Shogun8

The orekugi are also concerning.

John, Zunari means "head-shaped" and I seem to recall that tenkokuzan means "heavenly mountain valley" or some similar poetic meaning. Your kabuto seems to be covered in sabi nuri or lacquer made to look like russet iron (as opposed to tetsu sabiji, which is actual russet iron).

Here are four examples from the book "Rare Kabuto", all called Tenkokuzannari, including one very similar to John's. The tenkokuzannari is a more specialized form of the the basic zunari and is most identifiable by the pronounced depression in the middle of the kabuto and raised rear area which the normal zunari does not have.

John, The shape is indeed called a tenkokuzannari. Very nice kabuto.

Hi All, Just a point of clarification - the JAS does not have any involvement in the exhibition. However, we assisted the curator with research and information for some gift items that came from Japan, for which they did not have any proper information. Some very interesting discoveries...

Agreed. And apologies to you and others for having to endure this soap opera. No one wants these kind of petty arguments. I'll end by saying that we're doing the best we can and our members seem to be happy with our efforts. Our society is meant for serious students of armour who respect our field of study and each other - no matter what level of knowledge and experience - and even if you cannot (or will not) pay our membership fee (which seems to be one of our greatest criticisms), you can still engage with our members and have access to information if you wish. The only kool-aid we drink is katchu-coloured.

Man, to the casual observer, it must seem that the katchu world is just one big dysfunctional family, with seemingly so many petty disputes and hard feelings. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and point of view about the Japanese Armor Society, but I want to at least address some of Eric's comments above: "I personally do not respect those that decided to make someone pay a rather large fee in order to get access to what in the end is just another "secret" forum." This is actually not true. The "rather large fee" of JPY 15,000 (approx. US$132 based on today's exchange rate) is for membership in the Japanese Armor Society. This annual membership fee gives members a copy of the NKBKHK (our mother organization) newsletters (4 per year) with partial translation (which we must pay Markus to have done). In addition, JPY 12,000 of this fee goes directly to the mother organization, leaving just JPY 3,000 (approx. US$26.30) to go towards the costs of running the society. Even with this, we also include for our members a limited edition yearbook which contains some of the most in-depth and scholarly articles with the latest thinking and research on the subject of Japanese armor. We actually did not plan on having our own forum, but many of our members did not like the direction and heavy-handed administration of the NNK forum and simply stopped participating. It was only through the initiative and hard work of a few members that we were able to create our own forum, which although geared towards our members, is open to anyone to ask questions or for more information regarding samurai armor. The private areas of our forum exist because many of our members do not want their items to be found all over the internet. "One of the first posts I read was a mention of the fantastic new book on Japanese curasses by Trevor Absolon, in this post a forum member decided to attack Trevors previous amazing book, when I attempted to defend Trevors books I was eventually banned from the forum." Again, this is not quite true. I was the member who mentioned Trevor's new book on Japanese cuirasses on our forum, saying that it was a monumental achievement and many of our members agreed with my assessment. However, a seemingly innocuous comment about the dated design of Trevor's old book somehow devolved into personal attacks being levelled against some of the members. I should also say that due to some of the things that were said on the NNK forum, we instituted a zero-tolerance policy towards abuse and bad behaviour for the JAS forum, which has resulted in 2 members being banned. In closing, I can only say that although we have been in existence for only about 18 months, we are very proud of our accomplishments which include our 3rd Japanese Legacy Symposium in Leiden, attended by over 60 people, including non-members this past February; the 1st Samurai Armor Fair in Amsterdam; a Grand Tour for our members of the Samurai Art Museum in Berlin, our president's private collection in Belgium, and the Daimyo exhibition in Paris; a study meeting on the subject of the evolution of koboshi kabuto in Brussels in June and next month, the publication of our second annual yearbook. Next year we will have our 4th Japanese Legacy Symposium in New York and beyond, many other exciting new initiatives. Most importantly, we continue to build bridges between Japan and the West by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and information and by fostering and strengthening relationships with our Japanese friends.

I, for one would not submit my items for shinsa only because as has been said already, the information given is not at all comprehensive and often states the obvious. But that's just me - some collectors/dealers like to have the validation of these documents. It would be good if more information were provided, but as with all things Japanese, changing this situation is much easier said than done. I've had the privilege of being a silent observer for 2 years now and I can tell you that it is a long, arduous and exhausting process, with many items being judged within the day. In fact, at the most recent shinsa, I had to excuse myself as the judging went into the evening hours because I was too tired and hungry and I wasn't even doing anything (except comparing my own judgements to those made by the judges). As Luc mentioned, there is the intention to hold shinsa in the West at some point, and there are a few procedures being discussed which will hopefully improve the process and the information given.

Ian, My post has been deleted (and not by me). Let me be clear, I would never condone or initiate any kind of personal attack on anyone. But one cannot continuously turn the other cheek, especially when constantly under attack without cause. Unfortunately, ignoring in this case, only invites more attacks. All I care about is "the appreciation, scholarship and preservation of Japanese armor". John

Ian Bottomley is a very well-respected member of the katchu community and is always welcome to join the Japanese Armor Society. Our forum is indeed geared towards our membership, but should any non-members have questions regarding katchu, they can post in the public areas free-of-charge and our membership will willingly share any knowledge we have.

Stay tuned.

It's a real shame when one individual does his utmost to destroy the efforts of others who are actually trying - and succeeding - in building an under-served community. Perhaps I should post the very racist and despicable message that this individual sent to me for all to see his true nature and motives.

Hi Greg, Thanks for that. The famous dragon from 1713 in the TNM (which seems to be what is being referred to in the link and quote you provided) is signed Myochin Muneaki according to every reference I have. This is the first that I have seen the name Kisōzai...I wonder if this is one of those cases where there's more than one reading of a name (kind of like Unkai Mitsunao vs. Unkai Mitsuhisa)? BTW - this dragon is by far the greatest example of jizai okimono extant. I read a reference where the curator of the TNM valued it at over $1M - and this was several years ago.

Hi Greg, I have never heard of Myochin Kisozai either and I don't see his name listed in the Shin Katchushi Meikan or in any of my reference books on the subject. The closest I see/know of is Myochin Kiyoharu. Can you provide any more information on where you encountered this name?

A dragon just sold on Yahoo last week - russet iron, large, damaged (the head was detached and one of the horns broken if I remember correctly) and decent but not great quality. Winning bid was JPY 4,500,000.

To add to what Frank has written, there is also a huge price difference - driven foremost by quality of course - between pieces made in various metals (copper, bronze, silver, etc.) versus pieces in russet iron. Edo period pieces were made in iron, are incredibly rare and extremely expensive (like the dragon in the link provided above). It's only the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods that saw pieces in other metals being made by Muneyoshi and the the workshop of Takase Kozan. Greg - I've never heard of Myochin Kisoki - do you have pictures of the piece you're considering? Pieces by Takase Kozan are high quality, desireable and very expensive.

Also, make sure that you include the UK's applicable Tariff Code for antiques because you don't want to get hit with VAT and duties. Ideally, if you can prove that you already owned them (and ostensibly, that they had already resided in the UK) and were sent abroad for study/research/educational purposes and are now simply being returned to you, then perhaps you can also avoid the VAT as well.

Thanks Luc, I know this armour - just didn't know the name or background!

I had the opportunity to meet the artist and see his amazing bird skeleton (along with several other pieces) in a sublime exhibition at Yoyogikamizonocho (Tea House in Yoyogi Park) last year.

Luc, Do you have a picture of this armour?

Hi Sabius, The definitive book on the genre of jizai okimono is this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ROKUSHO-Articulated-iron-figures-Okimono-Japan/302721834672?rt=nc&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D52935%26meid%3D72a842eb153b422d841cde273de20696%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D372304811813%26itm%3D302721834672&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 It has some pictures and speaks a little about the construction techniques used, but I don't know of a technical article on the subject. This may also be of interest: https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/9QKSX9qsa8CjJQ John

Very interesting video, Ken - thanks for sharing!

Hi redinight, Did you take any pics of the items on display? John

This is one large and notable difference between Japan and the West - in Japan there is no difference or distinction made between arts and crafts, whereas in the West, critics, scholars and academics are always trying to differentiate between "high" and "low" art and art vs. craft.

I remember seeing this too, Ken and it was proven to be quite effective.