Bugyotsuji

And besides, I had bought something else for a different project, so one alone was probably enough for the time being!

PS The wife’s birthday on Saturday and she only ever wants cash, and a whole lot of other payments are due so I am a bit relieved; the timing, star alignments and checkboxes for this kind of bravado were not 100% right. ……………… On another note, yesterday there were some excellent tosogu on display. Interestingly, there was a tsuba which had recently been on display at the Osafune Sword Museum showing the Momo Taro story. Somehow the 'Negi' shrine priest had spotted it and suggested to the owner that it might be an excellent 'hono' dedication to Kibitsu Hiko Shrine... as this area is where the legend started. Well, the owner had brought it along, so we were encouraged to take quick shots before it disappeared into the shrine's vaults forever! There must be other Momotaro examples out there, but this was the first that I have seen.

Normally no Brian, but just for you… the original guy withdrew it from the auction at ¥50,000 as it was nowhere near what he wanted. Later as he was packing up I went to ask him what he really wanted and he said it owed him ¥130,000. As a return for a past favour, though, he said I could have it for ¥100,000. Today it started at ¥50,000, and halted at ¥85,000 where I was getting ready to nod agreement, when someone bid 90,000 and another then said 95,000. The house takes a fee from that but I was relieved to be almost out of the woods. As Chris said above there will be another one along. (Maybe this one will resurface somewhere in resurrected shape.)

Yes, it is a mon, and it resembles the famous kyumai-zasa, or nine leaves bamboo, but with flowers. Those flowers look strongly like Lindo. Without looking in the mon books I would use key words like sasalindo (lindo flowers with bamboo leaves) , or kyu-mai sasalindo mon. The Ishikawa family used the Genji sasalindo mon, and this looks like a distant but related version of it. (In the meantime I'll go and have a look through my books.)

While I was oiling the blade, bathed in the glorious smell of choji abura, the pluses and minuses became clearer. Yesterday I showed the blade to a nexus of sword artisans. The opinions flew thick and fast. Yes, on the positive side, there is a hamon. One guy commented that ken do seem to sell well, and perhaps contemporary Japanese swordsmiths should be making more of them. One respected elderly swordsmith from Tsuyama avowed that the two blade sides of the ken did not look perfectly symmetrical. One suggested the blade could delaminate during togi. They all questioned the presence of a 'ken' horimono like that along the blade of a ken, especially as the horimono is so long, plus it is only on one side. Could it have been carved to hide something? As they added to the list of things that would need doing, one remarked that it was going to cost me some serious cash to cover everything. Then he added the clincher, "This nakago does not look so old to me." Since I had bought this thing sight-unseen, and the guy had forgotten to give me the torokusho registration card, and I had had to borrow the money to pay for it, I did not sleep very well last night. All week I have been thinking, should I ask for my money back? Would he remember to bring along the torokusho? Should I just sell it, being the 'almost' new owner, and see how much it would fetch? This morning early I made a decision and went to the auction rooms with it. There was the torokusho waiting for me, thank goodness, and I was able to hand back a wad of bills to the kind lender. The guy who sold it to me a week ago must have been surprised to see it floated again so soon. Watching people's movements, it seemed to me that there was some interest in the room. "And the result?", I hear you asking... OK, it was not a clean slate, but the bidding was fairly strong and I made most of my money back again. So the lesson for my gamble was: there really was no need to send good money after bad. The bonus was, I've got the chance of another punt, another day! The bad news is that I never seem to learn my lesson until it comes back and hits me in the face once again. Old age only makes this worse.

For the past three months we have been encouraged to bring along pieces from our tsuba collections to the local once-a-month NBTHK meetings. One guy has the most amazing examples, all neatly arranged in lacquered trays inside tied black lacquer boxes. He also has terrific knowledge of what he has. Last Saturday, afterwards, he sat next to me in the waiting room armchairs. "It is so hard to kneel or sit on the tatami-mat floor", he confided in me. Then he explained how the diabetes is eating away at him, and gangrene (well, the doc) has been taking his toes one by one. He is unable now to stand properly for his particular school of sword practise. "I don't know how much longer I can come to these meetings", he added. As you can imagine, this got me thinking, and now Dale has banged a large nail in the coffin. Anyway, tomorrow we have a special day devoted to koshirae + tosogu with an expert bringing a collection from Tokyo. In the morning, though, we have been encouraged to bring along our own examples, so I have prepared two nicely-adorned koshirae, and about seven or eight kozuka to lay out. Even so, I find myself questioning my motivation. Is this purely to provide high-quality learning material for attendees? There is a NBTHK tradition of confidently showing only first-class material. By what standards do I measure my own pieces? Do I want to show off my stuff and attract what... varying measures of either greed, or disdain, or envy? With the tsuba I was careful to explain in advance that I tend to collect things that attract me, not necessarily what dealers have found to be most popular, or what experts have declared to be historically valuable. My kozuka will thus be a very mixed bag with something for everyone I hope. One consolation is listening to viewers' comments, and seeing things from other eyes. This can be a great learning experience. But then life is unfair. The most knowledgeable people get taken from the top... and we have to try and make up the shortfall once more. Remember to give thanks for written records and knowledge databases. Hang in there everyone!

Part of the fascination with Nihonto (Japanese swords) is that nothing is ever quite absolute. You may have to make your own case convincingly. The fun is in the sleuthing, and there is plenty of detective work to be had, arriving at higher or lower levels of possibility. Like a crime that you solve using circumstantial evidence, you follow those little signs to a probable or even highly-probable conclusion, if you are lucky. Usually it takes time and patience and study, (you may even find that Eureka moment!) You'll need books, opinions, experience and sixth sense.

Be aware of course that you can also sometimes find 二重刃 Nijuba, where the temper line can appear to be double. What is Nijūba in Japanese Katana terminology? (romanceofmen.com)

My first blade, a wakizashi, cost me JPY 80,000 about 20 years ago. After a week I was bored with it and took it back to the shop. The Banto took it back and gave me 70,000; one of the customers who was watching quietly said that I was very lucky to get more than 30,000. "They are throwing away their normal profit and giving you this special-favor deal in the expectation that you will upgrade", he added. Everything was new to me and I felt as though I had been thrown into a washing machine on full cycle. Later I told a friend that I had lost 10,000 for nothing. He laughed and said, "You pay for the learning process. Think of it as 授業料 'jugyoryo' school fees! Now you are older and wiser, I hope!" he said, winking. You could follow your own advice, bite the bullet and study or cross-check it with all the different opinions here, and then when you are finished and can see the whole picture, sell it on quietly and if possible without telling any lies! Once bitten, twice shy as they say. Maybe next time you can ask here in advance before making any decision to buy.

Most likely you won't. The blade needs to be deregistered under Japanese law, and the registration card (partly seen in the photo) needs to be surrendered to the authorities before leaving Japan. It's nice to have though (a copy is good) as it shows how it was registered for the books, but it's not essential, only recording the length, number of mekugi holes in the nakago, etc. It tells you no interesting stuff otherwise, only that it was deemed by some educational committee as worth registering. PS Just seen Baby Joe's reply, but the blade is Mumei, right?

Thanks Winchester and all. (re ‘ken’ blade above) Today I fashioned a better size and better fitting mekugi out of susu-daké, and I’ve gently brushed off the red rust and given the blade a light chōji oiling. On Sunday I hope to get some concrete feedback at the sword meeting as to the ideal next steps to take. Considering the saya once more, though, I see that I must backtrack on my ‘Lord Kusunoki’ comment above. Apologies. The flowers depicted cannot be chrysanthemums. They are meant to be cherry blossoms and it is raining on the cherry tree trunk where he wrote his famous poem. These are all symbols of Kojima Takanori and the story of his loyalty to the exiled emperor. The 正 ‘straight and true’ character must therefore be an expression of the (later) owner’s simple dedication to the Bushi ideal of loyalty.

I wonder if it's a mark to show where the first hanging loop lines up, or could it mean "for looped gunto no.27"?

This site alone is jam-packed with just such information. Check out the Tōsōgu section. Hours and hours of happy reading! PS A friend gave me a box full of starter tsuba which for several years I loved.🥰 Until someone scornfully rubbished them… How do I become a wine taster overnight?

A bit like Colin's duelling pistols. I am sure the restoration will end up costing more than the ken itself, which is probably why it hadn't sold. There were other bidders, but the dealer suddenly withdrew it, and I had to negotiate with him afterwards to find some middle ground, and not just a couple of hundred bucks either!

Thanks Alex, needing all the TLC I can get right now! Through the NBTHK connections here, there are various polishers around, and if you've got the cash then it's just a question of how good you want, or how good you think your valuable blade deserves. There is one pretty reasonable guy I have used several times, and another I used once. Happy with both, but I was not submitting any of my national treasures. Then there's a cheap-deal guy who has done a couple of bits for me, but they were pretty hopeless cases. I'll consult first with the sword appreciation Sensei because there are some progressive steps to doing the shirasaya, polish, habaki etc. and you do not want to get them in the wrong order. I was listening to someone yesterday who mentioned he has a slim (did he say Tomonari?) tachi with a polisher who told him that it will take a year. It struck me that the more popular/confident/realistic the polisher, the longer they can ask you to wait... Can you measure the ability of a polisher by the time he tells you it will take?

Brian I have generously given you a 'like' sticker, but you asked for it, so here below is the grim reality on the ground. (Many thanks, by the way.) There might indeed be some activity and possibly a hamon. I'm still shaking from the adrenaline from the sale, and the self-doubt. See my fingers trembling... Nakago and 'habaki', close-up. Which reminds me, I have a habaki maker friend who might be willing to help me out. Eek...

Kanenori？兼則... (?)

Chris, your sins are forgiven!

Actually I have a somewhat similar one, with foxes dressed as humans, (fox's wedding?) but not here and it would take some time to find a photo. You grabbed the chance, what's not to like? One-way street! If there's no pain, it's your gain!!!

Two kozuka, Barry! Wow! And oops, I thought it was a fiendishly clever double photo of back and front. The kojiri is iron, so ideally I would look for a plain iron kashira. The fuchi, or what's left of it, is lacquered wood, and could be restored. I have a friend who is a tsukamaki shi, who might be able to look at it for me. In a worst-case scenario I could repair the fuchi myself. I overheard the dealer saying to someone that the saya decoration is a reference to Kojima Takanori, and when I heard that I jumped at it. Later at home I discovered that 正 Masa on the front must be a reference to Kusunoki Masashige, especially with the kikusui water and chrysanthemum design on the reverse, (despite the obvious cherry blossom on the front). In fact I am debating whether to take it back as it is not quite what he advertised. "Owned by Kojima Takanori!", my foot!

What, you mean the worst part that I haven't shown yet?

No, really!

Brian. :sigh: (Should I show him the 'good' side?)

Looks great from here, Bazza!

“Old Ken” type double-edged blade, in tantō like Koshiraé. Spoons and washboard! Loving that idea, should definitely pull in the cash! PS Even my excuse for getting hooked will not stand up to rudimentary scrutiny, so I’ll not waste anyone’s time with it here.