Bugyotsuji

Mmm, good solid tsuba by the way, and as Dale said the octagonal shape is nice. Oh and Joyeux Noel, Yves!

Generally one associates this Mon with the Ogasawara Daimyō family. My gripe with the Matsudaira is that being closely related to the Tokugawa, and thus superior to everyone else, they moved in and took over various fiefdoms throughout Japan, using the regional Kamon as their own. Like cuckoos taking over other birds’ nests and eggs. Tell me I am wrong, please!

記念 Often expressed in the word Kinen, memorial, to mark some worthy or notable event. 記念館 Memorial Hall Kinenkan. 記念日 anniversary, observed day, etc. Kinenbi

Maybe Akimaro 昭麿

It looks in good condition, Gary.

Now I am confused. Which photos are we supposed to be comparing?

The 岡 part of tsuna　綱 is completely different.

For the Yasutsugu, first gen.(?)

Sometimes words have the power to lift a poor person high! PS At an antiques fair today I heard a voice beside me, “Did you buy that tsuba and the set of Fuchi/kashira?” It was K sensei, the sword practitioner. I turned around, astonished that he could have known, and somewhat jokingly denied any knowledge of the matter. ”I was just going back to buy them,” he said, but they had gone. “You bought them, didn’t you!?!?” Eventually I pulled them out and he fondled them lovingly. Quickly I grabbed them back. “Why didn’t you buy them when you had the chance?” I wondered to myself. Secretly though, I was happy that we had both seen and liked exactly the same things in a huge outdoor antiques fair!

Last night I took this to the local NBTHK sword meeting but quickly warned them it was going to be a detective story. The blade was reckoned to be ShinShinTō, of indeterminate regional manufacture. The saya they liked, perhaps original to the blade. The tsuka has most probably been changed at some point. It was pointed out that this was not necessarily ‘wrong’ or uncommon, even in times past, as quite a bit of crossover took place. (Mix ‘n match?) No one gave any suggestions as to how to move this one forward. The silence spoke about not sending good money after it. So, possibly I should just release it back into the stream, where someone else might choose to either enjoy it as is, or improve it, or break it up and sell the tōsōgu separately.(?)

Ronald, John has kindly posted it the right way up.

越前安継 Echizen Yasutsugu 南蛮鐵? Nanban tetsu?

Thanks for the updates Brian. You are constantly there for us in the cloud, even though you have this personal pain to bear for a little while yet. And the way you describe it, the NMB sounds like a carefully tended and well-oiled machine, when everyone plays whatever part they can.

The Ikeda Daimyō family used a version of this Gion Mamori as one of their Mon; this is still said to be a link to their Sengoku time as Christians. As with many of these things it contains lashings of deniability, though.

So what is the depiction?

As John says above, it’s the Jinshin registration number from the great roundup in early Meiji. 2,979 It says 入間県 Iruma Ken, a prefecture set up in 1871 and dissolved in 1873, corresponding to the west of Saitama today. https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/入間県 PS The gun is therefore older than that, certainly early to mid 1800s. It is hard to give precise dates for Tanegashima, but little things give us indications.

How long is a piece of string? How much is a car today? How much is a house today? How much is an education today? They are what you can afford, and there should be something for (almost) everyone. One counter for “a suit” of armor is “Ichi Ryō” 一領 It is said that “ryō” means residence or domain, according to one explanation, i.e. it could cost the price of a plot of land and a house.

Bob, try 廣正

Several sets of 47 Ronin woodblock prints were produced in different formats by different artists. Natually you are wanting ones from this same Seichu Gishiden series. Nishiki-e 誠忠義士伝 - 歌川国芳 -『浮世絵・錦絵』などを見る【みんなの知識 ちょっと便利帳】

Sadly my good friend Mr Hashimoto died suddenly this summer, so young. Besides being a general all-round good guy at the Osafune workshops, he was brilliant at tsuka-maki and was in Tokyo at the time for the artisans' awards ceremony. Such a waste of all that training and experience when so few young people are carrying on the tradition.

Had a look, Colin, and made sure there was no extra play. Still no room for tsuba or seppa, so it's back again to the single silver seppa/tsuba thingy. Although the copper top plate of the fuchi is comparatively thick, the fuchi fits perfectly. The worn nanako on the fuchi go nicely with those on the kashira. The koikuchi, however, is of a rather insect-eaten black buffalo horn, so it is possible that this tanto koshirae was originally an aikuchi and the fuchi itself had been badly eaten away. I like your idea of sawing off a section of the end of the tsuka wood, and will float that with the artisans if it does not come up in conversation. Meanwhile, here are some of the tsuba I've been playing with.

I like your thinking. Apart it comes once more, when I get home. Hoping you are right!

I am still trying to imagine what has happened to this blade. Possibly it was in shirasaya, registered, and someone had the bright idea of putting together a koshirae package. The saya and bashin seems to be iron-based.The tsuka however is shakudo with a nice pair of matching menuki, and ... maybe the fuchi and kashira are random, or as you say, perhaps the fuchi has been changed? The blade does kind of fit, but not perfectly; the two mekugi holes are too near the habaki to allow for a fat tsuba, or a even a super thin tsuba and seppa set. It looks like a new hole for either the nakago or the tsuka if a tsuba is to be fitted. Anyway, thanks everyone for the thoughts so far, nudging me in hopefully in the right direction for this blade. I always end up trying to 'improve' what I find out there, in some small way righting the wrongs that others have found too troublesome or too expensive to bother with. :nuts:

Ignore that guy above! Me, me, me, I collect Hosokawa artefacts! Congratulations Okan on a lovely package!

Ah, now I understand where you are coming from. Thank you. Yes, that makes sense. I spent some time just now trying to find some evidence of hamon that could actually be photographed under the kitchen light! Will check the shots and see if anything came up... warts and all. May be beyond redemption.