Bugyotsuji

A useful trim word is koberi 小縁.

Yes, I saw the post, Rob, but Kyushu is a world of its own, I’ve not been there for fifteen years, and I have never been to any shops or antiques fairs there. Actually it is a good question and I would be interested in the answers!

In the USA such a gun would be legal, but sadly not in some other countries, certainly not in Japan for example.

In my experience, no, this looks like a legit fukuro yari made for the Korean invasions by Shimosaka who moved to 'Nagoya' (a different one) in northern Kyushu to help supply the armies gathering there. There are many kinds of kagi or tsuba in that part of the haft. I like yours for several reasons. Nice. Inoshishi yari tend to be grosser and more simply made, but I am willing to be shown a beautiful example!

Hi F62S! Please read up on the information banked here. There’s tons of it!

This question was answered yesterday in your other thread, goo, but you have phrased it slightly differently today. At most shooting ranges in the USA, I can guess they would welcome you with a genuine Tanegashima, although you might need to be ready to say yours is safe to fire, because you have done check x, y, or z, for example. So, can we assume that you have recently acquired a Japanese Tanegashima long smoothbore gun, which you prize, and you feel nervous as to whether you should attempt to fire it? In that case I would advise finding a repro, and trying that out first in order to build confidence in the process, perhaps even firing blanks before inserting lead musket ball. Step by step one gets to Rome!

Ah, now that's clever. I have bottles of water inside my suneate.

Not been to see this just yet but several people have recommended it. Allegedly including some rare and valuable papered Koshiraé. Will report back after visiting. @Osafuné Sword Museum, near Bizen. https://www.city.set...site/token/1315.html List of blades and koshiraé in link. (In Japanese)

Intending to go and see this very soon. Various (papered) Koshiraé on display. Friends have recommended this, if anyone is passing through. (Will post in the events section too.) https://www.city.set...site/token/1315.html

You’re based in the USA I see, where conditions are different to other countries. When you say ‘preferable’, in what sense? Personally I would ‘prefer’ to have the real McCoy to a repro any day of the week, but maybe you are asking about reliability? Tanegashima were built to last centuries but some have had a rough ride in the meantime. In general I would say they have a very good reputation for toughness, but each gun you find is an adventure and would definitely need to be checked out, especially for barrel pitting, and a worn vent may allow too much blowback for decent chamber pressure. By the same token, I would imagine that reproductions are probably made to a certain consistent standard.

You made all that yourself!?!?!?!?

Try finding them under a different title, such as under books or antiques in Buyee.

Hi John, the character should be 飯(島), and it’s actually a capital i. Pronounced Eejeema. The second of your photos looks a bit like 篠 (Sasa or Shino) as in 篠山Sasayama for example.

Right before the Meiji Restoration, long swords (approx. 3 feet) with no curvature were made. Sa Yukihide (from Tosa) forged this type of sword. Saigo Takamori (西郷隆盛)、 Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本龍馬) owned this type of swords. Both are famous historical characters during the Meiji Restoration, called Meiji Ishin (明治維新). Both of them were a part of the Kin’no-to (勤皇党) group which supported the Emperor and renewed the political system. Kinno-To – Study of Japanese Sword

Interesting ideas there. First thought is to wonder if kazu-uchi-mono may have short-circuited the laborious tamahagane method for the sake of larger production volumes.

Congratulations, Mark. Looks like you guys have cracked it!

Maybe you need to tell people you are a beginner and ask for gentleness before you pose your question.(?) e.g. “Genuine question here, but…” etc. For example your question above, after a sale has gone through, might seem to be a subtle criticism, throwing doubt at the seller as if you know more than them. When people are confused by your motivation in asking the question, they might chose a confused face.

砲金 Hōkin gunmetal was around 90% copper and 10% tin. Little to no zinc, I believe. (Not sure when zinc first came into use…) Quote: Two bronze cannon, cast in 1535 and 1628 respectively, were recently recovered from the wreck of an old Swedish warship, and were found to be only slightly corroded. The alloys used for these guns contained 84 per cent and 14 per cent of copper respectively with up to 14 per cent of tin and a little lead.

Good point. Actually the Mei on teppo and armour are very similar in construction, and there is some degree of overlap with popular name Kanji.

Aim ahead, always, but remember you will never achieve perfection, you’ll just get better and better at it. We all make mistakes, and we learn by them. And some Mei are unreadable, or turn out to be gimei anyway. And then more and more become dead easy. It’s a fun puzzle, and an enjoyable challenge.

Kanenobu Masazane？金信政真

Wow, that's great going, Chris, and I can imagine that you must have learned a lot. Quite envious actually! I once attempted to restring the shikoro on a kabuto, and got some advice from a famous Katchu-Shi on some of the finer details, but at some point I dropped out of the project. Lazy, I guess. There is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to learn in the world of armour, including all the kinds of braiding, and stitching, and names for egawa patterns and so on. AAaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh........................ PS Those plastic clips will surely make life easier when getting your kit on and taking it off. Do you have retaining bands at the back of the haidate flaps, or are they free-swinging?

X-ray eyes!?! Wow!

Very hard to make these out, Ron, for a couple of reasons, but I will start the ball rolling with 兼家 Kane-ie. Confidence rating, ...50%.

Ouch, yes! Having just missed out on something that I was actually prepared to buy, dang! I was on a hair trigger... a very dangerous place to be.