Bugyotsuji

The top writing when present was often the mark of the person later decorating a barrel, but when in fine silver etc., inlay, it was sometimes an exhortation. It looks readable but my brain is not yet coming into focus 韮張 plus 花王 doesn’t seem at all right… maybe you could post that in the translation section for fresh eyes! The woodwork of your gun could well be newer, meaning the gun was possibly rebuilt at some time. The absence of a front sight is puzzling, but these pistols were never designed for accuracy, meaning the placement of sights was mostly a token gesture. If the base marks of a front sight have been erased, it is a very good job.

A new addition for you? This looks like an example of a Namban Ryū (Southern Barbarian Style) pistol, a gunnery school in Japan deliberately designed to look foreign, to show exaggerated outlandish features. The front sight looks to have been knocked off…(?) As to the markings underneath the barrel, they do look fairly random as you say, and these among other signs suggest that someone has been tweaking or adding to the gun since its export from Japan. Despite some alterations, basically an honest gun I sense from your photos.

Well, as long as he does not talk directly over the blade! Oh wait… he did. Don't they have a Yosozaemon no Jo Sukesada on semi-permanent display up in the Japanese Gallery?

So if the Mei is legit, an early Tenbun/Tembun date could certainly fit with Fusamune.

Oh Moriyama San, stupid me!!! Thank you!

Stuff I still need to work on, but Tembun 7, November… is visible. 天文七年十一月 Either side of 10 (十) is the old date of Tsuchinoe Inu, 戊戌 土口日 (?… not sure what kind of day this refers to)

What inscription?

Missed my favourite programme… Just kidding!!! Monday TV is useless.

That was quick, Colin. I’ve spent the whole evening comparing waterfalls in Japan, China and Taiwan…

Gerry, as I said above, this last one is not a kanji, but a ‘Kao’ 花王, an artist’s personal seal or flourish sometimes added to a signature. PS Fusamune has to be a possible reading, but I would compare it to other known Fusamune signatures as it is aiming very high!

https://www.nilsjapan.com/news/?p=4562 In Japanese legend, Kasasagi (magpies) as messengers of the gods created a bridge for lovers to meet on 7th July. (Tanabata) Was this created to celebrate a wedding, perhaps, with ume and bamboo symbolizing a new start? (Four artist friends create something together for the couple?)

A first for me too! Intriguing.

Referenced here:

赤尾清夫 Normally Akao Kiyoo but that personal name (second two Kanji) could be read several ways. One of the Akao school. Seio, Seifu, etc. …(?)

Possibly meant to be Nobumune…(?) + Kao, but the strokes are not quite right. 信宗

I think it says it’s a joint work between the four people named, dated an auspicious day of Showa 7. (Rich colours. Interesting thing! ) PS I am sure there are no cracks in your walls!

Ah, you spotted that! (I'm not just a pretty, er, handsome face)

Hmmm… let’s see what we’ve got here… Nope, I reckon you could win this, Dale!

Over the last week I have been attempting to recatalog my small assortment of kozuka, menuki, and tsuba on this side of the planet. It's confusing because I have a different set of numbers at either end, and when I carry some backwards or forwards the numbers can clash, needing renumbering. There were a couple of tsuba I do not remember buying, and for some reason left no record of how much I paid. Aaarrrgghhh... While doing so though, I rediscovered several that I had forgotten, or was thinking that I had swapped out or sold. It was a joy to see them again, and to consider that years ago I had appreciated them enough to have chosen them back then. Some of them I would never sell, I realized, as they speak to me personally and it is not a question of market value. It was a delight to hold them in hand and to find new aspects or details to appreciate. Why collect these things, people ask? Well, one answer could be that as my Alzheimer symptoms progress, I will soon be able to experience the joys of rediscovery as often as there are weeks in the year or days in the week! "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Endymion, John Keats.

This thread, and the other one linked, has opened my eyes to Teimei tsuba. Many thanks. I had one a couple of years ago without knowing what it was, but I think I must have given it away as part of a deal. The shape of your new tsuba reminded me of square iron hooks hammered into old Japanese building walls and pillars, or those adorning the uprights of shokudai candle holders, but I am more than happy to go with sashigane!

Top left, John, looks like the outer box of two nesting boxes.

Shotoku Taishi holding a sashigane. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hs=jbFp&sca_esv=24bda720f578b1cc&hl=en-gb&udm=2&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKp9lEhFAN_4ain3HSNQWw-mMGVXS0bCMe2eDZOQ2MOTwnRdx8cTjotWVyC2QMTVww_YBFX02fOeR-h4YTkfXLtUjsbkEQ71TRGYdTT7QocLO7g195D6ib_0dpEb3QJhPc8RuH5fi-Zj0WZCt67f8e5UnyfeSxo0pAD9Pd3ZdooYNG4m6TtZkeX60E_yiJ6whrL47XaLA&q=差金骨董&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi86_Tgx6-SAxX8slYBHdUTMLEQtKgLegQIFBAB&biw=390&bih=699&dpr=3&aic=0#sv=CAMShgUa5gQKkAIKuQEStgEKd0FNbjMteVRsdWdUcE1xMUJpWUxLRW1hRnFqbC0taEE0NzluekFPbHpHRi1ySHgwOUstLVVZeWNDRHJRVUdrNEh4WHlkZmthSkMwMlpoUzVYT2J5dVdPajJuLXBqaTZ5VlVwbEFvOUlhMC1tZkF3NkNPOEFJQ1hvEhc5cko2YWM3WklMeUEycm9QdU8yQm9RURoiQUpLTEZtS0ZrZGp3OWlQQm1sQTU0NEFFWkFpdWd5RkZ6dxIDODQ5GgEzIhEKAXESDOW3rumHkemqqOiRoyIHCgN0YnMSACIuCgRlcWxkEiZDZ0lJQUJBQUtBRTZCQWdCRUFGQUFVZ0JWVjJYWVQ5dFZ1b2ZQdxK-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

Yes, liking that, simple but strong. Does it actually say that they are carpenter's squares? (Took a long time to work its way through!) Congratulations.

Smaller, for ojime perhaps? Do they have crisscross schreger lines internally like elephants and mammoth tusks? Learn something new every day!

When you say barrow, it does indeed look like a seoibitsu armo(u)r chest with shoulder straps. (Nearly bought one just last week!)