Bugyotsuji

No experience of your man, but generally silence in Japan means there is no update, nothing positive to report. When it is ready they will contact you, actions speaking louder than words, and excuses being nothing more than wasted words. In my experience a message will come from out of the blue… (Just generalizations, but from what others have said above, his organization is simply slow, not criminal.)

Ono no Komachi, agreeing with Pietro. (Scrub Shojo!) A vertical hole is typical for an ojime slide, but not at that size, and not for a Netsuke, Graham. Are there no other holes in it? If not, then we are looking at a small *Okimono, probably not a Netsuke. The vertical hole could have been inserted later, but that would not change things apart from the ability to be strung. *Okimono literally means an object for ‘placing’, a decorative object for a flat surface, carved in the Meiji period at the earliest.

So definitely not Renaissance wax then, Pietro?

Although the yoshi 𠮷character on both nakago is not written the same way 吉 as on the paperwork (short vs long upper stroke), the signatures on those two look otherwise struck in quite different styles to me.

Ah, similar feeling, but now that dragon is katchushi, not tosho.

Dragon vs butter, but yours may be closer. Those same three dots…

The members of each specialty Shinsa team change over the years.

Very useful Dee. Thank you. I think I have run across that site many moons ago, but nice to rediscover it. I have a useful old tape measure showing inches, centimeters and shaku measurements on it. As a rule of thumb, one shaku is ten sun, and at roughly the same mark is one foot, i.e. twelve inches, which also coincides with 30 centimeters. A convenient convergence of three measuring systems within about half a centimeter.

You are right of course, Pietro. Many thanks for catching that. Referring back to Sekisen, here is the entry in Lazarnick. PS ‘Onka’ should be Onko ware.

This may be a Shōjō… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōjō The redness, the kimono sleeve, her hair…

The paperwork describes the surface of yours as Tsuchimé-ji, so would that not indicate that it is the original treatment? This one may be later (?) but offered just for comparison. And the reverse

No idea of age. The zōgan looks fairly crudely done but it’s a nice object regardless! PS There is a whole thread on Mekugi-nuki around here somewhere…

“Extensive lacquered wear on Koshiraé.” This is deliberate, a red lacquer surface, allowing black lacquer to show through, creating the famous Negoro-ji nuri effect.

That is clever! Many thanks for posting this. I have not seen this combination before, though you do find them disguised in other ways, inside Tantō Koshiraé, or as Jutte, etc. Ignition is by crushing of small pellets, ‘pills’ of mercury fulminate.

Yes Bruce the one you showed at the bottom of the previous page. And look at these two:

Yes, the Kikusui is a famous Mon/Kamon. It alludes to one of the most famous classical legends and is associated with Lord Kusunoki, inter alia. 33 says Kikusui, i.e. chrysanthemum and waters 34 says Kikusui with leaves, i.e. chrysanthemum and waters, with leaves.

From what I remember a group of NBTKHK (Japan Armor Society) members created this before having it printed out. The names outlined in red indicated they were older than 1600, and the black ones (like yours) post 1600. For the print copy of this hand-written version I put wavy red lines around the ‘old’ names. (I’ll see the official version in due course, but I don’t have it here.)

First shot is upside down and fuzzy, but the second is a little better. Can you focus clearly on the signature once more? It seems to be carved into a resin material…(?) Sometimes if signatures are not immediately obvious, we have to work with dictionaries to narrow down the possibilities. (Many are spurious, many are poorly written and barely legible, and many of course are not listed at all.) So, an art name, beginning with 籍 (Seki) or 簑(or an older kanji version of Mino or Sai?) the last character of which looks as if it might be 雲 (un). Please do not expect an answer right away!

Looks good from here. Do you have some overall shots?

Thanks for the menpo ‘Hideshige’ Mei example, Uwe. Here is the map. I have a final printed version of this, but not here at the moment. See 1. the whole of Japan, then 2. the Kanto section and finally 3. the block of names attached to Tokyo/Musashi/ Bushū. Your smith is between the points of the caliper. PS 函人 ‘Kanjin’ is an old word for an armourer. Notice this unusual Kanji is used in the description 武陽函師 Buyo Kanshi master armourer, under the bell photo above. 1630 seems reasonable to me. 1. 2. 3.

老 possible? (Rō, at an old age)

I’m liking your thinking, Uwe!

中谷要人(秀重) *Nakatani Yōjin (Hideshige) On a hand-drawn map of armourers of Japan, I have just found the name above listed for the Edo/Bushū area. *Alternative but less common reading ‘Nakaya’. http://blog.livedoor.jp/kayoko1227/archives/31862120.html On this page is a reference to a Buddhist bell with an inscription of this name and date of 1630, saying in the Shin Kacchushi Meikan that this refers to the ‘armourer of Buyō’ (Bushū) Nakatani Yojin Hideshige.

Ah, thanks for that info Jon. Tanegashima had a variety of front sights, …only some of which were triangular. (I have an old Tanegashima pistol with a rounded rear sight, which I am guessing is for ease of use with a holster.) But surely it’s only rounded from sideways, and triangular when seen from the front and rear, no?

Was at college in the US with his grandson, who was very proud of his ancestry, but a crazy guy! He had a French girlfriend from his time at the Sorbonne. He wanted my corduroy jacket and $50 dollars in exchange for his leather-scabbard gunto. He let me have the sword, but only on condition that I would one day return it to him. Sadly I discovered that he had later died, after a long and successful career in journalism. I am guessing that the sword must still be in the USA somewhere. 芝生瑞和 - Wikipedia 母方の祖父は荒木貞夫元陸軍大将、第一次近衛内閣文部大臣、男爵。父方の祖父は芝生佐市郎元陸軍中将。 Araki Sadao, his grandfather on his mother's side.