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It is described as being "probably hare"....as in a rabbit type fur....not "bear"...and it does not look "pristine" at all to me. Shokumō menpō Furred samurai armor mask Mid to late Edo period 19th century The mask is built in two parts and the nose can be detached. The entire surface of the menpō and the last plate on the yodarekake is covered with a soft fur, probably hare. Originally, hair-covered menpō and kabuto were made to protect against the rain, usually using bear-fur, but in this case the surface is intended to be decorative. The most famous armor completely furred is probably the one owned by Katagiri Matsumoto (1556-1615) now at Osaka Castle Museum. A kabuto covered with a similar fur, not bear-fur, was used by Matsudaira Chikatada, and there are not many known suits of armor that bear this kind of surface.

Hard to say anything without much better images, one thing you can do is to use a magnet to see it all of the parts are metal, also look for any damage to lacing and or lacquer.

What the Europe and America considered "obsolete technology" was not necessarily obsolete in Edo period Japan Japanese touch hole cannon etc. https://www.pinterest.com/worldantiques/Japanese-samurai-touch-hole-cannon/

Valric, do you know this for sure or is this a personal opinion?

Looks great!! I think you could start a side business.

It looks to be in good condition, the price is ok, the shipping is a bit high in my opinion but as long as you are aware that it is not an antique and it suits your needs go for it.

Pictures of the whole gun would be nice.

Why are the Japanese so opposed to photographs, hopefully you will be able to post some eventually.

Randy, why would you let the views of one person keep you from doing what so many more people obviously appreciate. I have been viciously attacked by a few individuals for my Pinterest site, but I simply ignore these people as I get so many more positive messages from people who tell me how useful it is to them. Just keep doing what you do and ignore the "nattering nabobs of negativism".

How about some details, what product did you use, is it authentic Japanese lacquer, how did you apply it and how did you dry it etc.

I have been meaning to reply to these two comments.....while the book section mentioned is a very good reference and is well worth reading, as far as I can tell it never mentions weapons or armor. A basic synopsis...a very wealthy English man goes to Japan and hires an army of Japanese artists to create Japanese themed rooms for his mansion back in England. He meets a Japanese merchant who tell him about how Japanese artists are deceiving Europeans by creating fake antique works of art. Anecdotal evidence but interesting and if one were to assume that what was written in 1903 is not an exaggeration of the truth then I believe that the slightly embellished Japanese matchlocks being discussed in this thread would not be of high enough quality for the very rich potential clients that would have purchased items in Japan to bring back to Europe or the US. Below is an example of what I can see as having been produced during that time period for export to rich foreigners.

I know that Sandoz is famous for making LSD and Bugatti is famous for making cars....as for Google searches I suppose one could come up with various other meanings....no way of knowing which meaning you were applying to this statue unless you explain a bit more.

You see the influence of LSD and sports cars?

Ben, yes there are nice things other than swords and armor on Yahoo Japan, you have a good eye and you are absolutely right on about Kelly as well, I never regret using Kelly's service, he is first class.

Moi....never, now some boxes are empty and some have interesting things inside.

How many countries covered their wood boxes with a leather cover?

Picture????

This is for John, wafuku-bako, not nearly as interesting as his jinbaori-bako, but the three items inside are very interesting, and rarely seen. Woven strips of bamboo?...which were then lacquered, the writing on top is mostly missing, there is a tag which was attached to one of the tie down rings when I got it, I do not know if the present contents were meant to go in it or not.

Luminol...humm, after over 100 years, wonder if it would work? Anyway, they really needed those head buckets as beheading was a favorite punishment...after the torture that is. Hidashida Sadakata after his execution at the Awadaguchi execution grounds outside of Kyoto, he was beheaded and his head was put on public display (sarashikubi) for his involvement in the attack on the delegation of the British Consul-General in Japan (Sir Harry Smith Parkes) to the Meiji Emperor, February 1868.

Pier, I have seen them being called "kubi-oke", and yes very rare. Kubi-oke (head bucket), from the "Rock Hill Herald", early 1900s. This is my kubi-oke, I have no idea if it is authentic, I have never seen another one like it. Tsukudo shrine kubi-oke,

I have jingasa stored in one of my hokai, the bagu-jingasa among others were not very wide.

These round (usually) "hokai" containers are interesting, and good for storing jingasa and hats in general. A few years ago there were a lot of antique examples for sale in Japan, now I do not see them very often. I have read many different uses for them including this one ("containers (kaibitsu) used for the kaiawase game. The matching of painted shells symbolizes faithfulness in marriage. A shell game set belonged often to the trousseau of a bride.")

The Met says they are four legged and no mention of armor storage or that this particular example has six legs, the Met's descriptions have been known to be wrong but not mentioning these as at least sometimes being for armor storage is really an oversight.

The hitsu / bitsu brought up by John, no mention of this one having six legs despite the description stating that these were four legged boxes, no mention of their use in storing armor either (yoroi hitsu / bitsu)???