knots on the tassel?

[nihonto ken korekuta]

Hi all, this may have been answered previously so please forgive me if I'm going over old ground. I have had swords before that have tassels with knots in them. Sometimes there are 1,2,3 or even more knots in the tassel. Some people say its just the soldier making the tassel shorter and I have also heard others say if the soldier has a confirmed kill with his sword he puts a knot in it. Could it be either of these or is there any other reason or tradition they do?

Does any one know for sure or have any clues?

again I'm sorry if this is already answered successfully before.

 

Andy.W

[Kai-Gunto]

Never heard about that.

[george trotter]

Simple answer and probably the right one...when not in use and acting as a safety loop around the officer's wrist, the tassel is usually looped around tsuka and then "looped back through" so the tassel doesn't wave about (the neat way of service dress when not using the sword).

Raising the sword point up can allow the tassel to slide down over the end of the tsuka...there is then a "ready made knot" waiting to be pulled tight.

I guarantee, that this is what has happened numerous times and all in the time the swords were played with by the veteran and his kids.

The correct thing to do is to unravel the knots and lay flat with a book or weight on it for a time until the "kinks" are flattened out, then re-attach...or do what I do, keep the tassel separate unless it is on display...darn pesky things tassels :D

Regards,

[nihonto ken korekuta]

Ok Thanks George, I haven't heard that explanation before but you probably right. If a Japanese soldier killed more than a few people I don't think his tassel would be long enough for all the knots. So the logical answer is usually the right one.

cheers,

Andy.W