Japanese Edo Period Handcuffs ✪✪✪ My newest addition to the collection.

The Edo period in Japan ran from 1603 till 1868.
The period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture.

I believe these are quite rare and only know about 3 pairs in private hands and 1 in the Kawagoe Historical Museum in Japan.

Many Asian locks use a spring tang system which does make a secure locking device.  The key simply compresses the tangs together to allow the bow to slide out of the lock body.

Japanese 手鎖..Kawagoe Historical Museum Collection

Nice! I watched those on Ebay. Decided not to pull the trigger when some other stuff had popped up. Looked to be a pretty decent pair. Congrats on the score!
-Richard Knip-

Very cool. What are the made of? Looks like regular steel or are they a hardened steel?

My pair is made of forged iron. Steve

Steve,
Did you get yours in the last year or so?
There was a pair on eBay that had a broken tang on its key and looked almost the same as mine.

If not, there are at least 4 of these out there in this hemisphere.

Page 5 of the Dunninger/Houdini Catalog shows a very similar cuff.
Wonder who has this pair.

I am not sure if the lock is the same on this example as the key has only 1 bit on it and is not able to compress 2 springs.
It could be possible that the cuff only has I spring or it could be that one of the bits broke off and therefore not be capable of opening the cuff.

 Congratulations. Mark.   Great. Pair of  of. EDO period cuffs.Mine are iron.Got them in 1953 in Kyoto.Love Japanese cuffs!

Ggoebel wrote:  Congratulations. Mark.   Great. Pair of  of. EDO period cuffs.Mine are iron.Got them in 1953 in Kyoto.Love Japanese cuffs!

George,
Thank you.
I am pleasantly surprised that another of these has surfaced.
I imagine that you paid about $20 then.
Did you find them in an antique store, marketplace or so?
It would be interesting to hear your story of how you came to find your cuffs and if you were collecting at the time.

A picture of yours would also be appreciated.

Hope to talk to you off line sometime.

Hi Mark. I got mine over 2 years ago. Cheers, Steve

I got mine a few years ago.  It's in the original box.  I have tried to have the markings translated, but everyone tells me that they are too old and now one  knows the script any more.  I have cleaned the cuffs since these are pictures taken as received.  Here is some information I received from a source in Japan:

Handcuffs with the box are very unusual.

I have written it to the right-hand side of this box as "Tejo". (handcuffs) Two characters after Tejo are not understood.
The name of a person is written to left-hand side.
A family name is "Ohara".
I cannot read a name.
This is old writing.

Ron

Here is a photo of some items in my collection. My Edo period cuffs are in the lower right corner. Cheers, Steve Santini

Another Edo period cuff.  Feb. 2019 on eBay

Beautiful. Do they work, will they open? If not, still a great find.

Anyone know anything about these leg irons. I’m guessing they date back to the early 1800 or earlier. One pair was use so much that their feet wore a hole in them.

as the shackles are worn around the ankles, i have no idea how the 'feet' wore a hole in anything? I know skin is not that tough, i already have a hole in my ass.

These irons likely date to the 1700's and are probably French in manufacture although they could be Spanish. Cheers, Steve

Here is a post I made some time ago.  So far all the experts have not been able to completely translate the writings.

viewtopic.php?f=261154&t=5697&p=35738&h ... box#p35738

Ggoebel wrote:  Congratulations. Mark.   Great. Pair of  of. EDO period cuffs.Mine are iron.Got them in 1953 in Kyoto.Love Japanese cuffs!

Mark For some unknown reason some one put ignore your info beside my name .Please let me know why!

Hi George
I am not sure what your message states nor do I see or know about an "ignore" button or icon.
I certainly enjoyed the last time we spoke and it must be some sort of error but am clueless as how to correct such a thing.
Perhaps Joe can fix this up as I would not like to miss out on any info going on between us.