Bugyotsuji

Today I found another example of a 'hanaire', still attached to a kinchaku purse. Thanks to this thread I recognized it as such (Jean!) and we can clearly see which himotoshi hole(s) was/were used for the himo cord. The other holes look decorative... except that on the back this one has a tiny slot as if to hang on a peg or a nail. Bamboo (stag antler) Hana-ire hanging wall vase container. Behind

Thanks Pietro! There are many ways and means of finding good netsuke at a reasonable price, but you do need to train your eye on good examples first in order to be able to spot the bargains. Then get out and about to fairs and auctions and discover the sweet spots and the places to avoid. I found one this very morning. Definitely if you don’t mind a little damage you can buy a very good Netsuke, even signed, and admire the carving work for a huge saving compared to a ‘perfect’ example. It will also educate you as to the hand of a particular master carver. Step by step one gets to Rome!

Yes, there was a Koshosen Nagaharu Kinko around Bunkyū, who was Shuei of Kyoto Gosho.

On the left is Chōshun (Nagaharu) 長春　作

5-3 Kiri Mon. After derusting I discovered that each paulownia ‘imprint’ is carved out in fine detail, not merely stamped. Three on front, two behind. Detail

Assuming for the time being that these really are Korean (i.e. not Chinese.) With poles…

We have a thread running titled ‘Chinese Cannon’, but no dedicated thread for old Korean guns. The other thread can be found below for those that have missed it so far. Any further Korean updates can hopefully be found here in this new thread. In the meantime that thread is still open for Chinese cannon or gun candidates. Korean cannon were supplemented by smaller pole weapons for infantry, single or triple-barrel guns set off by a lighted fuze/fuse. (What we think of as matchlocks probably first started to replace these older weapons as the Koreans defended the peninsula against Hideyoshi’s armies in the 1590s. There is a Korean matchlock example in the Gun Museum on beautiful Tanegashima Island, just south of Kyūshū.) Today I started work on making a disposable haft for the bronze long gun, and the video gave me some hints. (It’s in Korean but sufficiently visual to follow to the end.) The bronze socket is 20mm in diameter internally so I sourced a suitable pole, whittled it down and stained it. There are two holes in the socket so I drilled a hole in the whittled end of the pole to receive some kind of mekugi or locking pin. Length of pole? The records talk about overall length including socketed barrel of 110~200 cm, but if you think about it, loading needs to be done with the muzzle upright. The pole cannot be too long for the average gunner. I made it short enough to load easily when standing in a ditch or behind a rampart. Counter-weight? Some records suggest these guns had a blade on the other end of the shaft, so the weapon could still be used as a club or a spear if you were to be caught while trying to reload. The barrel is really quite heavy, so I would be happy with any extra weight added to the other end of the haft, anything, even an iron ishi-tsuki from a spear for a start. (A blade could be dangerous for friends passing behind you.) Ballistics Although the video shows insertion of pachinko balls and patch material, the records mention it was mainly arrows that were used, either in bunches, or as single bolts with rounded feathers and flat enforced ends.

PS Just found a great video, with unearthed examples of Korean long guns of this type, with very similar inscriptions.

After a little further reflection, it makes more sense for my collection to have a couple of opposing weapons of the type that the Japanese would have faced in Hideyoshi's (mis?)(ad?)ventures over the Tsushima Strait.

Many thanks to Thomas and his valuable consultants. I think we’ve moved this game forward considerably now, almost worthy of a new thread as it would seem to be not Chinese, but Korean, a ‘victory’ gun carrying the character 勝 Katsu/Shō. Plus we have a photo of one bronze Korean Shō hand gun dated 1592. PS My good friend Ian Bottomley opined that my three-barrel example (bought from a Chinese dealer) was Korean, so maybe both are in fact Korean.

No, you are correct, Lars.

Follow-up. Just checked the records and there is/was an Enamiya Ihei gun dated 1801, so you know roughly when yours was made, during this smith’s working lifetime. He seems to have travelled to other parts of Japan to teach gun smithing. There are guns with this signature Enamiya Ihei, but living variously in 石州、播州、and 周防. Sounds like a talented smith. But yours has all the hallmarks of a gun made in his hometown.

Thank you very much for looking at the puzzling inscriptions, Trystan. You have given me a couple of ideas. It’s always good to have another set of eyes to help zero in. Toyotomi Hideyoshi gathered his guns and his troops and invaded Korea in the 1590s, and they found themselves facing single- and triple-barrel guns much like the ones above, so a bronze gun dated 1583 would not be so strange. The bore is 1.55 cm, which is a decent size of ball for a battlefield gun.

Definitely oil the red rust. I like to mash oiled red rust gently with a hammer and wipe off repeatedly with cloth or tissue. Quite satisfying to see the amount of orange-red staining the tissue! PS If you ever need to reblue the whole barrel though, you’ll need to thoroughly remove all trace of oil first.

A good example of a Sakai/Sesshū/Settsu/Ōsaka smallbore (are you *sure the bore is 1.5 cm?) long gun, the Mei saying Sesshū Jū Enamiya Ihei Saku’, i.e. made by Ihei of the House of Enami in Sesshū. I wouldn’t worry about the small piece of kirikane, unless you have money to spare and a friend with the right workshop to recreate it for you. There’s plenty to enjoy as it is. Normally these decorations come out of a drawer and these flashy guns were owned by rich merchants rather than Bushi, so no clan involved. There are two that you could be referring to as Mon, the eight-hammer wheel and the bamboo motif. You give both the barrel length and total length as 130 cm. *Guns like these do not exceed a bore of 1.3 cm as they are not military guns. Too flashy! PS 巻張 Makibari tells you the barrel is bound with iron helix twist.