Markus

@SteveM I actually thought of ume first too. So similar in cursive.

The first character is a bit odd. Man'yōgana should be (波) for Ha, but it looks like it is either(柀) or (披), which do not read ha. But anyways, we have here a poem by Matsuo Bashō about early spring, with the last two elements, moon and plums (tsuki to ume) being a rebus as shown on the tsuba and not spelled out in the poem. 披る茂屋々 けしき登々乃ふ Haru mo yaya keshiki totonou tsuki to ume. "The scenery of spring is almost in place, with the moon and plums"

Teruyoshi studied with Hosokawa Masayoshi after he had received his initial training from Terukazu.

Just a couple of corrections, if I may. The two names in question are Gyokurinshi Hideji (玉林子英二) and Gyokurinshi Teruyoshi (玉鱗子英義), both smiths who had been adopted by Terukazu (英一).

As Jacques pointed out, just a different way of writing KANE (兼). There is even a term for that, uokane, when the KANE (兼) character resembles that for "fish" (魚, Japanese: uo/gyo/sakana).

I would like to thank you, Andy and Chi Fan 🙏

Amazing! This looks like something you can look at for years and discover new things. Thank you for sharing @Andrew Ickeringill

While there is no record on why the umegane were removed, I was able to narrow down the time frame between 1907 (when the fotos WITH them were taken for the Bulletin) and a record shot taken in 1922 where there were already gone. The museum had several Japanese consultants coming over once in a while around that time period, so I can guess it was maybe done on their recommendation. But, its a mystery...

Apologies for the confusion @Spartancrest Too early in the morning, lol. Trying to see if there are any records about that.

[Edited] Just realized was looking at the wrong thing. Try to see if I can find any records on when (why?) the ategane were removed.

@Brian Will be back later this fall on a more regular basis here 👍

No date, as Steve pointed out. What "worries" me a bit is that the cert quotes the gold inlaid cutting test under "mei" and not in a separate "kinzōgan-mei section"...

The puzzle is: Tsuki Mitsuoki chōsen (月光興彫鐫) – "Engraved by Tsuki Mitsuoki" The artist had the habit of abbreviating his Ōtsuki School name to just Tsuki and signing the Oki character very similar to a kaō monogram.

I have placed the orders for readers who pre-paid for the Tosogu Classroom project in several phases (some before, and some after my recent trip to Japan). Production of hardcovers takes a little longer than it was the case a few years back (anything improving recently?). Volumes 3 should be arriving soon, and I do not know why some get there sooner than others. I guess it depends on how close the print partner is Lulu.com uses for producing the books.

Direct link: https://mailchi.mp/7...om-the-field-2023-23 Link to some of the past issues: https://us19.campaig...4a0c23&id=1891b1f9ee