Bugyotsuji

Ouch, John, that takes me to the limit of my passive knowledge and I feel an urge to go and double-check what comes to my fingertips. All fire-weapons can be traced back to ancient times, and the Chinese exercised thier imagination with how to send burning things at their enemies, as did the Romans and Greeks. I think the 'po' part of teppo (Chinese Bao/Pao) was a sort of bursting ball of gunpowder in a container (grenade) and the Mongols hurled these at the surprised Samurai defenders in Hakata Bay in Kyushu in the late 1200s. There's a famous painting of a horse being disembowelled by one. But thinking about what you have suggested, even these must have come conceptually from a burning ball. I think it's the tetsu- part of teppou, that suggests confining the flames in a container, /wood/paper/porcelain....maybe metal later. The next question is do you hurl the whole thing like a rocket, or do you discharge the contents and keep the cylinder?

Hello all. Just joined this site recently. The site is full of wisdom and knowledge and my essential aim is to learn from it, or should I say from you all. If I offend or annoy, that is generally not my intention, though I may bridle at someone's tone occasionally. Even though I am weak in the area of swords and fittings and even though my closest adviser and friend in Japan has warned me to stay clear of Nihonto, I find myself fascinated by them. Recently I have discovered that even though I speak, read and write Japanese fairly passably, I have trouble learning the vocabulary of arms and armor/armour straight from the Japanese Kanji, whereas I seem to be able to get closer to it and learn the language more quickly through English. (No hesitation for example on how such and such a Kanji is pronounced in a particular context or combination of words, since some kind soul has already done that work for me.) By the same token I have certain strengths which would normally become apparent in the course of posting. You must all be wondering who I am and where I come from; am I one of your stalkers/swindlers that I read about here, or will I be able to have a role to play here. Without wanting to say too much in this age of identity fraud, and not really wanting to post my true name or even initials (although I do understand the forum rules) I do want you to feel comfortable with me here, and I am willing to go towards that. So, and this is where I get hounded out, ... I've got my coat in one hand, ... deep breath...my main approach to Japanese arms has been through Tanegashima, Japanese matchlocks. I belong to a Castle Matchlock Company in Japan and have to dress in full Katchu several times a year. Most of us are antique collectors, and most of what we wear and display is genuine. Our guns are Edo or earlier and we use matchcord and black powder. If we wear a sword for a live display, however, in the saya will be the tsunagi, since a member of the public might possibly pull it out. Thank you for reading!

Try "Owari no Kuni, Kozenji" Run a Google in Japan on: Owari Kozenji Tsuba. Get this page with lots of references to Kozenji and Tsuba makers. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls= ... tnG=Search Japanese Wikipedia tells you what and where Owari is: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%BE% ... 5%E5%9B%BD

Thanks for the thoughts, Richard. I'll put them in my pipe and smoke them. I like the look of your Tsuba there, though. (The side holes look more functional than decorative, almost as though their function of allowing kogai and kozuka through without drawing the sword was just in the process of being discovered.)

This was mentioned by a sword/armor(-our) shop owner here in Japan the other day. (Someone that I trust generally.) I listened politely and filed the information for future query. What he said was that many of the old iron Muromachi tsuba were in fact born and used as solid discs of iron. Most of the sukashi was cut out in later years, ie in the Edo Period. (Except for the Sun and Moon Udenuki holes for the himo which tend to be original, as dropping your sword while mounted on a horse was probably not too clever.) Is this general knowledge and should I have read up on the site a bit more before posting? Puzzled in Paradise, Piers

The W is Yama! Yes, what a brilliant idea!

Just a guess. He was called Nakanishi, but so were a lot of other soldiers or officers. Their clothing and equipment were probably shipped somewhere. He wrote the first part of his name on the home-made baggage tag as Naka-, and the nishi (west) part he wrote in Roman letters, to help him find it more quickly. Other possibility that he was a Chusa 中佐or lieutenant Colonel, and his name was Wakabayashi or something beginning with W...

My Japanese friend is quite dismissive about Bashin. He says it was a tool for paring horses' hooves. Two questions arise. 1. Is he dismissive because there is something associated with this tool that he doesn't like? That it's unclean in some way? 2. If 1. above has any truth in it, would the use of it on an enemy be a deliberate insult? Horses' hoof... to human head? Just idle thoughts... Piers PS Zanshin. The translation from the Russian was a great job. Many thanks.

Yes, Brian that 'dirk' looks very much like a cross between a Kankyuto and a Kozuka, especially as it's separable. It's double-bladed, it has the appearance of a yari, the blade is removable and the haft has the Kankyuto hole. John, yours looks very like my Kankyuto. You have posted the flat back, right? The hole is round, where many of them are Inome 猪目(heart-shaped). Guido, what you say may be the real truth. I stumbled across this excellent thread and thought maybe at last we can get to the bottom of these rumours if everyone pools their knowledge. I too would be very happy to see some actual proof of the stories. Get the rumours on the table and any supporting evidence. An itch scratcher maybe, but mine has a very sharp and purposeful blade, and one of the inscriptions says it was owned by Ooishi Yoshio (the real name of Oishi Kuranosuke of 47 Ronin fame, Karo of Ako Castle!) Oh, and I have been here for 30 years, although with nothing like your experience of input and expertise. Please forgive the newcomer....

PS To add to the urban myths, one antique dealer (whom I rather respect in general) told me that the Kankyuto was a sort of name tag that the samurai pushed into his hair so that when he was slain the enemy would know exactly who he had killed! (Might as well post everything! :lol: )

There is actually not a lot of information even on Japanese sites when you run a search. Many of the Bashin/Kankyuto that I have seen slip nicely into the Hitsu in the saya as if they were Kogai or two-sectioned Kozuka. There seem to be a wide variety, however, and although they fall generally clearly into either Bashin (Horse needle) or Kankyu-to (Piercing blade) there are many examples which seem to be a mix of the two. They range from rudimentary to highly decorative and seem to be all different sizes. Some even look like miniature Yari spears with wooden hafts and a clear head. Japanese people, even if they've heard of Bashin, will not have heard of Kankyuto, and will certainly not be able to tell you what they were or how they functioned. Ninja favoured smaller hand-held versions of them too, apparently, and whereas J comics or TV dramas suggest the Kogai or Kozuka could be thrown, it was more likely the heavier bashin/kankyuto. I bought a Bashin/Kankyuto out of curiosity the other day on the J auction and was annoyed to discover it was brand new but 'aged' cleverly. Very expensive lesson. There's a place called Seki in Japan which is making huge volumes of fake armour. Following this I decided to buy a really good one with some lovely writing all over it. (Too good as it turns out and it turns out the signature is quite possibly a fake.) As someone pointed out, the Umabari is a Needle, and the Kankyuto ends with 'to' as in Nihonto, and has a proper blade, often double-sided. So mine is a Kankyuto, I reckon, even if everyone says "Look, a Bashin!" Clearly the Bashin was a horse tool originally and with Japanese horses wearing straw sandals instead of horseshoes, highly necessary, I imagine. The question about Kyushu is interesting and I look forward to hearing the answers, especially as I have a Higo gun! I couldn't find anywhere on my armor/armour to keep my first Kankyuto, pushing it through the string on the Kote, etc., ... ended up shoving it into the saya hitsu where it sat quite happily! Having spoken about their 'clear' differences however, the hole in the hilt is thought-provoking. This hole makes the Kankyuto a needle as well as a knife, and that is why I asked whether it was used for pushing a cord through the enemy's head. The Kanji for 'Kan' or 'Tsuranuku' means open a hole and push through from one side to the other, among other things. Looking forward to this thread attracting all the information available! Piers

Yes, thank you, I read that (well, skimmed it) just today, but I couldn't find any reference to Kankyu-to or Bashin... perhaps there is and I missed it, though. But an amazingly informative article, nevertheless. Wonderful. Is the head 'pierced' through from the left ear, with the point sticking out of the right? Or were the ears pierced with the 'hari' and some kind of string or cord passed through from which to carry the head, I wonder? Piers

Many thanks, Koichi san! Maybe another one will come up on J Yahoo auction soon! 奉行通詞 (Piers)

Having paid a large sum of money to purchase one of these, I was looking for information regarding this (these) and was linked into this thread. Very interesting indeed. I would like to find more information on the presentation of the enemy's head and the role if any of the Kankyu-tou in this. Koichi san. Where did you get your information? I found an illustration on a Russian web page, but unfortunately I can't read it. I think it may be showing how to pierce, hold and display the head. http://bugeisha.ru/aiki/coldjapweap6.shtml Hi everyone! Glad there's an edit button here. I wonder for how long after posting we are allowed to go back and correct our posts, though? Just had a quick read of the Welcome page where Brian says to include a name/initial. So, here goes! Piers