in the katate maki (battle wrap) style with hishigami folded from traditional mulberry paper (Amazon.com). Since this is my first attempt, I fully expected and am confirming that I am not entirely successful on the first try. The battle wrap is a bit ambitious. I didn't recognize at the start that the two halves of the tsuka-ito need to be separate lengths because the longer strand alone will be used for the "spiral" wrapping for the middle 1/3. The shorter strand is cut after the first 1/3 is wrapped to allow the longer strand to transition to parallel wrapping. It needs to transition again to two strands when the wrap resumes with crossover folding. I ended up with too little of the "longer" strand to complete the wrapping, and an excess of the "short" strand. The details for the wrap are from "The Art of Tsukamaki" by Dr. Thomas Buck (see diagram). So now I'm waiting for another 4 meter length of tsuka-ito to arrive. Items from China appear to come slowly, but so far no tariff has been charged since the de minimus exemption was ended a month ago.

I'm finally getting around to posting this pictorial diary of the creation and assembly (in real-time) of the fittings for a folded-steel damascus onokubi-zakuri style shinken blade that was made in China ($262 on eBay, 27.5", 744 gm including habaki). Alloy fittings made in China tend to be of poor quality and appearance, but the sword-making quality has been impressive. Only a few merchants on eBay sell just bare blades. It is intended for tameshigiri with a lighter blade my other shinken to supplement my iaido practice. A deep bohi runs along ~1/3 of the blade from the tang after which the spine (mune) thins until it reaches the tip (yokote) and widens again. A thinner 2nd bohi runs the entire length. These features lighten the blade, produce a pronounced a high-pitched tachikaze due to increased turbulence when the blade travels through the air in a straight cut, and lend aesthetic appeal.

And I have on used authentic tsuba up to now. However, I never thought I would have the option to put a repro with the design of my tsuba on an iaito or a practice katana (not nihonto) to inspire me to strike like a thunderbolt (not exactly a traditional Yagyu Shikage-Ryu teaching, but probably close).

The surface of the new ones on the site do look too fresh and uniform. The sekigane at the top seems too round on all of them and unlikely to have been actually mounted, but the one at the bottom is a good imitation of the sharp corners you might expect. They are almost all 4 mm thick (some 3.5 mm), which is generally thinner than the originals. Given a decade and/or with intentional distressing and it might still be difficult to tell if it is original. I might consider purchasing a repro of an iconic one-of-a-kind original tsuba design for an iaito or practice katana. For example, I own this Kanayama thunderbolt tsuba with hozon from Sasano's gold book. I wouldn't thick of mounting such a valuable tsuba on a practice katana. However, Ryuken makes the ¥24,000 reproduction if I were so inclined. The only difference in the design is that it has two kozuka hitsu-ana, whereas both the originals in the gold and silver books (two slightly different ones) have one kozuka and one kogai hitsu-ana. Of course, the yakite shitate on the original is not present on the reproduction, while the latter has tagane-ato on each side of the seppa-dai. Original vs. reproduction:

Tim, this is a bit disturbing if the tsuba maker is adding sekigane as well. He states that these are intended to be replicas for collectors and for mounting on iaito, but from images it would be potentially difficult to distinguish them from the originals. This maybe where shinsa plays a role since the tsuba would have been assessed in hand and photographed.

Jean, yes of course the work of apprentices in ateliers must be acknowledged as reflecting the original style and standard designs/composition of and supervised/authorized production by the master. For me as an active modern day collector, the interest is in relation to: 1) what reproductions of any kind and intention tell us about which original and iconic tsuba designs and artistic/material production features are of relatively broad appreciation (can give some indication of the historical value of genuine pieces); and 2) what should we be particularly aware of regarding contemporary fakes posing as genuine antiques. I’m less interested in the plethora of Edo period reproductions and fakes such as of Nobuie and Yamakichibei with poorly executed mei. These should be well-known to collectors, although I am surprised by how often such tsuba are being offered for $300 by seemingly reputable dealers without any other comment except "...with mei of Nobuie," which is technically not fraud, but nonetheless feels dishonest towards those less experienced collectors.

Thanks, Jean. I'm interested in which tsuba are chosen and worthy of going through the trouble for reproduction, although it's very interesting to learn from you which features are difficult to replicate. The market forces that include the tourist trade would be expected to drive the reproduction of cheap copies that are easy to make. Also, I think there is a difference in intention and quality of copies, fakes, and utsushi. The later two are of special importance to collectors because good fakes are intended to command high prices with the intention of being passed off as the real thing. The one I purchased recently was cast to imitate the sekigane (I was fooled by this) and may have been intended to deceive even dealers (can't really tell if the seller was aware) and less likely to be reproductions of famous and iconic tsubas expressly for mounting on iaito or katana. The utsushi are of course acknowledged homage pieces by well-known and skilled tsubako working in a particular popular style.

Recently I posted what I thought was a genuine Ohno/Yagyu style tsuba, which turned out to be a very good replica and is now being used for a katana that I am putting together (I will soon post my progress on the Nihonto forum). I was surprised that it was chosen for replication because the design is not common (bamboo stalk and bracken shoots). I just happened to see an alloy replica tsuba made for mounting on practice iaito, which is nearly identical to a genuine early Edo Owari sukashi tsuba in my collection that has the motif of four swords pointing in all directions ("yomo ken-ritsu"). The only design difference is that the replica has 2 kozuka hitsu-ana. I would be interested in seeing other examples of genuine tsuba in your collections and their replicas (or outright fakes), as well as your speculation on what features may have been worthy of such flattery. In this case, I believe that the design is thought to be iconic of the martial spirit and quiet strength of the samurai. The original has too numerous to count fine granular tekkotsu over the entire rim that gives the appearance of rust in the sunlight. This quince-shaped (mokko) tsuba harkens back to Tokugawa Ieyasu's famous "lingering snow" tsuba, although the stylized sword tips lend an even stronger martial feeling.