Bugyotsuji

Oh, and today I found this one. Iron, ribbed. Acorns? The togishi asked if he could polish it, so I said ‘sure’! Came up nicely.

細違い角家紋 Try linking it like this with 'kamon'.

Nice design. Possibly 細違い角 hoso chigai kaku.

Cotton as 綿 ‘men’ was used for string, cloth weaving, etc. In the scene above however, they seem to be concentrating on bulk wata ワタ, which is the earlier process before spinning for thread/string.

10. (All for now.) iron with iron fukurin. Kaneie Mei, but it is said he did not add fukurin.

9. Tōsho tsuba, iron sukashi w/Amida yasuri.

8. Sendai, iron, signed Kiyochika. Kabuto riveting style. Katchūshi?

6,7. Two Owari (?), the right one NBTHK papered to ‘Owari’.

4,5. Two Saotome chrysanthemum wheels, iron, the larger one 9.3 x 9.3 cm.

3. Resonating with Richard’s above?

2. Thin iron plate with shinchū fukurin. Nobuie style but unsigned.

Will add 10 tsuba... 1. Small iron tsuba with shihō inomé and shinchū fukurin. From handachi?

Add one more, Tim!

Wari-kōgai, iron. Said to be old, Muromachi (?) but I do not know enough about these. The slanting ‘shoulders’ below the ‘mimi-kaki’ may be one indication.

Not to be confused with Kanemitsu 金光.

Hmmm.... Nice! They look as though they are a village community making cotton wool 'wata' for stuffing bedding and winter clothing, etc..

Samurai Homer in the bath by Darth19 on DeviantArt

Looks like a Westerner's idea of a Kanji.

The history of Aizu is interesting, as is the history of these 'ken' that Brian mentions. Genuine examples are comparatively rare, so they tend to be somewhat sought after; for this reason modern smiths will occasionally try their hand at one.

Aizu Masahiro Saku Using the old kanji for Ai 会津正弘　作 Since the nakago (tang) looks clean, it could be a modern work, but using the old kanji form for Aizu, i.e. 會津

Ah, thanks for the correction. 鳥城 = Tottori, Bird Castle 烏城 = Okayama, Crow Castle Both Ikeda family domains! (I was thinking of 今泉俊光 Imaizumi Toshimitsu)

烏城, not 鳥城 I think.

烏城　 Ujō possible? (Okayama Castle)

Many years ago at an early morning market in Fukuyama, I was looking at some Edo period coins. A middle-aged man handed me a bag. "These are all fakes. Study them carefully", he said, walking off. I was left speechless! In my experience there are more real cash coins around. I have a box of Ichi monsen, yon monsen, ju monsen and Tempo hyaku monsen in various conditions. 一文銭、四文銭、（宝永通宝1708~）十文銭、天保の百文銭 As to Koban, they are so valuable it would be strange if there were not fakers out there. One coin dealer in Tsuyama looked at my little Hime-koban for me and told me that the better fakes are actually worth quite a bit; some people even collect them. There is an organization in Tokyo who will for a sum give you a certificate if they deem your koban to be genuine. Hard enough to judge in the hand, the problem will surely be magnified buying off FleaBay. If you are up for a gamble, though...

RCIN 17722 - Model of a cock on a drum (kankodori) (rct.uk) Quote: Japanese legend tells of a ruler who placed a drum at his gate to be sounded in the event of an attack or civic dispute. However, prolonged peace meant the drum fell into disuse, and birds began to live on it.