Edo Period Corner Part II

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi Steven, the sentiments are mutual.

 

No idea if there will be any issue but sometimes one does have to pop the question, float off the idea and leave the rest up to the gods.  As to where the happy couple choose to live...

[TETSUGENDO]

Piers,

 

I think you know my choice of residence.

 

-S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, the Hinawa-Ju is ready loaded.

[Blazeaglory]

Hey that tailor told me this was silk! Smells like cotton!

 

Get it?

[Bugyotsuji]

Not yet... sounds like a movie line.

[Blazeaglory]

Not yet... sounds like a movie line.

It refers to the technique of burning the material to determine what it's made from.

I didn't realize how many pages were here but I was replying to one of the posts on the first page. I should have quoted it!

 

Kind of morbid humor on my part but I couldn't resist????

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, all is clear and you are forgiven!

 

I have done exactly the same thing in the past. Your explanation took me back to page one to discover anew what a great thread this has been!

[Blazeaglory]

Ah, all is clear and you are forgiven!

 

I have done exactly the same thing in the past. Your explanation took me back to page one to discover anew what a great thread this has been!

High five????

[Bugyotsuji]

Here is an easy one if you know your coins.

If you travelled around Japan during the Edo Period with these in your kinchaku,

how much would you have?

[John A Stuart]

A range of 1 to 4 mon, most are 1 mon, depending on which tsuho. John

[TETSUGENDO]

Hi Piers,

 

Must admit my knowledge of Japanese coinage is casual at best, but I'll  venture a guess at 6 mon.

 

Cheers,

    -S-

[IanB]

I have a tanto koshirae with a drawer instead of a blade for carrying money. All the fittings are stag antler and it is virtually identical to one illustrated in the book of Edo period tanto koshirae,on p45 - the top example. The only difference is that mine has carvings of feathers as menuki. I also once had a long wakizashi with a horn drawer concealed inside the cavity for the blade. You had to hook a fingernail into a little notch just inside the koiguchi.

Ian Bottomley

[TETSUGENDO]

Sounds like a nice piece Ian!  Would you happen to have a picture you could post, the menuki sound interesting?

 

Cheers,

    -S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Agreed, Ian. But I bet it would be a devil to photograph!

 

The smallest and middle coins are 寛永通宝 Kanei Tsuho, 一文銭 one-Mon Sen below, and a 四文 four-Mon coin in the middle. The backs of these coins usually tell you more than the front. (Sorry guys.   ).

 

The one-Mon is either plain on the back or bears a single character such as 文.

 

The larger middle four-Mon, which was introduced rather late, generally has wave patterns on the reverse. There are variations in the wave numbers, either 11 or 21, for the four-Mon coins.

 

The biggest coin on top, a 十文銭 10-Mon Sen 寶永通宝 Hoei Tsuho was issued in 1708 but was so unpopular that minting was stopped only a year later. The back is interesting with four stamps in the four directions, and a tiny 珍 in a circle somewhere on the rim. Not valued by coin collectors abroad, I read, but from rarity (?) holds a minimum steady value in Japan of around 3,000 JPY if you can find one, and on up to 60,000 JPY.

[Bugyotsuji]

Of course there are many variations, but the above is a quick rule-of-thumb guide for native Zeni coins in the Edo Period.

[TETSUGENDO]

Tricky Piers, without some size reference, telling one from the other by the obverse is nigh impossible for the novice.  What is the millimetre size of the 10 Mon piece.

 

Cheers,

   -S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Good question, Steve! My three 10-Mon average around 3.7 cm across.

The smaller one-Mon coins seem to have greater variation in size and weight, 2.2 cm and 2.5 cm examples I can see immediately.
The 4-Mons seem to be around 2.7 cm in diameter.

Not forgetting of course the big thick oval (100-Mon) Tempo/Tenpo Tsuho issued from 1835~, 3.2 cm wide and almost 5 cm top to bottom, somewhat reminiscent of a Tanto tsuba.

[TETSUGENDO]

Thanks Piers,  NMB is always the place to acquire unexpected  knowledge, one never knows what subject will pop up!

 

Cheers,

    -S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Steve, very true. (see added Tempo Tsuho shot above.)

 

The other day I came across a poor condition 10-Mon Hoei Tsuho at an antiques fair. With the single date of 1708, (just after the Ako affair) and Kyoto ShichiJo mint, I always think they are kind of cool so could not resist haggling for it. This then rekindled my flickering interest in coins, so I tipped out some old purses and boxes and decided to post up some photos.

[TETSUGENDO]

Piers,

 

I understand your attraction to coins, years back I was an avid collector.  I find Japanese coinage interesting and attractive, some of the Koban and Oban are works of art, I'm sure others find the subject interesting as well.  If there's anything else you find lying about post away!

 

Cheers,

    -S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, I do have a few other odd bits, but in lieu of a Christmas/birthday present I recently gave half of everything to a daughter. Will post when the whimsy takes me. I know there are some serious coin collectors on this site though...!

 

Sadly no large oval gold coins have passed through these hands. (Despite the strong temptation, never could justify stretching that far.)

[Bugyotsuji]

Removing the Chinese cash coins, (and Meiji and later Japanese coins), here are some late Edo gold and silver bits. Sometime in the past I obviously wanted a little of this and a little of that!

[TETSUGENDO]

Those are very nice Piers!  I'm with you, I also like a bit of this and that, nothing duller than eating the same thing day after day....why limit yourself.   Sorry to be a pest, could you please state the approx. length of the center coin for a scale reference?

 

Cheers,

    -S-

[Bugyotsuji]

Haha, no, I have already driven it back to Fort Knox.

 

Man-en Koban Kin, fondly known as 'Hina-koban' or 'Hime-koban'. 1860-1867

 

Smaller than the Tempo Tsuho above. If these photos here in my coin book are accurate to size, ...and I suspect they are, ... hmmmm.... then it is 3.6 cm vertically and 2.0 cm wide, and quite slim. Gold content 574, silver 426, weight 3.0 g.

NB Be careful as many of these Hime Koban were faked, but there is a strong market for the fakes too, apparently.

[TETSUGENDO]

Thanks Piers,

 

Fort Knox, that was fast, what were you driving...the Batmobile?  

 

"Gee whiz"

       -S-

[John A Stuart]

Some of my coins. http://www.johnstuart.biz/new_page_12.htm  John

[Bugyotsuji]

The other day we had a gentleman from NBTHK HQ Tokyo to show us some swords for Kansho/Kantei Kai. All were beautiful in their own right, but there was one fat, heavy wakizashi with thick kasane and wide mihaba, stunning activity running throughout the blade. What. On. Earth?

 

It turned out to be a magical sword, a shape-shifter. Why? Inoue Shinkai himself had created a complete Katana as a special order for a client perhaps unable to wear one legally in public, complete yes, the full weight in steel, but hidden, compressed into a wakizashi. Imagine the Mona Lisa smile on the face of the wearer, carrying a katana in public. Deniability, built in. Hot and cold at the same time. 

 

'This is a privilege to contemplate', I thought to myself.

[John A Stuart]

Do I read aright? It is a wakizashi, but, using enough steel that it could have been forged into a katana? I have a wakizashi that is heavier than some katana I have. Is that the same thing as the Shinkai exemplar? John

[Dave R]

 I have a "Wakizashi" like this as well, but the best guess we have is that it was a late period Katana, cut down very early in life as opposed to a worn blade. Buyers were wary, as some thought it a cut down Shin-Gunto, but I thought it worth a punt. Note the two piece Habaki, which has traces of gilding where protected...

[Bugyotsuji]

Yesterday some NBTHK members invited me to Fukuyama to see the Tokugawa treasures exhibition. Four museums have split up the collection to give you a joint ticket and a walk around the beautiful castle and gardens area. Sadly I had missed the first part of this exhibition, but with the beginning of Part II and some changes in the displays I could see some of their alternatives.

 

Tokugawa Ieyasu's stone tomb is set in the magnificent Kunozan Toshogu overlooking Suruga Bay, with views also of Mt Fuji. From some 2,000 treasures kept there, about 150 were chosen for this exhibition in Fukuyama in the west to mark the 400th year of the building of Fukuyama Castle on the eastern edge of Hiroshima Prefecture.

 

Among the objects which remain most clearly in my memory are a stubby pencil, said to be the oldest in Japan, with the lead thought to be from Mexico, encased in a red oak shaft. The end needed sharpening. There was a pair of 目器 meki spectacles, said to have been worn by Tokugawa Ieyasu, perhaps a gift from a priest. The 1581 clock from Madrid was a stunner, with key-holes in three sides, although researchers discovered a label underneath the plate saying it had been built even earlier in Brussels in 1575.

 

I particularly liked the matchlock by Noda Hankei, the famous smith that Tokugawa Ieyasu took with him back to Sumpu, who made both swords (Hankei) and guns (under the name of Noda Kiyotaka).

 

There are some wonderful swords (Sanetsune, etc.) and Iwai etc. armours on display too.

 

Although I was invited along, that included an invitation to drive one of the cars, about 150 klicks round trip, so I was properly cream-crackered by the time I got home.

 

Sadly photographs of the Tokugawa objects were nowhere allowed, but I was sorely tempted to buy that very comprehensive photographic catalogue for 2,300 JPY.