Edo Period Corner Part II

[SAS]

It says " We are from France, on a world tour with our cannons....send girls and sake or else!"

[Bugyotsuji]

The arrival of the stagecoach. Make that 'from Holland' and we'd be talking! 

[Bugyotsuji]

About a month ago I was visiting a bric-a-brac open fair and spotted a very small yari. The condition was truly horrific, but I was hoping there might be enough to save. 

 

It was described as a Nageyari, but there was no evidence of fletching; to my eye it was more of a Makurayari(?) or something religious. No nakago, it was a fukuroyari, and the small head was ryo-shinogi, I think, with a large chip missing on one side of the tip. The fukuro part was badly rusted, right through the metal in places, but it had a Mei semi-visible, Bizen(?) 長光 Nagamitsu as I recall. It was pinned on with a sort of black headed double-ended mekugi. The shaft was maybe less than one Shaku long, a very faded and worm-eaten affair with no ishizuki but somehow carved/turned into the minimally decorated tail end. There was no saya, and it was wrapped in a sheet of old newspaper. In short, very little meat left on this bone.

 

The question I had was whether adding the cost of a togi, refurb and saya onto the purchase price would be worth it. I suspect that others had probably seen it, done the math(s) and already decided, "No". Perhaps I was the patsy they were all awaiting. 

 

To cut a long story to medium length, I bought it. The guy would not haggle, though. Another customer I knew stepped forward and immediately offered to send it off for polishing, so I handed it over and forgot about it. No photos, as I completely forgot to take before shots, sadly. I am sure everyone has used their imagination, though, a great invention, albeit rusty.

 

PS The phone rang yesterday to say that it was ready. I should be seeing the guy in mid-April, so watch this space, I hope. 

[John A Stuart]

I am all impatient bow. John

[Ken-Hawaii]

Any word yet on the rehabilitation?

[Bugyotsuji]

Mid-April, Ken. It is still in the toaster.

 

I asked him over the phone whether the polisher had managed to reduce the massive chip in the leading edge of the blade. "All gone", he replied. (I'll believe that when I see it.)

"He has also treated the rust on the fukuro, (how?) and the Mei is now clearly visible. He has also done something to the haft so that it is more presentable", he added. 

 

That is all I have to go on right now. My only worry is the fair itself. Will it still be held? Without that excuse, how do I sneak out and get this past the wife's disapproving eyes?

[Bugyotsuji]

What a kerfuffle!

 

The guy must think I have been giving him the runaround, but every venue he suggests for a yari handover has been cancelled. And finally today he finds the one event that was still on (I had heard over the phone that it was off), and here I am at home flat out on my K-nackered hernia'ed back. Groan. 

 

Anyway, the good news is that he will hand it to a friend who has agreed to front the polishing fee, and I will pick it up in due course when I go to collect the zuroku 図録 for the Oshigata exhibition in Okazaki.

https://okazaki-kanko.jp/event/3732

 

きかくてん「にほんとうおしがたてん　～ゆうげんびのせかい～」

企画展「日本刀押形展　～幽玄美の世界～」

  (岡崎公園)

[Brian]

Speedy recovery. Know what you are going through.

[Guest]

"Without that excuse, how do I sneak out and get this past the wife's disapproving eyes?"

 

Adopt the tried and tested Pantomime ploy.........Simply exclaim, at the appropriate moment:

 

"Behind you!!"

 

It worked for Dan Leno, it worked for Arthur Askey.....

 

I'm not sure if it worked for Jim Davidson.....

 

But it might work for you.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Today I finally get to see this little 'gem'. (It was only for five minutes last time, when I bought it and immediately sent it off for polishing.) 

 

Should be picking it up this afternoon, except.... that I will end up asking for a little shirasaya to be made for it, which means I won't be able to bring it home with me. 

 

Over the phone he said Bakumatsu, Bizen, of the line of Hikobei, I think. Will need to get it in writing and check out his sources. Bushi often had these small yari at home, but there was no particular fixed name for them, he added. He was intrigued that a smith using the name of Nagamitsu might have been making yari in the Bakumatsu. Caution. I know his definition of Bakumatsu is broad, though, roughly coinciding with Shinshinto.

 

Note to self. Get some shots of the constituent parts, without looking too much like an idiot. Especially the last bit. 

[Ken-Hawaii]

No project goes untouched by Murphy, Piers.

[Bugyotsuji]

As the seer prophesied, "It needs a Shirasaya".

And as Murphy Confucius say, "More coin fly from pocket."

This smith may not have made katana, rather concentrating on yari. I will definitely need help pinning down this guy Go Hikobei Nagamitsu.

Here are the sneak shots. I didn't get the three sizes, but I'd guess the blade is about 5 cm or 2" long, and the whole thing around one shaku, or over one foot.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Shaft looks origianl. A sharpened blade could do some serious damage in close quarters. Our Sensei hasnt taught us Sōjutsu, yet, but I'll ask him when we can go back up the mountain to train.

 

Piers, please check your PMs.

[John A Stuart]

Is this no way a yari for a musha (doll)? John

[Bugyotsuji]

Good question, John! 

[IanB]

Looks like a kago-yari. I bought one for the Royal Armouries collection that still had its saya whose top part was covered on bristles - looks like a small sweeping brush.

Ian Bottomley

[Brian]

Love it. Fukuro yari, right?
My taste totally. Well done.

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks guys for the suggestions! I have put them all in my pipe. 

 

This is what my sword teacher said on his Twitter account, which roughly translates to:

短穂の袋槍です。小さくてもちゃんと焼きがあり、かわいいものですね。後彦兵衛長光と銘があります。

 "Short 'ho' (spearhead) Fukuro Yari. Although small, it shows proper Yaki tempering; a cute/sweet object, no? It bears the Mei 'Go Hikobei Nagamitsu."

[Bugyotsuji]

Oh, and before he would let me go, my sword teacher said he'd like me to see a couple of blades.

 

He drew out a fairly straight wakizashi with a beautiful wavy hamon. Interspersed were kinsuji. No yakidashi that I could see. "This is an early Kotetsu", he said, showing me the Nakago, "dated and signed in the year of the tiger, Kanbun 2, with a long wavy tail on the Ko 虎 of Kotetsu, the so-called 'Hane-Tora'. The hamon is half Hyotan style", he added. 

 

Next he pulled out a fine and slim Tanto. Suguha, the temper line was very narrow, and the boshi so subtle, such a delicate thing. There was soebi on one side, and a sort of ken horimono on the other. "This is a very rare Nagamitsu", he said, "from before Tanto really came into fashion. See how long it is, and how long and straight is the Nakago." It had three Nakago-ana, a long dedication on one side and full Mei on the other. was dated Einin 6, I think,i.e. c1298. Late Kamakura, 2nd Gen Nagamitsu, as I recall him saying.

 

Well, I am pretty obtuse, but these two blew me away. "I don't suppose that these would ever come up for sale, no?" I asked innocently.

He laughed unreservedly and at full volume. "No way!" he said. 

[Bugyotsuji]

The little Musha/Kago/Makura yari in post #672 above just came back. (I left it two weeks ago, on 23rd April, so it must have been sent off for measuring shortly after that. Some kind of record time?)

 

The length from the russet top of the fukuro to the tip of the blade (including the Kerakubi) is 5.5cm, just under 2 1/4", (1.8 寸sun).

 

"The Shirasaya pushes shut to a noticeable stop, beyond which it would split if forced."

 

This message came from the guy who made it, who is a 仏師 Busshi, a carver of Buddhist statues, by profession.

 

"The wooden shaft is too far gone to do much about." he had added, apparently.

 

Kindly he has added shinogi lines to both sides of the shirasaya, which covers most of the long inscription, although 長光 can still be seen. Perhaps he had considered the overall outline and balance?

[Brian]

Nice job. And I think the original shaft adds to it. Lovely item Piers.

[Bugyotsuji]

Thank you for the kind words, Brian.

 

For a quick bout of self-flagellation, may I ask who on earth would pay for a) a rusty chipped spear, and then pay for b) a full polish, and then pay for c) a shirasaya to protect said polish? 

[IanB]

Piers, Although it has cost you some money, nothing, not even all the cash in the world, could buy back the yari if you hadn't saved it from oblivion. You cannot recover history that has been lost.

Ian Bottomley. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Ian, just occasionally you say exactly the right thing at the just the right moment! 

[John A Stuart]

A little treasure. John

[Ken-Hawaii]

I agree with Ian. None of us would be in this field if we were sane - only we could see a treasure in something in such poor shape, & then go turn it into our vision. Great project, Piers!

[ChrisW]

I think that's my problem! I see so many things that need saving and I can't stop long enough to get one off to be polished and maybe papered! So here I am with a stack of blades that need work (but at least I enjoy them and they've been saved from oblivion!).

[Bugyotsuji]

For comparison here is one I used to own which went to a new home some years back. Gin-nan-po. 銀杏穂 (Fukuro) Yari, mumei.

[Bugyotsuji]

Last night I was watching a program on J TV where they travel the old roads of Japan looking for family treasures, or unopened old safes "Akazu no Kinko". 

 I sadly missed the name of the particular temple they were visiting, but somewhere along the old Tokaido it was, and they featured a complete inner wall hung with a huge assortment of dusty and rusty old armour taken from the battlefield of Okehazama. Open to public viewing at some time,  that practice has subsequently been stopped.

 

The Head Priest showed off two in particular to the Fuji TV film crew; one was the Dou of an ashigaru (nice gold Mon) with a rusted square hole through the front just below the rib cage right, 'from a spear thrust', he said. Another was a Dou and Yaro Kabuto, both covered in thick (but thinning) bear fur, enough to make anyone sneeze.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

The official family shrine of the Ikeda Daimyō, Kibitsu Hiko Jinja 18 October 2020, our sole live firing this year. No public. Only large guns, 10 Monmé and above, not a full demonstration. A dedication to the gods.