IanB

Brian, I fully agree. Ian

Guido, I feel very hesitant about writing and contradicting a moderator of this forum, but I really must comment on the view you have just expressed. I agree with you that some Japanese swords are first and foremost Art, but many, perhaps the majority, are also weapons carried to indicate the status of their wearer and to enable him to accomplish his role in life. I can and I do study the finest, and I have dragged around more museums than most, but it is imperative that we do not limit our study to a small subset. I am firmly of the view that all swords are relevant and even the most humble can inform. Like you I do not know if the two colour bindings indicate anything other than taste - but unless we look and ask questions we will never find out. Does it matter if two colour bindings have a meaning? I think it does, it adds to our knowledge of the Japanese sword. Does it matter if a fine blade has a gimei signature? Yes, but only in that it was not made by that smith, it still remains a fine blade. There is also the matter of ownership. Many of the members of this Message Board aspire to owning swords. I personally feel very privileged to own both swords and armour, much of the latter acquired when the more upmarket auction houses hardly deigned to sully their delicate hands dealing with it. Unfortunately very few can afford to acquire great art swords, although I'm sure we all aspire to, but I'm sure many, like me, derive a great deal of pleasure from and have pride in what we do own. Ian Bottomley

Reinhard, I agree with some of the points you have just made, but the hilt has seen a lot of abuse and is now very poor condition. It was obviously not in that state when bound. The fact that the mekugi sticks out and that some of the same is missing is irrelevant to the original point about the two colours. Whether the menuki are original to the sword is another point that is difficult to decide. Many bushi were desperately poor had had to be content with what they could afford or acquire. One thing I have noticed is that the hilt appears slightly wider for the first crossings. This may well indicate that the wrap has been repaired, but I still think it was done a long time ago. Ian

Reinhard, You make the point that the second colour of braid on Mark's hilt starts at the third crossing and then make the enigmatic comment that this is 'Not good'. Why is it 'Not good'? Are you implying that this arrangement is some way inferior? Clearly the binder could have started the second colour at the first crossing on the ura side if he had chosen to do so; but he didn't. One must assume he had a good reason for this choice. Ian Bottomley

Mark and Brian, I agree, Sunday was a real treat. Both these bindings are interesting. There certainly were some clans who identified themselves by the style of binding of their swords. Some ranks of the Shonai Han had bindings similar to the so-called Satsuma Rebellion hilts. Whether or not these two colour styles were similar I just do not know, but I suspect they may well have been. Ian

Gents, There is a link between Shigen and mukade. Takeda Shingen had the device of a writhing centipede on the flags of his battlefield runners. Ian Bottomley

Dana, Sword P3 appears to have every chance of being good quality. The mounts are en-suite and are decorated with the Tokugawa kamon. The Tokugawa family being the Shoguns of course. I'm definitely not saying this sword has anything to do with the shoguns - they were a prolific bunch with sub-groups in different parts of the country so there were plenty of them. They also had numerous hangers-on but at least the mounts look very reasonable to me. The habaki, decorated as it is with a dragon, is a nice touch that cost money when it was made for the blade. I would be disappointed if that blade did not turn out to be of at least reasonable quality. P4 Again a better that average mounted katana that apart from the obvious corrosion problems may well turn out to have a reasonable blade. Difficult to say any more without seeing more of the blade and tang. P5 is best described as a bit of nonsense made to sell to the tourists. Nice piece of rayskin on the hilt though. Congratulations. You have some nice things but cleaning and re-patination is going to be a tricky job. Ian Bottomley

Rich, Years ago I visited the Japan Sword Company's shop and was shown a really large nodachi in shirasaya (if memory serves about 8' long) the tsuba of which was of the shingen type, in iron, and about 10" across. I remember thinking it most have nearly doubled the weight of the sword. If there were other fittings I do not know, since I wasn't shown any. Almost certainly a votive thing but interesting. Ian Bottomley.

Dana, The smaller circular ornaments will form the heads of the mekugi which will be of copper. One half will be a tube into which the second half fits. How they are held together varies. Sometimes there is a screw thread, often 'left handed'. You will have to tentatively try and unscrew the two parts twisting one way then the other until you know the direction to turn. An alternative was for one part to be solid but having a transverse hole through it with a small piece of leather through the hole. This gives a friction fit that should allow the two parts to just pull apart. Be very careful since sometimes the solder holding the head to the pin can give way leaving you with a minor disaster. If it will not come out easily I would leave well alone and let an expert take it apart for you. Ian Bottomley

All, Thank you for all of that. I have been rather busy over the weekend and meant to scan and post the text but Piers has saved me the trouble. Yes Piers, that is the armour. I too arrived at the translation of joining an arrow (as in to its string - ie nocking). I had also correctly read the kanji for shape and assumed the preceeding was a name. No, it is not an akoda nari kabuto - although similar in profile. An akoda nari hachi starts in a low curve in front, dips around the tehen and then bulges out at the rear. They do not have this medial keel that these two helmets have. One can see the obvious advantage of the stiffening and deflecting effect the keel would have. I wonder if this keel was inspired by European helmets. It is thought that the medial ridge on Momoyama period and later do (hatomune do) were inspired by European armour. No doubt this style was given some fancy name during the Edo period (Ho-o bird's breast when lying on its back shaped helmet or some such) but since I cannot find anything like it in the books, I will have to fall back on that good old standby - kawari kabuto. Thank you again all for your efforts Ian

Anthony, The three animals are dragon, tiger and shishi. Ian Bottomley

All, A friend has recently acquired this most interesting helmet. It is made from six, rather heavy russet iron plates, that meet at the top forming a sharp medial keel that dips in the centre. Judging by the internal surface, the bowl itself is of considerable age, although the shikoro is obviously of the late Edo period. After searching long and hard through numerous books and catalogues, I eventually found another helmet of similar shape. This forms part of a Momoyama period armour exhibited in Kanazawa in the 1990's and described as being a production of the Kaga Han. Assuming it is by the same hand, or at least the same workshop, it is almost certainly the work of the Haruta group. Neither helmet is signed. The text in the catalogue describes the helmet as being 'RARETA' shape but in hiragana. Could any of you Japanese speakers take a guess at the possible meaning of this term? Thanking you in anticipation Ian Bottomley

All, Although I have attended the SF show in the past, I am more familiar with the situation here in the UK. Over the years I have observed several other factors that impinge upon our passion / hobby. Firstly the supply of swords available to collectors is ever declining. Every year some are handed in to the police, or to museums, whilst others are destroyed by accidents. These are swords that are taken permanently out of circulation. Others become less desirable by neglect, accidental damage or sheer ignorance on the part of their owners and hence drop in desirability. Secondly there are two cyclical factors at play. The first of these is related to fashion. During the late 19th century there was a fashion for all things Japanese, including arms and armour. Anyone who was anyone went on the Grand Tour and brought back an armour and swords, displaying them in their homes to show how wealthy / cultured they were. Within a couple of decades the fashion changed and these objects were relegated to cellars and attics or given to museums. By the 1920's a few European scholars such as Koop were beginning to take notice of this material and there was another brief flowering of interest. By the end of WWII anything Japanese was very much out of fashion. I have talked to some of the old guys who bought tea-chests full of armour for 10/- in the London salerooms. By the 1970's interest was again on the rise and has continued ever since. The second cycled, superimposed on the first relates to the collectors. During a period of interest, collectors sweep up what is available. This material does not in general appear on the market until they die. Sometimes the second generation might hold the collection together, but ultimately an inheritor will have no interest and that collection becomes available again. Thus there is a cycled of about 30 years or so which takes material off the market and puts it on again. Finally there is the matter of price. As interest grows, prices grow. We have now reached the point where a half-decent sword will cost a considerable proportion of an average persons annual income. We are also, as has been pointed out, in a recession. Interest will in this situation wane. For a period a year or so ago, the exchange rate favoured the UK in buying from Japan and the US. As a result, swords flowed in to this country. The situation has now changed and we will see the flow reversed. Ian Bottomley

Gentlemen, Let us step back a little. Yes the fuchi does not fit and has been added and obviously the seppa would fill the gap. The habaki on the other had does seem to fit and would appear to be of reasonable quality. What intrigues me is the hilt. Some years ago I bought a tachi koshirae from the defunct Tokyo Sword Fittings Museum described in the catalogue as a 19th C. copy of a Momoyama koshirae (I personally think it is much older but that is another matter). That too has the menuki completely concealed by the same style of binding. Judging by the photo of the whole hilt, it looks as if it may have been mounted in a handachi style with lacquered braid ito. Ian Bottomley

Piers, Yes, I do remember him. I don't think I got to the Tower on that occasion but I can remember Leeds. Over the years we have everybody and his brother either just visiting or adding something to an event. Ian

For those who are interested, the subject of these tsuba is 'The three vinager drinkers', one being Buddha. I found a tsuba with the same subject on a sword that had been handed in to the police during an amnesty. Ian Bottomley

Piers, The pleasure, and it really was a pleasure, was all mine. Ian

Ray, Yes, the daisho I was referring to is the monkey one. For those who have not seen it, all of the mounts are silver decorated in high relief with monkeys raiding persimmons. The quality is staggering - they have inlaid gold teeth and gold eyes with shakudo pupils. Just to top it all, the saya are lacquered to represent pine bark and you would be hard pushed to tell it wasn't. Ian

I thought I had added a post on this earlier this morning but it seems to have become lost in cyberspace. Following on from Ford's comment, here is a very elaborate daisho in Liverpool Museum with this type of wrap. I was however going to make the following point. I have seen a few aikuchi (/ aiguchi) with wraps of this type in a damaged condition. What remained of the wrapping material was incredibly brittle and showed a light buff coloured core with a shiny black exterior. I may be wrong, but I suspect that in some cases the material is not baleen at all, but a species of rattan or vine that has been split down to the right diameter and black lacquered before being used. As I say, I have no real evidence and it would need microscopic examination, but rattan or vine would readily give pieces of sufficient length and would be sufficiently flexible whilst fresh. Ian Bottomley

Dear Mr. Muecke, As you suspected, your items are a mixture of new and old. The fan dagger is of a common type that dates to the Meiji period and was made in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. I have never seen one of this type with a real blade in it, but they certainly took some trouble to lacquer the koshirae reasonably well. Your uchine is as you supposed a modern copy. The chashitsu to is very fine and I am sure is perfectly genuine. This kind of thing were also worn by doctors and similar people who were not allowed to wear a real sword. Finally the hachiwari (or kabutowari) is again old but not a real one. Being made of bronze it would not have been a great deal of use. Although they are called 'helmet breakers' they were probably used in the left had to parry a sword cut. There has been a thread on this board about them. Just how old your example is, I am not sure. I have seen others like yours before and I suspect they are Meiji period. Ian Bottomley

Mark, The name, in the circle reads Tamura. However, the kamon is not listed under that name in 'Kamon no Jiten'. There is a similar kamon, in which the six-around-one stars are rendered in outline only. This is ascribed to the Nakagawa family. Ian Bottomley

Gary, During the Edo period the Ikeda were daimyo of Tottori. Sadly their castle is now gone but the foundations remain. A few years ago a gent brought a tanto in the Royal Armouries Museum for appraisal and that was the ultimate in formal daimyo wear. Black saya with gold Ikeda kamon, unbound white same hilt with gold Ikeda kamon menuki, Goto style kozuka with the same kamon and lacquered horn fuchi / gashira. The blade was unsigned and very difficult to place, being itame hada and suguha - just nothing to really go on. The whole ensemble was absolutely pristine, even retaining its original silk bag. Ian Bottomley.

Koichi San, The character above the muni, musan is a bonji - maybe Kannon. Ian Bottomley

Time to put you out of your misery. As I understand it from a Japanese friend, the inscription on the package says that the suneate shino were part of an armour that was broken up on the owner's death and distributed to the mourners as a memento mori. If that is true, and I can read the bit about red laced armour, I find it very touching. Ian B

Piers, Yes, four shino from a pair of suneate. I should have said the longer ones are just under 10" long. I know what you mean about finding a large pair. Most seem to have been made for dwarves. When I used to dress up at the Royal Armouries I used to wear my longest pair irrespective of the rest of the armour. Now you have deduced what they are, the question is why were they put in a packet and when. Ian