Edo Period Corner Part II

[kusunokimasahige]

Well the one on the right has the name Yamanaka and then something but that is probably not related to the headstone in front of us and the offering basket of wood

 

So he died/was buried in 1478. (文明１０年) The year the Ōuchi left Kyōtō.

 

Looks like the Tsuchimochi han Kamon.

 

Dang.... Getting pretty pissed off now with myself.

 

KM

 

BTW, I never sleep. As an omipotent being I need to be awake ADHD......... so sleep in short bursts in general.

[Bugyotsuji]

Henk-Jan, Yamanaka is good!

Now I must apologize. I was 100 years out. 1578.

[kusunokimasahige]

GEEEEEEEEEZ !!!!!

 

And I almost said Yamanaka Shikanosuke (Yukimori) !

 

If it were not for your 100 years off !

 

 

KM

 

http://www.samurai-archives.com/shikanosuke.html

 

But the deer antlers ? I only know his crescent moon Maedate. (have his portrait [facsimile] in my house on the wall.)

 

You must have been thinking of Sanada Yukimura, who did wear deer antlers and who is not the person buried there.

Sanada Yukimura's death site is in the grounds of the Yasui shrine in Ōsaka.

[Bugyotsuji]

Yamanaka Shika-no-suke (Yukimura) wore deer antlers at the famous single-combat battle outside Gassan Toda Castle in Amako. His name Shikanosuke contains 'shika' or deer. His Mohri army challenger in single combat Shinagawa Daisen became a wolf, (changing his name to Taraki Okami-no-suke to poke fun at Yukimura) and it was said afterwards that the deer beat the wolf.

 

The question here is what Kikkawa Motoharu did, and how Shikanosuke eventually died. What is behind this quote from your link above?

 

Vastly outnumbered and forsaken by their allies, the Amako gave in. Katsuhisa committed suicide but Yamanaka was taken alive and was offered the grant of a small fief in the far-western provinces. Yamanaka actually accepted the fief but his old enemy Kikkawa Motoharu was taking no chances and arranged for his murder at Takahashi in Bitchu Province.

 

A brave warrior reknowned for his skill in arms, Yamanaka is sometimes seen as a 16th Century Kusunoki Masashige in terms of his qualities of loyalty and devotion. His surrender at Kozuki tarnished his legacy slightly, but takes little away from the story of the 'samurai of the crescent moon'.

 

See some antlers here!

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Yamanak ... CAcQ_AUoAg

[Bugyotsuji]

After he was offered the fiefdom of Suwo, he accepted and travelled West from Kozuki Castle presumably under some kind of guard.

 

When they reached Bitchu Takahashi in present-day Okayama, they had to cross the river in a boat or in boats just south of the town at a place called Ai no Watashi 阿井の渡. At this point he was set upon under Kikkawa Motoharu's orders and his head was struck from his body. The body was left lying there on a sand spit, and the head was carried off. The priest of the local temple set up a grave for his body and the gravestone can still be seen there today, apparently. (Next on my list, this weekend if possible, as we are up there displaying various armour, guns, swords and bits in one of the main Buke-yashiki.)

 

The death had to be confirmed by Kubi-jikken, so his head was carried to *Tomo by the sea, 鞆の浦 Tomo-no-Ura just south of Fukuyama. Beautiful fishing village, in a strategic spot where currents in the Seto Inland Sea cross. Presumably that is where Mohri Terumoto and Ashikaga Yoshiaki were waiting to confirm it. And this is where his head is buried, maybe 100 miles from his body in Takahashi.

 

For years I have heard this story but never until recently managed to find the time while in Tomo to go and look for the marker stone, which you can see in the photograph above. In the back right on the vertical stone that Henk-Jan was reading it says: "Yamanaka Shikanosuke Kubidzuka".

 

(*Tomo is where Miyazaki Hayao stayed when he was composing "Ponyo".)

[kusunokimasahige]

I am indeed also wondering about that part of the story of which I put a link to.

 

Kubi-dzuka should be clear enough that his head is there

 

Very interesting ! When you go up the place his body apparently rests please take photos !

 

By the way I am now reading : "The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga" by Ōta Gyūichi (Translated and edited by J.S.A. Elisonas and J.P. Lamers). I picked it up at the University Library. The book itself is too expensive for me at the moment but very good. http://books.google.nl/books/about/The_ ... edir_esc=y

 

 

On another note, here are some trinkets which came in today.

 

-A replica Koban Coin of the correct size and colour

 

-A mouthpiece of a Kiseru pipe with inlaid farmhouse with carved trees and path (age unknown, could be late edo but probably later)

 

I have 4 kiseru mouthpieces left *plain* two silver, two copper coloured Of which one has a tiny Mark. That one I will post in the translation section later today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KM

[Bugyotsuji]

Nothing like a good book!

 

Koban are great. Never been able to afford one of the big ones, but I do have two of the smaller Hime-koban (Princess Koban).

The trouble again is that they were sold to me as genuine, but without substantiating paperwork, no-one really knows, and it costs something like 100 USD to send them to Tokyo for the pleasure of authentification. Dealers say that with paperwork they are worth around 1,000 dollars, but maybe 4-500 without. Everyone tells me not to bother. At least if yours is a repro you can rest easy.

 

Here is a blog in Japanese with lots of photographs of the various altars, stones etc., marking where his body is buried and cared for.

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ikatsu2002/30112695.html

 

Is it my imagination, or is there much more local sympathy for him where his body fell? Where his head is it, it seems they have done the decent thing, ie pray for his soul, but not a lot more.

[Bugyotsuji]

PS You said, "Now I need some candles." Do you have a source of 'Wa-rosoku'? Even in Japan they tend to be rare and expensive nowadays. (I suppose they could be ordered over the internet.)

[kusunokimasahige]

Hey Piers, no I do not have a steady source of wa-rosoku. I have however found a dealer who has 50 for 50 US$. The snall ones of course, not the large ones for in the larger stands. They are indeed expensive, some coloured ones are 34 US$ for three.

 

Interesting story and photos !! I think many of the people in Japan still have some form of respect for the Samurai, but maybe more so for their ghosts. I know of the story that in Tōkyō you should not be so unlucky as to meet the headless ghost of Taira No Masakado But on the other hand, not many flowers are laid by the Ear-Mound containing the noses of many Koreans.

 

There is a great respect for the dead in Japan as far as I can tell (being in the West where people deal differently with death).

Not that we do not have respect for the dead but at times many graves are desecrated here by drunk youngsters or even political activists.

 

The Kyoho type Koban I have is at least 7 centimeters in length so a fairly correct size for Edo period Japan. And yes they come in several shapes. There are great sites on these coins of which this is one : http://www.pierre-marteau.com/wiki/inde ... apan:Money

 

Originals I am not able to buy yet. I did see one once for a low price I lost out on which I posted on NMB but in that case the seller clearly did not know what he had and it was in a different section on ebay, not the numismatics pages.

 

What also can be expensive are the smaller 1-2 Ichibanbu or the shu silver and gold coins. The copper and bronze coins regularly are cheaper, but also there originals are not always originals. But since I like them for re-enactment purposes replica's do not matter to me.

 

Here is a size reference chart of Koban :

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... lution.jpg

 

KM

[Baka Gaijin]

Here ya go:

 

http://www.thejapaneseconnection.com/mm ... e=Takazawa

 

Cheers

[kusunokimasahige]

Link not working, but will look it up later.

 

KM

[Jean]

Interesting rifle, Makes me think of the Savage navy 1861.

[Baka Gaijin]

Evening HJ

 

Link works here in UK.

 

Cheers

[kusunokimasahige]

Site works on Opera but not on Mozilla or Iexplorer. Strange but well.....

 

Thanx anyway Malcolm !

 

KM

 

[25-10-2014 : The bronze/iron shokudai arrived today. It is way bigger than I expected 30cm's in length and the disc is 12.5cm's in diameter ! Great ! ]

[Bugyotsuji]

　 　Where are the new pics?

 

Henk-Jan: "When you go up to the place his body apparently rests please take photos !"

 

Finally managed to visit Bitchu Matsuyama Castle town, (Takahashi Shi) today with no other agenda this time, and allowed an old local gentleman to show me around. (Well, he's in his 70's but nimble as a spring chicken.) For the story of the head see earlier posts.

 

With my guide's instructions and finger pointing I was able to get the layout of the river and land and to see in what manner and where Yamanaka Shika-no-suke was betrayed and murdered.

 

Anyone planning to visit needs to see: 1. the standing stone marking the spot where his head was severed, then 2. the standing stone grave where his body was wrapped in a cloth and placed in a stoneware jar and buried.

 

Not for the general public is 3. where a wooden tablet is placed in a mausoleum behind the altar in a nearby temple for offerings of conciliatory prayers by the priest.

 

The river follows a slightly different path today and the banks have been built out and filled in, so it is worth hearing how it originally looked and why his party had to cross there, seemingly in the wrong direction away from their first destination where Mohri Terumoto was waiting in his HQ at Bitchu Matsuyama Castle. There was no road on 'this' side ie the present-day city side of the river, so it meant crossing the river once, travelling up the other bank, and then crossing back over below the castle. The only way they could break up his party was to get them into boats, leaving him behind waiting on the bank. He was sitting on a rock by what was then the Ban-sho.

[Bugyotsuji]

This place, photo 1, is where his physical body is interred. His body's grave (Haka 墓).

 

Photo 2. The little alcove behind the altar in the temple contains a standing gold-topped name plaque top left.

 

Here (in the two middle links between photos 2 & 5) are the river crossing, and the standing stone on the built-up modern floodbank, to mark where the sandbank once was in the middle of the river where his head was cut off and body left. In the garden here, the people of Takahashi hold their Bon-odori in the summer, somehow linked to the old event.

 

Oh, and photo 5, a map of the spot where he died, marked in red box, white arrow. (The bottom white box with pink arrow says Yamanaka Shikanosuke no Haka 墓 (grave) is here, but this is incorrect. At that spot in the public garden is only a memorial 碑 'Hi' to mark the spot, (linked pic 2) not his grave/tomb which is further along and up the hill a bit, ie photo 1.)

[kusunokimasahige]

Great stuff Piers !! Very interesting that they kept the place where his head was cut off even though the river moved it's stream. Great to see there still are people offering to him in the shrine. Apparently this is the location of Kōzuki-Jō :

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... Castle.JPG

 

Here are some more images of the larger shokudai :

 

 

 

 

 

And its contemporary repair :

 

 

 

 

 

KM

[Bugyotsuji]

Good old feel to it. Interesting to see the two materials working together, ie brass dish on an iron stand.

 

Someone recently handed me an old booklet written in pre-war Kanji and katakana, telling the known story of how he fought for Amako/Amago against Mohri, and witness accounts of how he died at the river crossing in Takahashi..

[Bugyotsuji]

A ghost?

 

[Bugyotsuji]

And the answer is... roll of drums, Tadaaa!

 

[Bugyotsuji]

The answer? Yamanaka Shikanosuke lasered (?) inside a Netsuke pendant, smaller than a push pin.

[Brian]

Wow..didn't see it was that small. Interesting, if not slightly tacky :lol:

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Came across it in a drawer of bits the other day. It was given out at a dinner for the gathering of the clans at their five-year festival over there on the Japan Sea.

 

The blurb says something about Yamanaka Shikanosuke (Yukimori) being born in 1545 in Izumo (present-day Hirose Town in Shimane), was retainer to the Sengoku Daimyo Amako (Amago). Attempted to restore the main house, something something, er... motto was "Give me seven difficulties and eight agonies". Possessor of great bushi spirit, also know as San-in no Kirinji. Moves are afoot to have an NHK Taiga Drama made about his life, etc.

 

Thumbs up to the tacky bit! :D

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

Very interesting, .... but I would humbly suggest the item as a whole would be too small to act as a netsuke ... hung on a charm bracelet or a necklace perhaps.

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Sorry Ron, yes you are right. I was using it in its modern terminology; these are advertised on Japanese websites as Netsuke straps or pendants, (not acting as traditional Netsuke, which were in most cases not pendants), but as trinkets to hang from your key ring, mobile/smart phone etc.

[Toryu2020]

Piers -

I wonder if you have seen the latest episode of Rekishi Historia? How was it perceived by your Teppo mad brethren there in Japan? I should be interested to hear if it made an impact and what the perception was among gun collectors there.

Cheers,

-t

[Bugyotsuji]

Hello Thomas,

 

In Europe at the moment, but I will surely ask when I get back at the end of the month!

[Bugyotsuji]

Here is an object for consideration. Brass, very late Edo, owned as part of something else, by Ikeda Mochimasa, Lord of Bizen/Okayama.

[Brian]

Hmm...

Looks like a belt hook of some sort. Or an odd Tanegashima trigger guard

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, Brian, I think you are well in amongst the pigeons there. 

 

Having just said on another thread that I had never seen a Tanegashima-style matchlock pistol with a belt hook, I ran across one... well, the length suggests it is for an obi, rather than for a belt. This one is very late Edo, too, so we cannot discount a strong influence of Western guns. In fact the order for this gun came from the Daimyo for, in every other respect, an exact specification Fujioka Ryu gun, almost as if he was swimming against the tide of new fashions, and the spec can be checked against Fujioka Ryu scrolls of the time.