Bugyotsuji

Those Gothic 'u's are probably 'n's, so it would actually be Jeanne. Plus the Japanese underneath reinforces this with 'Jane'.

Mmmm... yes you would have enjoyed it, but as to buying all of them, yes and no for me. The guy who used to do all the heavy wood and metalwork on bugu like swords and guns has retired and gone into a home, having divested himself of all his equipment. This means you have to judge in advance if there's anything you cannot handle yourself, meaning the possibility of sending something away to someone who can do such work. Time consuming and not cheap. But still, it's hard to disagree. Tomorrow I have some free time so I'll take some shots. You'll have to forgive the missing pan lid, but I do have plans for that. The Mei under the barrel is a Sakai smith house I have not come across before, with the unusual reading of Nakami or Nakamizu. 半巻張 'Han makibari' suggests it might be quite old. 摂州住中水吉兵衛 Sesshu Ju Nakami(zu) Kichibei. The secret reason that I chose the cheaper one is that under the dirt I spotted among the typical Sakai copper and brass decorative inlay what looked like some silver kirigane, and possibly even some gold, very rarely found on a Tanegashima. This intrigued me and I was looking forward to finding out what was really under there. A demain... (Manyana)

Haha! Like to know sometimes if there are real people out there John! The short answer is yes. Two were lacking the correct registration cards and needing so many lost parts they were virtually junkers. Two were kind of OK but in filthy condition. My friend suggested suitable prices to the owner, asked if I’d like to choose one, so I chose the cheaper of the two, the one with correct paperwork and a working serpentine. The rust, mold, and heavy verdigris were daunting. He took the percussion conversion with good condition metalwork and a registration card saying the Mei was 不明 fumei. It was actually legible so it can be resubmitted to the Education Committee for alteration of registration cards. Anyway I spent the day cleaning it up and made a list of pleasing discoveries. Actually I have been looking for a suitable Sakai (Osaka) gun, so this may be the fated one! One funny thing happened. We cracked open the barrel and I said ‘Sakai’! The lady owner said “Yes?” I said “What?” She said, “My name is Sakai!” (I wonder if her family had these from generations back? The Okayama Han used to order teppō from Sakai.)

Why is the price in yen Dave, if you are in Hawaii?

In the meantime a friend called on Sunday and said someone wanted to get rid of four Tanegashima, and would I be interested in having a look? Well, I was in my pyjamas (pajamas) and about to have breakfast, and it was a three-hour round-trip on the tollway. “Nah, can’t really be bothered”, I thought… But then I discovered myself getting dressed and telling the wife I’d need the car and I’d be out for a bit. Got back around 6 pm.

If black indicated lacquering to protect against wet weather, then by the same logic, any white samekawa should surely indicate use of a clear lacquer?

Having seen several ‘homemade’ shirasaya, Simon, yours looks the best so far.

Apparently the natural colour is kind of beige, and that was used too. They perfected whitening techniques in the Edo period?

In black that could be 岩二, could you see just those two characters?

Recently I came across a statement in a research paper that white samekawa on tsuka came into fashion with the Edo Period, but before that black lacquered samekawa was fashionable. This was a surprise to me. Then completely independently and randomly a friend assured me that black samekawa is/was favo(u)red in the Satsuma, south Kyushu region. So far ,on neither the English nor the Japanese net have I been able to back up either of these assertions, but I wondered if anyone here might know where I could get more insight? Is there a historical or geographical story out there? Tonight I also plan to ask around at the monthly gathering of the local NBTHK society. Spread your nets! (I did run across some photos of red samekawa, and even purple, but I am guessing these would only be more modern interpretations, such as those used in in Kimetsu no Yaiba Demon Slayer, etc.) Thank you.

Ah that's excellent. Many thanks, Moriyama San! (Yes, I found the original Japanese confusing. Thank goodness it was both of you too, and not just me!)

3枚 san mai simply means three sheets, or three-ply. 枚 Mai is a ‘flat thing’ counter for leaves, sheets of paper for example. (‘Three pieces’ in the above dictionary is a loose cop-out. Sometimes we have to cross-check to get a better approximation of the meaning, although sadly many dictionaries simply copy each other with no deeper understanding.)

There is an explanation as to the difference between 'suriage' and nakago wo 'kiritsumeru' here, but I still don't quite understand what they are saying.(?) From https://www.touken-collection-nagoya.jp/nihonto-basic-knowledge/ Last paragraph of 2-1-2 茎の刃側の先端を「茎先」（なかごさき）、刀身の先端を「茎尻」（なかごじり）と呼び、茎尻は「磨上げ」が行われる際に削られる部分でもあります。また茎を切り詰めるのは、鋒／切先を削ってしまうと「帽子」がなくなり、刀剣が脆く折れやすくなってしまうため。、刀工が作ったままの姿の茎を「生ぶ茎」（うぶなかご）、一方磨上げられた刀剣の茎は「磨上げ茎」と言います。

Owning a lovely little Tantō of his, I have a soft spot for the very late Edo and into early Meiji, Bizen Sukenaga. and in Japanese Another blade for Brian

At present, the ground floor of the Osafuné Sword Museum has a display of sword blades representing the various ages, while the second floor was for the Koshiraé exhibition. Private collectors, yes. (Tumi works there full-time, and he and Paul Martin have been featuring as a combo on TV recently.)

Hoping your eyes can see this neat piece of functionality, Deiro. For cleaning out the scabbard!

Cheers, Paul. I’ll put up some more. Here’s a blade for today’s guest, Brian! Nagayoshi, they say! In Japanese And the blade

A couple of eye-catchers next. (What’s this first one made with?) And

Any requests out there? Here’s a ‘cobble-stones’ lacquer technique I’ve not come across before. to wit:

The panels speak for themselves. I am sure there is more to say, but brevity probably overrules museum explanations. Most of these photos get bigger and bigger the more I click on them, up to three times larger, or closer. And another angle…

So I got a better camera, and took this from a distance!

OK, there does seem to be some interest here after all. I shall pick a few that I particularly liked then, and post them here. Nagadachi 長太刀 First of all, this GIANT Kinkarakawa tsutsumi-zaya nagadachi koshirae. Oh, ...did I mention that it is quite big? In fact it was too big for the camera, so here’s half of it, the Tsuka end.

Interesting tsuba. It may be that the central design was pushed into the rim, which would account for the fine lines around the 分銅 bundo weights.

Mmm… nice. Those could be the strings of the battered ajiro-gasa which has been casually tossed aside.(?)

(Last two Koshiraé on the list above.) catching the light on the raden and from the other side