Baka Gaijin

Hi Barry, That's a great technique, applied crisply and with loads of kime, in my case, I mostly end up flat on the floor!! Still what do they say? "Nana korobi, ya oki!" 🤪

Great Collection Piers, Makes you wonder where they all went, with a Samurai population of 6 - 10% of the total population over the Tokugawa period. Or, being constructed of metal, were they high status objects? Did those lower on the Koku stipend use mekugi-nuki made of less durable materials?

It requires the use of one of those odd stances where the knees are braced inwards rather than outwards. If I remember correctly it gets its name from the crescent movement of the front foot required when moving in stance. " Absolutely correct John. When Funakoshi Sensei named both the stance Hangetsu Dachi and the Kata Hangetsu back in the 1930's, it was a result of the Butokukai putting pressure on all Martial Arts groups to make things Japanese, hence the original form which was from Naha - Te, was known as Sanchin Dachi and the basic form of the Kata was Sanchin and the advanced form was Seisan. And also in Shotokan, there is a Crescent Kick known as Mikazuki Geri, literally three day moon kick.

Here it is:

There is a Japanese Karate Kata known as Hangetsu.

It was a pleasure Axel, I learned a lot as a result of it. Particularly about a Shoami Tsuba which I have, which depicts stylised snowflakes. Prior to Sekka Zusetsu, their common depiction looked more like Covid 19:

The moon in water, as both reflection upon and motif for spiritual teaching, also has a long history in a number of Koryu (Old School Martial systems). Probably the best known example attributed to Miyamoto Musashi doesn't even have the moon displayed pictorially, just powerfully executed Kanji. 戦氣 Sen Ki - War Spirit 寒流帯月澄如鏡 Kan-Ryuu-Tsuki-o-Obite-Sumu-Koto-Kagami-no-Gotoshi "The moon in the stream on a cold winter night appears as clear as a mirror."

Good morning Gentlemen, Just to get the math into my head: So 32.5 万 & 31.5 万 would be 325,000 & 315,000 respectively?

Piers, Old Bean, As resident, revered Japan Hand, and NMB Bugyo, your opinion would be greatly appreciated. I was told, a long time ago, in a Dojo, far far away, when even God wore short trousers, that the best Susu - Dake came from Madake Bamboo ( Phyllostachis Bambusoides ). Have you encountered this? Or were they just having friendly fun with the "Baka Gaijin"............ 🙃 Hmm....... Perhaps another name change?? It's certainly an appropriate Nom de Guerre pour moi.

Hi Piers, Looks like you guys had a real Blast!! 😎

Just for fun, I was researching the impact that Doi Toshitsura's images had upon Japanese design, following the publication of his studies. It was an unleashing of new patterns on Kimono textiles, and the late Edo fashion world embraced it with fervour. Woodblock print by Keisai Eisen c.1840 Edo no Matsu Meiboku Zukushi Oshiage Myoken no Matsu ("Pines at Oshiage Myoken - From the series "Old trees of historical interest in Edo") Property of Koga History Museum Woodblock Print by Utagawa Kunisada c.1844 Poem by KouKou Tennou No 15 from the series Hyakunin Isshu Eshou (A Pictorial Commentary on One Hundred Poets)

Thank You Axel, I've drawn a blank with earlier studies in Japan, however, I did find out that even by 1810, microscopes were still comparatively rare items in Japan, and Doi Toshitsura, as Daimyo of Koga would have had to go through an application process through the Bakufu, to obtain the microscope from the VOC at Dejima. Sekka Zusetsu (Pub 1832) was the result of over 20 years of study by the Daimyo. Rangaku ( Dutch Studies ) had been popular with the upper levels of Society, and both Dutch Books and Translations of them into Japanese were available. Perhaps contacting the curators at one of these links may shed some light: https://www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com/voc https://www.westfriesmuseum.info/category/east-india-company/

Hi Axel & Jean, Masaru Emoto is 20th / 21st Century. The popular reference may come from a late Edo period publication called "Hokuetsu Seppu" Snow Stories of North Etsu Province, a kind of Encyclopaedia compiled by a merchant called Suzuki Bokushi in 1837. Hokuetsu Seppu contains studies into Snow crystals by Doi Toshitsura, Daimyo of Koga. He wrote a book called Sekka Zusetsu (A Study of Snowflakes) in 1832. How apt a title for today........🤪 https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2536974

Hi Mark, Perhaps contact the To-Ken Society of Great Britain. I believe there are some members in Jersey & Guernsey. https://to-ken.uk/

Fascinating, does Moses train in Old School Okinawan Karate?

Thank You Steve, Very much appreciated

Good morning all, I wonder if someone could make sense of this signature which is on the nakago of a local veteran’s sword. I apologise for the poor quality of the image, It is the only reference that I have been able to obtain, as the sword is in storage. Thank you

The Yushukan Museum at Yasukuni has a database of last will letters, of which, it publishes one every month. The back numbers go back to 2018 https://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/about/will.html

Empress Shoken, in the style of the Imperial Court, just post Restoration, your image is taken from this photograph from 1872, I suspect:

Hi Bruce, Try researching the Ando Family. Best Regards M

Just an aside, last year I walked past a Monkey show in a car park near the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall, on the way to the new NBTHK Hakubutsukan. It was quite crowded with onlookers.

Thank You Dave.

Good morning Gentlemen, It sort of makes sense now, given the magnitude of the Burma Railroad, and the intentions to go into India, that there would have been a host of civilian employees seconded to the Army. And, adding a little more to Bruce's post, I have heard that a number of the elder generation of Japanese Martial Arts Shihan, who were conscripted into the Rikugun, in the very latter days of the conflict, took ancestral blades to their induction and training camps. This was not a matter of rank, as there were often no other weapons available. I wondered about the choice of Bamboo as a subject matter, and was reminded of something the late Donn F Draeger wrote about a Yagyu Tsuba with a Bamboo leaf theme having a secret symbolism reminding the swordsman to recall the principle of Yawara (Pliancy), in respect of the Bamboo in winter bears a great amount of weight of snow, bending to an almost impossible angle and then shedding the snow, to return to standing in a swift springing action. Of course the Tsuba we are discussing bears no similarity to a Yagyu form, it is the concept behind it.

Chris, you have filled in some important gaps. Thank you

Good evening Chris, that is exactly the pattern I have in mind.