Randy McCall

A quite unusual item has come up on the Yahoo.jp auctions. As it appears to be a "working" reference, rather than just a text on the subject, I thought some of our members might be interested. ----------------------------- Small orihon (accordion fold book) depicting various types of fire arrows or small explosive devices (gunpowder-based). Small and dense explanatory text and images on both sides. The actual document was pasted onto a heavier paper. The size of the document, plus the heavy reinforcement of the backing, suggests this was a "working" reference document, to be carried in the sleeve or inside the kimono. Condition: Fair - aged, stained, foxing, wear, edge damage, slight separation of the backing in some areas. Auction ending: January 26 http://page19.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x473370917

Ah, it's a sales page... on the page now is some background history and tsuba for sale, with a little promo for James McElhinney's upcoming book . Bold is mine: "I became interested in the subject some years ago when I found out some of these guards aren't just Chinese in style but also of Chinese manufacture, often with some adjustments to accommodate their use on Japanese swords. A fruitful exchange of ideas followed when I met James McElhinney through his Nanban Tsuba facebook page. He showed me many pieces that are probably not even Chinese, but probably from elsewhere in Asia and made a point they were the product of cultural exchange through maritime trade in Asia. He is currently working on a book on this very subject. I'm now helping James to sell some of his tsuba on consignment. Below the offerings, together with some of my own items. Under the offerings on this page is some additional backgrounds that I hope help illustrate how these are not so much part of Japanese sword culture, but part of a larger cultural exchange over Asian sea routes."

Carlo, I'm more than happy to keep you updated with the latest announcements, as I receive them.

It appears Peter is cooperating with James McElhinney ( a gentleman I'm not familiar with, but who is described on his web site as "a visual artist, author, oral history specialist, lecturer and educator" ) on this project. Presently Peter is being tight-lipped about details... I'm not sure if it's going to be a book announcement, or if they're cooperating on sales of namban tsuba. At this point it's a wait-and-see proposition.

Steve Miller latest oshigata translations, some including discussion on some fine points of translation / language use. Page Oshigata # 63 248 61 241 60 237, 238 56 219, 220 55 215 54 212, 213 53 207 52 199, 203 48 191 45 174, 175 42 162 He has found something very special. Page 45, #174 and #175 (omote / ura). Direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-45/ #174 (omote): 山城国西原住人埋忠明壽 Yamashiro (no) Kuni Nishihara Jyu Nin Umetada Myojyu. This sword is noted in the entry for Umetada in the Meitō index. This entry notes the sword was in the possession of Mitsuya Chikao when it was designated an Important Art Work on 25th of July, 1933. It was designated an Important Cultural Property on 29th of March, 1952. It is now in the hands of a private collector. http://meitou.info/index.php/%E5%9F%8B%E5%BF%A0%E6%98%8E%E5%AF%BF #175 (ura): 所持埋忠彦八郎重代 Shoji Umetada Hikohachirō Shigeshiro: “Held by Umetada Hikohachirō Shigeshiro”. The notes above the oshigata read: 同彫物裏表龍 Dō horimono ura-omote ryū: “Dragon carving on the front and back of the same blade.” 玉追上リ下リ龍 Tamaoi nobori kudari ryū: “Rising and falling dragon with jewels” He notes that it seem likely Mitsuya Chikao was related to Mitsuya Miyamatsu, whose family library inkan we find on the cover page of this notebook.

Yes. That's what I meant by "teaser page". According to Peter, something will be announced there shortly.

Not sure what this is about, but Peter Dekker just promoted this through various social media; some members may be interested. I know he's been posting on antique Chinese sword guards quite a bit recently. For those who might not know, Peter is a dealer in and restorer of antique South-east Asian weapons and armour, specializing in Chinese weapons. Teaser page (just the image below is posted here, along with a "coming soon" note) : http://mandarinmansion.com/nanban-tsuba Teaser image

Robert Mormile continues his excellent work, with his latest additions being: Page Oshigata # 61 240 47 183 46 181 38 142, 143, 144, 145, 146 29 109,110, 112 I'd also like to welcome new Hidensho site contributor Steven Miller, who came to us via NMB. Steven has focused on some of the more illegible mei or obscure author notes written in the Notebook, offering refinements to existing translations, the rendering of difficult passages, and of course, translation of mei as well. Page Oshigata # 40 152 34 128 33 126 25 96 24 95 18 63 14 50 11 35 10 34 9 29 5 14 4 13 1 2 Of particular interest to NMB members, he's found the following: Page 1, #2 (direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-1/) text to the right of the oshigata translates as: Nobunaga-kō yori gohairyō tachi: “Tachi received from Lord Nobunaga” Page 34, #128 (direct link http://hidensho.com/page-34/) text to the left of the rubbing: 裏名　二胴武州住前嶋番右衛門截断之 Ura-mei Futatsu-dō Bushū-jū Maejima Banemon saidan kore: “Two-body cut performed by Maejima Banemon of Bushū”

I ordered mine through Amazon.ca. No changes as yet, but no absolute delivery date either... the mills of various international publication houses grind slowly...

I've finished posting Robert Mormile's translation and notes, and I've updated the previous post so it now reflects all the latest oshigata he's worked on. Between what I've posted today -- and in posts earlier this week -- you'll see that Robert has translated over 120 oshigata, and is continuing to work on identifying more (once I've had a chance to get higher quality closeup pictures, that is). Thanks to Robert and K. Morita, we have a better idea of the actual age of the document. K. Morita identified #260 (page 65) as being the oshigata of a blade classed as an Important Cultural Property; this oshigata shows the nakaga ubu, but it is known that was shortened around 1868, so we're certain the rubbing was made prior to 1867. One of the oshigata Robert has just translated has a date inscribed on if of " 文政三年仲秋 Bun Sei San Nen Naka　Aki: “In the middle of Autumn in the third year of the Bunsei era (1821)”. (Page 31, Oshigata #118, 119) This allows us to bracket the age of the manuscript, which may have been used to record oshigata over an extended period of time (certainly there are changes in handwriting) The earliest possible date would be from circa 1821 (give or take a decade), but no later 1867.

The latest oshigata translations and notes by Robert Mormile which I've had a chance to post to the appropriate pages . A particular note of interest is that Robert may have found a 友成 Tomonari (I'll post images at the end of this message). Of course, you can view these updated pages at: http://hidensho.com/ Page Oshigata # (asterisks denote defined omote / ura oshigata pairs) Page Oshigata # 100 388 99 385 75 306 * 73 301, 302 * 72 294, 295 * 71 292, 293 * 67 270, 271 66 264 64 255 63 247, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254 * 62 244, 245 * 61 239, 231 52 200, 201, 202 49 192 48 189 46 177, 178, 179, 182 * 45 171, 172, 173, 174 ** 44 168, 169, 170 ** 43 163, 165 * 42 160 41 155, 156, 157, 158, 159 * 39 147, 148, 149, 150, 151 37 137, 138, 139, 140, 141 * 36 135, 136 35 129, 130, 131, 132, 133 * 32 122, 123, 124 31 118, 119, 212 * 30 114, 115, 116, 117 * 29 113 Possible Tomonari blade: Page 46, #177 Direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-46/ I'm including both the image from the web site photographs, and a closeup I took this morning showing text partly or entirely hidden under the binding area. This is all that can be exposed without damaging the binding. Image one - from hidensho.com website Image two: enlarged close up photograph including text under the binding area.

Thanks to Robert's continuing work, I've been able to update the following pages / oshigata. Asterisks indicate where omote / ura pairings have been identified. Note these are the main page listings only. Photographic labeling and database updates will be done later. Due to the number of updates, I'm not able to provide direct links. You can access these pages via: http://hidensho.com/ Work is ongoing. page oshigata # 109 422, 423, 424 108 415, 417, 419 106 405, 406 97 379 94 367, 368 92 363, 364 * 90 356 89 354, 355 * * 88 349, 351 83 330, 333 79 320 77 312, 313 69 280, 282, 283 68 276 67 268, 269, 272 65 263 64 256, 258 60 235, 238 59 230, 231 58 226, 227, 229 * 57 222,223 * 55 214, 215, 216, 217, 218 * 54 212 50 195 47 184, 185, 186, 187 *

Robert is continuing to work quietly away in the background (for which I am very grateful). It will take me some time to process his information as it comes in, add it to the main pages, update page images where needed to indicate omote / ura pairings, update the smiths listing etc., so I thought I'd post the next page in series for the membership to consider: see below. On an extra note, I've now set the web site's search engine to include searches of comments by author's name. By doing this you will be able to quickly pull up all entries made by Robert and the other NMB members I've listed in the posts above. Page 29, Oshigata #108 - 113. Direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-29/

And thanks again to Robert for quickly identifying the smith and text of the mei for #99 and #100! Wonderful work! I'll compose a blog post on the Hidensho site and get that out this afternoon for those on our mailing list. Later this week I'll begin posting a page at a time from the manuscript for people to look at / kantei. As I said before, this will be done once or week or so (or when all of a page is done), so as to not overwhelm people.

I'd like to thank NMB member Robert Mormile, who very quickly responded with the translations and additional notes for all the above, posting them directly to the comments area for each item on the http://hidensho.comweb site. These new notes have been added to the main item descriptions found under each page photograph. Each entry links to side comments boxes, where registered members can discuss translation, add notes, etc. NMB members wishing to register and participate can do so by using the following sign-up form: http://hidensho.com/application-for-registration/ I did miss two oshigata, which will complete the translations or notes on first 28 pages, added below: Oshigata #99 and #100, page 26, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-26/

I've much appreciated the assistance of NMB members Wym Vanspeybrouck, Jussi Ekholm, David McDonald, Darcy Brockbank, K. Morita and Maurice_LMB in identifiying / translating the mei found in the Edo period oshigata notebook I've posted online at: http://hidensho.com/ With their help, the first 29 pages of the manuscript have been almost completely identified. Understandably though, this is a major undertaking for only a few people, and time can be hard to find. To this point, I'll be taking another tack in seeking help. In this post I'll be uploading eight or so images from these first 29 pages of oshigata which have yet to be identified / translated. I invite any interested members to take a stab at identifying the smith / translating any available text (which may be difficult for some items, as the oshigata actually run under the binding area of the book... another confirmation this was an old scroll converted into book format). After this -- about once a week or so -- I'll post one full-size page of the manuscript and invite group participation in identifying / translating the sword, smiths and text. Any information provided will be added to the project at hidensho.com and credited to the translator under their NMB username (unless privacy is requested) At the suggestion of a specialist in antique documents, I'll be referring to this volume from now on as the "Nakamura Naoya Oshigata Notebook", as Nakamura Naoya is the earliest owner name listed on the cover page. FYI, I'm also working on an article on this text / project for the JSSUS Newsletter. As always, all help appreciated. Oshigata #35 (Image and text run under binding), page 11, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-11/ Oshigata #38, page 11, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-11/ Text between oshigata #62 and #63, page 18, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-18/ Oshigata #67 (Image and text run under binding), page 19, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-19/ ) Oshigata #82 and #83, page 22, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-22/ Oshigata #87 (Image and text run under binding), page 23, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-23/ Oshigata #102 and #103, page 26, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-26/ Oshigata #106, page 27, direct link: http://hidensho.com/page-27 /

On the togeshi picture, I had researched that before. It is, at a minimum, officially staged... whether the craftsman / equipment depicted are real is a question open to debate. It's known the photographers used both real craftsmen and actors for their photographs... whichever were available and physically appealing. This picture is part of the collection "A Tourist's Album of Japan", photographed in 1909 by Katherine Wolcott and her uncle, Robert Hull Fleming. The collection is presently housed (physically and in digital format) at the University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Special Collections. The collection description reads (bold is mine): "There are nearly 40 leaves of collected photographs and postcards, numbering two to three per album page. The pictures range in content, some depicting staged photos of daily life while others portray landscapes and countryside. The album itself measures approximately 11 x 14 x 4 inches and is currently housed at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont. Wolcott’s album captures a unique view of Japan at the brink of burgeoning Western influence. After defeating the Russians in the Russo Japanese War (1904-05), Japan began to cement itself as a global power, and its efforts to modernize began to attract Westerners. The images in this album depict a Japan with a strong national heritage and cultural appreciation as well as a newfound embrace of modernization and technology. Most of the pictures in the album sold commercially as a form of postcard." Collection link: http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/getCollection.xql?pid=japanesetourist Togeshi image direct link: http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/getCollection.xql?pid=japanesetourist&rows=1&start=81 The description notes that these postcards were sold in Japan -- where they were very popular -- as well as in North America and Europe, suggesting at least the staged portrayals were accurate enough to engage native Japanese.

Both Robert and Grey are very much correct; I suspect the books will at a minimum go for half their retail value, likely much more. The fact that the Koto Hen has an easily available English index explains the bidding difference. Note that the heaviest bidding normally takes place in the last few minutes of the auctions. As Grey notes, fees and EMS insured shipping for the two could easily reach several hundred dollars, if not a bit higher; one similarly sized volume cost me over $90. I can also tell the group that the Yahoo.jp seller in question is a highly respected dealer in fine Japanese art and antiques (though not usually nihonto books), who -- because of the quality of his offerings -- has a large regular following of collectors and antique specialists... these people don't miss much. I don't expect these volumes to be that much of a bargain in the end, but at least some deserving soul will have the chance to acquire them. Just as an example of the seller's stock, the highest bid item offered on their page this week (only one of a couple of dozen) is a Meiji era family photo album of the Tokugawa clan. Running bid, at the moment, is almost 500,000¥, again, likely to go much higher Link: http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h249073924

A Yahoo.jp seller is offering copies of Ginsaku Kataoka's "Nihonto Zuikan". They're selling the Shinto Hen and Koto Hen volumes separately. As these are so rare, and far above my skill level in Japanese, I thought I'd let the community know about them. Koto Hen: http://page9.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k237545855 Shinto Hen: http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s512562137 Auction ending January 6 Good luck!

Confirmation of the publication of The Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Swords via Oxford University Press's own web site, with a release date of Jan.17, 2017. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-connoisseurs-book-of-Japanese-swords-9781568365817?q=The%20Connoisseurs%20Book%20of%20Japanese%20Swords&lang=en&cc=ca The ISBN number of the book identifies Oxford University Press as the publisher... one would hope that Oxford wouldn't be taken in by a fake book listing for something it was supposed to be the publisher of

I haven't heard myself either, but going on the fact that it's marked as "1st edition" on all the booksellers, I'd take it that it's just a reprint without updates.

There have been several people saying it was going to be reprinted. I checked the ISBN numbers and they verify, listing the publishing date as Jan 17, 2017, out of Oxford University Press. All the major book dealers have it listed for pre-order.

Certainly "stropping" on leather or some similar material -- to pull and realign the cutting edge where wear has caused the actual 3-50 micron ha to become bent back or beaded -- is something often seen in modern knife sharpening. A set-bevel of approximately 30 degrees is stropped at the base of the ha, creating a finely tuned edge. Today, this would generally be done after each use, similar to the sharpening of a straight-edged razor for shaving. I use a similar technique prior to, and after, tameshigiri with modern cutting blades (shinken) for iaido. This is not sharpening, but simiply realignment of the cutting edge. It's not something I would even think of doing for nihonto An old blog article I wrote (mistakes and all, with video resources) may be of some interest... http://www.tameshigiri.ca/2014/01/07/razor-edged-how-sharp-is-sharp/

Hardcover, definitely.

Thanks Stephen!