Baka Gaijin

Morning all Loads here: http://www.uni.edu/becker/japanese222.html Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Here's a link: http://www.japanesesamuraidvd.com/ I have not purchased anything from them yet, so view the link accordingly. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Here's a link to different written forms of Hiragana: http://www.chikanobu.com/hiragreg.asp Cheers Malcolm

Morning all http://www.gunproof.com/ http://www.gunproof.com/Organised_Tours ... tours.html Cheers Malcolm

Afternoon all, Here's a link to some interesting images: http://www.mlsa.jp/eng/?cat=8 Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Here's the link to the Kunitomo Matchlock Gun Museum site: http://www.kunitomo-teppo.jp/ Press the second link from the left on the top nav bar and scroll down for pictures of the forge and tools Cheers Malcom

Morning all Here's a link to the entire database in English: http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/index.html And this past exhibition in particular which shows gun making books and scrolls from 16th and 17th Centuries http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/exhib ... 61003.html (click on the PDF link within the page for the exhibition catalogue). Also check out Kunitomo Teppo no Sato Matchlock Museum in Omi (The village of Gunsmiths) 534 Kunitomocho Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture 526-0001 Japan +81 749-62-1250 Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Third of the page down, photograph of a preserved gunsmiths workshop with tools in Sakai: 1-3-22 Kitahatago-cho-Nishi, Sakai-ku, Sakai City: http://www.city.sakai.lg.jp/foreigner_e ... spot6.html It says not open to the "general" public, however perhaps a friendly letter of academic inquiry to the Sakai City archivist (or equivalent) could produce a result? http://www.city.sakai.lg.jp/index.html Cheers Malcolm

Evening all, Scroll to bottom of page for contemporary Japanese Illustrations of tools: http://s1.zetaboards.com/anthroscape/topic/2033046/1/ Cheers Malcolm

A brief resume: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/wol/dy/culture/090924.htm Malcolm

Morning all http://www.koryu.com/library/harmstrong1.html Cheers Malcolm

Hi Henry PM sent. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Thank you for clarifying Keith Cheers Malcolm

Thank you Keith KSR refers to Kashima Shinto Ryu 鹿島新当流 ? Cheers Malcolm

Good morning Henry http://www.davidrumsey.com/Japan/ Cheers Malcolm

Good evening all. Thanks to everyone for the input thus far, however I am looking for something more Ryuha specific. Much in the same way that the Ogasawara Ryu (小笠原流) School of Etiquette influenced the Rei - Ho of many Gendai Budo. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all, What are the traditional methods of tying the knot in the fusa himo of a sword bag and which school(s) of etiquette do they come from? Cheers Malcolm

Good morning Carlo: The devil is always in the details :lol: Cheers Malcolm

Morning all, Screwball theory again..... If we mix a cocktail of Occam's Razor with a hint of Marcus Aurelius and add a dash of Semantics. Q: What does the object look like? A: A Sword. Q: What is the chief material it is made of? A: Wood. Q: How would you describe it simply? A: A wooden Sword. Now put that into Japanese and we have Bokken (木剣, bok(u), "wood", and ken, "sword" /Bokutō 木刀. Diehard Martial Arts Movie fans will remember the cyber controversy caused in the 2003 movie "Last Samurai" when the character of Ujio played by Sanada Hiroyuki 真田 広之 cried "Katana Osae!" to Bokuto weilding Tom Cruise. :lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXGRtAQ ... re=related Cheers Malcolm

Afternoon all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhCbPEw ... re=related Yagyu Shingan Ryu, watch from about 4.22 in, techniques with the Kodachi using saya. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all, Screwball theory time: Here's both a Literary & Film observation about the decline of the Samurai fortunes in both Edo & Bakumatsu and the wearing of either solid koshirae or koshirae with tsunagi: The novellist Fujisawa Shûhei 藤沢 周平 describes Bakumatsu decline and how the central character in Tasogare Seibei - たそがれ清兵衛 (later filmed in 2002 as Twighlight Samurai) is forced to sell his Katana blade to pay his debts, and so wears a tsunagi in Koshirae for sake of appearances. Hashimoto Shinobu 橋本 忍 co wrote a stunning indictment of Samurai moral & financial decline for Director Kobayashi Masaaki 小林 正樹 in his 1962 film Seppuku / Hara Kiri 切腹 describing how one of the characters has to use a blunt bamboo blade to commit Seppuku, because that was all he could afford to wear. Somewhere on NMB is a breakdown of the Samurai Stipend system showing the dire straits low stipend Samurai were in. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all Brian mentioned "Tsukahei"... I didn't know what that meant: http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/Di ... %20hei.pdf Apologies if stating the obvious. Cheers Malcolm

Morning all, Here's an example of Bokken/Bokuto preserved (Jisso Enman no Bokuto): http://www.hyoho.com/Hyoho1.html Here's a modern maker of the major Koryu styles: http://www.bokkenshop.com/category_s/43.htm And then there's Yakumaru Jigen Ryu and others which use branches from trees (still with bark on in some cases): Cheers Malcolm

Morning all, Not just a dull edge, but I would add "made from a non ferrous material incapable of taking an edge". (e.g. Duralumin and varients suitably plated), Cheers Malcolm

Good Afternoon all, Terao Magonojo (寺尾孫之允), Terao Motomenosuke (寺尾 求馬助) & Furuhashi Sozaemon (古橋 惣左衛門). Cheers Malcolm