Bugyotsuji

Resolution. No further action on this venerable old blade. A request for Togi would put a Togishi into making impossible choices. Although it could be tweaked, a Togishi might be tempted to give it the full works, but what would then emerge? Something very different? To summarize package update. Shirasaya created, received. Check. Tsunagi created, received. Check. Tantō blade tucked safely away for preservation. (*Shows typical Sō-Shū second-half of Namboku Chō workmanship. Around Eiwa.) Has accompanying Koshiraé and NBTHK paperwork. 長さ一尺O寸二分 反りわずか 重ね薄く、三つ棟板目肌に地景がからみ地沸つ く。表裏の刃文が違い、裏側は皆焼となる。”Length 1 Shaku 2 Bu, very slight sori, thin kasane, mitsumune, itame hada containing chikei, shows ji-nie. Blade front and back manifest contrasting hamon features, the back showing hitatsura.” (Quoting my sword appreciation sensei.)

Steve, a tsuba collector friend today said he sees the Akasaka possibility, but he gets a stronger sense of early Edo Kyoto, i.e. Kyo sukashi. The sukashi walls are not straight vertical cuts, but rather at an angle, which is for him a strong indicator for Kyoto. Also the mimi are not as rounded as you might expect for Akasaka.

Nice! Are you talking about the smallness of the blade itself or the whole thing? Either way, yes and yes. Yari came in all sizes. (Sadly though, many longer ones have have been cut down from their original length.)

Unbelievable triple coincidence. Just arrived at the museum in town to listen to a lecture on special order swords. Guess what the very first one I am looking at is… had no idea it was here!

I am glad you found the link useful. SWB?

Jussi, forgive the thread drift, but yes, it is a different naginata, but both were special order items, made for the same person, Miyake Ason, about 20 years apart! Funnily enough, I was round there again today, and doubly funny, there was an article in today's Sanyo Shimbun about the one you just mentioned above! I took a photo of the newspaper article about the Date naginata, and the NBTHK explanation of the tokubetsu juyo naginata owned by my friend. I will pm them to you. (All of my information above was correct except that it is not a Prefectural Bunkazai. That was a different blade.)

I read that late Akasaka tends towards thinner tsuba plates, but the three early generations made tsuba thicker at the mimi. Found this recently… Mimi seems quite thick. No immediately discernible tekkotsu.

PS In your original post, Dale, you suggested that the function might be to protect the (other) fingers against kick with a large caliber gun. I like the thinking, and as a shooter I can see what you mean there.

This one is on a 20 Monme 'heavy caliber' ōzutsu from Kishū (Wakayama).

https://ameblo.jp/toudou455/entry-12527870806.html This is a discussion of its possible functions. The writer has searched high and low but says he cannot find anything written as to the definitive use of ナマコ金 Namako-gane, other than that it was a feature of Ogino-Ryu (school of gunnery) guns, and later copied by others. The alternative word he notes is 力金 Riki/Chikara-gane, which could indicate a firmer grip obtained with your other fingers against it, in contrast to and to help the trigger finger aim safely and accurately. (He also repeats what I covered in my previous post.)

Dale, these are called Namako-gané, which is ‘sea-cucumber metal fitment’. There are several varieties of these. One I saw had a hollow (like yours?) that the trigger pulled back into. From what I understand they were a stopper, to protect the trigger when dropped or against accidental firing. They actually look good, I reckon, and do give a more comfortable grip for the other fingers. I have never been totally convinced though. I’ll check my sources once more!

“It’s the exception that proves the rule.” Perhaps that means the ‘rule of thumb’ rule.

Hmmm… could be a Tosa smith in Shikoku. The shape and construction of the butt should clarify this. Family name Ono. There are five Tanegashima matchlock gunsmiths listed under this name, two of them working in Tosa, a large province in the southern part of Shikoku. (There were two in Hyūga in Kyūshū, and one Ono smith in Bizen.) The style of your name is very similar to one of the listed Tosa smiths, so although unlisted I reckon yours should be a relative in the same Ono smith line. Can you spot it?

Congratulations on your purchase, Grahame! 大野善三郎作 Ōno Zenzaburō Saku (I think!) (Possibly Zensaburō?) I’m about to check this smith out. If I find anything I’ll post it here.

All the pieces of an armour set were usually placed into individual soft cotton/hemp/linen bags, each with designation kanji on the outside. E.g. 脛宛 Sune-ate. But with all the materials available today we can protect things better. I remember Mr Morisaki once telling me that bubble-wrap is not good however, as it can trap moisture and can foster rust, etc. "Everything needs to breathe", he explained, while showing me some of that typical Jaanese wrapping paper. (He also disapproved of modern mothballs, and said that to protect against insect activity, dried togarashi peppers were usually placed inside an armour box.)

Nothing to do with the subject matter but I was shown a naginata on Tuesday, the first time I have ever been tempted, a giant 'ryosaku' 両作, by Katsumitsu and Sadamitsu from Meio, around 1490, if my memory serves. In shirasaya, with no naga-e. Long nakago, with long special order Mei on one side and rows of Bonji on the other. The condition was ubu, and the blade was gorgeous, to my untrained eye. The owner said, "This is a Ken Bunkazai. Why don't you buy it?" I was a little astonished, as I was not there to buy anything and I only had four thousand yen in my wallet ($30), but it certainly was an attractive blade, and when I say tempted, I have never particularly wanted to own a naginata. "Just out of interest, how much are you wanting for it?" I asked politely. "Ten million JPY", he replied. Funnily enough, after that initial eye-watering, this dream blade haunts my memory.

Today the long-awaited phone call! The sun-nobi Masahiro tanto shirasaya and tsunagi are ready at last. He says that they have used a nice piece of ho-no-ki 朴の木 magnolia wood for a jewel-like surface finish. Hoping to pick them up at the sword museum on Sunday. All good thngs come to those who wait. The little pension is a blessing though, oil to the clanking gear wheels. Then the decision will have to be made on nugui, etc. "To polish, or not to polish" as my old friend Hamlet once said.

Sometimes wish human relations could be simpler…

Oh, one of the rusted and stuck bisen I had asked him to have a look at was on a signed Bizen barrel that someone had given me a while back. As a kind of joke I asked if he had a spare stock for a Bizen gun. "As a matter of fact, I do, but it is in terrible condition, and most of the lockwork is missing!" he said, and went off to fetch it from the back of his garage. Well, it's filthy, but close, and about the right length, but doesn't quite fit. I may be able to ream out the walls of the stock a little and get the barrel to settle in properly. What do you reckon? Two-thirds of a Tanegashima must surely be better than one third!?!? And with a missing serpentine, perhaps there will be no need to legally register this Frankenstock...

Good news and bad news. Which should I announce first? To go with the bad. When I bought the Inatomi-Ryu military gun at auction, there was some trouble with another bidder. Can't go into detail here, but he thought that I was driving him up beyond what he was willing to pay, so as a point of pride he started to outbid me. After the auction he absolutely insisted on letting me have the gun at my highest bid, at a loss to himself, but the air between us was not good. Anyway I took it home, added a proper ramrod, gave it some TLC, and eventually managed to clear the blocked vent, as above. Ta-daaaa! On Sunday he suddenly said, "If you're not too bothered over that gun, can we have it as a spare for the matchlock group?" This is an offer I cannot refuse, and I know he will give me what I paid. So, I have to hand it over. He virtually runs the group and I cannot really say no. But I know inside that he will sell it to one of our members. On the other hand, he is the leader of the group, and this will finally clear the air between us. Seen it before! So a short but sweet goodbye to my first Inatomi school gun. The other piece of bad news is that the trusty shirasaya-shi is overloaded with other orders, for Jinja ho-no-to, etc., so my tanto is stuck in a backlog. The good news is that the Sakai long gun is back with the bisen loosened and missing part replaced! Can you see it? (He also opened another two stuck bisen for me, but the final one of those three he gave up on.)

Normally the do is placed in upside-down, and the kusazuri hung inside, but this may be in order for the armor to fit inside the box, and not necessarily to protect the watakami shoulder pieces while travelling. (We also see examples of the kusazuri/gessan tied up in individual bunches with string.) If this was my armor, I would not use the armor box for the house move. (Within Japan?)

Volker. Try Maru ni chigai kashiwa. 丸に違い柏　家紋

篤明 seems to be listed under both readings of Atsuaki and Tokuaki. Kyoto. 田中信造, with 'go' of 一寿斎, d. aged 50 in Meiji 22.

I do occasionally see a small bag or bunch of spare parts for Tanegashima, maybe once a year on average. Since these guns are not all of a standard size, Dale, and their construction and proportions vary by region, you can easily end up with a result looking slightly out of balance. An overlarge serpentine, for example. I know others are looking for parts too. I would look to have parts made up, but I am guessing you think that could be expensive.(?) Tomorrow I hope to be collecting one with a newly-made pan cover, but I know the guy and he won’t rip me off. I’ve given him spare parts in the past, so there’s an element of give-and-take. Hoping someone can help you out. And. Please let us know how you get on! Good luck.

https://nqs.takaebi.sa.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19442 Your Fuchi could be the same Meiji Kinkō artist 篤明 as in the link above.