Bugyotsuji

Well, here is one, but the wording clearly states that the Koshirae (apart from the Saya) is modern. http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2010/1010_4015syousai.htm

Very pretty, Mark.

It's possible that having lost its Ishi-dzuki someone has hammered something onto it. Ishi-dzuki are quite hard to find and not cheap when you do find one.

One further point I forgot to mention. Spears are very hard to sell in Japan today. Few people have houses large enough to display them. When dealers will find genuine untouched Yari in a Kura for example, they may immediately consider cutting them down for a) ease of transport and b) sale, whether domestically or internationally. They will use the original fitments and replace them onto the shortened haft. Keith/Eric, are the two Ishi-dzuki above the same? (The one cut off, far right of the shot, and the one close-up with the leather thong.) If they are, then I retract my comment above about being modern. In the second pic it looks much better!

Lovely example of a Norimono. On display in a ... museum? Satsuma? (One word of warning to anyone bidding! The seller is in Fukushima and says that he cannot ship the goods until the freight system is up and running again, although he adds you could go there and collect it. Hope it's not a scam.)

Agreed with sanjuro's opinion above. The first looks like it has been reassembled, cobbled together somehow. The E looks cut down. The Saya looks genuine. The Ishi-tsuki is hard to see, but it looks modern to my eye. No idea what the second is supposed to be. As with a Kago-zutsu, (Kago gun) any weapon carried in a proper Norimono (Kago) would tend to have been of beautiful quality and decoration, as befitted a Daimyo, etc. Eg lacquered haft, etc.

Genuine 'Kago' yari are said to be quite rare. Reproductions do come up every so often. Many old yari were cut in half, radically shortened in the confusion at the end of Edo for ease of use indoors against sudden ambushes or intrusions. I have one at home. Such short yari are to be distinguished from Kago (palanquin) yari.

(I have been 'away' for 40 days, dipping in every so often, and got back last night. Watching The Tudors, highly recommended, on the plane and noticed Henry VIII holding a very knobbly-looking cannonball in Episode 3 or 4, but enough of that. ) Thanks everyone for pulling this thread back on track with some fascinating items added to your collections. Wonderful Naginata-bukuro too. Why the bulge, I wonder? To insert the hand? In the photo it looks as if other spears have taken shelter in there.

Henk-Jan, The spear tip looks as though it may have some water or fire damage, and the Nakago looks shortened. One reason for the popularity of small spearheads may be that the softest and easiest target was the eyes. Ashigaru were encouraged to thrust up under the Mabisashi towards the exposed face.

Many thanks for the terminology clarifications above. Guilty here. I have been using the words bronze and brass too loosely. In Japanese they generally refer to non-ferrous barrels as being made of "Houkin", (gunmetal, or tin bronze, suzu seidou). Henk-Jan, I like your new apparel! Very smart.

The first pic above, Justin, shows 'Western bullets' according to the tag. :lol:

At the Alamo they were surrounded, and as in sieges all over the world, probably needed to use anything available. The original meaning of 'cannon fodder'? In Okinawa balls made of coral for pole-arm fire weapons have been found. A blunderbuss could be fed with rusty nails. The ideal material for a ball however must be stone, iron or lead. Ship's cannon were often made of bronze (edited) so as not to throw out the compass. I wonder if they had special non-magnetic ball stored nearby?

Ha ha, now we are getting closer. Grinding stones to aid dinosaur digestion, bronze to prevent sparking of gas. Yes, I see it all now... PS Anyone want to buy a genuine cannonball? 100 Euros.

Yes, I am liking that idea, Bob.

Justin, many thanks for talking me thru that. Fantastic remote surgery. Let's try this now, Eric... Oh, BTW bronze was suggested to me today, Ron, but if so, quite unusual. Definitely has age to it, I was told, although it might not be a cannonball... (one antiques specialist opinion)

Quick question about metals. I bought an 'iron' cannonball at an antiques fair in London yesterday. The elderly dealer knew nothing about it, apart from the fact that he had bought it many years ago in Salisbury. It's quite small at just under 5 cm in diameter, about the length of a matchbox. It weighs 9.5 oz, or 260 gms. The surface is not flat and appears covered in generally smooth melty Tekkotsu like on the Mimi of a good old Tsuba. Good dark brown almost black patina as you would expect with old iron. It looks like a meteorite, but it is too round to be natural. No seam that I can discern. This morning I tried some fridge magnets on it, and to my surprise it turns out not to be iron. I don't think it's heavy enough to be lead. It may not even be heavy enough to be iron. Even so, this is heavy and would do damage if I threw it or even dropped it. In a couple of places I can see internal material that looks a little like slag. 'Now, if it's not iron, what other candidates suggest themselves?' is what I am asking myself. I do not really want to scratch the surface. Copper, brass, bronze, ... what would go dark iron-like like that? What non-magnetic materials were (English?) cannonballs made of? (Was hoping to upload a picture, but there is some setting on this new netbook which is telling me that card reader drive E, ScanDisk, is empty, when I know it's not. I had the same problem on another computer. Somehow I have to go into settings and activate 'hidden', but can't remember where... grrr....)

Two other possibilities present themselves. One that it is a fixed reference point for some kind of clamp and... actually I will go with that to start with. I was going to suggest a measurement/direction marker. Or... a seal of approval stamp in the production process.

Agreed on the warning over pitting in the barrel. We fire black powder with light wadding, without inserting a ball. The guns are all checked over by our resident expert. I would want my gun to be 100% further certified before ever adding the pressure of a projectile. Morita san, thanks for the accurate reading. I thought it was Kagoya, but when I get back to Japan I will double check with the book.

Eric, being away at the moment with limited reference materials it is hard for me to interpret that signature. Can you take a couple more shots of the bottom two thirds? The gunsmith family seems to be Kagoya of the Osaka area (sometimes written just Kago, and sometimes with a different set of Kanji) and the individual smith perhaps something like Yozaemon(-saku), but I would not like to commit until I get back to Japan. I used to have a very nice pistol by Kagoya. Your gun seems to be in good condition. The name suggests made in Settsu, but to an order in the typical style of Choshu (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). The exposed end of the barrel (foreshortened stock) is typical. The moto-meate (near sight) contains the Mori Mon, flat on top for the 'one' stroke, and three Dango balls within.

Interesting thread. Many thanks Malcolm and Ron for the heads-up and links. Yes, looks good, and I'd be happy to go and check it out and do a writeup sometime. No proper internet access at present but should be more able to participate on this forum within a day or two. PS Eric, Hiyadutu is just a different Romanization of the Japanese, more normally written Hiya-zutsu (flame arrow gun) for Western understanding. Bobiya means the same, Bo being a pole or handle or stick, and biya being the same word as Hiya.

Eric, I have one Fukuro-yari with two mekugi/meneji, and one with one. So the Japanese had both types for a start. Your comment about pitch is interesting as I have been trying to find a perfect solution to the socket on my old Chinese three-barrelled gun. Now, if I wound twine around the pole tip, and dipped it in pitch and pushed it in firmly, and then used the ends of the twine out through the sleeve slit to tie it all secure... now that would be a good scenario. Oh, and the answer to your question about the length of the Kuda-yari = 二間　2 Ken. This school, according to the excellent link above, fought with long poles right through Edo, so I am not sure that length alone will be an accurate indication as to age. Indeed, the brass mechanism looks to my eye to be late Edo, but what do I know?

How well do you know the seller? Many would be reluctant to hand over an object in that condition and would insist on fixing it. I would like to think he/she is doing this out of common manners and hope for future business. There are a few dodgy people out there, but in this case I would just take it at face value and allow them to fix it for you. They will not do it in such a way that the same problem occurs, is my bet.

And my daughters are Hako-iri Musume?

Bonus shot. Various boxes for various projects...

Promised pics...