Edo Period Corner Part II

[Bugyotsuji]

Mal X content, thanks for the link. Must have been posted by my evil twin. I was tempted to put the red cross into that thread, actually...

 

On another note, I hope to be updating this thread shortly with regards to the new pan lid/cover for the latest Sakai long gun. I have asked the guy if he can manage to loosen the Bisen breech screw at the same time. (He has some terrible vice, inherited from the old gunsmith.) Stupidly, I told him I am in no rush.

 

Also, the So-Shu Masahiro 'wakizashi' tanto has been away for a while and I'm hoping that this weekend there will be a phone call announcing that the new shirasaya and tsunagi are ready. Stupidly, I told him that I am in no hurry, although that usually puts pressure on people here to speed things up.

[Bugyotsuji]

Point of interest. Asking about the tanto shirasaya and tsunagi, I got a message back saying it should be ready shortly.

 

As to togi though, we face a fine problem. The primary dilemma for the togishi will be how to preserve this blade's sugata throughout any polishing process undertaken. Change the silhouette or geometry, and you could soon have a new kitchen knife. My guess is that previous owner(s) have already agonized on how to best preserve this blade.

[Bugyotsuji]

Today a little birdie told me that the work on the guns is complete, so we will need to set up a collection day.

 

I have one more long gun with a blocked 'himichi' vent that I may ask him to help with. I've tried just about everything I can think of, but every thickness and strength of wire gives up and bends eventually. If I could introduce an angled awl into the breech chamber... and attack the barrel rust in the vent passage from within, that could be a new angle of attack, though.

[Brian]

One thing I have tried before successfully is to put a very short section of cable, such as bicycle brake cable, into a drill, and go slowly. The multiple wires in the front act as a flexible "drill" but take it very easy and use oil.

[Bugyotsuji]

Brian, for some reason I missed your inspirational answer here. I can 'see' in my mind exactly what you are saying; that will be a really great tip for next time.

 

Although I had booked a slot at my friend's house for this coming Saturday, I actually managed the break-through yesterday morning. The wife was out so I had the house to myself, and I decided this thing was not going to defeat me. Altogether, including previous sessions, the whole effort took about six hours, but using Kure 5-56 spray, a tough wire and various pipe cleaners, from outside through the pan vent entrance, and from inside the barrel (angled sunlight showed the inner end of the channel), I started to get a blacker colour of gunge on the wire tip. It was a question of belief, as I could not be 100% sure that it had not been deliberately deactivated. Gradually I began to be able to 'see' what the tip of the wire was doing (the passageway is only one strand wide), as it scratched endlessly and then slowly began to engage; minuscule changes in the colour of what I was wiping off it became my only source of courage.

 

But what a relief! I was dead pleased yesterday, and this morning the same feeling of relief is still with me. This matchlock (the Inatomi-Ryu long gun I was discussing in the translation section) was no more than an interesting decoration when I bought it, but it is now back to full working order. 

 

Lesson learned. Always check everything, including the vent channel; assume nothing.

[Bugyotsuji]

Good news and bad news.

Which should I announce first?

 

To go with the bad. When I bought the Inatomi-Ryu military gun at auction, there was some trouble with another bidder. Can't go into detail here, but he thought that I was driving him up beyond what he was willing to pay, so as a point of pride he started to outbid me. After the auction he absolutely insisted on letting me have the gun at my highest bid, at a loss to himself, but the air between us was not good. Anyway I took it home, added a proper ramrod, gave it some TLC, and eventually managed to clear the blocked vent, as above. Ta-daaaa!

On Sunday he suddenly said, "If you're not too bothered over that gun, can we have it as a spare for the matchlock group?"

This is an offer I cannot refuse, and I know he will give me what I paid. 

So, I have to hand it over. He virtually runs the group and I cannot really say no. But I know inside that he will sell it to one of our members. On the other hand, he is the leader of the group, and this will finally clear the air between us. Seen it before! So a short but sweet goodbye to my first Inatomi school gun.

 

The other piece of bad news is that the trusty shirasaya-shi is overloaded with other orders, for Jinja ho-no-to, etc., so my tanto is stuck in a backlog. 

 

The good news is that the Sakai long gun is back with the bisen loosened and missing part replaced! Can you see it?

(He also opened another two stuck bisen for me, but the final one of those three he gave up on.)

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Oh, one of the rusted and stuck bisen I had asked him to have a look at was on a signed Bizen barrel that someone had given me a while back.

 

As a kind of joke I asked if he had a spare stock for a Bizen gun. "As a matter of fact, I do, but it is in terrible condition, and most of the lockwork is missing!" he said, and went off to fetch it from the back of his garage. Well, it's filthy, but close, and about the right length, but doesn't quite fit. I may be able to ream out the walls of the stock a little and get the barrel to settle in properly.

 

What do you reckon? Two-thirds of a Tanegashima must surely be better than one third!?!?

And with a missing serpentine, perhaps there will be no need to legally register this Frankenstock...

[Brian]

I like projects, and seems to me with Tanegashima there is always a way to find parts or make them, and it isn't seen as badly as messing with swords. So I say go for it.
As for the other dilemma...seems internal politics there overrules desire and decency. You may have to do something, doesn't mean I would do it under the same circumstances

[Bugyotsuji]

Sometimes wish human relations could be simpler…

[Bugyotsuji]

Today the long-awaited phone call!

 

The sun-nobi Masahiro tanto shirasaya and tsunagi are ready at last. He says that they have used a nice piece of ho-no-ki 朴の木 magnolia wood for a jewel-like surface finish. Hoping to pick them up at the sword museum on Sunday.

 

All good thngs come to those who wait.

 

The little pension is a blessing though, oil to the clanking gear wheels.

 

Then the decision will have to be made on nugui, etc. "To polish, or not to polish" as my old friend Hamlet once said.

[Bugyotsuji]

Resolution. No further action on this venerable old blade. A request for Togi would put a Togishi into making impossible choices. Although it could be tweaked, a Togishi might be tempted to give it the full works, but what would then emerge? Something very different?

To summarize package update.
Shirasaya created, received. Check.

Tsunagi created, received. Check.

Tantō blade tucked safely away for preservation. (*Shows typical Sō-Shū second-half of Namboku Chō workmanship. Around Eiwa.)

Has accompanying Koshiraé and NBTHK paperwork.
 

 

長さ一尺O寸二分 反りわずか

重ね薄く、三つ棟板目肌に地景がからみ地沸つ

く。表裏の刃文が違い、裏側は皆焼となる。”Length 1 Shaku 2 Bu, very slight sori, thin kasane, mitsumune, itame hada containing chikei, shows ji-nie. Blade front and back manifest contrasting hamon features, the back showing hitatsura.”

(Quoting my sword appreciation sensei.)

Photos available.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

On 4/16/2025 at 5:19 PM, Brian said:

I like projects, and seems to me with Tanegashima there is always a way to find parts or make them, and it isn't seen as badly as messing with swords. So I say go for it.
As for the other dilemma...seems internal politics there overrules desire and decency. You may have to do something, doesn't mean I would do it under the same circumstances

Valuable words. 

Today I messed around with the Bizen barrel that someone gave me a year or two back, and the old Bizen stock I was given ten days ago. They are so close! Obviously the Mekugi holes do not line up (about a centimeter off, although the front one actually fits!) so I had to cut out two new channels inside the stock for the little iron loop-hole bridges under the barrel. The stock is all split lengthways so I held a partly-successful gluing session.

Anyway, if you want to see what a hybrid, two-thirds of two small-bore Bizen long guns, looks like, here it is. Transformer!

 

 

PS Another friend says he feels sorry that I have to give back the Inatomi-Ryu battlefield gun. He wonders if I would be interested in buying his extremely rare Hōkin (bronze) barrel long gun! So kind. I said “No, appreciate the thought”, etc., but… 

[Bugyotsuji]

Yesterday was Children's Day at the family shrine of the Ikeda and top shrine for Bizen, Kibitsu Hiko Jinja. Around midday, following the blessing by the shrine priest, and the Shinkage Ryu demonstration, we performed a full-armour blackpowder demonstration on the Yabusame course.

 

After lunch the priests had requested some of us to remain in armour for group shots with the children and families, alongside a static display of the weaponry used earlier. I was surprised to hear our leader call my name while he was outlining the day's activities.

"Piers, you are in charge of explanations at the static display tables." I don't know if other members were as surprised as I was, but they silently gathered around as a group to help our corner go smoothly. For years, he would always cut me short when I was enthusiastically explaining things, but now it feels almost as though he has recognized something and given me free rein to talk.

[Bugyotsuji]

On the same day among the jumble of armour and other weaponry, I spotted what looked like a very early matchlock. It was the exaggerated, slightly ugly shape of the butt that caught my eye, so I asked the owner what he had. He is a new member, thus I was not too surprised to find he knew little about it. It was obviously an Inatomi-Ryu gun, but from several indications an early example.

 

"Does it have a Mei?" I asked, and he replied in the affirmative, showing me the registration card. Namikawa, it said, and it gave me vibes of Sakai, Osaka. "I'll look it up when I get home," I told him.

 

Last night I checked the records and there it was, the same name, Namikawa Gensuke, (Settsu) Sakai, with a notation of 'Keicho'. Well, that is bang on the money; Keicho ran from 1596-1614. This example must be among some of the earliest known guns in Japan. Sawada San who wrote the book, Nihon no Furuju 日本の古銃 calls 1543-1600 暗黒に時代 the Dark Age, as so little is known of this time, with very few artefacts surviving.

[Bugyotsuji]

Attic junk.

Up in the loft (attic) of a Japanese farmhouse I found the remains of two dusty old lanterns. The owner said she didn't want them, so reckoning I could fix them up I asked her not to trash them. Nothing really special: one was a simple box frame, unpapered, with a central spatula or tongue for a candle. The other was better, with three papered but torn windows, a door with a little catch, and a shrine-like roof.

 

Being an earthquake prone country, with houses made of wood and paper, you can understand the traditional nervousness around the danger of fires. Off the scale, what I came across when first living here. I do not plan to put real candles in them, unless following the golden rule of never leaving a room empty with a burning light unattended. Take the light with you (to the 'habakari' for example), or light a small carrying lantern and extinguish the main light. If you are the cause of a house fire, the whole village will probably hate you forever.

 

With these two as a temporary fix, I have simply fitted Buddhist altar lights, candle look-a-likes with batteries! 

 

As to age, they probably do not go back to the Edo period, but who can date such country traditions? The loft was once used for silkworm culture, but that must have been way before WW2.

 

Photos to follow. (Both lamps strengthened and rebuilt.)

1. The box frame. Maybe I will paper the facets.

 

2. The roofed shrine lantern.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

You can see the construction a little better here. Very flimsily made, but it obviously follows a natural, subconscious pattern.

And look at that Torii Sori! 

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Even though I was not and am not looking to replace the fine 10-Monmé Shizutsu samurai gun I parted with some years back, two people have offered really nice examples just recently.

 

The problem is that each is special in its own right, and probably for that reason each is far more than I really want to pay.

 

One has an inscription mentioning warding off barbarian ships, referring it seems to Commodore Perry. Made by a Bizen smith that I would like to collect, plus it is historically interesting.

 

The other is made of hōkin. Bronze pistols are rare, but do occasionally turn up; I know of six or seven. Any long gun in bronze though, is already close to mythical, as rare as hen’s teeth. A 10-Monmé in bronze must surely be even rarer if such a thing is possible.

 

They could be snapped up by others if I hesitate. Do I sell off other lesser things and go for one of these? Naturally I’d like both. Which one?  Do I meditate and free myself from desire? It’s been an exceptionally expensive time recently anyway. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh….

 

Sell my soul?

[Matsunoki]

26 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

They could be snapped up by others if I hesitate

Yep.

26 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Do I sell off other lesser things and go for one of these

Yep, every time

 

27 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Which one

Both

 

27 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Do I meditate and free myself from desire?

Nope.

[Matsunoki]

28 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

 

Sell my soul?

I didn’t know there was a buyer for souls. Got his email??🙂

[Bazza]

Remember the Collective Chant "We feel no pain!!"  Time and the drip-feed system covers most expenditure caused by giving in to Desire.  Some of us even embrace it without telling our wives!!  And don't forget, the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten...

 

BaZZa.

[Matsunoki]

Hi Piers, Kevin Page said to me, around 35 years ago, “Never ever let anything good get away from you, you’ll never forget it and always regret it”

I hope you can find a way!……

[Bugyotsuji]

This is totally stupid. Here I am actually listening to you people, and frantically running those sums through my head!

Grrrr….

 

You are right of course. That is the infuriating thing. Where there’s a will there’s a way. I’ll be seeing the second guy with the bronze example tomorrow. I can’t think of any reason to say ‘no’ now. I know he’ll give me time to sell matches on the street corner… 

[Brian]

Buy both. Worry about how you'll afford them later. You'll always find a way. Never regret buying something you want, otherwise what are you working your whole life for?

[Robert S]

I'm having exactly this problem with a 1932 Rolls Royce 20/25 Sports Saloon right now.  Could I afford it?  Well, technically yes.  Should I afford it?  Probably no.  Arghhhhh!  I feel your pain, and look forward to hearing the outcome!

[Tohagi]

@Robert&Piers once in a time opportunity...

If you let it go, be sure you will have no regrets. 

 

Best regards, 

 

Eric 

[Shugyosha]

On 5/12/2025 at 12:06 PM, Matsunoki said:

I didn’t know there was a buyer for souls. Got his email??🙂

He resells them too - you can pick up some interesting ones if you’re patient. 

[Shugyosha]

But what Brian said get both and offload the one you like least…if there’s one you like least. 

[Bugyotsuji]

One thing I am good at, actually a past master of, but not proud of, is prevaricating. Both guys are waiting in the wings. One of them I managed to put off for a week, but he will sell it at auction next Tuesday if I don't move. It's a bit like letting a woman know your intentions...

 

"On top of old Smokey

All covered with snow,

I lost my true lover,

From courting too slow."

 

On top of which I had a chance to buy a Sukekane wakizashi last Tuesday, a beautiful thing, long Mei Tomonari 58, Ansei 3. Luckily I prevaricated. Later I learned that "the central part of the kane 包 kanji if written with a Ro ロ is by Sukekane, but if it's two strokes/dots, it's by his disciple(s). As works, though, both are equally fine", apparently. Since I ddn't know that at the time, I didn't check for it, so now I'll never know, but it's the sort of thing we learn by studying and listening, and if you know, you know, and if you don't, then more fool you. (Mental note to follow this up.) Scary stuff, this.

[Brian]

If you know the prices are ok, and you would at least get your money back if you sell, then the risk is minimal. But both, and if you find things a bit tight, you know you can sell one or both and recover your funds. That's how I work with my knife collecting, and so far I've managed to keep everything I wanted to keep, safe in the knowledge that I am just storing funds that I can recover if I need to.

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, that just about does it. These buckets of cold water work wonders! Both guys want me to buy from them as they probably cannot get the same price elsewhere. To be honest to myself, much as I want them, I am pretty sure I would not get the same money back, not here in Japan anyway. In addition, trying to export these would be a labo(u)r of love. And no, I will not regret not having bought them when I had the chance! You heard it here.