IanB

Bernard, I notice they are target arrows that would normally be carried around in a tubular arrow case. Just what this bag / cover is for I do not know having never seen one like it. I note it is slightly trapezoidal with a very shallow curve on the right side. The fact that it has a mon both sides suggests it is not a pouch that could be worn against the body. Good thing but what? Ian B.

Bernard, Not strictly a yukinoshita dou but an Oshu dou. The true yukinoshita dou has the muneita riveted to a single large front plate - in fact there is no lacing on a true yukinoshita dou, hinges being used throughout. Real yukinoshita dou were a product of the Ashina clan of Aizu province. In the 1580's Date Masamune attacked Aizu and encountered the dou, rounding up all he could get his hands on and used them for himself and his retainers. The makers of these armours, people like Yukinoshita Masaie and Hisaie amongst others, never left Aizu and continued to make them there long after Date Masamune moved to Sendai. Neither the Ashina nor the Date used the term Yukinoshita, calling them hodoki dou. In Sendai Masamune decided to make similar dou, employing Kaga no Daijo Munesada to produce them for the Date clan. It was these dou, made in Sendai (Oshu) that have the muneita laced on to the front plate, which was often made of three pieced riveted together like the backplate. For donkey's years it was believed that Date Masamune lured Hisie and Masaie to Sendai to make these dou which were a Sendai invention so to speak. The reality has turned out to be far more complex and shows how easy it is to jump to conclusions based on assumptions. Ian Bottomley

Very well Done Dave - the world is at last beginning to recognise all the dedication and hard work you have put into the field of armour repair and conservation. Ian Bottomley

Chris, Sorry but you know how scarce good info on mon is. I have found it - it says it is Ishimotsu - if that is how it is read. Ian Bottomley

Dillon and Brian, you want education OK. Toppai bachi first appeared in the late Sengoku period as the more traditional akoda nari kabuto were found to be ineffective. It was a period in which ashigaru armed with spears appeared on the batttlefields in considerable numbers, prompting considerable changes to the armour being worn. The pointed shape was far superior in deflecting a cut to the head and the closer fitting neckguards, shikoro, with which they were fitted protected the head better from spear thrusts than the more open manju or kasa types used earlier. Early toppai bachi tend to be rather squat with gently curved sides, made from about 10 or 12 plates and with a prominent, more or less horizontal peak to protect the face. By the Edo period, some groups such as the Saotome began to make high quality, taller versions with a greater number of plates. There were three basic forms: those that were more or less strictly concical, those that curved outwards from the base towards the top, which, when of moderate height, were likened to an acorn and those that were convex at the base becoming concave towards the top that were likened to the hairs of a writing brush. I agree with Luc that your example Dillon appears to be made of rawhide, neri gawa, as shown by the thickness. There also appears to be an iron plate or koshimaki around the base to which the neckguard attaches. The ribs, suji will have been modelled in lacquer to imitate multiplate construction. Who made it is impossible to say without a signature inside but the Iwai group are a possibility. Initially they were based in Nara and made both iron and rawhide armours for people as high ranking as the Tokugawa, later tending to concentrate on mounting and tailoring armour parts made by others. They set up branches all over the place. Having said that there were many others who made rawhide armours, many of which are now lost as any damage to the lacquer allows the ingress of moisture that swells the hide forcing of more lacquer and leading to total destruction. Ian Bottomley

The so-called turret gun has so many non-Japanese features it is difficult to know where to begin. Let us start with the stock. All Japanese guns had stocks made from lacquered red oak not some dark stained wood of indeterminate nature. What is the large lump underneath the stock at the fore-end all about? What has happened to the ramrod? As for the lock, the mechanism it is a copy of those used in most of European or India where the trigger is directly linked to the serpentine and move together, not a snapping matchlock as was used in Japan. The shape of the serpentine with its great blob of brass at the pivot point, parallel arm that is obviously just a piece of brass rod and the jaws that hold the match pointing away from the pan rather than towards it are all wrong. The muzzel shape seems to owe more to a Scottish thistle than anything else and is definitely not Japanese. All in all - something knocked up in a shed by someone who once saw a picture of a real teppo and forget most of the details. Ian Bottomley

Komi, Adding to what Piers has said, it is worth noting that there were a few flirtations with other systems. At least a few wheel lock pistols were produced (one by an Ishikawa Yoshitsugu of Awa) as well as snaphaunces. I have handled a triple, revolving barrelled snaphaunce carbine with Tokugawa mon that appears to have been sent as a gift by Tokugawa Ieyasu or Hidetada to Mexico with the Keicho Mission to Europe. Following the arrival of the Americans quite a few pistols were made ignited by detonating pellets. Most of these seem to be little more than a barrel with a hinged lever on top that when squeezed crushed a pellet in the touch hole. One maker of cavalry carbines that used detonating pellets was Katai Kiyosuke. His guns have a pellet-magazine that when the end was pushed, dropped a pellet into a pan to be struck by the hammer. They also have a device on the lockplate that cocked the hammer when pressed by the thumb as well as captive ramrods working on a swivel at the muzzle. A sliding ring on the rear face of the stock shows they were intended to be carried on a sling. This period does not seem to have lasted long because as soon as percussion caps became available, box lock pistols almost identical to those made in the West became quite common. Ian Bottomley

I have long advocated the theory that iron sukashi tsuba were cast and decarburised (like cast iron kettles) to be worked up to a finished state once malleable - a proposition based on the total absence of piercing saws or similar tools being available for making the multiple complex piercings that are a feature of so many sukashi tsuba. Whilst this find does not substantiate this entirely, the evidence being for non-ferrous tsuba making, it goes some way that the idea may have validity. There is one area in which these non-ferrrous chrysanthemum form tsuba were employed and that was for trade-staff weapons. Those I have seen were of naginata type and all were fitted with these soft metal sukashi chrysanthemoid tsuba, sometimes gilded and sometimes blackened to look like shakudo. The weapons in question are fitted with what appear to be regular naginata blades, of good shape, with well cut grooves, but in fact of soft iron and with only short weak tangs securely riveted into the shaft. The shafts themselves are black lacquered, often round in section not oval, with a complex of gilded copper fittings under the tsuba decorated with tendrils and foliage on a nanako ground. It is recorded that the red-seal ships of Hideyoshi traded large numbers of staff weapons in SE Asia. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has a display rack of weapons from that area with two of these 'naginata' ( NG-NM- 6089-A, 6090-A) and two 'yari'. The same display has what appear to be katana (NG-NM 6097-C, 6097-B ), again with these sukashi tsuba, this time gilded, that have blades without mekugi ana. Clearly the Japanese did not ship real weapons but replicas. The same article also illustrates another topic I advocated and which again proved controversial, that of the so-called Satsuma Rebellion tsuka bindings. NO, they were made for issue to ashigaru as indicated by the katana in the above article.

Vert well done Paul - you have travelled a very long way and fully deserve the recognition and status you have attained. Ian Bottomley

Rapeseed oil worked into a salted skin is how the white leather is produced that is then stencilled for egawa. The hide are washed in the river at Himeji as a preliminary - the bacteria being thought to be essential. Ian B

Best of luck with your meeting. Ian Bottomley

All that has been said by Piers and Jan is true, but there were those who attempted to adopt, or possibly played with, more advanced weapon systems. I once examined, and regrettably failed to photograph, an attempt at a snaphaunce with three revolving barrels. Two of the 'steels' had broken off and had been replaced by old Japanese copies cast in brass - just to make it look complete. There were traces of Tokugawa mon on the barrels and since it turned up in Mexico, I have always suspected that it was considered a failure and thrown in with other items as a gift given during the Keicho mission to Europe that passed through Mexico City. There are also several Japanese wheel locks made which in one respect were superior to those made in Europe in having a hollow wheel with a steel periphery that was rotated by an internal spiral spring, rather than the clumsy leaf spring and chain arrangement used in Europe. Its weakness was that the wheel was separate from the pan, rather than being positioned in it like a European lock. I once tried to make a copy of one but never managed to get it to throw sparks into the priming. Had the Japanese version been configured so that the wheel operated in the European way, fitted in a slot in the base of the pan, I am sure it would have worked perfectly well. Ian Bottomley

Rob, Your enthusiasm reminds me of the day as a kid when I was allowed to keep similar pieces from an armour the previous owner had thrown into the garden rubbish heap about a year earlier. What you have is what is known as the nakagawa (the parts of the body armour that encircle the abdomen) of a hishinui dou - a body armour having the plates joined by cross-knots. Originally they would have been connected by a hinge under the left arm. You should find a series of holes up the edge of each section where the hinge was laced on. You could connect the two halves with thread using these holes and display it as just the nakagawa - remembering that the two overlap under the right arm with the back over the front section. Ian Bottomley

Well done Piers. You must start believing in yourself and realise people appreciate the kind person you are and will do things for you for that reason. And no I am not creeping - I mean it Happy New Year to you. Ian Bottomley

What is not well known is that the russet finish on armour was originally oiled to prevent secondary rusting. With age old russet pieces become covered in secondary rust when the old oil has evaporated or failed. Some fifty years ago I acquired an armour that was almost completely russet and was beginning to show spots of secondary rusting on many of the plates. Being totally ignorant I decided to treat the surface in the same way that the finest gun-makers treated their barrels and apply a drying oil. The process I eventually settled on was to remove the secondary rust with a chisel shaped bone scraper, softening the hard secondary rust with a 50 / 50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and white spirit. Afterwards wiping off the excess oil with absorbent paper until no more came off. The oil that soaked into the russet layer oxidised in a week or so, was touch dry and had formed a more or less permanent seal. That armour still looks exactly as it did 50 years ago with no more secondary rusting and a rich chestnut coloured surface that still retains a beautiful soft sheen. Ian Bottomley

DR. Galeno, late of San Rafael Ca. used to have a gun with a form of snider breech. His was not a conversion but had been made with that system. As I remember the stock furniture was nickel plated - but that may have been done later. Ian Bottomley

It is a tiger not a shishi and why should the ninja be dragged into this? Ian Bottomley

Mike does wonderful quality lacquer work. His polished saya are superb. Ian Bottomley

No, it is the maedate. Dr. Galeno had one of these and I made myself a copy. Ian Bottomley

Steve, I think I can see Kunisada 国定 Ian Bottomley

Jon, Piers, This example, using copper percussion caps, almost certainly post dates those guns that were devised by Katai Kyosuke to use detonating pellets. That type is fully described by Ron Watson on this Board http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/page/articles.html/_/articles/a-very-rare-teppo-pill-lock-r11. An absolutely similar gun is illustrated in Tairas Sawata's book and I bought yet another for the Royal Armouries Museum's collection. These sophisticated guns had a swivel ramrod, of the type Jon's had, a magazine that dispensed the detonating pellets as well as a lever on the outside of the lockplate that allowed the hammer to be cocked with the right thumb whilst still holding the stock. Since Perry didn't open Japan until 1853, I would suggest Jon's gun, in its present form, dates towards the end of that decade when percussion caps became available in Japan. Ian Bottomley

Interestingly the Haruta suji kabuto has a shikoro that was designed to have cross-knots as revealed by the broken section of lacquer. An absolutely typical example of how parts were modified or re-cycled. The shikoro of the eboshinari kabuto looks very delicate and would need quite a lot of work to consolidate and repair the blown lacquer at the back. Ian Bottomley

The last image shows what was rather interesting moment. Peter pulled out a large plastic bag of papers and the like that accompanied one of the armours (I'm ashamed to say I cannot remember which one there are so many but I think it is one still in store). Amongst the papers were kiwame fuda and other historic documents relating to the armour,but also several hata sashimono, bags and other items. Just a minor fun incident in a fabulous few days. Ian Bottomley

Well done Jan . You must be very proud. My order iis placed and I cannot wait to start reading. Ian Bottomley

Jean, Believe me, Judging armour is a lot easier than swords and there are far less outright fakes. Do not get hung up on the idea of an armour having to be 'homogeneous' either. Many armours are assemblages of old and new components that may or may not have been lacquered and laced to match. Nobody threw away a perfectly good helmet bowl or a well-made dou, they were simply incorporated into another armour in the same way that a good tsuba or other fittings were used and re-used. If a sword come up for sale you judge the assembly on how the elements compliment each other, not on whether the person who made the tsuba also made the fuchi / gashira. Very few armours were entirely the product of one workshop as so many components were produced by specialists who supplied the trade with ready-made items. Identical masks, sleeves and other elements turn up time and time again that show many armourers must have been more assemblers of components than actual makers - although they may have made the major elements. Like swords that needed refurbishing from time to time, armours also needed servicing if they were being worn regularly. They became dirty and splashed with mud, the lacing became snagged and broken and the lacquer chipped and scratched. They then went back to an armourer to be repaired and may well have had new elements incorporated whilst being serviced. At best an armour today is in the state it was in when the Haitorei Edict came into effect. Even then, Japanese curio dealers were putting together 'sets' from elements they acquired to sell off to the tourists. As Uwe says the armour looks harmonious and the elements compliment each other - so if you like it that is all that matters. Ian Bottomley