Bugyotsuji

Wow! That must be difficult to draw and massively heavy! Nice piece.

Here you go then. Please do post your pics!

Eric, it would be too complicated to do that here. If you want a professional reading, then you could ask elsewhere for that, perhaps at the Kantei/Shinsa. Here people are eager to attempt the readings, and to help newcomers to start to be able to do it themselves. That is why the spoiler is often used. Think of it as a sort of game.

Eric, I have one of these myself and it is as Ian said. They are a nice object to have at hand, but not terribly valuable in the scale of things. Mine is probably worth less than 800 GBP. (?) When Ian said armour/armor piercing, he was probably referring to Yoroi-doushi, which strictly speaking was pushed between the gaps in the armor/armour to finish someone off.

How far down inside the Saya does the blade go? How long is it, and how do they compare in length? Is there a Kozuka/Kogai for the Hitsu ana in the Saya? What I am getting it is, do you think the Saya was made specially for this Yari, or could a pre-existing Saya have been adapted to take this Yari?

Well, without going into it too deeply I can make a guess. Some people resent having their brains picked just so someone can make quick money on e-Bay. If everyone started doing this, then what would happen to the integrity of the site? Is this forum for furthering study, or helping people to sell things? Also, and this has happened before, what if it gets to the stage of 'but you said this', or 'you definitely said that... or, "the NMB experts valued this as XYZ". Just my imagination and gut feelings. Ignore as necessary.

Not quite sure to what you refer, but broken swords, especially those with a good Mei, were often rounded off and used for cutting flowers for Kado/Ikebana, the art of Flower Arrangement.

I do not have it with me (out of town) but it fits in my hand comfortably, I would say maybe 8-9 inches, since there is no Mekugi-ana it looks like it was made this way on purpose. It came from Japan and was called a "ninja yarisaki". But it would not cut, just stab and someone could have had a much better weapon to hide than this and a cheaper one, but I could see it as a bashin type of tool. Thanks! In that case you would have to consider that the loop might have been for the end of a string which was then wrapped around the handle for grip, and like a fishing reel, (?) for release when thrown. Just guessing, hahaha :lol:

What size is it? It looks like a Yari no Ho, with the Nakago fashioned into a loop, to make a Bashin-like tool.

Are you 加奈陀住 Benoit?

Henry, you may recall the use of banners here in Post #4 viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2554 except that we have removed our Se-oi-bata for the photo. Our leader is constantly researching banners and trying to provide us with either real ones or exact copies from museum pieces.

doug e, it is more complicated than that. The cross in Japanese is "Juji", which can also mean 'the character for 10'. As in Juji-gun (crusader armies) and Seki-juji, The Red Cross. There is a long history, part of which has been discussed on this site and elsewhere. Some families wanted it to mean the Christian cross, but then back-pedalled when Christianity was outlawed, and denied it thrice. Oh, our cross is actually 10, see how the brushwork is different, or, Oh, our cross is actually the crossed metalwork for a horse's bit, or Oh, our family were using it before the recent wave of Christian missionaries, etc., etc., etc. Some of them were deliberately fogged to be able to resurrect either way if and when the persecutions should stop.

Absolutely brilliant. Stunning work. Many thanks. Look forward to seeing more. How can you get such information?

It won't let me watch it... " この動画は非公開です。" We have to be quite careful down here too. :| With swords and/or guns in the car, they have to be wrapped up, and you really have to have an immediate reason for them being there, such as: "I am on my way to sell them/have them appraised by xyz", etc. No good being vague.

Very difficult to see with those pics. The chopsticks set is probably Mongolian. The iron object in the pencil box is half hidden. The other long box looks like one for carrying an old-style Japanese straight razor. The Ba-jo-hai or Bashaku is nice. Not too many around. I have two; by coincidence just brought one of them into the office this morning.

Are you wanting the series of shots showing how to tie one, or just pics of various Sageo knots?

Spend the money on a hypnotism session and recall the cab and driver details.

Numbers on a stock can mean various things, but the most common goes back to 1872 when the Meiji governement mandated a registration of all guns in Japan. Depending on the Prefecture, the way of stamping/inserting/branding the numbers was very different. I think I can see 八十八on the left, and then 二千五?... on the right. This registration was repeated several times over succeeding years.

Koichi san, many thanks for the follow-up! PS Dmitry. If and when you start the search for an Ama-ooi, see if you can locate an original brass hinge pin for the pan lid. The one you have there looks like a later addition. (It's a minor detail, but it should really be of a hollow tubular construction, to take the wire support from the wet-weather umbrella.) Oh, and hard to tell from the pic, but do you have a Karuka (Sakujo) ramrod for it? They are quite easy to make if it's missing.

That confirms Sakai at once. Enamiya gun. Gotta rush, but the Mei seems to say The other line is the method of barrel construction...

As the above posters say, probably Sakai. Most of the indicators in the band, sights and decorations are there. The bamboo effect trigger guard and serpentine allow for a possibility of Kunitomo. These two places competed with each other, and although Kunitomo tended to be more honest and more 'refined' (my opinion), sometimes Kunitomo used OTT Osaka-type decoration. Conversely, some Osaka guns were less gaudy. (Your Ama-ooi is missing, and the pan has had 'bugu-naoshi', ie a new plug, as the old pan had probably seen too much use.)

This could also be read Yasuyuki.

Oh, thanks for that snippet, Ian. Another piece of the puzzle just fitted there for me. Piccie of Tsuyama Castle in 1872-3 http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95% ... ograph.jpg　 Lots of clickables in here: http://www.city.tsuyama.okayama.jp/chik ... index.html Mori Mon: http://www.mori-family.com/jp/kamon/index.html

George, click on Ed's link on the previous page for a closeup of the various related Mon. Choose one! (Although for some strange reason the Bizen-cho is not featured in that shot.)

Jean, that was clever to find that. Spitting image. Thank you. (Very cheap, though...) Toryu. I had always heard that the new Lord Kobawakawa was unloved for having betrayed Ukita and the whole Western Army at Sekigahara, went crazy and died. Looks like he did some useful work repairing the castle first, though. Interesting.