What Else Do You Collect?

[Bruce Pennington]

On 7/30/2021 at 6:21 PM, lonely panet said:

I was a sucker for military sake cups some years back. had close to 300 at one point but moved them all on. but the bug has bitten again with jsut a few.

 

 my weakness is russo war, and hiroshima

Don't know why, but I really like the red wooden ones.  I have 1 of those along with 2 ceramic.  

[Bugyotsuji]

On 1/19/2024 at 11:31 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Didn't know what that was.  After a google search, now I understand why my wife's sister brought us one from her visit to Japan years ago.  Not at home, but when I get a chance, I'll post a pic.

Eagerly anticipated!

[Bugyotsuji]

Having admitted earlier to the guilty pleasure of collecting andon and shokudai, here is an example.

Brass, the main structure is a shokudai candle stand, with hook for hasami wick extinguisher.
(If you need to go to the habakari during the night, it has a baby, and you can use the smaller portable section.)

 

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

This style is captured on a tsuba although rather than having a candle spike it functions as an oil lamp stand.

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

47 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Eagerly anticipated!

We've moved twice in the last 3 years, and I can't find it.  Could be at my daughter's house, could be in a storage unit.  I'm looking and will update when I find it.

 

Here's my meager sake cup collection, and the 1 wooden one:

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks. (Sweet collection, but they look thirsty, Bruce!)

[Bruce Pennington]

31 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

but they look thirsty,

I'll have to work on that!  For now, the closest I can manage is:

 

I could try it in the sake cups, but wouldn't want to upset the "spirits"! Ha! (get it?)

[Bugyotsuji]

Tempted to post some sake cups too.

 

(Sadly there was some breakage a couple of summers back when a young marten fell out of the ceiling and landed on them. Pic of incident available though I may have posted it before.)

[cju777]

21 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:  

Nice collection Bruce! I only have this set of two I usually have out when my gunto are on the kake. 
 

 

[cju777]

While in theory I’m supposed to get them out on the table to play, you could say I “collect” the old school hex and counter war games. You’d be shocked by what some of the monster out of print games go for on the secondary market. There’s another bookcase in the left with some more and a couple of the more gamey Axis and Allies types. 
 

Bonus nihonto connection is Sekigahara and a couple Pacific Theater focused games. 

[Bugyotsuji]

If you include Bakumatsu and Meiji wine drinking within the definition of ‘saké’ then I will include these Kutani goblets.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

PS Part of a Kutani set of dishes, Navy Kamikaze 神風特別攻撃隊 Tokubetsu Kōgekitai, (Tokkōtai), dated 1944 (when the Japanese public first became aware of the new policy).

 

 

 

 

 

[Yukihiro]

I'm into WW2 British & Canadian uniforms (D-Day and Battle of Normandy) and ancient coins (Celtic and Greek coins from Italy & Sicily), plus I have quite an extensive collection of .22 LR military training rifles (German KKW & DSM34 Mausers, British No. 2 Mk IV* and No. 8 Mk I Enfield rifles, French MAS 45 training rifle...).

[Bugyotsuji]

PS Regarding the 九谷 Kutani plates above, I did some digging around for their background.

 

The Japanese public were first told of the existence of these Kamikaze missions in September of Showa 19, 1944, and these plates are dated the same year, so they must have been produced in the last quarter of 1944. The planes shown are an early version of the Zero fighter with spatted fixed landing gear and a two-bladed prop, possibly A6M1(?), introduced in April 1939. Triple-bladed prop versions replaced them in September of 1939 partly because of vibration problems with the earlier iteration. 

The monoplanes on these plates seem to be decals/transfers. Was this simply an easy option for the Kutani pottery, or did they intend to show that older, outdated frames were being used up for the new' missions?

The writings all look to be hand-painted brushwork. 零式戦闘機 Reishiki Sento-ki (Zero type fighter aircraft)

2x blue bowls (with cherry blossoms motif)

2x white plates (w/ sake cup indentations)

1x larger pink dish (w/ cherry blossoms)

 

Photo of example base.

 

[Mark S.]

On 1/23/2024 at 7:39 PM, cju777 said:

While in theory I’m supposed to get them out on the table to play, you could say I “collect” the old school hex and counter war games. You’d be shocked by what some of the monster out of print games go for on the secondary market. There’s another bookcase in the left with some more and a couple of the more gamey Axis and Allies types. 

 

Grew up playing numerous Avalon Hill board games (and others) and reading The General magazine (although at the tail end of their popularity) with my older brother and a couple friends until D&D took over.  Still have a couple games and have come across/collected a couple obscure(?) AH titles that I didn’t even know they printed.  LeMans, Roadkill, and a couple others.  As most, I started with Tactics II and moved up.  
 

A few other rudimentary Milton Bradley military games that I grew up with but no longer own were: Dogfight (WW I), Carrier Strike (WW II aircraft carriers), Chopper Strike and several others that included miniatures  as a part of the board game.  I still have a copy of Battle Masters which is a fantasy-based game played with large figures on a huge mat.   
 

And who remembers the large Marx Battleground military play sets of plastic soldiers/vehicles as well as the Airfix 1/72  plastic miniatures.  Had boxes and boxes of those and can’t tell you how many Mom sucked up with the vacuum cleaner or Dad stepped on and yelled at us kids for not picking up our toys! 
 

Sorry for the trip down memory lane… just reminiscing about youth and hours and hours of fun and quite a bit of historical education wrapped up in all that!  I could spend hours going down the rabbit hole of researching all the various military games I used to play.  

[Bruce Pennington]

@Bugyotsuji

 

Found it! So is this an Anton lamp? It lights up inside very dimly.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi Bruce, yes, this is an andon. It depends what you put inside, but generally they are dim compared to modern lighting. Nice atmosphere though, outside for example. You can find battery-powered (flickering) lamp/candles which shine brighter from behind the paper screens.

 

Yours is probably Korean, judging by the figures and the overall 'Chinese' design

[Bazza]

Bugyotsugi said

> If you include Bakumatsu and Meiji wine drinking within the definition of ‘saké’ then I will include these Kutani goblets.

 

Kutani shot glasses - I like that!!

 

BaZZa.

[Bugyotsuji]

Barry, you can see these in Bakumatsu period movies. As the rich started to introduce a room in the house with wooden flooring, carpets, tables and chairs, you begin to see wine decanters and cut-glass drinking glasses, Satsuma Kiriko for example. Not sure exactly when whisky was introduced, although it would have been aboard Western sailing ships, and we do see it being offered in big chunky glasses in The Last Samurai.

[Nihonto Chicken]

Yeah, I have some saki cups as well, porcelain, lacquer, one solid silver, I think, but no currently available pics.  Below is a small sample of some of the other interests I've had.  Also, not shown, some firearms and antique silver flat and hollow ware.  A lot of stuff to get rid of as I inevitably make my way to "The Home".   

 

[Yukihiro]

Don't talk about firearms! Some of mine are even older than your average gunto!

From top to bottom: Russian captured K98k (8x57IS), KKW (.22 LR), DSM34 (.22 LR).

[PacificRim]

WW2 blood chit