Bugyotsuji

These late Meiji Koshiraé normally have reverse screws for the Mekugi. One side can be held firm, and the other with clever pressure and reverse twist of the finger should be encouraged to unscrew. (Although we don’t know how your hilt is held on, with what kind of screw, or even if it has been glued…)

The wood of the stock shrinks and grips the barrel. Sometimes there is rust involved which makes for an even more solid grip. You are right; some of these slender stocks look and feel quite fragile. Gentle all-round use of a rubber mallet can be better (and less painful) than the palm of the hand. Tapping everywhere can break unwanted seals, and loosen things up.

Ask Aoi Art if they would be willing, and able, to ship to the UK with confidence.

Like these:

This sounds interesting, Robert. Would you be willing to assuage our curiosity and discuss this some more in one of the Izakaya car threads?

Thread card plate might be a more accurate translation. (?) (A spindle or spool gives the image of something that spins, whereas these itomaki versions are simple flat storage boards for sorting out and storing thread or string.)

Well, that just about does it. These buckets of cold water work wonders! Both guys want me to buy from them as they probably cannot get the same price elsewhere. To be honest to myself, much as I want them, I am pretty sure I would not get the same money back, not here in Japan anyway. In addition, trying to export these would be a labo(u)r of love. And no, I will not regret not having bought them when I had the chance! You heard it here.

One thing I am good at, actually a past master of, but not proud of, is prevaricating. Both guys are waiting in the wings. One of them I managed to put off for a week, but he will sell it at auction next Tuesday if I don't move. It's a bit like letting a woman know your intentions... "On top of old Smokey All covered with snow, I lost my true lover, From courting too slow." On top of which I had a chance to buy a Sukekane wakizashi last Tuesday, a beautiful thing, long Mei Tomonari 58, Ansei 3. Luckily I prevaricated. Later I learned that "the central part of the kane 包 kanji if written with a Ro ロ is by Sukekane, but if it's two strokes/dots, it's by his disciple(s). As works, though, both are equally fine", apparently. Since I ddn't know that at the time, I didn't check for it, so now I'll never know, but it's the sort of thing we learn by studying and listening, and if you know, you know, and if you don't, then more fool you. (Mental note to follow this up.) Scary stuff, this.

It’s difficult to correct you Brian, as the law is interpreted differently by prefecture. The rules as published in Tokyo are relatively clear, but if you try to register a less-than-fifteen cm blade (even with a Mekugi hole) in our local prefecture for example, they will refuse to do it, saying: “Too much trouble.” This I heard directly from the mouth of the chairman of the local NBTHK who tried to register such a blade. So there is some inconsistency. But I do not think it will affect the export of a blade. The trouble is if you ask the authorities for clarity on the matter, they will suddenly go straight-faced and quote the letter of the law. In this case you could find yourself unprotected, so you are back to square one, trying to register such a blade.

It’s not just the UK. Even in Japan it is extremely rare to find one without some damage somewhere. Most are in need of repair.

Looking forward to it!

It depends partly on this end, and partly on where you are sending the blade. You don’t have to deregister it. Your problem will not be with Japan law, unless it’s a national treasure or similar, but with finding a carrier that will take an openly-declared blade. (Or are you putting it into your own check-in baggage?)

Exactly, Tony, and a fine example you have there. (Just needing a pan cover/lid.) Somewhat similar to mine! The Masa 正 seal could be the first part of the owner’s name. You haven’t yet removed the barrel to see if there’s a Mei?

That’s better. I completely missed the two down strokes of 利 way over near the edge on the right! Thanks!

They have another Akabane exhibition running now at Osafuné Sword Museum which I visited yesterday. Out of 5,000 swords chosen to be saved, less than 500 were reunited with their original owners. This chart shows where the leftover swords were allotted, back to where the authorities felt some regional connection.

肥州住忠広 Tadahiro maybe???

This is totally stupid. Here I am actually listening to you people, and frantically running those sums through my head! Grrrr…. You are right of course. That is the infuriating thing. Where there’s a will there’s a way. I’ll be seeing the second guy with the bronze example tomorrow. I can’t think of any reason to say ‘no’ now. I know he’ll give me time to sell matches on the street corner…

Even though I was not and am not looking to replace the fine 10-Monmé Shizutsu samurai gun I parted with some years back, two people have offered really nice examples just recently. The problem is that each is special in its own right, and probably for that reason each is far more than I really want to pay. One has an inscription mentioning warding off barbarian ships, referring it seems to Commodore Perry. Made by a Bizen smith that I would like to collect, plus it is historically interesting. The other is made of hōkin. Bronze pistols are rare, but do occasionally turn up; I know of six or seven. Any long gun in bronze though, is already close to mythical, as rare as hen’s teeth. A 10-Monmé in bronze must surely be even rarer if such a thing is possible. They could be snapped up by others if I hesitate. Do I sell off other lesser things and go for one of these? Naturally I’d like both. Which one? Do I meditate and free myself from desire? It’s been an exceptionally expensive time recently anyway. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh…. Sell my soul?

The objects suggest the presence and, by extension, the protective power of the sage. This is called 'Rusu-moyo', i.e. a design that suggests by association the presence of someone not actually portrayed.

Haha, I went through the same mental process, Ray!

As you say, Richard, tokubetsu hozon for your blades, plus old tokubetsu kichō paperwork for your daisho Koshiraé. This old paperwork is said to be less reliable when it comes to blades but for Koshiraé this may not be so, thus the previous owner must have treasured the paperwork.

Could be a Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean student called 紋 pronounced Mon or Aya in Japanese. (Wen in Chinese)

You can see the construction a little better here. Very flimsily made, but it obviously follows a natural, subconscious pattern. And look at that Torii Sori!

Attic junk. Up in the loft (attic) of a Japanese farmhouse I found the remains of two dusty old lanterns. The owner said she didn't want them, so reckoning I could fix them up I asked her not to trash them. Nothing really special: one was a simple box frame, unpapered, with a central spatula or tongue for a candle. The other was better, with three papered but torn windows, a door with a little catch, and a shrine-like roof. Being an earthquake prone country, with houses made of wood and paper, you can understand the traditional nervousness around the danger of fires. Off the scale, what I came across when first living here. I do not plan to put real candles in them, unless following the golden rule of never leaving a room empty with a burning light unattended. Take the light with you (to the 'habakari' for example), or light a small carrying lantern and extinguish the main light. If you are the cause of a house fire, the whole village will probably hate you forever. With these two as a temporary fix, I have simply fitted Buddhist altar lights, candle look-a-likes with batteries! As to age, they probably do not go back to the Edo period, but who can date such country traditions? The loft was once used for silkworm culture, but that must have been way before WW2. Photos to follow. (Both lamps strengthened and rebuilt.) 1. The box frame. Maybe I will paper the facets. 2. The roofed shrine lantern.

Thank you Thomas for the clear and understandable reply. This does advance the story. My thoughts around the Mei were that the most important kanji is badly hit, badly incised. This causes confusion and uncertainty, giving several possibilities. The question is why. Was it a mistake that was going to compromise the whole kabuto, i.e. did the poor chiselling of the date mean that there was no longer any point in adding the maker's name? Or was it deliberate to help make the unsigned hachi bowl saleable? There is a theory that Mei were inserted before the plates were assembled (comments from any armourers here?) because there is no room inside a completed hachi to swing a hammer onto tagane chisels. Did someone attempt to do just that with the Mei, giving up after a poor attempt at the date? Nothing definitive, but innocent questions that have been bubbling up since first looking at that date. (A mental process I frequently go through in other fields.)