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Piers, I have several boxes in need of repair, here is an example.

Yes, how do we really know there is a jinbaori inside???

Piers, you will have to start it, perhaps with some pictures of one of your box repairs, very helpful. On that note, I just had a pair of matching armor boxes repaired, they were falling apart, I will take some pictures when I get them unpacked.

The carbine was really nice and it had a fairly large bore, of course prices are not set in stone, I seemed to be the only person that even looked at them, and there were only a few antique guns there at all, sort of sad really.

Peter, I did not buy any of them, but I do like percussion conversions.

Typical Louisiana gun show, I was surprised to see three fairly nice teppo, the carbine was quite nice actually, missing nothing, it had a heavy barrel. An interesting percussion conversion, no decorations at all on any of these. The owner said she had a gun that broke open like a shotgun but it was housed in a Japanese matchlock stock, unfortunately she did not bring it, maybe next month.

I think everything here should be deleted, mine, Stephens, Carlos except for posts that directly address Piers original post, I stand by my statement though.I think Piers deserves to be treated respectfully as should ANYONE who attempts to address any credible subject allowable under the forum rules.

Here is what happens when one person starts the ball rolling. I guess "ridicule" is in the eye of the beholder. http://nihon-no-katchu.proboards.com/thread/2323/watanabe-proof-ninja-existence

Some larger "clear" images of the blade from both sides and close up images of the tang would be helpful.

Stephen, on "another forum", Piers was basically ridiculed for mentioning this subject. This was by people who should have taken his post seriously. There is no need to make a joke of this subject or the people who try to discuss it in a rational manner. It is unfortunate that so little verifiable info is available about this subject. It is also a subject that interests many young people and I have seen them being ridiculed on various forums for bringing up this subject. No one should be subjected to being laughed at for trying to rationally discuss "ninja", I know this was not your intention but this does tend to keep other people from joining the discussion as they do not want to be the butt of someones joke. Just my personal opinion.....im just saying.....

Piers, I saw that it is being called a "katakama-yari" but it is not a yari as far as I can see, it is a kama / jingama / sickle etc. Below is a "katamaka yari". As for there being no hole, maybe on a custom made one the buyer had to ask for a hole???

"Among around 150 items found in the house of 79-year-old Toshinobu Watanabe, 17 were textbooks on such subjects as how to make poison or conduct night attacks. Of the 17, four were written in the 1670s and 1680s, according to research by the Koka city government since last year. The documents kept at the home of the Watanabes also showed ninja acquired various other skills such as gunnery, horse riding and magic. The 150 sets of documents also included copies of 10 pledges written between 1700 and 1829 and submitted to a local feudal domain." *edit admin*

You should be able to find a cheap haidate to complete your armor, here is an example. http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAIDATE-of-YOROI-armor-EDO-20-1-22-8-570g-/122553647184?hash=item1c88c44050:g:6nQAAOSwurZZJRHT

Junk, there must be a kusarigama factory in China. Red rust, no wear, rather crude looking. Unfortunately there are so few certifiable authentic examples to look at it is understandable that people are fooled by fakes or reproductions, whatever you consider them to be.

Piers, a present for you. 美作國藤原兼先 片鎌槍 珍品 白鞘 特別貴重刀剣 刀身：約24.4cm 反り：約1.2cm 元幅：約29.1mm 元重：約6.9mm 先幅：約20mm 先重：約4.4mm 目くぎ穴：1個 刀身重量：約243g

Piers,some of their deceptive (to me) recent armor sales are not a good sign, in the past I would have had no problem referring people to them, and I have, but if they can not be completely honest, or if their ability to accurately describe their products is beyond their knowledge then I would at least tell people to be extremely cautious. Once trust is lost it is hard to win back, maybe the current financial situation has something to do with this.

167 years.

"dated Meiji 8"=1875???

Piers, I make Paypal payments to "some" Japanese dealers etc. Others simply do not make the effort, to lazy or unsure of how to do it etc, they insist on wire transfers which have a high cost on my end and I need to either have the money in the bank or I have to deposit it. I often use Paypal through a credit card and then pay the credit card off, this give me some time to come up with the money. Japan is a very hard country to do business with, I have less problems with poor, Eastern European countries.

On okashi, from "The Watanabe Art Musuem Samurai Armour Collection, Volume I ~ Kabuto & Mengu, Volume 1, Trevor Absolon, 2011. I would recommend looking for any writing on the inside of the armor. Something that I have no proof of but have thought may be a possibility, while people usually refer to "okashi" in terms of armors that we lent for use and then returned to an armory for storage after used, I think that some higher grade examples may have been lent to mid ranking samurai on a more permanent basis.

An inexpensive (relatively) armor for display, it will look nice with some swords, yari etc on racks next to it.

Tetsu kuro urushi, hinero zunari kabuto, nimai yokohagi okegawa dou gusoku, missing the haidate. The shino suneate and bishamon kote seems to match. The odoshi of the kote, hanpo, kusazuri and the kabuto shikoro seems to match. Winning bid:US $930.00. Shipping: $300.00=$1230, so you bought what appears to be a completely matching, munitions grade armor with storage box but without haidate. There a few other known examples of the type of armor you bought, late Edo period, no frills, basic protection, either loaned to a samurai that was not exactly high ranking but worthy of being given an armor to use or a low cost purchase. This time period brought an increase in interest among samurai to procure basic armor and weapons for themselves. Here is another similar example.

Does anyone have some info on the prints, who made them and when, title of the series if any etc? The "Tanki Yoriaku Hi Ko Ben" (Samurai armor and equipment manual), written by Hayakawa Kyuukei, 1735, translation by Matt Garbutt, 1911, shows the individual clothing and armor items in more detail but with black and white line drawings. Here is a link to the whole book. https://www.pinterest.com/worldantiques/tanki-yoriaku-hi-ko-ben/

Indeed, the mongol scrolls confirm this appearance.

Actually witches are very real, they exist in some form in many cultures....now as the magic spells, curses etc, that is a different story. The same is true about ninja and any supernatural aspects attributed to them. On the other hand, potions that poison, kill, heal, put to sleep etc are very real and the people who know about such things guarded their secrets, being attributed with supernatural powers only helped their reputation among the uneducated etc.