Kagamishi Book Translation

[Kanenaga]

I acquired a kagamishi tsuba at DTI last month, have ordered a copy of Sasano-sensei's little book on these guards. I understand there exists an unofficial translation of this book, if anyone can point me to a copy of the translation it would be much appreciated.

[Iekatsu]

I did not know a translation existed, Id be keen to get a copy too. I would love to see the Tsuba you picked up if you are willing to share Les.

[Curran]

I was unaware there was an unofficial translation.

I picked up that book this year, as I have one Kagamishi that I much like and have seen photos of an early Muromachi one in Japan that knocks my socks off.

 

[Curran]

1 minute ago, Iekatsu said:

I did not know a translation existed, Id be keen to get a copy too. I would love to see the Tsuba you picked up if you are willing to share Les.

 

Ditto

 

[Kanenaga]

Here's the tsuba. It doesn't photograph well, if I had time I'd enhance the images.

I particularly like the "rotten wood" design on the rim.

 

 

[Curran]

Only one that I own

 

[Kanenaga]

So different...

[Iekatsu]

A really nice example Les, I recognise it from the DTI. There is quite a lot of variation in Kagamishi Tsuba, something I hope to write about in the future.

 

[Curran]

2 hours ago, Kanenaga said:

So different...

 

Yep. It is more pleasant than obvious in the photo. The patina is particularly nice.

I'd rather own this one.

 

[Iekatsu]

4 hours ago, Curran said:

Yep. It is more pleasant than obvious in the photo. The patina is particularly nice.

I'd rather own this one.

That is an amazing example, I can see why you like it.

[Tim Evans]

I don't know if there is an unofficial translation or not, but the copy I have came with a 10-page booklet with English descriptions of each tsuba plus a forward and afterword. I assume it was original to the book since it is nicely printed. Apparently these inserts have been lost over time. 

[Iekatsu]

9 hours ago, Tim Evans said:

I don't know if there is an unofficial translation or not, but the copy I have came with a 10-page booklet with English descriptions of each tsuba plus a forward and afterword. I assume it was original to the book since it is nicely printed. Apparently these inserts have been lost over time. 

Very interesting, could we trouble you for a scan? I'm sure several of us would really appreciate it.

[Curran]

Yes. Ditto.

I too would appreciate it more than a little.

 

 

[Curran]

Better images of my one example. Not sure why it rotates like that.

I've always enjoyed the Korean influence and nanako on this one. I'd date it to 1600-1615?

 

Naturally, I prefer the pre-1600s ones. The earlier the better.

Those like Les' don't seem to appear very often. The last Muromachi one I saw, a few guys ended up in a bidding war at the end of the auction.

 

Though under the radar of a lot of people, they are still very hard to catch.

 

[Tim Evans]

Question for Brian. 

 

if I scanned this booklet and it was posted in the Downloads section for free personal use, do you think there would be copyright issues? 

[Brian]

I won't claim to know the legal answer, but considering the scan isn't for sale apart, and is useless unless you have the original book...I would be willing to give it a try. Plus it's for non commercial educational use. 

[Kanenaga]

Bookseller said he thought the translation came with the book, but in this particular case it seemed to have fallen out. That suggests that anyone who has the book is entitled to the translation.

 

Plus what Brian said.

[Kanenaga]

Took another photo of my new addition, brings out the figures more clearly. I can make out seated sages (?) at 5:00 and 8:00, a fox at 6:00, kikumon at the top, perhaps a genie figure in profile at 11:00. I cannot identify the figure at 1:00. 

 

These early tsuba are not seen very often, and I've found very little written about them (in English). There was one other at DTI, asking 1M yen. They are bronze castings, and the designs tend to be crude compared to the contemporaneous mirrors, which leads some to argue that they were likely not made by mirror-makers as the name implies. There have been prior discussions on this forum in the 2010-15 time frame, several started by Marius.

 

 

 

 

[Jesta]

10 hours ago, Tim Evans said:

Question for Brian. 

 

if I scanned this booklet and it was posted in the Downloads section for free personal use, do you think there would be copyright issues? 

With the caveat that you shouldn’t take legal advice from a forum post:
While copyright law varies across the world it would generally be a breach of copyright to reproduce something and share it, either in translation or not. It doesn’t matter if it is given away free or sold, except possibly in terms of how much you might end up being liable for, if you get sued. If you share it here, then the site might be exempt under the rule that sites are not held liable for posts by their users, but Brian could be asked to take it down, and non-compliance would leave him open to being sued too. 

In educational settings you are allowed to reproduce up to 10%, or one chapter (whichever is lower), but that is because schools have an exemption for this. 

Fair use is possible, but you would have to include a commentary on the work, where the work is only reproduced to illustrate your commentary. 

 

I can’t tell you whether it is a good idea or not, but that is broadly what the law says (to my admittedly limited knowledge as a lecturer). 

[Brian]

I'm going to take responsibility and host it, with the caveat that it will be taken down if there are any objections from anyone connected to the book.
It will only be of use to those with the book, and may even lead to people buying the book, so there is no downside to the publisher.
Let's see. Will upload later today.

[Iekatsu]

13 hours ago, Kanenaga said:

They are bronze castings, and the designs tend to be crude compared to the contemporaneous mirrors, which leads some to argue that they were likely not made by mirror-makers as the name implies.

I agree, Kagami-shi is a misnomer, there is no evidence of a link to mirror makers. I have coined my own terminology to categorise this variety. It is just another NBTHK category that needs to be revised.

 

Here is the other Kagami-shi from the DTI that you mentioned.

Edited November 27 by Iekatsu

[Tim Evans]

Here is another that is ascending and descending dragons. The plate is only about 1mm thick in spots. I think the two holes at the bottom were casting flaws modified to look like bottles. I see some similarities to #10 in Sasano's book. 

 

[Kanenaga]

... and the translation?

[Brian]

If you mean the one mentioned above..have you checked the downloads section?
If you mean a full translation, no-one has confirmed one exists.

[Curran]

9 hours ago, Brian said:

If you mean the one mentioned above..have you checked the downloads section?
If you mean a full translation, no-one has confirmed one exists.

Got it. Much love @Tim Evans for helping here.

 

[Iekatsu]

Much appreciated Tim. Concerning your Tsuba, I don't really see the similarities to #10 in the Sasano book. Given the shape, motif and style I think it might be Edo period, not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:41 AM by Iekatsu

[Kanenaga]

Yes, thanks Tim. You've helped educate this small focussed group of tsuba collectors.

[Iekatsu]

On 11/27/2025 at 2:28 AM, Curran said:

Better images of my one example. Not sure why it rotates like that.

I've always enjoyed the Korean influence and nanako on this one. I'd date it to 1600-1615?

How sure are you that one is cast Curran? To my eye it looks like Momoyama period Ko-kinko, a nice example may I add. I don't see any of the usual hallmarks of casting.  

[Curran]

1 hour ago, Iekatsu said:

How sure are you that one is cast Curran? To my eye it looks like Momoyama period Ko-kinko, a nice example may I add. I don't see any of the usual hallmarks of casting.  

 

I believe it was (i) cast, then (ii) polished, and (iii) worked by a ko-kinko style artisan. They definitely had a punch, though they were not 100% skilled in using it.

My dating was late Momoyama. 

My opinion is that it was Korean design influenced. In my eyes, too much similarity to some Koryo (Goreyo) pottery designs and Korean bronze mirrors.

 

With the wonders of supercameras, you can zoom in and follow the ko-kinko type nanako columns into crowded areas which were effectively 'trenched' or worked to the point of crudely carving out certain areas.

 

But you may see it differently.

By daylight, maybe I can find better photo evidence.

Yet, I need to figure out what is going on with my photos and how to rotate them correctly when they upload different.

@Brian  care to share any Grand Master Correction Codes with me?

[Brian]

You are likely uploading directly from a phone?
Edit the pics, and without doing anything to them, save them again. That will "lock in" the orientation. It's the cellphone that is saving the incorrect orientation, and servers can't read that info.
Just edit..save. Done.