Edo Period Corner Part II

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, a friend said that same thing on seeing these photos, John. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Photos from Sunday 3rd April 2022 at Tsuyama Castle Cherry Blossom Festival.

 

Mr Koiké the NBTHK sword sensei in red, firing the 100 Monmé repatriated from Ireland. 26 kg.

His armour came from the Tsuyama Castle armoury.

https://teppoutai.com/t15.html

 

 

 

[Shugyosha]

Hi Piers, 

That looks like a heck of a muzzle flash. I’m assuming the charge is reduced compared to that which would be used if it were loaded with a ball? How much powder is used?

 

Sorry if I’m asking silly questions but I know next to nothing about firearms. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, I did not see exactly how much they gave him but it would have been a minimum of 80 grams of blackpowder. 

(I loaded my 50 Monmé with 50 grams and it very nearly knocked me over.)

[John A Stuart]

80 grams? I measure my powder in grains. 80 grams is over 1200 grains of BP. Wow! John

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks for the clarification, John. They do not use the 'grains' measurement here, only grams today.

 

You may have noticed that we strap our left hand to the barrel with the bigger 'hand cannons'. (You can also see some shots of my part in the link above.)

 

I have heard that in battle these big guns were placed on rice bales, and restrained in various ways, and depending on the circumstances even allowed to fly backwards onto a pile of futon or into freshly dug earth or mud. At first it was only iron or lead ball that was used, until it was found (possibly around the seige of Osaka Castle) that a kind of iron-headed flaming bolt called a bohiya 棒火矢 was quite effective at smashing through a castle roof and setting the structure alight.

[John A Stuart]

It is strange that Japanese musketry, unlike other ancient practices maintaining tradition, use grams, fairly more modern, rather than  fun. or momme. I could even see old Portuguese weights of  oitava or escropolo used. The ball is weighed using the kan system as we see often, so why not the powder?   John.

[Bugyotsuji]

John, I think it probably was weighed in Monmé back then, as everything else, but since the old Japanese weight system was abolished you buy it in grams from the pharmacy today.
 

Musketry itself largely died out except for places like Yonezawa where they somehow managed to keep it alive, meaning that much of the fine detail was lost when old bodies of musketry troops were latterly revived. A pity.
 

About the only modern thing still measured in Monmé is fishing weights which may be why ball is still understood.

[IBot]

Piers,  I had a go at making an imitation bohiya for a talk I gave. Essentially they are a wooden rod that fits the bore of the gun fitted with brass or copper fins fastened some distance above the lower end. Above the fins and slightly below the head the wooden rod is reduced in diameter to create a space between it and a paper sleeve around the rod, the space being filled with charred hemp rags and gunpowder. Hanging from the missile is an external fuze. After fitting the lower end into the muzzle of the gun loaded with a blank charge, the fuze is lit and the missile fired over the enemy buildings. If all goes well it either bursts in the air scattering burning rags onto the roofs or penetrates before bursting. Apparently they were considered rather risky to use

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

Ian, thanks for that. You are good, indeed fearless with those hands of yours. I have been tempted to make one myself. There are *various versions in museums here and there, but I think the process was refined during long years of practice throughout the Edo Period.

 

*One person even told me they did not need to be set alight as the muzzle flash took care of that. One would need to see that to believe it.

[Bugyotsuji]

YouTube of the action sections now up

 

[Bugyotsuji]

In order to appreciate what you are seeing in the video above, here are some quick notes.

 

The armour is almost 100% old original armour from Muromachi and\or Edo. Some accessories such as footwear probably less so. All of us wear a koshirae of some kind, long, medium or short.

 

The guns are all old original antiques, because (working) replicas are illegal in Japan. We have perhaps 80+ guns between us. They are all matchlocks, the mainstream gun in Japan for 300 years, which for a number of reasons never evolved into flintlocks. We have examples from different regions and gunnery schools throughout Japan. Misfires are frowned upon, but fairly common since a good load and firing sequence is a delicate nerve-wracking process. You have to get to know the peculiarities of each of your guns.

 

The camera angle focuses this time more on individual members so that you can see the loading process in good detail.

 

The first two 令射 'reisha' salutes are given on matchlock pistols, genuine examples of which are very rare in Japan, and even rarer throughout the rest of the world. The small guy in gold wearing an eboshi is actually our official instructor, a stickler for manners, but I find him very kind and full of interesting knowledge. The black armour figure is a female member of the group, and by her interlinked square Maedate you can see later that she is there with her male companion in a similar outfit. 

 

After the general demonstrations with army caliber long guns and pistols on the steps, certain members step forwards to fire progressively larger and heavier guns.

 

1. 4 x 10 Monme samurai guns in different stances.

2. 2 x 20 Monme O-zutsu. The guy on the left has a nice Inoue-Ryu gunnery school 20 Monme.

3. 3 x 30 Monme, perhaps the trusty all-round hand cannon  on the battlefield. Quite heavy enough for most people.

4. 2 x 50 Monme. Rather rare guns.

5. 1 x 100 Monme. A castle inventory in Japan might have had one example, and perhaps a couple of 50s, so these were never common. Some eventually found their way abroad and some members on the NMB here like Tengu and Anthony have one. The gun in the video has a great story attached to it as described previously, and was recently repatriated through a chain of goodwill starting in Ireland. 

 

A word of thanks to Mr O, the commentator on the microphone who has actually been our energetic leader and inspiration for many years, without whom the whole kit and caboodle would never have held together. (We sometimes have to make it up as we go along as he occasionally forgets nowadays which order to give us next!   )

 

 

 

 

[Brian]

Lovely write-up.
Large caliber version, my Grail oneday. Love to experience this through your writings Piers.

[Bugyotsuji]

Came across a manga-esque one-frame illustration yesterday, and was struck by the teppō in the foreground.
 

Could the artist possibly have seen my 15-Monmé gun somewhere? It’s actually a fairly unique gun. (I fired it for over ten years at around 50+ demonstrations around western Japan.) 

 

Chicken - egg?

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

A photo of an old photo! 
Same gun as above.
 

[Bugyotsuji]

Out of boredom I decided to make a mekugi -za or seat/surround for a Teppō.

 

There should have been 11 perfect ‘plum’ (Japanese apricot) flowers in copper, but 4 are missing.

 

I wondered if each one could have been made by hand, but after 4+ hours trying to make just one, I realized that artisans doing the decorative inlay must have had drawers full of ready-made designs. Flowers and petals are perfect by nature; the original master design in metal must have been perfectly created only by trial and error.

 

After four or more hours work at the kitchen table this is what I have made, just one. Not even worth using!  (Toothpicks are for size comparison). 

 

Some teppo have no decorative inlay around the mekugi-ana, just plain holes in the stock wood. A much quicker and easier option.
 

 

[Viper6924]

You never know until you try it 🙂

I actually checked the matchlocks in my collection. Out of the 12, 6 had only plain holes for the mekugi. These 6 guns comes from all over Japan, so there’s no regional preference for one or the other.

 

Jan

[Bugyotsuji]

I’ll check mine when I get home, Jan, but I’m expecting roughly the same results.

 

7 hours later. 
Three of mine have no round or decorative metal lining washers of any kind for the mekugi holes.
(I seem to recall a comment of Sawada suggesting that larger round washers/surrounds are indicative of older guns.)

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, that gun went off to have a couple of things 'adjusted'. 

 

In the meantime the "備州岡山城鉄砲隊" Bishu Okayama Castle Matchlock Troop have been invited to perform next week at a special opening of the newly refurbished Martial Arts Hall in front of various dignitaries, the Mayor, the Prefectural Governor, and some lawmakers, apparently. We tried to refuse, I heard, but they were insistent. 

 

So, six of us, and we've each been asked to fire a matchlock pistol, plus a large gun.

 

Two other groups will be there, the archers, and the full-armour tameshigiri group.

 

In the meantime I have been revisiting the signature on a wakizashi, signed 備州長船祐定 and dated 天文三年, 1534. Even if the Mei is legit, I am guessing that the short name is an indication of poor quality, i.e. 数打 kazu-uchi or mass manufacture. Interestingly I counted all the Sukesada written with these particular kanji = 祐定 in my sword encyclopedia, and there were around 120. Around Tembun, though, I found two or three Sukesada family smiths signing this way. I like the fact that this blade was made just before the arrival of guns proper in Japan.

 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Thought the presence of a Nengo gives it a better chance of not being Kazu-uchi? Sometimes you have to wonder if one is more likely to discover the meaning of life before cracking the mystical Sukesada Mei/Nengo (or lack of both) "code".  There's probably a Tom Hanks movie to be made from it.

[Bugyotsuji]

That's interesting, John.

 

Could we say then that there were at least three visible threads with these late Muromachi Sukesada smiths, a) swords made on commission with a long date and signature, b) swords made with a date and a short Mei, e.g. Bishu 備州 Osafune Sukesda (no 備前 Bizen, 住 ju or 国 kuni/koku), and c) kazu-uchi mono, rush/mass produced for the battlefield? Could these be refined further?

 

Also I am aware that there is some arcane rule about where 国 and 住 are placed in a 備前 Bizen signature, wrong order being an indication of gimei.

[DoTanuki yokai]

I think in most cases the kazu uchi mono are around 63cm long and a date is always a good sign. 
 

http://world.seiyudo.com/product/ka-100122/

 

Bishu Osafune Sukesada Saku with Date Tensho 12 

 

And only Bishu osafune Sukesada without a date. 

 

Not saying I have solved any questions about Kazuuchimono 

I also think the difference in photo setup don’t really allow to compare. 

[Bugyotsuji]

So kazu-uchi mono are only katana?

[DoTanuki yokai]

I’m not at home but from memory I think Nagayama wrote that they are signed “Bishu Osafune Sukesada” have a Gunome Hamon and are around 63cm long.

From this i think they are most likely katateuchi. 
 

But my own impression is that the  kazu uchimono has a big variation depending on the smith (Sukesada) who made it. 

The 3rd Sukesada I posted is only an ubu 46cm Wakizashi and I would say it is a kazuuchimono. 
Suguha based with some Bo utsuri but  the Ashi are few and look randomly placed. 
Then there is small Kinsuji and some frayed nie but not really following a pattern. 
Nice to look at but miles away from the ordered works of Hikobei, Genbei or Yosozaemon. 

Now comes the romantic dreamer part. 

 

My Waki got the Nakagomune like it is described and the raised Hamon at the Yokote and bright Ha. 
So it could be a Kazuuchimono made by Yosozaemon Sukesada.
But I’m not stupid (I think) and I’m sure

the NBTHK does not paper them Yosozaemon if it is not on the Nakago.  
 

Also there is a kazuuchimono Meito Atakigiri

[Bugyotsuji]

I just looked up Sukesada who signed short like that, and who produced known swords in early Tenbun, or in the preceding Taiei/Kyōroku (1521-1532). Maybe I should have included late Eishō.

 

Found 12 smith entries and photographed them all! 
 

Here’s the first example.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

A funny thing happened yesterday. Rematron (Jeremy) gave me a like on page 22 of the original old Edo Period Corner thread. 

 

"Hey, that's pretty random!" I thought, a bolt from the blue, from way back before memory began.

 

Then I read the next following post(s) there about Nigiri-deppo 握りでっぽう(芥砲銃 Kaiho-Ju, 掌中銃 Shochu Ju or 極密銃 Gokumitsu-Ju), and how rare they are. Ian B  picked up on that and the conversation blossomed. They were a kind of pill-lock squeeze-lever gun that was revolutionary back before percussions caps, in a time of matchlocks, possibly a uniquely Japanese contraption.

 

But, but! 

 

Yesterday I had just happened to buy one of these, several hours before seeing that old forgotten thread after so many years! Does anyone believe in serendipity? If not, you're missing out! 

 

(As always, if you are ever tempted to source one, beware of fakes. According to Sawada Taira, 'many' were made.)

[Brian]

HAVE to see pics! Wow.

[Bugyotsuji]

These are from Sawada Taira’s green cover Koshiki Jū Nyūmon, 古式銃入門 pp20-23. He also does a good explanation in his b+w big blue Nihon no Furujū 日本の古銃.
(For educational purposes.)

 

 

 

The one he illustrates here has a safety device which prevents squeezing until the pin is removed.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

And one clue to fakes is the internal shape of the touch hole 🕳️ wide enough for the pill to sit in, but stepped inwards again to allow crushing of the pill just above the main charge.

[Bugyotsuji]

And the one I stumbled across: