Bugyotsuji

Grev, they are Hōju power balls. The Kura key and Hōju are symbols of the Inari fox gods. At the Inari Shrine in Kyōto you can see the foxes carrying both symbols.

Anyone reading this thread casually will be thoroughly confused by now. Apologies. The only consistent quality is the passage of time, as I report whenever things bob up! Recently I have been juggle-reporting here on three blades, the last of which is the Naminohira Kaiken above. (The In-Shu Kanesaki wakizashi in koshirae with new tsukamaki is happily tucked away, now in the healthy shape that I had been aiming for.) BUT. The 1534 Bizen Sukesada came back from the polisher for the second time yesterday. The first time was for the blending in of the mune repair, and now it has been derusted and cleaned up all over. This blade now looks really good, with a stunning hamon, and if it lacks anything, it is a full koshirae. Oh, it would be great to figure out which Sukesada this was, but as my sword sensei says, it's a product of the Sukesada Kobo (workshop). What pleases me about this blade is that it was horribly damaged when I found it, but after a year, my faith in its intrinsic quality has eventually paid off, in my eyes anyway, justifying the money I have spent on Osafune artisan work. Even though it is not really old in the grand scheme of things, it is from when kabuto were being dated, and ten years before Japan was conscious of guns. This thought I like. 備州長船祐定作　天文三年八月日

Brillant. Well done on your perseverance!

Also Genpei/Gempei indicates the power struggles between Gen (源 the Minamoto clan) and Hei (平...H changes to P in second syllable, so -pei, i.e. the Taira clan, or Hei-Shi)

Will take some shots and PM you, Colin. B2-10-01 風流発句合　大星由良之助 - 赤穂市「忠臣蔵」浮世絵デジタル展示室 (ritsumei.ac.jp) See how he depicts the light beam, and notice the 47 Ronin leader's name has been altered by the artist from Oishi Kuranosuke to 'Ohoshi Yuranosuke'.

Recently a second one of these Gando/Ganto Andon appeared and I just had to have it!!! The word Gando/Ganto is said to be a dialectic corruption of 'Goto', burglary, or a burglar. With a directional beam, the nefarious character behind it remains in darkness. Just the job for the uchi-iri of the 47 Ronin.

The name of the guy on the right is missing…(?)

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=家紋剣宝輪&tbm=isch&hl=en-gb&tbs=rimg:CcPqtc7doH7OYcLWRgLHK1AIsgIPEAAoAToECAEQAVV2eS8_1wAIA2AIA4AIA&client=safari&sa=X&ved=0CBIQuIIBahcKEwjwpIq7uc2CAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBw&biw=390&bih=664&dpr=3 There’s a variety of these bladed Buddhist wheels of the law.

Just be aware that to create a new set of Koshiraé (in Japan or anywhere) could be very expensive. I know some people who have, but the cost would have been of secondary importance to them. Another option might be to look for an old Koshiraé that is close enough to allow adjustment/adaptation. There are problems with this route too, but with a bit of serendipity and skill it could be a cheaper and in some ways more satisfactory option.

Hmmmm… when you say that, the print suddenly makes sense!

Masamune, Jonas, but it looks faked.

Hi Bill, I think you need to contact the koshirae lacquerer Mike Hickman-Smith. He should be able to advise you at the very least.

Was Genta left-handed or ambidextrous, I wonder?

Just to record in one place what I have found out about the 'new' addition. There was a very long line of Satsuma 'Naminohira', (Nami-no-hira, or Namihira) swordsmiths, allegedly started by Hashiguchi Masakuni, who came from Yamato. Few early Naminohira blades remain today from Heian/Kamakura, and none by Masakuni. Their blades tended to be suguha with a Yamato type whitish 綾杉 ayasugi hada. They each took the name Yukiyasu when they became the new master swordsmith, so possibly Yukiyasu, Masakuni's son, was the real founder of the line, which is the longest in Japan. The present blade is signed 安好 Yasuyoshi. Various sources say he was the son of Yasuuji. Yasuyoshi later took the name 六十一代行安 'Yukiyasu 61st generation', working around Bunka (1804-1818). Classified as Shinshinto. Real name Hashiguchi Kansuke 橋口勘助. Few Tanto are said to have been made in the mid-Edo period. I wonder if Satsuma was an exception to this trend? Papered example here from Bunka 10 (1813). 日本刀 短刀 波平安好（六十一代行安初銘）文化十年酉二月吉日｜日本刀 刀剣販売 e-sword

Yes, that's the 九 (Kyu) of the name 'Kyubei', as Nobody San says above: 九兵衛 (Can indicate the ninth chlld in a large family.) PS As with erased chassis numbers, letters can show up under specialized ray equipment.

Sure, great. 鉄砲 Teppō, iron tube.

Ah, that’s much better. Thank you. Sadly someone has filed away both the rust and the smith Mei at the same time. There was a continuing house line of 20 Kyūbei smiths at Kunitomo until the Bakumatsu end of the Tokugawa dynasty. (The founder was just Kyūbei with no further name, at the beginning of the Edo period, but your gun looks like one of his descendants, as the name is longer. The style of your pan lid suggests mid to late Edo.)

Are you 100% sure there is absolutely nothing there, just a flat surface, as if the name has been deliberately removed even? (We have been able to read seemingly impossible ones in the past. Sometimes the light angle can bring something up.)

九行茶碗 - 検索 (bing.com) 小野九行 probably, as Xander says above.　Ono Kugyo. NO.141　大野九行作の黒楽茶碗ってこんなの - YouTube

Yesterday at an antiques market I came across two thread spools of this shape, one with some of the original thread still in place.

The tanzutsu barrel is much older, perhaps early Edo Period.

Nothing ‘special’, Sean, except it is Mumei (unsigned), with a fairly long blade, and it was registered in Kōchi Prefecture in Shikoku in Shōwa 55.

Without seeing it, I would guess around 1830.

二重巻張　is usually read "Ni-ju Makibari", with the meaning as John says above. Yes please to further pics, under differing lighting angles if poss.

The Nami-no-hira tantō deal finally went through today. Phew! The dealer tried to put the price up, acting as if he didn’t remember the price he had offered me before. This was annoying because I was getting ready to negotiate and now I had to accept exactly what he had quoted last month, as if he was doing me a big favo(u)r by coming down in price. Maybe need to get these things down in writing!!!