This Week's Edo Period Corner

[Bungo]

yes, but I always prefer Yoshitoshi over his teacher.

 

milt

[Guest reinhard]

Died insane at the age of 53 with over 80 disciples (?)

 

Was this the reason why he went insane? Not all of them talented, I guess.

 

reinhard

[Jean]

Reinhard wrote :

 

Was this the reason why he went insane?

 

The main reason why he went insane was because, Milt wrote :

 

I always prefer Yoshitoshi over his teacher.

[Bugyotsuji]

I hate this season. Everywhere in the house is hot and muggy. Leather and wooden objects grow mould on them if I don't check them for a few days. Metal objects start rusting.

 

This evening I sealed the kitchen dining room area and turned the air-con onto super cool and super dry. Then I laid all bladed objects on the kitchen table and checked them one by one for rust. My best spear has a rust rash developing just above the nakago. It was in polish, so I don't dare use anything more than the uchiko, which is not really good enough to remove it.

AAaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh.... am I really worthy to look after these things?

[Stephen]

Bugys

 

YES!!! more than worthy other wise they would go to waste.

 

it must be the houses, as Iowa is muggy humid and i dont get any rust on mine. ???

[Bugyotsuji]

Stephen, thanks for the vote of confidence, but do you have spears in koshirae and regular semi-loose saya, not in shirasaya? None of mine have shirasaya...

 

Do you think a lot of them 'out there' are not looked after as they should be?

[Stephen]

the only thing i ever had problems with was my stupidy as put a newly polished sword in shirasaya in front of a window once it made for like a small green house inside....and it only took a day or two for rust to form!!. maybe change location in your home?

[Bugyotsuji]

the only thing i ever had problems with was my stupidy as put a newly polished sword in shirasaya in front of a window once it made for like a small green house inside....and it only took a day or two for rust to form!!. maybe change location in your home?

 

Funnily enough, someone did suggest that upstairs might be drier, and this just may be the answer, even though it is much hotter up there. Good idea, Stephen. I'll make the move forthwith!

[Bugyotsuji]

Today was our local meeting of the NBTKHK so I took the spear aound for some advice on rust removal. I mentioned that 2000 wetpaper seemed to dull the shine in the corner that I had tested.

 

"Not paper, it's too rough. Powder", said a voice. "Compound", said three others.

 

Well, I just spent an hour with three different finenesses of compound, fine, medium fine, and super fine, and it's looking 70% better already!

 

PS They liked the blade, and said it had probably seen actual use in pre-Edo warfare. One wise guy said it had quite possibly 'chi wo sutteru'...

[Nobody]

One wise guy said it had quite possibly 'chi wo sutteru'...

Can't you see a ghost behind it?

[Bugyotsuji]

One wise guy said it had quite possibly 'chi wo sutteru'...

Can't you see a ghost behind it?

 

I am hoping that he spoke out of jealousy.

There is some occasional ghostly activity in this house, but nothing extra since the spear came to live here.

[hybridfiat]

Moisture and oxygen are your enemy. I f you can exclude them youve won!

I believe i saw years ago a paper that gun collectors use for storage. It does not contact the metal just sits in the gun safe absorbing oxygen. Im not sure if it is still available.

It might be worth looking in to.

[Bugyotsuji]

(Good idea, Steve. Not seen the paper, but in fact I have several of those water absorbing pots for my clothes. I'll get a couple more and use them.)

 

New subject!

A couple of days ago I bought a black antique Do-ran, or hip pouch, for matchlock powder, balls, etc. It wasn't cheap, but it bears an old version of the Mon of our local Daimyo, so I am very pleased with it. It's made of lacquered leather, cleverly stitched and tied in leather, and designed to be to some extent waterproof, I should imagine! It has a nice brass one-touch fastener on it, and I am tempted to actually use this Douran at the National Matchlock Display on Tanegashima in 10 days.

 

It contained an inner liner, made from old letters or papers (?), which is still black with gunpowder inside. I pulled out the liner box, (to be kept, so if necessary the whole thing can be reduced to its original state) and created another. The new one looks pretty naff, made of modern thin cardboard, so I got some old Japanese cloth and lined it internally with that.

[IanB]

Piers, You lucky man. I have a similar cartridge box but with the innards missing. Mine looks as if it originally had partitions. Now here's a bit of useless information. At one of the great Paris expositions in the late 19th C. there were some of these exhibited at the Japanese pavilion with hinawa ju and powder flasks. One Parisian guy was so intrigued by the way they were constructed, by folding and sewing, he decided to have a go at making luggage the same way. His name was Vuitton! You might note that even his trade-mark leather is printed with stylised kamon.

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

Piers, You lucky man. I have a similar cartridge box but with the innards missing. Mine looks as if it originally had partitions. Now here's a bit of useless information. At one of the great Paris expositions in the late 19th C. there were some of these exhibited at the Japanese pavilion with hinawa ju and powder flasks. One Parisian guy was so intrigued by the way they were constructed, by folding and sewing, he decided to have a go at making luggage the same way. His name was Vuitton! You might note that even his trade-mark leather is printed with stylised kamon.

Ian Bottomley

 

Well, isn't that a funny thing, Ian. I just heard this very story a few days ago, although not in such detail. One of our newish troop members has a pawnshop with, inter alia, lots of Louis Vuitton bags, purses etc., for sale. The first thing he did was to find a large one of these Do-ran and make a shoulder strap for it, and he was grabbing hold of people and quoting the story!!! "Look, the forerunner of Louis Vuitton!" Several of us are doing this now so there's a bit of fashion happening. You'll notice the silk cord I have threaded through mine.

 

You mention partitions, which they did have for the Hayago, (apostles), or previously made-up 'cartridge' tubes.

 

Doran can be found today at auction for as little as 20,000 yen, but at that price usually there is something torn, broken or missing. They are fairly rare, but popular, especially the ones with Mon, so when one crops up the price tends to zoom up fairly quickly. Love to see a piccie of yours when you have time.

[remzy]

Piers, for your nihonto moisture problems you could get some medium/big sized silicia gel bags, these readily absorb moisture in enclosed spaces (safe, drawer, closet etc.) and can be reused when saturated with water by heating them gently, i personnaly never managed to saturate one without imersing it in water

 

Very nice pouch too!

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks for the advice on silica gel bags, Remy, good in an enclosed space such as a sword box, but I wonder how effective in an open tatami mat room? I am collecting boxes right now, so one of your slica bags in each sounds good. Thanks for the feedback.

 

As to the pouch, Ian mentioned compartments, so I have cobbled together some piccies of compartment section and a type of 'cartridge' that might have gone in them.

 

The smaller cartridge tube is made of bone, hollow at both ends, which would have hung round the neck or from the belt. A ball is pushed down to appear at the far end, hitting a lip to stop it coming right out. You can see this in one of the pics.

 

The other bigger 20 Monme tube is very thin wood covered with red leather. Beautifully made, and of course, both reuseable. Perhaps ten of these would have been ready prepared in the Doran.

 

A powder charge would be poured in behind the ball, and finally a stopper was pushed in to seal it. To load the gun, the stopper would be pulled out, and the ball and charge would be pushed backwards down the tube with the ramrod against the ball, so that the charge could enter the barrel first and the ball would be on top...

[remzy]

Piers, always remember to hold your ramrod with only two fingers and not with a fist, so that you do not lose your whole hand if the charge accidentaly goes off!

 

hehe i am just kidding, i know you will not charge any guns, but this is actualy how they were told to charge their muskets, back then, well over here anyways!

 

Remy

[Nobody]

Thanks for the advice on silica gel bags, Remy, good in an enclosed space such as a sword box, but I wonder how effective in an open tatami mat room? I am collecting boxes right now, so one of your slica bags in each sounds good. Thanks for the feedback.

I use a moisture proof cabinet like those on the following site. Though my cabinet is a small one and contains only small objects, it is really useful especially during this season in Japan.

 

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/wet-seihintobira.html

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-catalog.html

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-wet-catalog.html

[Bugyotsuji]

Piers, always remember to hold your ramrod with only two fingers and not with a fist, so that you do not lose your whole hand if the charge accidentaly goes off!

 

hehe i am just kidding, i know you will not charge any guns, but this is actualy how they were told to charge their muskets, back then, well over here anyways!

 

Remy

 

Next weekend I will be charging both my long gun and my pistol Remzy, for our next display. My ramrod is made of wood, so unlikely to spark, but you are right about using the minimum number of fingers. When you pour in the new charge there is a slight possibility of remaining burning embers. I'll try to remember. (We are also asked not to flick the wrist and pump the stick as it could look like self abuse! How can this be avoided? )

 

I know of people who have had accidents, but so far the worst I've suffered is burns from the matchcord and sparks in the face from the pan flash. At least I know my guns inside out, but it's that one moment of lack of concentration... and there are so many unpredictable factors with these old guns.

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks for the advice on silica gel bags, Remy, good in an enclosed space such as a sword box, but I wonder how effective in an open tatami mat room? I am collecting boxes right now, so one of your slica bags in each sounds good. Thanks for the feedback.

I use a moisture proof cabinet like those on the following site. Though my cabinet is a small one and contains only small objects, it is really useful especially during this season in Japan.

 

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/wet-seihintobira.html

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-catalog.html

http://www.dry-cabi.co.jp/inglish-wet-catalog.html

 

Those are amazing! Which one do you have Moriyama san? Would you be able to go away and leave it for a month, or does it need attention? Do you have to fill the water tank once a week, for example?

[Nobody]

Those are amazing! Which one do you have Moriyama san? Would you be able to go away and leave it for a month, or does it need attention? Do you have to fill the water tank once a week, for example?

Actually, I use a cabinet of other maker below.

http://www.toyoliving.co.jp/index.html

 

And my cabinet is like the smallest one on this page. I bought mine 4 or 5 years ago, so the exact model does not exist now.

http://www.toyoliving.co.jp/individual/index.html

 

Moisture control system is very simple and you cannot expect precise control. However, that is enough for most of us, I think. You do not have to maintain anything as far as it is working.

Refer to the bottom of the following page, as for its mechanism.

http://www.toyoliving.co.jp/individual/feature.html

[Bugyotsuji]

Thank you for the detailed information, Moriyama san.

[Bugyotsuji]

Stephen asked me a week or two back if I could get some shots of the antique fairs. Well, since then I have been to three or four, but forgot to take the camera each time. Yesterday I was at Ako Castle where they had about 40 or 50 stalls, and later in the afternoon at one of the convention centre/center antique displays. This morning I went to Fukuyama Castle park, but this time I actually remembered the camera.

The grass was dead and brown, bearing sad witness to almost constant 35 degrees heat and very little rain for the last several weeks. I stood in the middle and took some shots around the radius. As you can see, it's a tiny affair, but with a little patience rummaging around, you can usually find something to take back.

[Bugyotsuji]

And something unusual for a Japanese city skyline

[Bugyotsuji]

Oh, all right, since you ask! I bought:

 

1. a set of very rusty watch/clock mender's tools with a little hammer and a brush thrown in. 2. A silk sageo? 下ã’ç·’ cord woven in the karagumi å”組weave, 1.4m long.

3. On the way out I noticed a very nice black Rosewood katana-kake stuffed in a box and made sure to find the stall-owner who was packing up to leave.

 

Guess how much I paid for everything? Sword stand, silk cord and tools?

a) 15,000 JPY b) 8,000 JPY c) 4,000 JPY d) 1,000 JPY

[Stephen]

id guess B.

 

in the third pix down vendor on the left...is that Nihonto for sale?

 

like this thread, neat stuff and no conflicts.

[Bugyotsuji]

id guess B.

 

in the third pix down vendor on the left...is that Nihonto for sale?

 

like this thread, neat stuff and no conflicts.

 

Yes, that Nihonto would have been for sale. B is the wrong answer. And maybe if we had a bit more conflict here it would liven things up! :lol:

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Piers, these last arrivals are posted just for you.

 

25th Infantry Regiment, Officer's Group of 7th Division based in Hokkaido. Karafuto has not the same color as Japan

so it wasn't part of the Empire yet, placing the cup before 1905. I wish you could feel the 3D. At least 5 different

"levels" in lacquer colors. I'm so happy the original winner sold it to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Given from Infantry 12th Regiment, 12th Company, in Meiji 38 [1905] March 14th,

to 11th Division Commander, Army General, Holder of the 4th

Class Golden Kite, 4th Class Rising Sun, 2nd Class Sacred

Treasure, Samejima Shigeo (1849-1928) :

 

 

 

 

From Shobu-Kai to Iwano, Meiji 29 (1896, first Sino-Japanese war):

 

 

 

 

 

This one accompained an "Order of the Golden Kite" medal :

 

 

 

 

And as we are all watching the "Orinpiku" games, hereunder one from the deleted

edition of Tokyo 1940 (bowl is white inside) :

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Carlo, thank you so much for posting these! There is so much there to feast the eyes on, and it's difficult to know where to start with the questions and comments. In reverse order I have to admit ignorance of a possible Tokyo Olympics in 1940, but the idea fascinates me and I love your little bowl there. The sake cups are redolent of that magnificent time in Japanese history just before the military became too powerful and proud. So small, but containing so much! Glad you were able to provide translations of the various writings. So often that is lost and we see through a glass darkly. Using your description, I was able to 'see' the three dimensional quality of the first cup. Wonderful.

 

PS Does Golden Kite mean the bird alone, or the kites that people fly in the sky, or both? And is the bird in the first picture a Hokkaido Washi, a sea eagle, or what? The closest I can find in my small birdbook is a goshawk, using for hunting/falconry throughout the world. And what tree branch is it sitting on?