estcrh

Why a jutte is called "jutte" and not "jitte". Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai By Don Cunningham. Page 72. Now you would think that someone in the advanced Japanese martial arts community that Don traveled in would have told him that he was not using the proper terms, maybe he did some research...im just saying.

Japanese martial artist Nakajima Michio-Soke.

Guido, were are talking about the terms used to describe certain Japanese weapons by English speaking people, what the so called "proper" pronounciation in Japanese is has nothing to do with what these weapons are called in the real world. I even see Japanese dealers and collectors use a variety of terms. The only "bizarre" thing is some so called expert in the Japanese language trying determine what these weapons should be called when they have already been named for some time. By the way, Serge Mol speaks Japanese, has lived in Japan, is married to a Japanese woman, has studied Japanese martial arts in Japan with Japanese martial arts experts for many years, you would think that he might know something about what he writes.

Guido, that is not correct, there are two distinct weapons, the jutte is a truncheon while the jitte is a small hand held spear. How the words are pronounced and used in Japan has nothing to do with how they are applied in the west, these terms have been in use for some time. It is understandable that people who are not aware of that the jitte exists may refer to the jutte as a jitte, the writtings of Don Cunningham, Serge Mol and George Kirby confirm the terms as used by English speaking people with a knowledge of the subject. I have posted some images of jitte and a reference by Serge Mol etc..

Barry, the truncheon is a jutte, "jitte" is actually a completely different weapon. The jutte was a sign of office as well as a weapon, police in our times have a baton and they are up against criminals with guns, it was the same in the Edo period. Police/security officials had a variety of armor and weapons available to them including swords. Jutte were close quarters weapons. here is a link to a good Wikipedia article on Edo period police and a couple of prints showing Edo period police in action. The last print shows a group of samurai police on a roof trying to capture armed samurai, the police are wearing a lot of mail armor (kusari) under their clothing and they are using jutte and a variety of capturing weapons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period_police

Or it could be a truncheon.

Barry, here is a naeshi jutte, 15in long, naeshi jutte are basically a jutte without a hook, this one also looks like a minature kanabo/tetsubo, they can also look just like the menuki you are discussing.

Barry, kanamuchi/kanemuchi is a general term for several types of long thin metal whips, they can be tapering or round bamboo shaped. A heavier version is the thick octagon shaped aribo/kiriko no bo. These were actually used in the Edo period by police/security forces as a non-lethal weapon, the length would be helpful when facing an opponent with a sword. Real ones are quite rare, probably due to being a simple iron rod they were thought to be not valuable and were recycled for other purposes. The bamboo type ones have been replicated recently and it is hard to tell a real one from a fake one. During the Edo period, muchi (whips) seem to have replaced the saihai as a symbol of rank. There are many images from the late edo to early Meiji period showing samurai holding muchi, these resemble the whips used on a horse, they were made from bamboo or wood, old yumi (bows) were remade into yumi-muchi, some muchi used by police/security forces had whistles built into them. Hope this helps.

Saihai were a symbol of rank and authority, one samurai holding a saihai in a group of samurai would have been seen as being a leader. In the later Edo period the saihai was replaced with the muchi (whip) as a sign of rank and authority, many late Edo to early Meiji period photos show samurai holding muchi with no saihai to be seen.

They are asking 100,000 yen for a saihai that is missing its tassel, whats up with that? Here is one that I have had for quite some time, it has a yak hair tassel.

So many people never learn this valuable lesson....enjoying what you worked hard for in the first place.

You made the right decision by asking first before buying, if more people did this there would be way less misery on the nihonto world.

Peter, one problem is that very few of this type madeit out of Japan compared to Japanese matchlocks. I do see them for sale in Japan quite regularly. It has been said that the Japanese did not modernize their firearms but clearly they were trying, they just could not compete with Western factory production and samurai factions with money could purchase large amounts of the most modern Western guns of the day.

Peter, I guess there is not a lot of interest in Japanese firearms from this time period that are not matchlocks. I personally think they are quite interesting and historical. I myself have a couple of Japanese matchlock to percussion conversians, this type of rifle was the next step. Here is a link to some pictures of non-matchlock Japanese firearms. https://www.pinterest.com/worldantiques/western-style-firearms-used-by-samurai/

HAHA...didnt even see that until now.

Stephen, it is hard to put a price on these highly decorated Japanese matchlocks, and in an auction by a company that gets a lot of participants the outcome can be a higher price than what you would expect. Here is one at auction that will start at a much lower price, it is quite plain except for what looks like a relief carved dragon on the barrel. Relief carvings are much rarer and harder to find (in my opinion) than engraved decorations (very common). If the dragon is relief carved, can you imaging how hard it would have been to remove so much metal and then to carve a dragon. This one is way less pretentious than some of the over the top decorated Japanese matchlocks, a good compromise. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/40207745_an-interesting-and-rare-matchlock-teppo

No!!! Lot #: 255 Estimated Price: $13,000 - $19,000 This is a superb, very ornate and massive Japanese Tanegashima matchlock. Samurai and regular foot soldiers used tanegashima from the introduction of firearms in Japan by the Dutch in 1543 through the mid-19th century. During much of that period Japan was largely insular and avoided conflict which allowed the use of antiquated weaponry centuries after most of the world had moved on to more advanced firearms. Many surviving examples date to the late part of the Edo period (1603-1868). The heavy barrel gauges at 70 caliber and features extensive silver inlaid decorations of fish, mountains, and foliage. The fish have gold inlaid eyes and at the breech end are gold inlaid Japanese characters in a panel with a silver inlaid line border. One of the markings is a round kamon with three leaves/petals and a round center similar to some gingko inspired mons. The specific family it is associated with could not be located, but the characters signify "Ietsugu who resides in Omi Province." During the Edo Period, the province hosted five stations of the Tokaido and eight stations of the Nakasendo. Koka (Koga) in the south was the home of the famous Koga Ninja which was one of the two main founding schools the ninjutsu fighting style.The top of the barrel is fitted with sighting blocks which have gold inlay on two of the four corners. The muzzle end of the barrel is flared and octagon with gold inlaid band around the muzzle and simple line patterns. It is fitted with a large blade front sight. The mountings are brass and are also inlaid with silver in simple scroll designs. The hammer is decorated in the same manner. The stock is varnished hardwood. Condition: Very fine. Almost all of the original dull brown finish remains. All of the inlays remain and are crisp. The brass components have a pleasant, untouched dark aged patina. The stock is also very fine with some minor cracking of the finish and overall scattered minor dings, dents and scratches. This is possibly the finest matchlock that RIAC has offered for auction! https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/bb/aa/96/bbaa96b1e2f2f170b8eabc61e6e863f1.jpg

Peter, post them on the forum so we can see and discuss what you have.

Updated comprehensive visual glossary of Japanese matchlock terms. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/17/7b/81/177b81539988d77e00d3b07a8b2aea68.jpg

Stephen, that would be Dave Thatcher, the host of the Samurai Armour Forum. If you were restoring only one item of armor such as one kote (armored sleeve) and the rest of the armor was several hundered years old, the newly restored kote would sitck out like a sore thumb. I for one would want it to match the rest of the armor in looks, I think that would be an art, being able to match the newly restored to the unrestored.

Fake kabuto warning........

Paulus, you really need to post some pictures of what you are talking about so we can see for ourselves, can you do this?

Peter. CIA guys are not samurai, they are ninja.

Peter, actually they were military gear, what do you think a samurai wearing armor wore over his armor on a rainy/snowy day? They were even worn by samurai when just out and about as well. There was actually a full set which included hat, cape and skirt, straw boots as well for snow. I seems to have given quite good protection, some of the hats I have seen had a water proof lining.

Piers, The National Museum of Japanese History is of the opinion that the first guns in Japan were in fact meant for hunting and that it was twenty years after the fact that guns became a military asset. The theory that guns were introduced to battle, transformed old fighting techniques and also had a profound impact on the style of castles immediately after their arrival in Japan must be corrected in the following way. Soon after they were introduced to Japan, guns were sent as gifts among persons of influence and were used by professional hunters for hunting birds and animals. Their use in battle increased along with the growing scale of battles and the development by gunsmiths of techniques that were useful in a military situation. This occurred around 20 years after guns had been introduced. The notion that guns are the same as weapons is a concept that stems from modern warfare. Because this makes a lot of sense it is only natural that no disquiet whatsoever is provoked when these kinds of theories are advocated. However, a close examination of historical materials and documents related to guns and documents on the art of gunnery show no evidence that guns were immediately employed for military purposes. This suggests that the guns that were brought to Japan were not military guns but hunting guns. As such, soon after their introduction they were used as gifts and as hunting instruments.