Henry Wilson

I'd go for a carp myself. * not rabbit related so delete if necessary.

I had time today so I paid a visit to TNM and attended the video. It cost 500 yen (+ museum general admission) and the price includes a free English language voice box thing and headphones. The video compared two very different national treasure katana, the Mikazuki Munechika (slender, long, elegant) and the Okada Giri Yoshifusa (cut down, robust, dynamic), both currently on display. It was narrated by a member of staff (who looks a bit like a magician!). It started with a summary of both swords vital statistics. It then went through sugata, jitetsu, hamon, boshi and tang comparing all the time, with loads of 3D rotating videos and high resolution pictures to illustrate characteristics and activity such as nioi, utsuri, nijuba etc. The shirasaya got a mention too. Best of all, there was not one cute anime character anywhere to be seen! Afterwards I went as fast as my little legs could carry me to see the swords in person and was glad of the video as it really brought to life the swords and I kind of felt that I had 30 minutes of private handling and viewing before they went on general display. Unfortunately no photos or recordings are allowed during the video and as everyone knows, Wilson ALWAYS sticks to the rules!! We were allowed to take a pic at the very end which is of the top of the two blades below. Attached are some pictures to prove I am not making things up. ???? I then drooled over the mitsu-tomoe Nobuie, a carp tsuba by Natsuo, a few koshirae from the TNM book and lots of Zen ink paintings. All in all, a very splendid day out and I love living in Tokyo!! PS. Posted on iPhone so some pictures might not be the right way round. Sorry!

For any of you in Tokyo from now til October 6, 2019 Virtual Reality of Japanese Swords at the Tokyo National Museum https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_event/index.php?controller=dtl&cid=12&id=10146

My pleasure. I could be wrong. I am sure others will comment too so stay tuned. It is always good to get a second opinion.

That is a Musashino grass theme. Pampas grass and bell crickets. A popular Akasaka motif well documented in the Sasano silver book Not sure about the school. Is there a Bushu school? To me it looks suspect. Possibly nisemono (fake) and not antique. The workmanship looks wrong.

"Wushu lineage with a Musashino Watermark" Hi Steven G This does not make sense to be honest. Musashi is the old name for the Kanto area (Namely Tokyo and Saitama). Musashino is the area of Tokyo where I live not famed for tsuba production. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashino,_Tokyo Could it be Bushu 武州? Bushu basically means Musashi. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_Province Also, tsuba can't have watermarks (as far as I understand what a watermark is) Pictures of the tsuba would be helpful.

Hi Chris Thank you for the comment. I am not quite sure I see what you mean as the restoration has not altered the paintwork at all. The texture of the rocks and landscape are different effects made my brush and ink. It could be the creases that have been removed that makes the painting look flat. The only sharp lines on the landscape were the creases. But, you highlight the interesting age old question of how far restoration should go? I recent went to the Nezu museum to see the latest exhibition there on Buddhist images. They have on display for the first since it has been restored a myoo statue but there was still noticeable damaged to it. For example, it still has large cracks on the face (if I recall correctly) which I doubt were part of the original intended design because in the medieval period, who would create a damaged deity? In comparison to that restoration, my scroll looks brand new even though Yoshida Kenko wrote “It is only after the silk wrapper has frayed at top and bottom, and the mother-of-pearl has fallen from the roller, that a scroll looks beautiful.” Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurezuregusa Why didn’t the restorer create such a beautified effect for my scroll? Maybe the medium of paper has something to do with this? Could it be a difference between restoration and preservation? Maybe the Nezu should have described the myoo statue as preserved rather than restored? To answer my own questions, I searched the NMB archives and found this old thread. I haven’t reread it in it’s entirety but from what I recall, it explores some related ideas. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21171-restoration-of-tosogu-nihonto-etc/?hl=conservation&do=findComment&comment=215535 I hope this post isn’t off topic.... or worse.... pedantic!!! ☺️

Mid to late Muromachi I think would make yours Ko-Shoami 古正阿弥 were the Ko 古 means old. A nice write up is below. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoami

As most of you know finding a good restoration service can be hard going. Last year, I made the big decision to have a favourite kakeuji of mine restored. I found by chance an English speaking company located in Kobe, Japan who did an excellent job with a full restoration. They did a write up on and made a short video of the whole process. I strongly recommend them if you decided to get such work done which surprisingly did not cost that much. Have a look at what they did at the link below. Enjoy! Restoration: Deer Kakejiku by Gyokusen Mochizuki https://nomurakakejiku.com/kakejiku-art-blog/post-8337.html#Inquiry_for_Remounting_Deer_Scroll_Painting_by_Gyokusen_Mochizuki

Monty Python? I hope at least I am the “Life of Brian” part of the analogy... (there’s me joking again ????) For what it’s worth, some members ride on the fumes of others, meaning they sit back, read and then post an opinion based on what was said by more lucid members, and then worst of all claim the information as their own with no acknowledgements. So it’s not so much about pixels and bytes but more about Ps and Qs, the ownership of knowledge and plagiarism. Again, no hard feelings, I just hate being bullied. ✌️

Maybe, maybe not. I'd say you have dragged yourself through the mud though.

Any videos of the rap battle?

Bob, I just noticed a typo on my part. I meant to say “ they might NOT have been stamped”. Sorry, I was distracted.

Concerning Roberts point 6, do Tempo tsuba strictly have to have “hot-stamps”? The carvings on the tsuba seem to try to recreate the look and feel of hot-stamps even thought they might not have been stamped I personally would say that the tsuba in question has too much individuality and character to call it Shoami. StevenK, thank you for your latest post. I think you just proved my point. The “likes” thing is a joke. You used “feel” three times in six consecutive sentences... Just saying like. I could go on but nuff said least the angry lizard rises again ???? No hard feelings.

-S- I am sorry to respectfully say that there is a lot in your post that I don’t agree with. But that’s not why I am here. I am here because you ask for a convincing exemplar regarding the debate. I think the above posts present a convincing chain of logical reasoning. To summarise: 1. The Koza signed Tempo tsuba I listed seems to visually share characteristics with the tsuba in question. (Be a sport and hit “like”. It’s a good find). 2. Ed saliently linked Myochin with Tempo (Ditto for 1). 3. Robert has presented a possible Myochin with similar surface design, with more signed examples in the link he provides. You seem to agree with me that the tsuba is Myochin (You “free-shared” my initial Myochin call, remember????), but are trying to push it in another way, based on your feelings. I don’t see your point and can only conclude that you are blindly pushing your point of view to establish alpha-dominance over the entire thread.

Nice extrapolations Ed. By the way what is kokuin?

Indeed. It is only polite and scholarly sound to acknowledge your sources when you can, wouldn’t you say... Hit the likes and all is forgiven. ???? PS. Don’t be so defensive, it was a light-hearted belly rub. It’s Sunday after all. We don’t need yet another angry lizard....

I called Myochin first and not one like! ???? How's about 天法 as an alternative? I found this in the Koza. To some extent, it seems to have the organic and the plastic qualities Tetsugendo identified.

Kanayam yes, but I was also think Owari sukashi. The symmetric-ish designs makes me think so.

Does a Yamashiro school exist in tsuba? Yamashiro is location in and around Kyoto. Or one of the Gokaden.

Myochin? The overall robustness, and the working of the plate makes me think as much. Looks like nice metal and a pleasing motif.

Something on zinc with references to brass China’s emerging demand and development of a key base metal: Zinc in the Ming and early Qing, c. 1400–1680s https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359183517702686

Have we upset you?

Thank you for the comments Florian. This is very true and something I am quite aware of. My point is that relatively speaking, the first tsuba's condition and quality would be more indicative of lost zogan rather than a deliberate design feature IMHO.

The second one Heianjo zogan, but the first?