Edo Period Corner Part II

[Ken-Hawaii]

It's too bad that the e-Budo.com Web-site is down right now because we had a year-long discussion on blocking with blades & its effects on the katana. In short, blades were seldom broken by a blocking technique per se, but when the ha struck the mune, all kinds of bad things could happen. And there were lots of chips from ha-to-ha strikes, too.

 

My wife has trained in both kendo & MJER for many years, while I skipped the kendo. It's fairly obvious that we swing swords completely differently - she often has what we call "kendo arms" where, for example, she will perform jodan straight down onto men, while I keep the blade edge & hasuji aligned with whatever I'm swinging at. But we both have been trained to perform large swings, rather than the abbreviated swings that are usually seen in competitive kendo, so I don't think that would be much of a factor in actual combat.

 

Ken

[sanjuro]

We are bordering here on a discussion that would encompass the decline of swordsmanship post Momoyama period, versus the comparative quality of koto and shinto and shinshinto blades. It would be a fascinating study. I suggest however, that it would be so as a separate topic rather than hijacking this excellent Edo Corner classification that so many of us enjoy for the variety it offers.

[kusunokimasahige]

By the way. The full set of figurines apparently is for sale at Ebay :

 

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... SS:NL:1123

 

KM

[estcrh]

Whilst Japanese armour is relatively light, for a swordsman, running around in a full set of armour tires you prematurely during a battle, so you left off the bits that you considered redundant to the task at hand. The kabuto was set aside in favour of this armoured hachimaki by many samurai of the period but it did not offer the same protection of course.

Keith, actually those little armored head bands are quite rare, there is a difference from what modern representations show (as in those figurines) and what any real samurai would have worn as far as armor goes if he had known that he may in fact be involved in an actual sword fight. While a head band was commonly worn it would not have been the primary head protection, may types of forehead protectors were worn, these were much lighter than the traditional kabuto, would not block a wearers vision and yet they offered a great deal of protection, these would be labeled as "hachi gane / hitai-ate". I happen to own several different types of these and I can tell you that you would not get past the thick iron armor, altho you could knock someone out.

 

 

Hachi-gane.

 

As far as preferences go in bring your man down, a swordsman targets unprotected areas, in the case of these figurines and the way they are armoured, thighs and arms are unarmoured and would be prime targets.

As far as the figurines go I see armor on the arms and upper thigh. The figurines are wearing "han kote" (armored gauntlets). Han kote do not need to be attached to any other armor item for support unlike most traditional kote. They would have a cloth base with a variety of armor covering the hand, wrist and lower arm. The upper thighs are covered by the "kusazuri", which are the panels hanging down from the dou (chest armor). The kusazuri would provide adequate protection from a sword strike. For the lower thigh there were several choices, "kusari hakama" (chain armor pants) and "haidate" (armored apron like thigh protection). Haidate could cover just the front of the thigh or they could be made to cover the back of the thigh as well.

 

 

Han kote.

 

Haidate.

 

 

Kusari hakama.

[kusunokimasahige]

Could they also have worn the open face mask like the one on the left ?

 

 

I know the armor is very early.

 

KM

[estcrh]

The happuri was a much earlier version of mengu (facial armor), there were similar types of hachi-gane in use during the Edo period, here is an example.

 

[Lindus]

Have had a few,this was the best.

[IanB]

Roy, I re-did the fabric on one exactly like yours for dear old Bill Galeno. He had bought it devoid of any lining and it looked wrong. I have one like that shown by Eric with the hanging cheek pieces -which i themselves are an interesting example of parallel development. The cheek pieces are virtually the same shape as those on some Roman helmets. Mine has a row of holes along the rear edge of the upper plate and I have always thought it probably had a mail hood at one time.

Ian Bottomley

[kusunokimasahige]

I only have a Happuri (Showa period probably).

 

 

 

But nowhere near as nice as your original hitai-ate/hachi-gane

 

KM

[Viper6924]

Hi guys!

 

It´s time to turn the attention back to the wonderful world of teppo-paraphernalia :D Have this flint-lighter from Edo-period. A solid piece of kit, perfect for those rugged camping adventures.

On the handle there is a kanji, which I can´t figure out. I´m hoping a fellow Japanese speaking Edo Period Corner faithful can help here.

It´s all this small objects connected to the wonderful world of tanegashima, that makes this subculture of antique collection so interesting.

 

Thanks!

 

Jan

[uwe]

I think it is the same kanji two times burned in.

[Viper6924]

You are probably right, Uwe. And the kanji burned in twice is? :D

 

Jan

[Baka Gaijin]

Good evening Jan,

 

Just a wild guess that it's meant to be 火 (Fire) and the curvature of the back edge would not accomodate the full character.

 

It suggests that the circle was a separate branding iron.

 

Cheers

[Viper6924]

Thanks, Malcom! I think You are 100% correct. A very logical and at the same time educational branding, I must say

 

Jan

[Bugyotsuji]

Unusual to find an ensemble of Netsuke, Ojime, fukuro pouch, Hi-uchi-gane and Hi-uchi-ishi.

 

Oh, and here is a bonus picture.

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

It looks as though it could be used to clean the " touch hole " on a Tanegashima.

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Ron.

 

For larger calibers. One of our members has been studying rare old ones (which have mostly been eaten by horn insects), and making new ones as presents for out 'Tai-in'.

 

Does anyone know what material this is? (Again, authentic, used also previously in the West for many things, and later replaced by plastic versions.)

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

Although I should leave this to some other member, ... yes, .. I believe it is made from the hoof or horn of a cattle beast. It is wonderful stuff to work with, and acts much the same as plastic when treated.

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

No, not in this case, although it is all distantly related, going back about 50 million years. There was a material that was overwhelmingly preferred for these 'seseri' vent poker/cleaners.

[IanB]

Piers, My guess it was used in Europe for un-mentionable items that I understand were worn by chaps of the other gender.

Ian Bottomley

[Baka Gaijin]

Good evening Piers,

 

Would the material be Baleen?

 

Cheers

[Bugyotsuji]

Does this look familiar, Malcolm?

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Piers,

 

It looks like a Baleen bristle, what was called Whalebone by Corsetier and Corsetière, some can be as much as 3.5 metres in length depending upon species. (The Baleen that is........... ).

 

Cheers

[John A Stuart]

That is what Ian meant as well. Used as stays in corsets once upon a time. John

[Bugyotsuji]

:lol: Yes, wonderful use of language by Ian!!!

 

I was given an iron one a couple of years ago, (repro); I also bought a superb genuine article which I stupidly gave to a friend with a large enough hand cannon.

 

Generally I find though that inter-dental brushes, pipe cleaners and an air line do the job of cleaning better. (You can also use a pricker for making sure the priming powder has been pushed all the way inside, to help avoid misfires.)

[Viper6924]

Here´s a good example when two items in a collection can match each other in a nice way. Bought this small koro with a Tokugawa mon on it a while ago. Not really finding a good place for it.

Then not long ago I happend to buy a scroll that belonged to an old samurai family in Aizu. It´s made by the first lord of Aizu Hoshina Masayuki. The meaning of the text is something like "True Heart" (thanks Piers for helping me with the translation) which was kind of a motto for the Aizu-clan.

Aizu, being a close retainer of the Tokugawa, the hollyhock mon is placed on top of this scroll. Masayuki being the fourth (but illegitimate) son of the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, was for his own safety adopted by the Hoshina-clan. Out of respect for the Hoshinas, Masayuki turned down the offer the use the hollyhock for himself. This was instead used by his son and onwards.

Perfect match and a dull corner of the house suddenly looks so much better :D

The scroll itself is not in any way in perfect condition. But You can safely file it under the wabi sabi section of this collection.

 

Jan

[Anthony de Vos]

Hello!

 

Nice Jan, nice!

 

Anthony

[Viper6924]

Thanx, sir :D

[Bugyotsuji]

Love those scrolls with a bit of history and stories attached.

 

Today I was at the Sword Museum in Osafune (48 Akabane swords, from Kamakura to Edo) and they were excitedly talking about up-coming events.

 

From the 2４th April they are displaying 10 huge Kokuho tachi from a shrine in Nikko, well over 3 shaku in length, and 31 other swords, 10 of which are Juyo.

　特別展 「日光二荒山神社　宝刀展」

期　間：平成２５年４月２４日（水）～６月１６日（日）

１０口の大太刀を始め、奉納された名刀３１口（重要文化財１０口）を展覧いたします。西日本初公開。

http://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/~osa-token/

 

Over the summer vacation the younger Ando San is hoping to display some of the blades he has been working on, containing iron from one or more meteorites (Ryusei 流星 in his Mei inscriptions) including Ken's. I asked if they will be on sale; he thought for a moment and then said たぶん。

[Bugyotsuji]

Short story. Can anyone confirm whether this Mei is Shodai Settsu-Ju Fujiwara Sadakuni, or Nidai Sadakuni?

 

Long story. Was given the lopped-off tip of a su-yari the other day so I took a shot of it up against a similar-looking yari by Sadakuni, which I had not properly researched until now. (Neither of them in polish.) The Nihonto Meikan lists two Shinto Settsu Sadakuni, the first active in 寛永 1624-1643, and a second in 貞亭 1684-86. No example in Fujishiro.

Q. Which gen Sadakuni made this spear, I wonder?