Bugyotsuji

Random strands of DNA…(?)

That’s now as clear as mud. These links seem to be mixing the big and little dippers, but mariners use the handle of the little one for pointing out Myōken the North or Pole Star. Right? 七曜印 Anyway he’s my new friend as his familiar is Genbu, the great tortoise with ears, and we’re old pals already.

Don’t you have anything a little more comprehensive, our man Malcolm?

Well I answered that question already on the first page. Remember that some (combinations of) numbers were auspicious, particularly seven, the number of stars in the Little Dipper. Also nine, as in the nine-star Kuyōmon, which actually represents seven visible stars plus two ‘dark’ stars, the existence of which astrologers and thus everyone believed in. Stars were represented like that with brass, yes, and on a Kurogane background it does increase such a perception. If it is the Little Dipper, it seems that one rice shaped opening is in the wrong place…(?)

Today very sluggish, taking minutes to load each page. I go off to visit other sites while I’m waiting.

Just for reference here is a Netsuke made from baleen. Backside with a Southern Cross? Front with a dipper? But everything changes when

Sadly yes there was a continuation which I do not like to contemplate. Suffice it to say that I have lived here more half a century, and when I go back to my old village everything has changed, I recognize no one, and no one knows who the old man is. Is this really a children’s story?

A clamshell with Ryūgū Jō inside. Back Front Hoping this has linked your stories together, Jake!

Tamatebako 玉手箱　literally Jewel Hand case (vanity case). Posted on this site before, right down page 4.

PS This story of Urashima Taro continues to fascinate me and over the years I have collected objects that reflect it. Tamatebako Reverse Shinkiro

Jake, apologies for the lack of a reply. Every day I think about replying and then wonder where to start. There are two, possibly three stories which have blended over the centuries. You call it Shinkiro which is correct; 蜃気楼 (the word literally means ‘clam spirit towers’). The word must have come from the seller. And we can see the whole scene emanating as a breath or spirit or dream from the clam on both sides of your lovely Kozuka. So you could ask where the story of Urashima Taro started, or you could ask where does the kingdom of the Ryugujo Castle exist? You could say it is an unattainable paradise which can occasionally be seen over the horizon, a mirage or the dream of a giant clam. And then there is the food element in the story, a palace with gorgeous seafood (clams) and the sexual element as the clam representing female genitalia, the delicate Shunga element hovers in the background. So in the children’s story, as a reward for saving the turtle’s life, Taro the young male is taken to the towered palace of the sea princess and entertained variously and endlessly until he becomes homesick. 箱 = Hako or box, case. The 手箱 tebako vanity box or treasure/jewel box 玉手箱 tamatebako is given him as an amulet on condition he never opens it. And the rest is history. But mirages continued to appear, especially along the Japan Sea coast of Japan, with Korean or Chinese towers, and the legend of the shimmering towers in the spirit of the giant clam would reappear everytime someone used the old word Shinkiro to describe it, and children would wonder anew. So we see Netsuke clams with a palace carved inside them, or Kozuka like yours, for that is where the Ryugu Jo where Urashima Taro once visited continues to exist.

Same here the 6th yesterday, no access Japan time for about half a day.

Yes Calabrese, it’s probably shinchū brass or 黄銅 Ōdō.

Lovely! The story is of course Urashima Tarō, and the word Shinkiro literally means ‘spirit (dream) of the giant clam’, which is what people thought they saw when observing a mirage over the sea. In this case the dream is the towers of Ryugu Jo Castle under the sea where he was entertained by the Sea Princess. I have some Netsuke and Ukiyoe on this same story.

My guess is red rust which has been removed before stabilizing. Open to better ideas! When you say 'opinion on this Mei', Myochin Munekatsu, are you asking if it's legit? PS I like the sukashi.

For reference re Somada: https://collections.lacma.org/object/85065

In the box. 企, but one stroke missing. Artistic license? 川 口 Not having much luck, but (Kigyo?) Kawaguchi is the closest I could get so far. A museum in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. On the right, fuzzy but 企 again (?) plus 五 with the top stroke missing, which is an old way of writing 5. Maybe way off, but giving up for now. The answer must be out there. Anyone? PS Are you sure it's a woodblock? Last long shot, Elly Kawaguchi

If you mean that the head of the Bisen screw has a hole through it, that is the hole for insertion of a special iron 'bisen-nuki' pin for screwing and unscrewing it. Brass would bend too easily. If you like I can post two or three original examples. There is a way of relining the bore for competition shooting which involves inserting a thin-walled metal cylinder to create an inner lining. I am sure this would be easier to do within the USA today than over in Japan where regulations make anything weapons-related more than just difficult.

Hi Paul, that’s great, thanks. (Just having a look for possibilities…)

Any context?

There is a fascinating museum in Hagi, (Yamaguchi) called the Meirin Gakusha, a former Meiji school. On the second floor can be found the Ogawa Collection of Edo Period paraphernalia. His Bakumatsu guns and cannons are amazing! One room is devoted to medicine for example, and another to astronomy, each room filled with genuine old materials that he collected during his lifetime. イメージギャラリー｜萩・明倫学舎 See two bottom images...

Kyran, I have been shooting these for over 20 years, but if your (future father?) is going to use real lead shot, then I would advise having the barrel checked over first. Generally Tanegashima were built real sturdy, but a look down the bore should tell you if previous owners cleaned the thing properly in past ages. Many are hideously pitted internally! If it's in good condition, and you follow a ritual of cleaning before and after firing, there should be no problems. Naturally if you want to be 100% safe, then not firing it at all, or firing with blanks to start with could be the sensible way to go. If the *square-headed 'bisen' plug screw is a little loose, then a good trick is to wind some thin cloth (or kitchen towel) around the screw before inserting, in order to get a tight fit and prevent internal blow-back. It took me a while to figure out a good system for two of my regular guns which are also a little loose. Each time I check later to see how far the burnt powder has worked its way back along the packed threads, usually less than 50% of the way. (*Tazuke-Ryu guns on the other hand tend to have a round-headed breech screw, meaning they do not have to line up with the edges of the socket in the butt, and will always therefore slot in.) PS I have an almost identical example of a Choshu gun as yours, so if you need a reference as to the pan lid/cover, or ramrod, for example, I'd be happy to post a pic or two. Sawada Taira has a couple of pages of illustrated explanation about Choshu guns, but the book 日本の古銃 Nihon no Furuju is in Japanese.

Don't have the details with me right now but I read part of a travelogue of a young Japanese who travelled to India around 1625 and reported having seen the Southern Cross. (Can look them up if necessary) By the way, for those who haven't yet noticed it, stars in Japan were represented as round (white) polka dots, not the pointed star twinkly things that we subconsciously draw when requested.

PS The alphabetic ク 'Ku' mark at the bottom left of the barrel would be the smith's private internal message mark indicating a part, lot or batch number, etc. Maybe repeated inside the 'shinchu' brass lock. The two characters on the facet to the right of the long signature state that the barrel is of steel-banded helix construction, 巻張, 'makibari'. (winding/binding) 雷紋　雷文　卍紋 The serpentine and trigger guard on Chōshū guns are done beautifully in Manji Raimon Zōgan inlay.

Hi Kyran, You have come to the right place. Congratulations on finding this gun. It is a typical smoothbore matchlock (Tanegashima-style) long gun from the Choshu Han in southwest Honshu, Yamaguchi Prefecture today. There are several striking stylistic features which tell us this at once, particularly those you have highlighted in your photography. The signature is "Kagoya (gunsmith House of Kagoya) Daisanzaemon/ Daisozaemon/Daizaemon/Daisanemon(?) Saku" (Just double-checking the possible readings of his personal name characters). Kagoya Dai Sanzaemon...（best guess?）+saku. 籠谷台三左衛門 作 (made by) a smith from Sakai (Osaka today), where most of the Choshu Han guns were made to order. Although not dated, we can assume mid- to late-Edo, before the advent of percussion locks when most of these original Choshu locks were adapted and updated. In fact in my experience it is not so easy to find an original example. There are however a couple of temporary fixes that someone has thought necessary to perform on your gun. By the way, did you take the breech plug out, or was it missing anyway? That is the main body of information, while I try and double check how the smith would have said his name.