Jumonji yari, Fukuoka Moritsugu, Enpo Shinto

[Bugyotsuji]

As in the title, this Jumonji yari came my way and I'd like to know a little more about the smith. Enpo (follows Kanbun) Kuroda Han smith?

 

Blade length, 18.6 cm. In polish. One Nakago-ana. The Nakago is badly rusted so there may (or may not) have been more to the Mei once upon a time. (?) The registration paperwork records simply 築州福岡住守次.

 

Shira-saya and long fairly good quality koshirae with this.

[Bugyotsuji]

Oh, and one last shot of exploded Shirasaya and Nakago.

[Brian]

Stunning yari Piers. And to get it with koshirae and shirasaya

I suspect that many of these poles are cut when exporting them, due to the difficulties in shipping this length of parcel. Nicely in polish too.

A very good find there. Everyone says yari are undervalued in Japan, but when I was there, and even looking at the dealer websites, that doesn't seem to have fitered down to the pricing. :lol:

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks, Brian.

 

Well, I guess I am stuck with it here in Japan. I have long wanted one though, and this one came from an unusual direction in the form of an offer I could not really refuse...

 

My wife hasn't discovered it yet, cleverly blended in with other odd pole arms.

[Ian]

Very nice Piers good luck with blending it in. I know the feeling :D

 

All the best

[Brian]

Nicky has no problem with new acquisitions, and wouldn't mind if I filled the whole house with them. So anyone who has a spouse that objects....you are welcome to store your stuff here indefinitely. Free of charge

 

Brian

[Marius]

BTW, seems like you have a very nice Japanese house. I love the floor

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks, Ian, Marius. Been renting this old house for 20 years, and it's not at all bad, but just discovered a much nicer one up the road, about 10 times the size!!! It is like a fort or something out of an old black and white Samurai film, with a fantastic gateway etc., and I fell in love the moment I saw it. The wife would freak out at the amount of work to keep it running, but we (I) can still dream. Will get some shots of it very soon...

[Baka Gaijin]

Good Afternoon Piers,

 

An interesting Koshirae, is it samegawanuri at the top?

 

Very interesting to see the small hata (Don't know the correct term) tied to the shaft.

 

Here's an example of the use of a double hata :

 

 

Cheers

[Bugyotsuji]

Malcolm, the haft is bound in samegawa, yes. (The night sky section with the white stars).

 

As to the Yari-jirushi, it seems that yari carried a small flag or streamer with a Mon or other mark denoting to which which army the foot-soldier belonged. There is often a little eyelet or hook on the haft nearer the sharp end. I have a friend here in Japan who has a collection of yari-jirushi (Yari + Shirushi), but genuine ones are rare and far between and fetch a hefty price for such a little wisp of a thing. That red one you see above was most probably adapted from those red streamers they used to decorate horse armour with. (As in the Stibbert in Firenze.) Yari-jirushi should be the same colour on both sides.

[kusunokimasahige]

Gorgeous Jumonji-Yari Piers !!!

 

Envy !!

 

 

 

KM

[Baka Gaijin]

Thank you Piers,

 

Would 印 be the kanji used for Shirushi?

 

Cheers

[Ken-Hawaii]

You're very lucky to find a Jumonji yari in full polish, Piers; I've been trying to get mine polished for several years.

 

And I'll bet that Noriko has noticed, but is too nice to mention it until you've introduced them. Best to her.

 

Aloha!

Ken

[cabowen]

As in the title, this Jumonji yari came my way and I'd like to know a little more about the smith. Enpo (follows Kanbun) Kuroda Han smith?

 

Blade length, 18.6 cm. In polish. One Nakago-ana. The Nakago is badly rusted so there may (or may not) have been more to the Mei once upon a time. (?) The registration paperwork records simply 築州福岡住守次.

 

Shira-saya and long fairly good quality koshirae with this.

 

Perhaps this is Moritsugu of the Fukuoka Ishido school, who is quite well known as a very skilled smith.

[Gilles]

Very nice jumonji yari, piers :D

 

Congratulations. Such nice ones are quite scarce.

[Bugyotsuji]

Gilles, Henk-Jan, Ken, thank you. I managed to wipe it gently yesterday without cutting myself too badly. No, I really believe she hasn't seen it. The 'blind eye' could be hard at work, though.

 

Malcolm, yes, the Kanji are 槍印 yarijirushi, in Sasama's dictionary. According to the entry, "In the middle of the tachiuchi of the yari, there is a ring set in the Dogane from which a small flag or other device of choice is tied, to indicate the owner." p.515, my rough translation.

 

Chris, thanks for the pointer to the Ishido School. Just had a quick read-up. Yes, it does seem to fit what I was told. He may well be a disciple of Koretsugu. It could be a little project to submit this for shinsa.

 

PS Putting together a few facts from here and there, if this is the right smith, he was born in 1632 and died at age 69 in 1701, the year that Asano struck at Kira with a naked blade in Edo Castle. Swords by him are recorded in 1675, 1676, 1684 and 1700, according to the Meikan, p.1006

[Bugyotsuji]

At my Kantei sword meeting the other night I asked if someone could make air-lockout sections for the bottom of the Jumonji Saya. Thankfully they found me a professional who will do the work for peanuts, so I placed the order forthwith. Suffice it to say I will get plenty of change out of 100 USD.

 

My sword teacher has been reading up on the usage of clove oil and mineral oil and handed out a pretty good print on the different usages and the dangers inherent with each.

 

When I said Enpo smith for Moritsugu I was told by one elderly member very firmly, "no, Jokyo" (1684-1688)...

[Bugyotsuji]

The phone rang. My NBTHK teacher to say it was ready. (1:00 pm Tuesday)

 

"Bbbut, ...surely he only received it around midday yesterday!!!" I shouted down the phone. "How could he have possibly finished it in less than 24 hours?"

 

It does look a bit Aztec, but it does the job; the two locking pieces push into place, and depend upon the head of the Mekugi facing up, to line up with a little black spot on the saya.

Material: Ho-no-Ki.

The tips of the elbows are concave and push against the base of the Kerakubi.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Good idea & great job, Piers.

 

Ken

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks Ken.

 

To be honest, it is not quite what I was expecting, but I hope it helps towards preservation of a Japanese artifact for future generations.

[Bugyotsuji]

Yesterday I was visiting a dealer in a different prefecture and having a gander at what he had salted away. Imagine my surprise to find a Jumonji Yari Saya, covered in fine red leather! I bought it on the spot. That is the the good news. (I really did not like the sheath that had come with it on the original Koshirae, and this seemed to be a golden chance, too good to pass up.)

 

The bad news is that it is filthy, cracked completely open, the wrong size, and the leather is badly shrunk. :| We pushed a length of wire up the inside and it has about 20 cm of room in there. The cross-pieces look too small. Like Cinderella's ugly sisters though, I am going to force that glass slipper onto my foot whatever it takes.

 

Today I am planning to ask the Saya-maker for a quote on refurbishment of the sheath, both externally and internally, to fit comfortably onto the spear head. The fact that it is already split into two may make his job easier. Watch this space?!

[Bugyotsuji]

For all the haters, some good news! No-one will risk doing this work. The end result may well take the historical value out of a genuine Saya, both internally and externally, and it may well not be a perfect job.

 

If the dealer will take this red and gold Jumonji Saya back, then we can go back to the drawing board.

 

An interesting suggestion the other day was that I should try asking the Saya lacquerer here to lacquer the Shirasaya suitably and in so doing kill two birds with one stone.