Aloof Pegasus

More likely an arm rest Philip

I agree the 2nd one looks cast. Philip

Ok here goes; It looks like a Tosho tsuba with negative sukashi of sakura and ume flowers. I'm wondering if you were disappointed by the quality of the plate which would make it a later piece, hence the breakage of the sukashi. The design seems a bit crowded, the flowers close to the rim. Could the sukashi have been a later addition? Is this mutton dressed as lamb and rather than Tosho it is another homogenous iron plate? Anyway these are my guesses for this tsuba. Philip

Hi Mariusz Thanks a lot for such a fast response and generously going first like that. Now I have to hit the books. Cheers Philip

Dear fellow forumites I think it's fair to say that many of us would like to shop on the auction sites but are afraid to take the risk. Tsuba seem more approachable in some ways than swords because by and large they are not that expensive. But there do seem to be many pitfalls:things like if a tsuba is cast or not, if it is Japanese or not, has it been repatinated, is it modern and made to look older, and so on. I wonder if it might be fun to run a beginners' tsuba kantei to address these issues and try to educate ourselves in a practical way? The object would be to have members- beginners or otherwise- post tsuba they have bought and wish they hadn't. After some sort of time limit, the reason for their case of buyer's remorse would be posted. In the meantime those of us who know little or nothing about tsuba would try to find the fault that made the buy a mistake. We really need a variety of duff choices if you'll excuse the word, but since the object is reinforcement it wouldn't matter if there was some repetition. Posters would be exposing their mistakes in the interest of furthering members knowledge, surely a laudable thing to do. This is just off the top of my head and needs to be improved on. What do you think? Philip

Piers Remember when you posted that one of yours before. Love the interior. Couldn't agree more on the idea of saving one, let's see if anyone bids. I just bought a small Sendai black one with very ornate locks and lockbox decoration so... I have a friend here who does urushi work. It might be a candidate. Philip

Hi Eric Those are 2 beauties. :D What was the original purpose of the wheeled one, do you know? And whats that small iron pin for, on the upper left lower front edge of the Yamagata one? Philip

Hi John When you say 'larger" it's a bit of an understatement, ne. Nice one. Philip

If you like new ones there's this. They say there are only 2 traditional makers of Sendai tansu left in Japan. These new ones can go to a million yen with hand made hardware. Cast is cheaper. http://item.rakuten.co.jp/keyaki/c/0000000105 Philip

Hi Lorenzo Kiri seems the most popular for keeping dampness away and they also seem quite reasonably priced- well here in Japan anyway. Different regions, different wood, different styles of locks. Sendai dansu were often made of Zelkova and so are expensive. Some have black urushi covering the grain but the single long lock in front which would probably be a bit irritating daily basis. These black ones have great designs in metal of birds on the long lock and usually a tree relief on the lock box. That's a nice one John btw. What about a pic of the big tansu? Philip

like this; http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g88234395 Clearly this one is in bad nick hence the price, however just wondering if any board members might own one/know anything about them? I imagine that swords were kept in Ishodansu as well (lady of the house permitting). I wonder if katana dansu were also stored in a separate fireproof outhouse? Any thoughts appreciated. Philip

Ipponbageta (with a single ha) are also known as 'Tengu' geta. Konoe sensei has popularised their use recently and not just for martial artists and swordsmen but other athletes as well. Apparently in olden times armed and strolling around on tengu geta was a clear warning you weren't to be trifled with. There is a temple dedicated to Tengu called Yakuouin on top of Takaosan on the outskirts of Tokyo. New Year's Day is a good time to climb the mountain on your tengu geta if you have a pair- and have the inclination. Takes about 4 hours. Philip

Tane goes off the nakago in C2 so I think it's the gimei.

Hi Bazza Thanks for that, kind of a nice find even if there are some errors scattered about- as in everything in this vale of tears we re passing through. Philip

Childrens kanji books are another good resource. If you have an Int J school where you live or a J bookstore. kanji starter books are much easier than the kind of work sheets they give out in language schools. Course it can be a bit embarrassing if you practise in public. Just try not to dribble. Philip

Very interesting article, Barry, thanks a lot for posting the pdf. Philip

Hi His pictures were accurate when I compared them to the sword in hand. I'd second what Mark said btw. Philip

Hi This dealer is Alf Tan. I bought a katana from him a couple of years back, wasn't exactly what I wanted, and he accepted the return, refunded the full amount, speedily and w/o any problems. Philip

A religous connection is as practical as it gets in Egypt. Then and now.

Hi Ford Egyptian God Ptah, God of Ressurection sometimes was shown as a dwarf. He is associated with Hephaestus, Greek God of smiths who limped or had club foot. Maybe why. You can read about it in Wallis Budge's book. regards Philip

Hi Ford & Ted & John Thanks for such educational responses. Of course you are right about Japanese doing small best... being Discovery Channel level analysis. It was a bit lazy of me to put it so- but as you may have noticed, I don't have the knowledge of J metalwork to give detailed backup to try and support the statement even if I wanted to. From your post Ford and your pix, John, I now have more of a perspective and it's kind of you both to take the trouble. In fact it was grist to the mill in one sense. The original question in this highjacked thread (apologies) was why Japanese and other Asians are so good at small intricate work. I said: could be it's because of a physical characteristic, small nostrils and nasal passages. Their bodies, small, handy, talented, disciplined whatever also benefit from naturally breathing correctly. In other words they have a head start! I used the example of a fight since everyone has had one at some stage in their lives and I think can remember the physical after effects. With the breathing they are gone. To me this is a more extreme example of stress than nanako work although personally I would take the fight but you can pick your poison- whatever it is that causes you stress is lessened when you body is getting sufficient O2. What about if you've always breathed correctly. Things that are difficult for an incorrect breather are easy for someone who breathes correctly. The oxygen needed to perform difficult tasks has always been available, it has always penetrated to the extremities. Physical and mental stress is far less challenging. It's like the difference between trying to deal with something difficult after 10 cups of coffee as opposed to doing so after none. Correct breathing enables fuller O2 absorption by the body. What does this actually mean? For example maintaining correct CO2 levels means no more "40's moments" (if you are over 40), it means no stiffness in the knees when you go to stand up after sitting for a while (if you are over 50). And it's fairly easy to reprogramme your body to do it. (At http://www.buteykoasia.com among others you can read the history and theory behind the method.) I was only half-joking when I said I wanted to see a picture of your nose, Ford. Philip

Before taking this discussion further I would like to see a photograph of Ford's nose... ok nanako work isn't stressful (really?) Flemish miniature wood carvers doubtless produced wonderful work. But the Japanese do seem to have a bit of a monopoly on insanely small detailed metal work over a long long period of time, wouldn't you say. I don't mean to imply that no one else can reach their level. Or that other cultures have not achieved a similar or higher level. But ... Japanese do small better than anyone else. Seemingly on a bread and butter basis too. It maybe simply an economic equation but if so then... Philip

Hi John, Actually I meant they were breathing better air 2000 years ago. And in terms of zazen practitioners they won't emulate the feats of some long-ago master. It's not physically possible. Our bodies have degenerated too much. So has the air. Prof Buteyko observed that gasping and mouth breathing amongst the dieing did not lead to increased oxygen absorption by the system and wondered why? They kept gasping no matter how much air they sucked in. This lead him eventually to the conclusion that utilisation of oxygen depended on the amount of CO2 in the lung not the amount of O2. From this he developed a system of shallow breathing and exhalation breathe holding designed to increase the CO2 level in the lung, paradoxically enabling the body to utilise the oxygen it did take in. You can try it for yourself. Try breathing through your mouth. You will become breathless. Reason: too much O2 not enough CO2. Reverse the process and increase your CO2. Breathe shallow. You'll be fine again. Now I'm wondering if having small nostrils and air passages is an advantage in that you naturally tend to take in less air. That's right, isn't it in a stable soc leisured classes were a market for luxury goods and artisans competed for their patronage. Has to be a big contributing factor. But why are the J craftsmen and artists so much better than all others at the small stuff? Philip

They were breathing better air mate.

For def small hands! And small nostrils too maybe. Small nasal passages. Naturally limiting the O2 intake and assisting to maintain proper CO2 levels. This is the land of zazen, don't forget. I don't know if you have heard anything about the Buteyko breathing method but it's very instructive to take a course. You don't have to be asthmatic to benefit. Any number of minor ailments disappear within days, concentration rises significantly. Russian special forces, Systema, all use Buteyko principals in their training. Increasing your CO2 v your O2 level makes it seeem as if you have more time to think and act. Would that be helpful when you are trying to do something small and intricate and requiring steady hands and good concentration? It's difficult to appreciate the difference when you've not experienced it. Between breathing right and breathing wrong, I mean. Everything changes. For instance imagine you are in a dust up. Afterwards none of the emotional garbage; no shaking hands; no high breathing as your system de-stresses;none of the...was I right; was I wrong; should I have... all that rubbish. You are just normal, really like nothing happened. That's after quite high pressure, but with proper O2/CO2 levels, you are unaffected. You are not stressed. Think about nanako work. Can you think of anything more stressful than doing that and not making a mistake?