Justin Grant

Thanks Steve, I knew it was tiger, my brain typed dragon. I do appreciate the help it is much appreciated!!

I have a map of Japan and the date is listed as listed below. I read this as Tenpo 13, Year of the Water Dragon, 12th Month, Printed. Based upon this inscription, can we get a specific date other than 1842? 天保十三壬寅十二月版行 Thank you Justin

I have a Gunto marked YOSHITSUGU (吉次), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshitsugu” (吉次), real name Yoshida Jinrō (吉田任郎) question I have surrounds the leather over the black wood vs leather over metal. And why wood over leather? The sword does not have the metal latch to release it, but what appears to be a leather strap with a snap. all new to me, I normally collect armor.

I'm thinking Chinese.

Odoshi comes in various widths, if the holes are to small for your odoshi, then you get smaller. As for errors, the crosses are to tight, and the odoshi is pulled through the holes in the wrong manner, just from a casual observation. Keep learning.

It's not easy. There are plenty of instructions on the web, and some with pictures. The crosses are critical and the termination knot is not that difficult, just takes practice. Armor, like Swords, requires expert craftsman to take care of. Silk, be it Odoshi or Tsuka Ito, rots and falls off. Many of us would discourage anyone from attempting to repair the Ito on a valuable sword, it would be recommended it be sent to a professional. Same with quality armor, it's best in the hands of trained craft-persons. But when they are not high-end items, people are less critical of home repairs. I started collecting low end pieces initially, and as my knowledge and experience increased, I started to buy and collect higher end pieces. I was taught to lace armor by Thatcher and Bottomly and spent years practicing and taking criticism from Thatcher when my work was slack. He was not being mean, but pushing to ensure quality was the output. The late Anthony Bryant has/had a site that walked you through lacing armor and the different styles. I will point out, one should NEVER drill the holes larger on the plates, that usually means you have the wrong size odoshi. Never use anything that will chip or destroy the urushi, once that happens, moisture will creep in and start the red death (rust), and cause the urushi to lift. There is a "face" to odoshi and set ways in working with it. You'll get there, if you wish, but just study how lacing on good armor looks and how it rests, and this will inform your next job. Once you've studied a lot of quality lacing, you begin to spot work undertaken by less skilled craftsmen.

The art of lacing armor is a life long learning skill. You need to suspend the mask and lames, you need to factor the spacing, and then cut your odoshi to the length you need. This is an image of one of my pieces that was restored by Dave Thatcher. You can see his rig and spacing/suspending technique. There are other ways to do this, but this way has also worked for me.

I have purchased bags of parts over the years. E-Bay used to have one or two people that would sell these bags of mixed parts, sometimes barrels and stocks. Don't see it much anymore. But I also collect and restore old Winchester Levers (1873 and 1876 Models) and it used to be that parts were prolific, and now, only modern reproduction that don't always fit. I think some cat is bagging it all and will hold us as financial hostages when timing is right and we need parts.

There are plenty of instructions on the web. First off, it's odoshi that you have. Second, it comes in various widths for various parts of the armor. Order smaller odoshi.

A is a better in my opinion and older and should be restored. B is a later issue than A. I think A is momoyama era.

I have several of these Nichiren O-Daimoku maedate. Most new, one old.

I don't dispute the Kiri were added, but they look to have been placed where other kamon were, the area surrounding the Kiri looks scuffed like a larger item was once there. Maybe part of the "disguise" to hide the family that sold it off. Still an interesting piece.

$200

It was posted on here years ago, and I'd have to go look, but it was decided it lacked certain features. I have pics if the inside and outside if it helps. I liked it, personally, and offered to buy it, but don't believe it had the qualities of a myochin. But as a lawyer, I never say anything definitive! LOL

Unlikely it is Myochin. I was the one who re-laced it years ago. It came with the shikoro in tatters and badly bent, and the task was to reattach it all and try to keep it together without making it worse. The color was selected to hide the damage. The hachi is nice, but not Myochin nice, it is unsigned. The shikoro is in very bad shape and trying to straighten it would have fractured it, but the cost to repair and or replace was prohibitive at the time. The quote we had to replace the Shikoro was 5x the estimated value of the bowl. This was a consolidate and "display" vs a restoration.