Bugyotsuji

Well, Stephen, I guess Brian has answered your serious question pretty well. There are usually two or three stalls with swords and tsuba and tosogu fittings, but in my experience they are either a) fake and cheap, or b) possibly genuine, but too expensive. The 'cheaper' offerings tend to be in the middle or towards the entrance to the stall, and the rather better objects under the nose of the stall-keeper. I don't consider myself well schooled enough to even enquire about the swords for sale, although I do have one dealer friend who is fairly honest and quite often casually gives me the background story to something I might have bought. Quite an eye-opener on occasion. I like sitting with him in his stall and checking his swords, spears, armour/armor etc., and letting him tell me about his swords or the goings on behind the antiques market scenes. He's also the auctioneer at the local area dealer's market. The answer to this week's quiz is that the tools were 200 yen each, but when I grabbed a handful he counted them and said 700 yen altogether, please. The silk obi? sageo? cord was 500 yen, but when I mentioned some slight discoloration, he grabbed it, shot a glance at it and shouted, 300! The katana-kake was 3,000 yen. He told me he had bought it off a bloke with a large sword collection just last week for 3,000 yen, but was happy to let it go at the same price. He was packing up. I didn't even haggle. Add it all up and the answer is a nice green 4,000 JPY, if you discount the cost of the expressway and the gasoline/petrol. (Actually I drove back the low road to save on highway tolls.)

Here are the tools from yesterday after a quick session with a wire brush, and a shot of the 紫檀　shi-tan katana stand and woven cord. (The little hammers are a mystery. I already had one which I tend to use as a mekugi-nuki, and was pleased to discover another. They must have had a purpose, but in what field?)

Carlo, thank you so much for posting these! There is so much there to feast the eyes on, and it's difficult to know where to start with the questions and comments. In reverse order I have to admit ignorance of a possible Tokyo Olympics in 1940, but the idea fascinates me and I love your little bowl there. The sake cups are redolent of that magnificent time in Japanese history just before the military became too powerful and proud. So small, but containing so much! Glad you were able to provide translations of the various writings. So often that is lost and we see through a glass darkly. Using your description, I was able to 'see' the three dimensional quality of the first cup. Wonderful. PS Does Golden Kite mean the bird alone, or the kites that people fly in the sky, or both? And is the bird in the first picture a Hokkaido Washi, a sea eagle, or what? The closest I can find in my small birdbook is a goshawk, using for hunting/falconry throughout the world. And what tree branch is it sitting on?

Great atmosphere in that two-shot there. You can see he is happy to have such an appreciative guest. Thanks for the cameo! Bet you can't wait to get your hands on the Daisho...

Yes, that Nihonto would have been for sale. B is the wrong answer. And maybe if we had a bit more conflict here it would liven things up! :lol:

Oh, all right, since you ask! I bought: 1. a set of very rusty watch/clock mender's tools with a little hammer and a brush thrown in. 2. A silk sageo? 下ã’ç·’ cord woven in the karagumi å”組weave, 1.4m long. 3. On the way out I noticed a very nice black Rosewood katana-kake stuffed in a box and made sure to find the stall-owner who was packing up to leave. Guess how much I paid for everything? Sword stand, silk cord and tools? a) 15,000 JPY b) 8,000 JPY c) 4,000 JPY d) 1,000 JPY

And something unusual for a Japanese city skyline

Stephen asked me a week or two back if I could get some shots of the antique fairs. Well, since then I have been to three or four, but forgot to take the camera each time. Yesterday I was at Ako Castle where they had about 40 or 50 stalls, and later in the afternoon at one of the convention centre/center antique displays. This morning I went to Fukuyama Castle park, but this time I actually remembered the camera. The grass was dead and brown, bearing sad witness to almost constant 35 degrees heat and very little rain for the last several weeks. I stood in the middle and took some shots around the radius. As you can see, it's a tiny affair, but with a little patience rummaging around, you can usually find something to take back.

Thank you for the detailed information, Moriyama san.

How do these people work? Is this a parallel auction, and does the successful bidder then send money to the person in China?

One word.... AMAZING!

Ford and Dirk, yup, got me there! It's as if the point of something has hit the tsuba. Would a sword or a spear hit the same close vicinity five times, all aiming roughly for the kogai hitsu ana?

I use a moisture proof cabinet like those on the following site. Though my cabinet is a small one and contains only small objects, it is really useful especially during this season in Japan. http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/wet-seihintobira.html http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-catalog.html http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-wet-catalog.html Those are amazing! Which one do you have Moriyama san? Would you be able to go away and leave it for a month, or does it need attention? Do you have to fill the water tank once a week, for example?

Next weekend I will be charging both my long gun and my pistol Remzy, for our next display. My ramrod is made of wood, so unlikely to spark, but you are right about using the minimum number of fingers. When you pour in the new charge there is a slight possibility of remaining burning embers. I'll try to remember. (We are also asked not to flick the wrist and pump the stick as it could look like self abuse! How can this be avoided? ) I know of people who have had accidents, but so far the worst I've suffered is burns from the matchcord and sparks in the face from the pan flash. At least I know my guns inside out, but it's that one moment of lack of concentration... and there are so many unpredictable factors with these old guns.

Well, could be putting my foot in it, but...

Oh, and he started out with the Mei: Motonobu 基信　

Nice tsuba there, Zanshin. Funnily enough, I have a smaller Kunihiro (I think) iron tsuba here which I am just now researching. Nade-kaku-gata. 6.4cm x 7 cm. 4mm thick at mimi. 2 hitsu-ana. As with yours, it just has the two characters 国広　in the old Kanji, although they must be different smiths. As to the scratches, common sense suggests to me that the owner was careless replacing the kozuka/kogai. However, common sense doesn't always work for me, so maybe they are battle scars! Good luck with the sale! Would yours not be better called sumi-kiri-kaku-gata?

He has used computer translation software. The meaning is that they think the blade was heated possibly in a house fire and lost its hamon. Restoration will be difficult, especially as it is so thin, but we will do our best with it. Leave it to us and we hope you will be pleased with the result... Hello James, Please recognize the thing that the blade disappears to the sword when it is heated by strong heat. (= Please recognize the fact that a blade edge (Ha) disappears when heated under intense heat.) The blade starts disappearing because your sword received strong heat. (= Your sword was subjected to intense heat, that is why your ha has partly disappeared.) It polishes by the specialized technique now to revive your blade. (=It will be polished here by a technique which is specifically designed for reviving your type of Ha) I think that it goes well maybe. (= Our estimation is that it will turn out well.) The reason for the house in old Japan is that it is made of the tree and paper and burns easily such a lot of swords are in Japan. (= The reason that a lot of Japanese swords have been burnt is that old houses were made of wood and paper which caught fire easily.) Only the blade's remaining should express gratitude to your sword for luck. (= ... er... ??? ...you should be happy, express gratitude that at least luckily some of the Ha remained.) Thank you

Thanks for the advice on silica gel bags, Remy, good in an enclosed space such as a sword box, but I wonder how effective in an open tatami mat room? I am collecting boxes right now, so one of your slica bags in each sounds good. Thanks for the feedback. As to the pouch, Ian mentioned compartments, so I have cobbled together some piccies of compartment section and a type of 'cartridge' that might have gone in them. The smaller cartridge tube is made of bone, hollow at both ends, which would have hung round the neck or from the belt. A ball is pushed down to appear at the far end, hitting a lip to stop it coming right out. You can see this in one of the pics. The other bigger 20 Monme tube is very thin wood covered with red leather. Beautifully made, and of course, both reuseable. Perhaps ten of these would have been ready prepared in the Doran. A powder charge would be poured in behind the ball, and finally a stopper was pushed in to seal it. To load the gun, the stopper would be pulled out, and the ball and charge would be pushed backwards down the tube with the ramrod against the ball, so that the charge could enter the barrel first and the ball would be on top...

Well, I can't tell you the significance per se, but someone else surely will. The character is Tou, Nami, or O-nami, which would be a great wave, or an ocean swell. It can be found in combinations such as Wave Dragon, Silver Wave, Wind and Waves. The character has been used in poetry from ancient China. As a verb 'Namitatsu', it has the implication of something calm getting rougher or starting to create waves, as the grass in a prairie, or the surface of the sea. A secondary meaning is the sound of the wind that blows through the Matsu pine trees. PS Dale, where on the wakizashi was the kinpun kanji? On the nakago somewhere? Was it hard to get such a clean oshigata off kinpun?

Nedan mo chotto benkyō-shite moraemasen ka? (Loosely translated "Could you be so kind as to study the the price a little more?") I use it all the times, it's very polite and indirect, and often throws the dealer off balance. Almost always works. :D Hahaha... that's splendid Japanese! How are you going to keep it up in that Northern Capital of yours? You must be making the mental switch to Han already. PS For simplicity, use Guido's second and third words, "mou chotto?" and look hopefully at the dealer, wagging your tail. He will either say no, or if it is towards the end of the function...

Well, isn't that a funny thing, Ian. I just heard this very story a few days ago, although not in such detail. One of our newish troop members has a pawnshop with, inter alia, lots of Louis Vuitton bags, purses etc., for sale. The first thing he did was to find a large one of these Do-ran and make a shoulder strap for it, and he was grabbing hold of people and quoting the story!!! "Look, the forerunner of Louis Vuitton!" Several of us are doing this now so there's a bit of fashion happening. You'll notice the silk cord I have threaded through mine. You mention partitions, which they did have for the Hayago, (apostles), or previously made-up 'cartridge' tubes. Doran can be found today at auction for as little as 20,000 yen, but at that price usually there is something torn, broken or missing. They are fairly rare, but popular, especially the ones with Mon, so when one crops up the price tends to zoom up fairly quickly. Love to see a piccie of yours when you have time.

Good idea about the phrases thread, Ford. Perhaps there should be some simple rules, such as: 1. You have used this phrase and it worked. 2. There are two or three ways of saying this, but this is the shortest and easiest to remember. 3. Add a note or cultural comment to your useful phrase as a memory aid. 4. Avoid saying such & such, and the reason(s) why. Finally. Always remember the Japanese are happy for you to be a foreigner and will go out of their way to accommodate you. Body language generally works. Eg. a) How much? = Ikura? (Pron roughly ee-koo-ra) Note. Use of this tells the dealer you are interested in buying. Sometimes it's better to stay silent for a while and he may mentally lower the starting price.

Moriyama san, thank you for the rescue! I was still struggling with that...

Ah, Motoshige, yes, right, well, egg on my face again! That second kanji had me puzzled at that distance. If you have the paperwork then it should tell you exactly that! One pawn sacrificed...