Bugyotsuji

Having sent this tsuba for refurbishment I had a call to say it is ready. The missing Hitsu-ana strip has been replaced. (The other tsuba is a large Heian-jo wheel tsuba which had been badly damaged by someone with a rough file in an attempt to remove rust and dirt. Much of the Shinchu zougan was removed; the steel was showing brightly and scores/scratches ran across both faces of the tsuba. This one is not ready yet. See jpegs 842 & 843 in the middle of this page. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2499&start=15 When it is, I should be going to collect them both, probably early next week.)

Carmen says: "Box is of suitable (exceptional) quality." It looks like a regular Tsuba box to me...

By a stretch of the imagination it could be a stamp or seal based on a Kanji but elaborated. The character for king was 王 and if he held a precious stone in his hand the character showed king + stone = 玉　meaning a precious stone, or jade, and if you add more of those dots you could end up with a king holding four precious stones, and it would have some meaning to yourself and might be a recognizable mark for an artist, for example! Just playing with ideas here... ***** On the subject of this week's Edo Period corner (not the translation section here) I was offered something quite special yesterday. It is a set of Ko-te and Sune-ate, but of exquisite quality, the sort of work you would only ever see in a museum. It was way over my budget, but a fraction of what they would have cost in better times. It started me wondering what is happening now with this high yen and people losing their jobs. Is the old pool of customers flush with cash drying up, at the same time as foreigners are losing interest over the exchange rates? Could it be that the dealers are being forced to let go of better material in order to try and scrape back some of their outlay, in the need for ready cash?

Except that Ludolf has kept the patina intact!

Do-te has the original meaning of defensive man-made (river/fortification) bank, as I am sure you are all aware. An apt word to describe what we are looking at.

If you read Nobody's link you can find out that it has to be younger than WWII, and commemorates fighting between the Nationalist Chinese based on Taiwan, and the Communist Chinese based on the mainland. It looks like a souvenir of the fortress there, probably produced over a number of years in the 1950's, 60', 70's, 80's and so on. The object is probably made in Taiwan, so Taiwanese, although the mainland Chinese people would object to calling it this. The writing itself is not really Taiwanese, but more correctly traditional 'Chinese'.

Can't quite follow the problem with the Mekugi-ana. I've looked at the photos in your link to the Naginata. Does the ana have lead(?) soldered around it on one side only??? Possibly someone tried to reduce the size of the hole with readily available lead which, predictably, has been too malleable. If the blade does not drop properly into the haft, there may be rust at the bottom of the receiving hole inside the haft. There is also the possibility that your pole and your blade were never an item, which would explain why the size of the hole(s) do not match the Mekugi-ana. If you wish to make them fit, you or someone who knows his oats will almost certainly have to make a larger hole on one side and a suitable Mekugi for an aesthetic and practical solution.

In your kizu file, Stephen, I notice that c. on that list is given as Karasuguchi.

From previous comments of mine you will know that I know very lttle about Tsuba, but I do hope to learn, bit by bit. Thanks for offering us all this learning experience. :lol: This tsuba looks quite rugged, and a little cluttered, or 'busy'. The thickness of the hammered mimi suggests practicality. The decoration moves it later in history. Are we looking at late Muromachi, or early to mid Edo? The square Hitsu-ana is unusual, as is the fact that it is filled. It looks vaguely like a book! Finally, a personal comment. I like what I see so far. I stand ready to be corrected at any moment. PS What does the reverse look like? What does the edge of the mimi look like? How do the walls of the cuts present themselves?

Thanks for the link John. Personally I won't be creating from scratch, although I may adapt. Antique fairs tend to have stalls with boxes full of odds and bits. Philip, I remember being in East Africa as a teenager how it was an insult to call people by animal names like that! I'll have to keep 'gamhoussah' (Arabic?) in reserve for a rainy day!!! PS To answer your question on the Koshirae more fully. People seem to be agreed that it is Higo work throughout. The bashin is on the wrong side, however. It should be on the outside. The extant slot is for a Kozuka, which should be on the inside when worn. The bashin is indeed Higo, but was never originally for this Saya. The Kozuka slot is very narrow, however, making it hard to find a suitable replacement. The present bashin is reckoned to be a good stop-gap solution! My remaining project would be to find a suitable small Kozuka and a nice little tsuba, at a reasonable price, naturellement... :lol:

Yes, thanks Philip, I am very pleased with the result. For the time being the Tsuba looks OK and I will keep a long-range weather eye out for something better in due course. As I mentioned earlier, my friend reckons it could well have been water buffalo, which is very perishable and often gets eaten by ... something. (I wonder what it is exactly that eats the buffalo horn?)

I have changed the piccies above, and here are the last 4 before I hit the sack. Held my hand super steady this time! :lol: (Not had time to get tired of it yet, Stephen! LOL)

Markus, the cost was for the restoration work. The habaki is copper and original, but he cleaned it up and realigned it for me. It looks massive in the piccies, but is quite small, indeed the whole blade is tiny. Mariusz, just for you I will attempt to take some better pics. I will replace the drunken pics above! LOL

The guy asked for 5,000 JPY. I tried to offer more, but he wouldn't accept it. It seems to be a personal favor/favour. Mariusz, I will put up a couple more Nakago shots, then, the ones I rejected earlier!!! (Too lazy to take new ones.)

And the last piccie, Nakago from the right. (All taken with a hand-held digital camera. Apologies for the quality.)

First impressions. 1. The looseness in the fittings is gone. It's all solid in the hand. 2. Insertion of Kinkarakawa has enabled the bashin to be inserted and firm at any position. 3. The habaki slides on and off easily but locks in the correct position. 4. The tip of the newly-created Mekugi itself lifts the tsukamaki string just enough that firm pressure with the thumb pops it free enough to enable removal with the fingers. 5. The nakago was hitting the end of the Tsuka internally. It has been slightly shortened and reshaped. 6. The old double hole has been filled and hammered with copper, which I have been assured is quite hard and often used. A new Mekugi-ana has been created. 7. The top of the nakago where the Machi was moved up has been tidied up. 8. Rust management has brought about a pleasant change in the appearance of the Nakago. 9. The bent tip of the bashin, which I had straightened out to some extent, now looks more businesslike. It brought a smile to my face and I would like to say a big thank you to the man!

That's unbelievably cheeky!

You met this guy when you were over, Brian. He is a Shirogane-shi by profession and makes Habaki as his main job. He is also president of the local NBTHK. I checked my three trusty Tsuba books last night and they also call it Sekigane, and the arrows point to both the fillings in the Nakago-ana and the wedges in the side Hitsu as Sekigane. I do accept that their functions were different. I believe that the Hitsu-ana strips were to protect the Kozuka and Kogai from hitting the edge of the iron tsuba and getting damaged. In this sense it would make sense to call them Ate-gane. Ateru can be either 'bump/hit against', as well as 'fix/allot/apply/lay', so it would be a good generic cover-all word. (But this is my imagination and logic at work, and based on nothing else.) I suspect that these terms are possibly used loosely and interchangeably, but when the purists step forward we may have to bow. I am in the middle here and I can see our ciders being passed backards and forwards, but they're losing their glass frostiness. AAAaaarrrggghhhh...........hurry up before it gets warm! PS Seki is Semeru, to blame, accuse, torture or force into admitting. It implies pushing something with a sharp object into an uncomfortable space.

Just had a sneak preview this afternoon! It's nearly ready!!!

Just checked with a friend in the trade and he assures me that Sekigane is the correct term, and that Ume-gane would not be appropriate here. He seemed to go distant on Ate-gane, so I will double-check on that... Several hours later Went round to see him on a different matter. He showed me his stunning collection of tsuba. He says Ate-gane is also not the correct term!!! So Brian, you owe me a pint of dry cider. (Do you do cider in SA?)

OK, gotcha! We don't get Mr Bill in Japan, and I had to go on Google to find out what he was!

Martin and Mike, thanks for the input. Very good. It's like an inner eye is seeing something. Brian, come to think of it, I have heard people using both ume-gane and ate-gane, but last night I couldn't think of the word and looked it up in an old Tsuba book! Never heard Seki-gane before, but that's what the book said, in tiny Katakana that needed a magnifying glass to see! 責金 .... However, I much prefer the sound of your two candidates so I am happy to go with them. The other one has gone a deep green colour (hard to see in the photos) may be difficult to match. The colour reminded me of old Shinchu, but if it's Shakudo I will be pleased. Milt, no I don't think so. This one cost me very little. Or do you mean the cost of the implant?

I see what Brian and you mean... yes, the moon is on top in the drawn position. Ha, good! No, it's not folded or worked, but quite flat as you say, Henry, and the mimi are simply smoothed off. I might ask a friend to replace the Seki-gane for it ...

Hmmm... there's a thought Brian. Not sure if I like that thought though! :lol: I suppose it's all a record of history, though. Many thanks for the input.

Thanks for the thoughts, Philip. So maybe Nara? Just noticed from your comments, that the copper/brass? Sekigane in the kozuka hitsu should also be repeated in the kogai hitsu, but it's missing. The cut, what you call 'the incision parallel to the blade' seems to be similar to the one on the other side. Have to admit that I bought it as a) I liked it, and b) the price was right after a little haggling. I usually rely too heavily on my instincts and occasionally get burned, but I feel fairly confident today. (Must look through my books and try to find some examples of single Ude-nuki hole tsubas.)