Bugyotsuji Posted December 2, 2017 Report Posted December 2, 2017 Today I was at an antiques market and finally found a padlock for my Edo Period Ikkokubune sailing ship safe. It is a wooden safe with metal reinforcements all over the front. The front locks shut, as too most of the internal drawers, with different sizes of keys. The safe, I bought perhaps fifteen years ago, but as it had been jemmied open and was missing all of its keys, I had to have the front rebuilt and a set specially handmade by a locksmith with 'special' skills. And that was fine, and I was happy, except for a final padlock on the outside. There were two vertical tubes which needed a locking pin padlock of a certain length and thickness and for the life of me I could not find one that fitted. For this reason I have been using an iron needle all these years for the final 'lock', with a simple ring-pull on top. So today I finally tried slotting the new arrival through, and locked this old cylinder padlock tight. Perfect fit! Problem sorted. 8-) 2 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted December 2, 2017 Report Posted December 2, 2017 Open and closed positions, vs iron pins I used for 15 years. 2 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted December 2, 2017 Report Posted December 2, 2017 Closeup. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? You can see that it fulfills all the requirements to the letter. Were these locks invented just to sort the vulnerability of safe doors? 4 Quote
Bazza Posted December 2, 2017 Report Posted December 2, 2017 Yeah, very cool indeed. Lovely challenge. Like Stephen I thought it might have been the safe itself, a lovely, lovely locking item (I meant looking, but an intended "punny" slip!). Thanks for sharing Piers. BaZZa. 3 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 2, 2018 Report Posted January 2, 2018 Suitable post for the New Year, perhaps? Made the effort to get up early, dressed warmly, and set off for the open-air antiques market, a hit 'n miss one-off event about 30 klicks from here. There at one of the stands was a set of three Edo Period iron candle holders, of the type I have always wanted but could never afford. Two of them were the extendable type for 'higher' lighting. Now there are many modern ones out there, often suitably rusted to look old, which I posted about earlier on in this thread, (October 2014) but these ones were genuine from any angle. The flaky rust, the spiders' webs, the thinness of the metal, the bent and cracked edges all spoke of years in a Kura somewhere. One had the blacksmith's name chiselled underneath. The price was going to be silly money so I did not even ask. I doffed my woolly hat to the stallholder (he also 'runs' the market, behind the scenes) and wished him "Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu". He replied in kind, and then immediately asked if I was interested in his light stands. Must have noticed my glance. "You can have them for X JPY". "No way", I replied. "Sell them to someone else for what they are really worth. If they are still here at the end I will take them home with me." "No," he replied, "this price is for you." Again I repeated myself in case he had not understood. "They will still be here" he said, "for you." Another customer stood there with his mouth open. I walked around for a bit, shivering in the cold, wondering what my wife would say if I came home with three large iron 膳燭 zenshoku candle stands. Was I being stupid, again? Unable to see any holes in the logic, I wandered sheepishly back to his stall. "I'll take them now!" I said. "Do you mind if I don't wrap them?" he asked. I smiled, and carried them to the back of the car. Spent a happy afternoon giving them the Ian Bottomley Leeds preservation treatment. Happy New Year! 11 Quote
Stephen Posted January 2, 2018 Report Posted January 2, 2018 Now thats the way to start the new year!!! Good for you! May all my Nihonto brothers find such grace in 2018! 2 Quote
IanB Posted January 2, 2018 Report Posted January 2, 2018 Well done Piers. You must start believing in yourself and realise people appreciate the kind person you are and will do things for you for that reason. And no I am not creeping - I mean it Happy New Year to you. Ian Bottomley 1 Quote
Brian Posted January 2, 2018 Report Posted January 2, 2018 Even modern made, those would have been way cool. But antique?...superb!Hope that sets the tone for the rest of the year. Thanks for sharing. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 27, 2018 Report Posted January 27, 2018 Today I was up early and off to a sort of flea market about an hour from here. Light dusting of snow overnight and the mercury hovering at freezing. Disappointing turnout with very few dealers around. I often wonder how much warmth they can get from a small paraffin/kerosene stove in an open field. One dealer had three swords just lying there on a red mat, the first a dated and signed Kiyomitsu tanto in lacquer and brass koshirae. The blade looked tired to say the least. Next to that was a late Muromachi Seki blade with reasonable hamon. Finally there was a mid-Edo Hizen Tadayoshi, with nice blade and really unusual koshirae, ie much use of iron and silver. The tsuba was iron too with Ran flowers in gold, silver and copper. Registration paperwork in order. Still do not feel really confident in lashing out big bills on something in the middle of a lawn in the middle of nowhere, though. As I was walking past a pile of books, one hardback caught my eye. It was published in 1976, 100 Andon lamps and candleholders of all shapes and sizes with b&w photographs! Originally 2,500 yen back then, the dealer today wanted 1,500 for it. People were all nodding and saying rare book, wise choice! Could I resist? Which came first, the lamps or the information? I feel as if I have approached this subject base over apex. 2 Quote
Shogun8 Posted January 27, 2018 Report Posted January 27, 2018 Suitable post for the New Year, perhaps? Made the effort to get up early, dressed warmly, and set off for the open-air antiques market, a hit 'n miss one-off event about 30 klicks from here. There at one of the stands was a set of three Edo Period iron candle holders, of the type I have always wanted but could never afford. Two of them were the extendable type for 'higher' lighting. Now there are many modern ones out there, often suitably rusted to look old, which I posted about earlier on in this thread, (October 2014) but these ones were genuine from any angle. The flaky rust, the spiders' webs, the thinness of the metal, the bent and cracked edges all spoke of years in a Kura somewhere. One had the blacksmith's name chiselled underneath. The price was going to be silly money so I did not even ask. I doffed my woolly hat to the stallholder (he also 'runs' the market, behind the scenes) and wished him "Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu". He replied in kind, and then immediately asked if I was interested in his light stands. Must have noticed my glance. "You can have them for X JPY". "No way", I replied. "Sell them to someone else for what they are really worth. If they are still here at the end I will take them home with me." "No," he replied, "this price is for you." Again I repeated myself in case he had not understood. "They will still be here" he said, "for you." Another customer stood there with his mouth open. I walked around for a bit, shivering in the cold, wondering what my wife would say if I came home with three large iron 膳燭 zenshoku candle stands. Was I being stupid, again? Unable to see any holes in the logic, I wandered sheepishly back to his stall. "I'll take them now!" I said. "Do you mind if I don't wrap them?" he asked. I smiled, and carried them to the back of the car. Spent a happy afternoon giving them the Ian Bottomley Leeds preservation treatment. Happy New Year! Missed this original post, Piers. Great items and even better story - congrats! 1 Quote
Stephen Posted January 27, 2018 Report Posted January 27, 2018 id liked to have seen the swords on mat, org koshirae? 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 27, 2018 Report Posted January 27, 2018 Stephen, I wish you could have been there. Photographs are never really possible, unless I know the stallholder well, or sneak a few spy shots from a distance. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 29, 2018 Report Posted January 29, 2018 Oh, and I found these at the same place although I am still unsure as to how they were used. In Japanese (Akari no) To-Shin/To-jimi Osae? 灯芯押さえ？(wick weights?) for oil lamps. Quote
Baka Gaijin Posted January 29, 2018 Report Posted January 29, 2018 Try these: http://www.yamakei.jp/wanokaori/wanokaori.html http://kojitsu-kyo.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2010/01/post-aed4.html http://www.ohtaoilmill.co.jp/product/302/ You might also try emailing Rekihaku or similar in your neck of the woods. http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/ 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 29, 2018 Report Posted January 29, 2018 Not wanting to say “cool links Malcolm”, I am lost for words. Cool links, BTW. Many thanks. Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 that is wonderful... I acquired an andon and it had the oil bowl with a ceramic "thing" and I had no idea how it worked. now I understand In one of the links you posted, it mentioned Rapeseed. Canola oil to you Canadians!! I might need to test if it burns as well as the oil for purchase. To make my life easier and safer, I bought a "LED FLAME" lamp that is working wonderfully behind the Andon Screen 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 Talk about safety! In Japan (and possibly China, although the rhyme may not work) the four feared things were jokingly said to be: 地震・雷・火事・おやじ (earthquake, lightning, fire and the old man), but the fourth may have an older original version of 大山風, or 大風 which can be read ooyaji, an old expression for typhoon. Be that as it may, if you say it aloud the kanji can be whatever you like, "Jishin, Kaminari, Kaji, Oyaji". Because of the fear of fire, especially set off by earthquakes, in a paper and wood house, most of these lamps were designed to be carried, from room to room if necessary, and strictly to be extinguished if you did not take the light with you. To use a candle or oil lamp in Japan meant to carry a serious adult responsibility, perhaps like carrying a gun in the USA. For this reason, although I now have a small collection of these things, I do not really dare light them, not like in the west. Here though, you can buy battery-powered 'flickering' plastic safety candles, but they look wierd! Yours sounds good though, Gordon, behind the screen! 1 Quote
Baka Gaijin Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 火の用心 !!! Once the popular name for Edo was 火災都市 City of Fires., "Fires and quarrels are the flowers of Edo." That's why they bang Hyoshigi.... 1 Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 Hopefully this works[https://www.dropbox.com/s/wuul3dx8xtk22kn/IMG_1526.mov?dl=0] 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUber cool! (Can you not hide the wires easily, Gordon?) Quote
IanB Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 Rapeseed oil worked into a salted skin is how the white leather is produced that is then stencilled for egawa. The hide are washed in the river at Himeji as a preliminary - the bacteria being thought to be essential. Ian B 1 Quote
Gordon Sanders Posted January 30, 2018 Report Posted January 30, 2018 UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUber cool! (Can you not hide the wires easily, Gordon?) Yes I could. But then what would I leave for everyone to comment on? 2 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted June 2, 2018 Report Posted June 2, 2018 If the photos upload happily, then here is an object for perusal. Definitely Edo Period, but not directly sword related. Level of difficulty 2/5? (No hints unless people start to struggle.) Edit. No replies so far, so perhaps the level of difficulty could be 3/5...? Quote
Baka Gaijin Posted June 2, 2018 Report Posted June 2, 2018 I'd hazard a guess at some form of Kashigata, possibly pharmaceutical. . Quote
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