IanB

Lorenzo, No, not snakeskin, but that kind of fine-grained 'blue' same you get on naval scabbards. It looks as if the artist has fastened the skin on the saya then cut away the denticles where he wanted the black areas, before coating everything in black lacquer and polishing it all smooth. What a clever technique! No doubt when it was done it showed up much more clearly. I assume the untouched same has darkened with age and handling so that the contrast is now minimal. You might try a very gentle cleaning of the saya to see if it restores the contrast. I would try something like white spirit or turpentine substitute on a cotton-bud (earbud) in an inconspicuous place to see if it has any effect. If that doesn't work, try alcohol. If neither have any effect, leave well alone. A friend of mine was once shown a black saya by an artist which was covered in kamon, also done in black. He said you couldn't see anything special about the saya until it caught the light when the kamon suddenly appeared. Now that is subtle. Ian Bottomley

Jock, Would it be possible for you to take a picture of the kanji itself rather than a drawing? I am sure you have made every effort to interpret what you are seeing, but unless you are familiar with the kanji, your drawing will be difficult to read. It only needs a stroke to be at a slightly wrong angle, or positioned slightly out of place and it becomes indecipherable. Ian Bottomley

Piers, There is enough misery and suffering in this world without pictures of me wearing Japanese costume. The second example may explain something. This looks a very Meiji koshirae. Could it be that this was put together to persuade a foreign tourist to part with his money for a 'very rare treasure'? Ian

Not really weapons as such but rather tools to apprehend criminals without bloodshaed. Look at almost any genre picture of life in an Edo period town and you will see a rack with usually three of these devices on it. Love the sasumata! You don't see too many around - I guess they were rather inconvenient to bring home from a trip to Japan in the 19th century. Ian Bottomley

Martin, Now that is something I have never seen before. A beautiful piece. As I said earlier, the tanto version must have been made for stabbing and yes, for penetrating armour, but just why this weapon was assembled is perplexing. I suppose you could cut with it, but it must have been rather 'blade heavy' as well as heavy to wear. Last weekend I did a stint at the Armouries and to pander to the management wore kamishimo and swords for the day. My hip soon told me why you see so many bushi carrying their katana in their left hand. Ian Bottomley

Eric, Piers, These are not uncommon, I have seen maybe half a dozen over the years. The koshirae were obviously made to take the blade with its cut-down tangs since you could hardly get a yari blade into the cavity made for a regular tanto blade. Presumably they were made for stabbing with, particularly for armour piercing. Ian Bottomley

I suspect the weapon I had was exactly that described. In those days there was a fair amount of material about at cheap prices that had been bought by Victorian tourists and then abandoned and stored in cellars and attics. Condition often left much to be desired and the 'blade' in the item I had was pretty rusty when I bought it. I do remember it being quite a chunky thing and heavy. From what I now know, I would doubt it ever had a hamon - just a piece of iron or steel shaped like a hirazukuri blade. A good blow would have easily broken your arm or cracked your skull. Ian

Two aspects of this object strike me as being unusual: Firstly the 'blade' has no habaki and secondly the archaic shape of the tsuka. I suspect, like Tom, the object is a prop for one of the ancient court or shrine dances, a factor partially supported by the flimsy nature of the tsuba. Back in the late 1960's I once owned a jitte mounted as a sword. It looked exactly like a wakizashi, with all the usual fittings, including a kozuka, except that the hirazukuri blade had a rounded edge and was unhardened. I remember the saya was a pleasant buff colour. At first I thought it was a sword that some idiot had blunted until I noticed the habaki was shaped internally to fit the rounded edge. Wish I still had it! Ian Bottomley

As Piers has said, the Shimazu of Satsuma originally used 'ju' in a circle and modified it to the 'horse bit' form when Christianity was becoming a problem. I have been working on an armour bearing the old form of their kamon, acquired for the collection of the Royal Armouries in 1841. For years it was confused with those given to King James I and then was thought to have belonged to Naito Yukiyasu exiled to Manilla; since it was known there was a Spanish connection and the engraved kamon on the kanemono look so much like Christian crosses. However, under a glass you can see that the engraver of the kanemono has done a little upward tick at the base of the upright strokes confirming it is really 'ju'. I have now tracked this armour down to the gift to King Philip II of Spain from the Tensho mission and actually have a description of it written in Madrid in 1603. It seems most likely it was a gift from the Otomo who had fought the Shimazu prior to this mission. The description states that the maedate was a gilded cross with 'tails' of black fur either side. This I interpret as being like kuwagata covered with the fur and a kamon at the base. There was also a large crest on top of the helmet, described as a gilded leather panache, but of what shape it doesn't say. Sadly these crests are lost but the tsunamono for them still exist. There is also a mention of what appears to read 'baruas' - in black and white, which follows immediately on the description of the crests. This continues to defeat me. The best interpretation I have come up with is that this might be the helmet cord, a sashimono or possibly a jinbaori. I struggle on. Ian Bottomley

Ron, I've posted this before but it is worth repeating. If the seller lists the sword in a category 'swords', 'knives' or the like you will be prevented from bidding. If it is listed in another category such as 'memorabilia' or the like you can bid without any problem. I've noticed a lot of dealers now do use other categories so look out for them. Ian Bottomley

Bazza, Yes I remember that tanto in Oxford - that brings back memories and the uncomfortable realisation how old I'm getting. It was a momentous trip to Oxford for me. Travelling overnight in my Dad's old van and arriving in Oxford in the early hours and then trying to geta bit of sleep before the museum opened. One good thing that day was a wander off into the environs of the museum and finding a superb katana in an antique shop about 200 yards away. In there was a superb katana I bought with a blade by Ippo in the ichimonji style and a tsuba by Yokoya Somin. The fuchi /gashira were shakudo nanako with just a gold moon peeping from clouds on the kashira. Although unsigned, I thought Goto. The scabbard was of longitudinal strips of polished and black lacquered same set in red textured lacquer. Looked like something out of 'bad women's bedroom' but the quality was superb. Wish I still had it but it had to go about two years later when I had to sell stuff to pay the rates. Ian Bottomley

I think the 'lacquer ware' is purporting to be a hitai ate or happuri. I have never seen one with embossed eyebrows of that strange S shape. Without seeing it in the flesh it is impossible to say just what it really is. Ian Bottomley

I have seen one or two similar sized blades in the past. One I recollect, in shirasaya, was hirazukuri and had the most amazing horimono down both sides. With such a vast area to cut into, the artist had included dragons and Buddhist images in profusion. I'm afraid I cannot recall the maker ( it was 30 odd years ago). My conclusion was that these oversized blades may have been made for presentation to sumo wrestlers. Slightly corroborating this, was a giant pipe, case and tobacco pounch a friend in the US had - obviously made to swagger around with. Ian Bottomley

Piers, It gets more interesting than that. Tsuyama castle was in Mori hands for only four generations. In 1698 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi evicted the Mori and installed Matsudaira Nobutomi in their place. Why this happened I have yet to find out. Slightly more interesting is the fact that when Hasekura Tsunenaga made his epic voyage to Europe, he not only carried gifts for Philip III of Spain, but also for Louis XIII of France. We know that these were a gift from Ieyasu, through his son Hidetada, since Date Masamune was criticised by Hidetada on Hasekura's return for sending a vassal to negotiate with the Pope. Date wrote back pointing out that not only had the Tokugawa ordered the visit, but had supplied letters to the foreign powers, gift armours, the ship on which the expedition crossed the Pacific and twelve samurai as bodyguards. One of the two armours given to Louis XIII was one that has the Mori kamon on it. It appears in a painting done in 1687 by Le Brun (1619 – 1690), on the ceiling of the ‘Hall of Mirrors’ in the Palace of Versailles and is mentioned in the inventory of the French Royal Collection of Arms and Armour together with a naginata and what appear to be at least five swords (these last are not well described although: 304; Un petit Sabre de deux pieds, un pouce de long a guarde de fer, poignee de cuir, et fourreau fond noir orne de nacre de perle. - must be a wakizashi). Why a Mori armour was included I do not know since the others in the gifts are battle loot and the other in the French gift is a bag of bits made up from several armours. Perhaps the Mori gave it as a contribution for being granted Tsuyama. It wasn't new at that time since it was made by Iwai Yosaemon of Nara and probably pre-dates Seki ga Hara. Ian

By sheer coincidence I was reading up on Tsuyama in Mimasaka last week. This had been part of Kobayakawa Hideaki's territory and was ruled from Okayama until his death in 1602. It was then confiscated by Tokugawa Ieyasu and given to Mori Tadamasa with a stipend of 186,500 koku. He built a magnificent castle in Tsuyama called Kakuzan-jo that was said to rival Himeji. Ian Bottomley

Hum, No, I don't think this is a tobikuchi. I have a jitte with the same tobikuchi at the base, although mine has no side-hook and simply tapers to a plain end. Mine too is red lacquered and has the part above the pick bound to form a grip. Since the pick isn't really sharp on the edge that butts against the hand, it is perfectly practical. It is getting a bit late now but I will try and post an image tomorrow. Ian Bottomley

Ron, Just to qualify Bugyotsuji's comment, the niju makibari describes the method by which the barrel was made. The basic tube was formed by tapering the long edges of a strip of iron and then forming it into a tube by hammering it around an iron bar or mandrel with the edges overlapping. This joint was then welded by heating and hammering (in Europe the mandrel is deliberately rusted and coated with lime to stop the tube being welded to it). Tapering the edges of the strip avoids a thickened region at the weld. For a cheap barrel this simple tube might be shaped into an octagonal section on the anvil before being knocked off the mandrel and bored smooth inside. This why many guns have octagonal barrels - it could be almost finish shaped on the anvil and obviated all the swaging or filing a round barrel needed. For a better barrel, a second strip, again with tapered edges is wrapped spirally around the basic tube, the edges again being welded together and the whole strip to the tube underneath. Because the grain of the wrapping is circumferential, it is less likely to be burst by the high pressure on discharge. When three layers are used, the second spiral layer is wound the opposite way so that the welds cross each other. A long difficult job. In Europe it was the smiths of Liege and Birmingham who specialised in this process, usually using strips made by welding together strips of iron and steel and twisting them before welding so that the finished barrel showed a patterned structure. In Liege they sometimes showed off by welding a prepared stack of iron and steel rods together so that when the barrel was finished the name 'Liege' showed in the pattern. Interestingly, I once saw a small tanto blade with a 'rose twist' hada that may have been made out of a European shotgun barrel. Ian Bottomley

This 'Skip' method is essentially the system chosen by Koop & Inada for their dictionary 'Japanese Names and How to Read Them'. For those not familiar with their work let me give them the biggest plug possible. Although it dates back to the 1920's, it is, apart from being a kanji dictionary, absolutely pack with the most obscure information on things like court titles, groups of objects associated with numbers, how names were derived and so on and so on. Ian Bottomley

James, Many years ago I saw a tachi mounted completely in leather. The saya and tsuka were covered in gilded 'Dutch leather' and all of the fittings were of gilded nerigawa, including the tsuba and the ashi. The only parts of the koshirae made of metal were the seppa and a pair of menuki glued in place on the tsuka. I cannot recall anything about the blade but I don't think it can have been anything remarkable. I have no idea why such a koshirae would be made, except possibly to carry in the daimyo gyoretsu because of its light weight. I also once owned a naginata with a perfectly normal unsigned blade, mounted in a shaft of honoki. That had mounts made of gilded paper, except for the ishizuki which was iron. It looked quite good since the top of the shaft was lacquered in textured green lacquer that contrasted nicely with the gilt fittings. Again I would guess made deliberately light weight for carrying on marches. Ian Bottomley

I have read this thread, and the questions it has raised, with great interest. In my humble opinion the Japanese sword and its fittings belongs to past eras, and these cannot be revisited. This is why we divide blades into nihonto, gunto and shinsakuto. However skilfully made and however artistic a shinsakuto may be, it cannot be a true nihonto or gunto since it has been made 'out of its period' so to speak. If one takes the analogy of say a recently made flintlock duelling pistol, however similar or however exactly it replicates the work of Manton, Egg or Nock, it is still quite rightly regarded as a copy, and accepted as such by all in the field of gun collecting. Why? for the simple reason that duelling pistols belong to the late 18th and early decades of the 19th century and not to the present day. In view of the fact that we differentiate between eras of blade production, perhaps we need terms to describe tsuba and other fittings made in different eras. Having said all that, I regard the work of Ford and other present masters as being just as valid in terms of artistry and craftsmanship as the work done in earlier years - but recognise that they are now superb works of art rather than functional objects. Ian Bottomley

Let me add my very best wishes to everyone in this community for the coming year. May you all prosper and add wonderful things to your collections. Ian

Mark, Whilst I cannot even make a guess at the maker, the subject of your fuchi / gashira seems to be the incident in 1180 when the Minamoto pulled up the planks of the bridge over the Uji river and the Taira rode onto it in a fog. The guy standing on the bridge timbers is Gochin no Tajima, a monk who challenged the Taira to shoot at him and cut the arrows with his naginata. Ian Bottomley

Lee, I had no intention of impugning the Chinese as a whole, just those who churn out mountains of fake swords, tsuba, netsuke, inro, okimono and so on and then have the effrontery to state that a) they are Japanese, and b) that they are antique. Many of these are talented people and it is a great pity they cannot make a living in this crass commercial world using their talents honestly. I am reminded of the artist Tom keating who turned to doing drawings and paintings in the style of old masters and so forth. His work, now he is dead, fetches enormous prices because people have now accepted that he had talent. China is producing many products that are superb value. I use a Chinese lathe and have to admit that it is at least as good if not better than most European products and cost about 1/3 of the price. Ian Botomley

Andreas / Dick, I too have no record of that exact kamon. The fan-paper shape is classified as different from those kamon showing complete fans. There is one point I would make. The cover is for a wakizashi and hence the kamon could be one adopted by a non-military person in the late Edo period. Ian Bottomley

Oh Simon, if only you could do that to eBay. They talk a lot about honesty and integrity and even ran a campaign to get their buyers to sign up to stop counterfeit goods, but do absolutely nothing to stop the blatant fakes from China. The counterfeit goods they were worried about were of course things like perfumes, handbags and such, produced by big-name companies with powerful lawyers - we small timers don't even count in their scheme of things. What I would like is a simple filter that allowed anything being sold from China to be blocked. I wouldn't mind ploughing through the Chinese junk, but as I have already mentioned elsewhere, we here in the UK cannot even see knives or swords on eBay UK. Ian Bottomley