Help with Toku Hozon Papers

[Curran]

List-

 

I have been trying to make sense of some NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers I have seen recently. Please see photo-

 

At first glance it would seem to be Mitsu Yoshi ?

 

*** It is unsigned ***. It does not seem to be a match for the relatively unknown Mitsuyoshi listed in Haynes and not the correct 'Yoshi' for the alternative reading of 'Shinjo' (15th Generation Goto Master).

 

So I am scratching my head a bit. It is also quite likely I'm being dense and just missing the obvious. All help much appreciated.

[Rich T]

This kanji

善

is commonly read as Zen also, try looking around using this as a staring point. There were several Zenxxxx in the Sôten school.

 

Also

光

can be read as Ko.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Curran]

Dear Rich,

 

Still away from home, but I do have access to a copy of Haynes Index. Thank you for the pointer clues. I gave those a try and then put together other various readings. I cycled through the following variations:

 

koyoshi, kozen, kotaru, kosa, mitsuyoshi, mitsuzen, mitsutaru, mitsusa, teruyoshi, teruzen, terutaru, terusa, hiroyoshi, hirozen, hirotaru, hirosa, akiyoshi, akizen, akitaru, akisa, ariyoshi, arizen, aritaru, arisa, kaneyoshi, kanezen, kanetaru, kanesa, yoshiji, yoshitera, zenji, zentera, taruji, tarutera, saji, satera.

 

No real hits in Haynes that make sense.

 

It must be something simple. My Japanese needs to be better. If anyone has a clue on this, I would appreciate the help.

[Nobody]

I cycled through the following variations:

 

koyoshi, kozen, kotaru, kosa, mitsuyoshi, mitsuzen, mitsutaru, mitsusa, teruyoshi, teruzen, terutaru, terusa, hiroyoshi, hirozen, hirotaru, hirosa, akiyoshi, akizen, akitaru, akisa, ariyoshi, arizen, aritaru, arisa, kaneyoshi, kanezen, kanetaru, kanesa, yoshiji, yoshitera, zenji, zentera, taruji, tarutera, saji, satera.

There seem to be too many variations for you.

 

The name may read Kozenji (光善寺), though I am not 100 % sure.

[Nobody]

BTW, in the following article (sorry in Japanese), a craftsman's name 光善寺犬助 (maybe Kozenji Kensuke) appears at sec. "3. 如竹の平象嵌".

 

Ref. http://www.mane-ana.co.jp/katana/jyochiku.html

[Curran]

Moriyama-san,

 

I only have the Haynes Index and Wakayama with me. I confess I also tried Kozenji earlier. If this is a correct reading, then it is an omission from Haynes Index. The workmanship on this tsuba is very good, so I find it difficult to believe it is unrecognized by Haynes Index or Wakayama.

 

I wonder if 'kozenji' is NBTHK code for "mystery tsuba".

[Pete Klein]

Curran -- I doubt that this is the name of a specific maker but rather the name of a group (Goto, Kanyama, etc.). We can guess it is most likely from Owari by examples we've both seen, one by Norisuke in the JSSUS # 6 and another in the Japanese Owari text. Owari Kinko isn't that written about in English so we might have to go to Japanese sources

(beg, grovel, you know)! LOL Robson would be a good choice.

[Curran]

Dear Peter,

 

I think you to be very correct in this. Given that it is unsigned, I would expect a school attribution. But still I have no clue. As you can well imagine, I am thinking of a certain Owari book or two in my little nihonto library. I suspect the answer is there or nearby.

 

I was hoping Mr. Moriyama or another collector would rescue me from my poor Japanese reading skills. This summer I looked into further Japanese classes (it has been a long time), only to find the local Japanese school has closed.

_________________________________________________________

 

It is driving me a bit crazy that I cannot figure this one out!

[Pete Klein]

Simply put there's no reason to beat yourself up over the fact that you can't reference a somewhat obscure school which to the best of our knowledge is unpublished in English. This is the reason there aren't many true 'experts' in this field outside of Japan. If you cannot read/write/speak Japanese how can you do the research necessary to obtain the knowledge to delve into the finer points? Just can't be done. This is the same reason it's so difficult to publish an article -- what are your resources? It's just the way it is so live with it or move to Japan and ten years from now you might be able to read sufficiently well to do basic research! LOL

No one ever said it was going to be easy but those who stick with it have my admiration. We crazies must stick together, you know!

[Curran]

Dear Peter,

 

I have often revisited the logic of my choice of a hobby where I am at a great disadvantage by my western mindset and lack of avenues to learn the language better. Chalk it up to artistic passion over logic. Wish I had lived in Japan for more than a few months, or been able to visit the girlfriend (now wife) more when she was working in Tokyo. I am not sure about the Ft. Lauderdale side of FL, but on our coast there are simply no people resources for Japanese language.

 

Back to the tsuba:

No one has any ideas?

 

I'm still inclined to think that it is simply my lack of Japanese and reference materials at the moment, but the sloppiness of the NBTHK in the past few years continues to be concerning. I Toku Hozoned another signed tsuba that I intended for Juyo shinsa. It came back after 7 months, having missed Juyo shinsa due to NBTHK backlog. There is a fair sized bit of silvery tin foil or other mystery shiny something photographed on top of the black shakudo tsuba in the photo of the tsuba.

[Curran]

Having reached far and wide across the world for information on this one:

 

One scholar says, "paper notation is Mitsuyoshi Ji ( temple). I believe it is

the main decoration, or theme on the inlaid. I understand it is a shakudo

ground tsuba. The NBTHK cannot be sure of the maker, or school in

this case".

 

A gentleman from Japan says, "I can't say exactly it is Kozenji or not. But I think that from the photo is like Kozenji. But I need to see it.".

 

I'd rather believe it is "Kozenji" than that the NBTHK said "We don't know, here is Toku Hozon papers". This was also Moriyama-san and Rich Turner's recommended reading. I am hoping the Japanese gentleman will explain further. I have the highest respect for his knowledge, but communication with him can be very sporadic.

Anyone know what or who is "Kozenji"?

 

Open those books. Help the kid!

[Bugyotsuji]

Try "Owari no Kuni, Kozenji"

 

Run a Google in Japan on: Owari Kozenji Tsuba.

 

Get this page with lots of references to Kozenji and Tsuba makers.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls= ... tnG=Search

 

Japanese Wikipedia tells you what and where Owari is:

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%BE% ... 5%E5%9B%BD