Image of plum blossoms and hawks. Plum blossoms and hawks are both are auspicious motifs on sword furnishings.

Mei/signature: Mumei
School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Fuchi: 3.88 cm x 2.41 cm
Kashira: 3.42 cm x 1.72 cm
Certificate: No
Included: Kiri box included

Two shishi lions. Shishi lions are situated at the entrances to temples and shrines (one pair, guarding the right and left sides of the entrance) act as talismans to ward off evil.

Mei/signature: Mumei
School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.73 cm x 1.44 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

The design on this kozuka could be a depiction of a temple known as Ukimidō (floating pavilion), which is part of a temple called Mangetsu-ji (The Temple of the Full Moon). It is located in Shiga prefecture, and was considered a famous tourist spot in Edo times – particularly for people travelling between Tokyo and Kyoto.

Mei/signature: Mumei
School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.62 cm x 1.39 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

Mei/signature: Mumei
School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.61 cm x 1.44 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

Image of waves with three “minokame”. Minokame (sea turtles with long tails) are auspicious symbols of longevity.

Mei/signature: Mumei
School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.61 cm x 1.37 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

Mei/signature: Jōi (seal)
School/province: Nara
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.32 cm x 1.43 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

Mei/signature: Gyoku-Unsai
School/province: Mito
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.95 cm x 1.48 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

The image is cherry tree with a pheasant under clouds, a motif representing spring, and a favorite theme of the Ishiguro school of artists.

Mei/signature:
Toshinaga-shi Ishiguro Masamori + Kao

School/province: Ishiguro
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.70 cm x 1.45 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

My feeling is that this is a representation of the boats that travel between Kyōto and Ōsaka on the Yodogawa river. It is a trip that takes a day; 6 hours if going downstream to Ōsaka, and 12 hours if going upstream to Kyōto. All classes of people travel together, and when going upstream they all have to get out and help pull the boat through some places.

This kozuka looks like it portrays (from left to right) a priest, a nun, a low level soldier, a merchant (or a samurai?, but he has no swords so I think he’s a merchant), and the oarsman. And it looks like a monkey under the priest? What are the merchant and the oarsman doing? Smoking? Anyway, I think it is trying to represent a lively, and maybe slightly chaotic scene inside one of these river boats.

Mei/signature:
Ishiguro Masatsune + Kao
石黒政常（花押)

School/province: Ishiguro
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.64 cm x 1.43 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included

Image of woman with a wooden mallet. The rustic scene shows a woman, perhaps pounding straw to make into rope.

There are several Masaharu smiths listed in Wakayama, but none who use the name “Yamakawa”. There is Yamamoto, and Morikawa, but no Yamakawa. All of them are late Edo period smiths, and I think this piece is from late Edo, so maybe it is from one of these smiths.

Mei/signature:
Kozuka, signed Yamakawa Masaharu

School/province: Unknown
Period/age: Edo
Measures: 9.85 cm x 1.48 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included