Bugyotsuji

Over the years I have posted things and subsequently forgotten them, so now I need to go back and read everything again, which tsuba I have posted, and all the arguments for and against! One thing is for sure, though, it seems that you cannot talk openly about Christianity even today in Japan, unless it is at some specialist convention or scholarly meeting. I have noticed that people will try to avoid talking about it, like it's anti-magnetic, or they will subconsciously drop their voices as if they are somehow afraid of being overheard. Of course it is possible that Japanese people think I might be a Christian and they don't want to encourage me to start talking.(?) For this reason I have on occasion explained that although I come from a Christian background, I have done yoga and Buddhism, and we had a Shinto marriage, so I am not in the business of pushing the forms of religion in any direction. Here’s a fairly recent arrival.

With that one I do not see Buddhist or Christian iconography. In general though, talismanic (religious?) iconography seems relatively not so rare, if it is both decoratively pleasing and structurally functional.

Agreed. Very nice tsuba. Above and below must be tomoe (magatama) comma designs.

Close! 金城一守 Kaneshiro Kazumori

Lewis, quote: "What is the etiquette regarding bargaining? Do the dealers negotiate on a sticker price? Or do the Japanese dealers find this impolite, borderline rude?" Some very good advice since your post above. I would just add that although there are general unspoken rules, each dealer is quite different in their approach and you will benefit in the long run if you can make a human contact first. Some people naturally click, but others don't. In other words, choosing a sword and choosing a dealer will be of almost equal importance, and to a degree the feeling should be mutual.

刀 薩陽士奥元安 寛政七年 薩摩 服部美術店 Katana satsuma Motoyasu, Hattori samurai art shop Tokyo Japan (katana-hattori.com) 薩摩国 江戸中期　　　 元平 元武 元安と 三兄弟 = Satsuma, Mid Edo, three brothers, Motohira, Mototake and Motoyasu.

Where did you find your wife? Kansei 12 is 1800.

I have a Japanese book of kamon which discusses exactly that, the history of the cross shape and how long it was found in Japan, and how the Shimazu cross has this deniability factor built into it, and how they are able to insist it is an ancient kutsuwa (horse bit) design.

You are forgiven!!! I have several loose, as yet unframed triptychs, but I like the way you have left margins between and not attempted to join up your 'beauty' set above.

Religious symbolism played a very great part in the bushi world. Christianity flourished briefly after the first missionaries arrived but was soon heavily proscribed, generally becoming 'discrete' as said above. Exceptions noted. (I have had quite a few tsuba over the years which could be interpreted as Christian, for varying reasons.) But this question has been argued hotly and repeatedly here on this forum.

All of these look better without glass! The first one fell down the back of a chest as I was hanging it, so it needs redoing… Amateur night!

上海 Shanghai does not seem to figure in there. I’d definitely call ChatGPT’s bluff.

Oh, sure, maybe tomorrow when the light is better! (I had some old frames, and a folder full of Ukiyoe, so thought I’d have some fun. )

Nice! Funnily enough, I've just been framing ukiyo-e this week.

Wow, beautifully framed!

Could be, but above the castle in the pic it says 大木戸 Ookido... so... at Takanawa by the sea?

This is Minamoto Yoritomo Oshu Taiko Seibatsu no zu Minamoto Yoritomo Oshu Seibatsu - 検索 (bing.com) Nice, liking it!

What's a zero or a comma between friends?

Hi Bradley, this video was just posted yesterday, but nice find. In here... Improving nihonto museums in Japan. - Nihonto - Nihonto Message Board (militaria.co.za) Some of us have already been to see the sword floor, jam packed with blades. There is also an armors floor, and a teppo guns floor too! If you want to see everything in a day, you'll need to get a good night's sleep first, then get in there right as the doors open in the morning! By the way, it's so new that no-one at Nagoya main station knew where it was, and even the taxi driver asked for the correct address to put into his navigation system as he'd never heard of it.

Found this in a drawer. A copper yataté (worn through the obi like a netsuké and sagémono set, which illustrates the first post of this thread.) “Now you see it, now you don’t!” Opened for brush calligraphy or sumi-e painting. (Two kozuka examples shown) And how they pack away. The small ‘Kozuka’ for cutting paper, etc. See partition inside hollow tube.

Lewis, if you pass through Okayama City on the way to Osafuné, (most catch the local train there) then check out in advance what is on at the Hayashibara Museum of Art opposite Okayama Castle. Often they have blades from their own good collection on display.

Ah, well, it gives this information here: 無鑑査.広木弘邦刀匠の父.筑州柳川住弥四郎國広作之.来写し.綺麗な直刃.刃長75.6反り3.0.状態良.居合刀. Mukansa. Father of the swordsmith Hiroki Hirokuni. Mei (as in earlier post above) Rai Utsushi (copy) Kirei na (pretty, beautiful) suguha. Blade length, sori, etc. In good condition. Iai-Tō.

Do you not find it strange that it records the date of birth of the owner, but not the name of the owner, Moriyama San? It is almost as if it is recording two births… Is it likely that this ‘owner’ is also the smith?

Yes, possibly, …but I am not really sure why it would say that. The date on the left may be the time of manufacture, June of Showa 52.

I think it says that the 所持者 shojisha owner was 生 sei/umare born in Showa 39, and the inscription itself is signed in Showa 52?