Bugyotsuji

Judging by the Genji sasalindo and wheels mon, the archery figure could be Nasu no Yochi.

Ah, thanks, definitely added in Japan, but why I cannot say. For re-export in the Meiji Period, hmmm... that's surely possible. Interestingly, almost all of the 1864 experimental/trial Enfield rifle models from the UK (before the Snider) subsequently ended up in Japan, apparently.

Decorations? I can only see two limited photos above. Are you referring to the screw surrounds or something else?

Michael, no I do not know the reasons behind these delays, except that the committee have changed their minds several times on how it should look and what it should contain. The guns floor for example is a recent large addition, and they debated whether the displays should have English captions or not, for example. First yes, then no, then yes again. Your Kokuho/Jubun display method idea seems entirely possible too. There does seem to be some pressure building up now for them to stick to this 1st May opening date though. Fingers crossed. (None of the above is official, just scraps of rumours that I have picked up here and there.)

Token （Eastern Construction 東建コーポレーション Corporation）in Nagoya have created a museum using world-play on To-ken, for blades = 刀剣, called Touken World. 刀剣・日本刀の専門サイト「刀剣ワールド」 (touken-world.jp) This website seems to have been designed to come up with searches from almost any angle. Originally they bought up Nihonto blades from everywhere, and then suits of armo(u)r, with seemingly very deep pockets, for a pretty comprehensive collection, but after some time they decided to devote an extra floor to the history of Japanese guns. A little birdie whispers that it will be the largest number on display in Japan, featuring around 350 old Japanese guns of all types. After several postponements, the museum is now supposed to open officially on 1st May 2024. Anyway, just a heads-up. PS I suspect, but have no proof yet, that a couple of my own guns may have eventually ended up there... something to look out for!

壬申....五百二十三 壬申 Jinshin means Meiji 5, 1872, the year of the first great registration by prefecture of guns after the Edo Period. That is the Jinshin number allocated for this Shikama Prefecture registration.

It has been said repeatedly that Kyoto artisans tended to cut their sukashi edges with a diagonal slant.

Amazing prices realized.

I gave his wife a bar of traditional translucent Pears soap. It was good to see his brushes and tool kit. I kept asking him where he buys the suki urushi but he said it was special order. Plays his cards close to his chest, this guy. Eventually he gave me various bits, and an amount of suki urushi to take home. Worth making the trip just to watch each brush stroke. The other day I found a box of lacquer worker's spatulas (spatulae) at an antiques fair. I think I'll give them to him next time around.

Well I hope so Alex. I’m trying to describe the learning process I’m going through with this, fer better or fer wusser. Thanks for your encouraging words. Today I made a trip to where he lives and he squeezed out something darker than molasses. One coat of that worked wonders. In a couple of days he’ll sand it down gently to reduce the shine/glare. As I left it with him… Now I’m beginning to think ahead to studs perhaps, or retaining rings.

A month or two late, but I was getting out the kit for our first blackpowder display this morning and seeing the tachi, remembered the promise above. Jingo still in service!

OK, a little light here at last. The phone rings early this morning and the guy has been worrying about my results. "Have you been using 'tomei' (transparent, colorless) urushi?" he asks. "You should be using 'suki' (translucent) urushi." Well, how would I know, so I go back to check the bag of stuff he gave me and sure enough there is nothing labelled 'suki', but there is one tube of this honey-like stuff that I have been using, which yes, now that I look at it it, does say 透明 tomei on it. Now he starts apologizing. In the kit he handed me he had meant to include some suki urushi, but says he must have made a mistake. So all this time we have been talking at cross puposes. But now he definitely wants me to bring it over and have a go at it. It needs sanding down, and the bumpy bits reduced, and then it will need re-lacquering with suki urushi, he says. I remember he once told me that his father was a joiner and plasterer, of Japanese style wattle and daub walls. He himself makes the most beautiful fishing rods. So it is true, he is a kind of perfectionist. I am sorry if I have taken his name in vain.

Sorry to hear about your circumstances, John. Looks like some lovely stuff there!

Alex, you sometimes say just the right thing.

Showed it to my ‘mentor’ (tormentor) today and he ripped it to shreds. Having criticized everything, he suggested bringing it round to his place where he will show me how it should really be done. Maybe this is the real Japan…

............................................... and 吉日 (Kitchi-jitsu, an auspicious day)

Alex, thank you for the ideas. I was not planning to post a pic, but seeing your post above just now, here is sneak preview on how it's going! (10 days down this road.) Photo will appear magically Here... No? Well here, then:

Silence is Golden! Day by day the cheese matures. No rushing this process.

Actually I didn't say a loose fit of the tsuka itself. I meant people generally like tight onto the fixed tsuka. Then I said "the seppa and tsuba were deliberately kept somewhat loose"... which is what I heard. The tsuka can and should be a solid fit, of course, but the informer was talking about the width of the tsuba and seppa assembly, and how energy was somehow lost/relieved through their looseness. OK, I should not just pass on stuff without questioning it further! Thank you.

Richard, many thanks for this 'brown wax' usage. I will ask around and keep an eye out for it from now on. As to Jean's question above, this is hard to quantify. Once someone told me that people today often try to stiffen up the tsuka and linkages to make the whole package feel 'solid' in the hands, but that back in the day the seppa and tsuba were deliberately kept somewhat loose in order to absorb some of the blow to your forearms when striking an object with your blade. Now if as you say, elements of dust, sand, dirt, water, corrosion were to find their way into the interstitial spaces, then that could/might contribute to the gentle seppa-shaped indentations often found on iron tsuba, and correspondingly to many of the fainter Mei that we see. (?) Just throwing out ideas here...

Peter, when you say 'at this period' do you mean a specific time, or generally within the Edo Period, for example?

On Wednesday a friend was saying that he was stopped trying to board a Japanese domestic flight from Tokyo because the metal objects in his carry-on bag were questioned. When he explained, the staff asked "Tsuba? What is a tsuba?" He began to explain... At that point they threw up their hands, saying "No, sorry, nothing weapons-related is allowed on our flights." My imagination had fun with that one! Shuriken for a Ninja???

The iron of Adam's tsuba above looks ok in that shot to me too. If a Mei has been under a slightly moving/rubbing seppa for many long years, it would certainly lose some of its sharpness like that.

The first ‘mirror-image’ sanmai tsuba might be by a Kagami-shi. Oshidori are almost always shown in pairs as a symbol of marital fidelity. A loving married couple might be described as ‘oshidori fūfu’.

PS I would have filled the bath but the drain is blocked…