Bugyotsuji

It certainly looks good. Clive's link above does not work for me, but going through Steven's Token page and then clicking on Articles soon did the trick.

Well, thank you Ron. It sounds good, and it would be such a temptation to believe it! :lol:

Thanks Brian. I have noticed that when you quote the other person you can then delete most of the quote except for the one phrase or sentence that you are replying to. Yesterday I found myself in Fukuyama Castle Museum where they have a very good display of Kokuho swords, if anyone is in the area. Not a great many, but of very high quality. Unfortunately the exhibition will close on the 19th July. 300 yen. http://www.city.fukuyama.hiroshima.jp/f ... index.html http://www.city.fukuyama.hiroshima.jp/f ... nglish.htm Last night at the study group we had two Shinshinto, a Suishinshi Masahide, (Osaka), a Chikuzen no Kami Nobuhide, (disciple of Kiyomaro), and then a Tenbun/Eiroku Harima Akashi Yoshinaga who came from Bizen and retained many characteristics of Sue BIzen. To tell you the truth swords put huge pressure on my tiny brain cells. Two things happen at these study groups. One, I feel my own shortcomings in a painful way and wish to escape or hide. Two, by some miracle when I really concentrate, I get glimmers of understanding and just occasionally my hunches work out. Since I don't read, study or do my homework in the way that we are recommended and many of my fellow students actually do, my progress is slow or non-existent, so I spend half of my available energy questioning my own motivation/existence. Even so, I continue to hope that some sprinkling of knowledge will rub off on me. I know it helps if you have a photographic memory, but I am constantly amazed at the ability of some of these people to allow names and dates and blade details to trip lightly off their tongue.

This is what I have learned so far Eric. It may need to be adjusted in some way by Ian or someone. Every castle had kubi-bitsu, ready and prepared for times of conflict. There was an inner domed box and an outer bucket which rested on two intrinsic parallel wooden blocks. When the head was washed the buckets needed to have the bottom free of the floor to improve air circulation for quick drying. Once they had been used they were destroyed. The 'new' ones that were not yet used were generally destroyed anyway at the end of Edo. Thus there are very few 'genuine' ones around, and in my experience most Japanese, even the tough ones, will refuse to have such an object in their house. Superstition, you might call it, but certain superstitions are still very strong here.

It's a funny thing, Eric, but just this month I have been inundated with requests like yours. Where have these come from all of a sudden??? Your link is the fourth. Now I have here a portfolio of photographs, but not because I even asked for them! Is some power trying to communicate something? A collector at the market last Sunday sidled up to me and started going on about Nigiri-deppo too. His theory was that they were used for signalling in the mountains! I had such a hard time escaping from him... :lol: PS Just noticed your link. His Kusari-gama is going for 350,000 JPY :eek: I sold a genuine one with date and Mei for 20,000 yen last year.

Probably new is my first comment. There are only three known 'genuine' Kaiho (Nigiri-deppo) and they are already in museums in Japan, I was assured recently, although I saw another genuine one but in very poor condition last year. Took some quick photos of it. Many copies have subsequently been made. A certain famous character in Osaka had many of these recreated in bronze/brass and 'aged'. If it's brass, it's out on its ass. What is that one made of? (It has a comparatively good look to it, I must say, but possibly too good IMHO.) There is one place that needs to be checked first, though, the little concentric stepped chamber for the pellet. Because of this dodgy background, serious collectors in Japan won't touch them. Thus such examples go abroad, I have been assured, Eric. :| PS Found the photos

gleeson at the International Netsuke Society conveys his thanks: mr. morita of the nihonto message board. please extend my thanks to mr. morita

Oh its interesting....thats an understatement.....I could use a nice Zen garden to meditate in from time to time...maybe a vacation trade? Sounds good for me, but you'd get my wife...

The French Quarter of New Orleans sounds interesting!

Just to add fuel to the general fire, here is a recent acquisition. A 'Rin' (?) singing bowl. It's a long story, but there is a shrine at the bottom of the garden and an old WWII vet (?) who comes to do his devotions every few days. In the past I did not mind, but this chap goes at it with a vengeance, raising his voice and whacking the wooden bell, tock... tock... tock.. Tock.. Tock.. Tock. TOCK. TOCK. in the evenings or even early on Sunday morning, without so much as a do-you-mind? Well now I am ready to do battle. Two nights ago he started up, so I picked up the iron rattle and started shaking it out of the tea-room window, "rattle-rattle-Ting, rattle-rattle-Ting..." and then, using the slightly larger of the two hammers, I dealt the 'Rin' Buddhist bowl bell an almighty whack. DONGGGGgggggg...ONG......ONG....ong...ong....ggggggggggg the reverberations went round and round and round.... As the ringing in my ears cleared I realized that the chap had stopped his evening prayers. (Oops, sorry) Violence by Buddhist instruments???

Agreed. What a mental picture!

Excellent work, Morita san!

Inscription on an Inro. Apologies for the amount of material. Can anyone read some or all of this? Please feel no pressure. Many thanks in advance. http://forums.netsuke.org/file?id=1001203

It's certainly a good-looking thing, but the article raises several questions. Japanese 'saki' (sic) was never contained in a bottle anything like that. Something Turkish or Persian perhaps. So, designed to look like an exotic import standing on the hall table in a new Meiji-style house? Well, maybe. As a handbell, for ringing for the servants? A soda/tonic water dispenser? :lol: Thanks for the post!

Well, they look to have been hammered in and then the heads hammered flat so they cannot be pulled out again. But that's just imagination. The tag says Periodically it undergoes inspection and renewal (big one happening right now) and this lot comes from an earlier such restoration, apparently.

Well, they are made with old iron, probably from Tamahagane, so traditional sword makers might want to drop one or two into the mix to increase the percentage of good stuff. For you, Sanjuro then, a clearer piccie! :D If you can't read this, then let's wait till someone puts us out of our misery!

Whoops, the discussion has taken an unexpected twist. Maybe a quick teaser might be in order. How's your Japanese at a distance??? :D Oh, and the species who might need these are people who create Gendaito, because...

Yes, I thought it might be three Ian. Odd isn't it, that they should start calling each other. As to the spikes, I do not know their specific usage. It could well be something along the lines of what you suggest. Yes, they are Japanese, and the answer to where they were used/not used is written on the little twist of paper. Anyone want to have a look?

Thanks for the attempt, sanjuro! Probably pre-railway...

Who is selling this? How many so far? I am a little surprised... PS While we are digesting that, I thought I'd add a little something to the pot. Only if you are bored. :lol: Picked these up at an early Sunday morning antiques market on the 27th June. Not exactly sure what I'll do with them, although there is a species of human that might need them, but can anyone guess what they are? (Length 21-22 cm)

There is an excellent little pamphlet put out in Japanese by the Sakai Teppo Kenkyu-kai, called 'Sakaizutsu' in Showa 59, full of interesting information, maps, photos etc. On P 9 is a description of Enamiya, and Kansaemon. There is a gun on pp 16-17 signed like yours 'Enamiya Kansaemon', and it is described as 'mid-Edo'. There is also a photo of a triple stamp that was hammered into some Sakai gun barrels around 1821 to guarantee Sakai quality, representing the three major contemporary gunsmiths in Sakai, two of Shibatsuji, and one of Enamiya. The name Kansaemon itself goes back to the early days when he became head of the rich family gunsmith collective known as Enamiya.

Eric, who would have guessed what? Barrels come up all the time in Japan. Do you mean the (high/low) price, or the rarity?

Lionel, I have known Don Bayney (Brian's list above) on and off for several years and he seems to be a decent knowledgeable bloke and willing to help out. Grays Antiques Market is outside Bond Street Station, just off Oxford Street, but you need to check the hours in advance as his shop is sometimes shut... Just my pennyworth.

It was an old Okayama word used by the people in the area around Osafune. There is a place called Fukuoka in Osafune, and there was a Fukuoka Castle overlooking the Yoshii River crossing. When they all moved to Hakata in Kyushu, the area overlapping Hakata was newly called 'Fukuoka' in memory, and some of the old local words survived there. 口縄 Kuchinaha for snake is one of these words, I was told. PS I can find 'Kuchinaha' in Iwanami's 古語辞典　but the 当て字？is 蛇, reading Kuchinaha. A local friend told me many years ago that the actual meaning comes from 'mouth' and 'straw rope'.

Koichi sama, that's wonderful work. Many thanks. The picture in Tensho style of the snake reminds me of an old word for snake in the west of Japan, くちなわ　= Kuchinawa. "Mouth & rope".