Unusual tsuka?

[kyushukairu]

Hello all,

I've had this wakizashi in my collection for quite some time now, but still have a few questions.

Although I realise it is not of superior quality, I do believe it to be quite unusual as I am yet to encounter another like it.

There are two features which stand out to me, firstly it's wrapped with two separate pieces of silk, and secondly, underneath seems to be cloth (perhaps hemp) rather than ray skin.

I'm really just looking for any information on whether this practice was representative of a particular region. Also I believe the kamon on the menuki to be that of the Goto clan, which would suggest Kyushu?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

Kyle

[David McDonald]

Dear Kyle

 

sorry I can not help with your questions but would like to see more images

of the tsuka-maki.

 

Images of both sides, close up of the area where the two colors meet??

 

I think it would be interesting to see if I can do the same type of tsuka-maki.

 

thanks

david mcdonald

jswords@mcn.net

[Toryu2020]

Kyle -

Would you have more pictures of the handle in question? Are there other mon on the item? Can we see the tsuba and habaki? Not likely but they may hold clues to place of origin. If anybody would know, David could tell you if the wrap was indicative and I dont think it is.

 

Brocade on tsuka and saya were used very early on in some tachi koshirae and so is repeated in later years when recreating those early style of tachi. Brocade in place of same on buke-zukuri mounts like this seems to have been a late Edo thing and in most examples I have seen was a cost cutting thing on lower end items.

 

Your piece looks to have had a hard life but I am sure it was quite eye-catching when fresh out of the shop. If this was the companion to a daito this fella would have been quite a dandy...

-t

[kyushukairu]

Thank you for your responses, gentlemen. Unfortunately my sword collection is in the UK whilst I'm currently residing in Japan, and I don't have any further detailed pictures.

Mr MacDonald, I will happily send you photos of both sides when my swords and I are reunited. However, that may not be until August when my contact ends.

Mr Helm, she has indeed had a hard life. I actually acquired the wakizashi at an auction, for the princely sum of £50. She was without fuchi or tsuba, and suffered from a disheartening amount of surface rust. The only mon is on the menuki, and the habaki is a double copper piece. The idea that the cloth was used for the means of cost-cutting makes sense, though I don't think it's actually brocade as there is no pattern. It's just plain material.

I have included the only picture that I currently have of her (alongside a sabre collection - I apologise to the nihonto purists)

 

Kyle

[kyushukairu]

I also forgot to add that I also believe it to be a chisaikatana, as it has the length of a katana, but the blade it self is much shorter than the saya. Though I suppose it's also possibly a mismatch...

[Dave R]

It frustrates me that I do not have access to all my files at present. I have seen this style of Tsukamaki before, and there is a specific name for it. Not common, but not unique either, or particularly cheap. I saw a similar Koshirae for sale last year on *bay, either by "Mugendo" or "Diamyou".

[pcfarrar]

Seen a few swords in the UK with identical two colour tsukamaki.

 

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that it was theorised that it was used to denote rank in a certain han.

[IanB]

All I have a katana with a similar 'two colour' binding but in black and yellowish brown. I saw a wakizashi last year with the same colours, but the F / K were totally different and would make a daisho. About 30 years ago I saw a wakizashi that had been purchased in Scotland with a hilt done in red and green. I suspect these two-tone hilts may have been used by a particular Han(s).

Ian Bottomley

[BMarkhasin]

I have also seen some very well-wrapped two-tone tsuka. As others have pointed out, certain clans/regions are well known for favouring more 'flamboyant' colours such as whites (ie. Satsuma). I recall a comment by a Japanese collector that such two-tone wraps are generally considered a late product (late Edo - Meiji), not specific to a han, but rather reflective of individual tastes and (correctly or not) associated with the merchant class or as export items.

 

Best,

Boris.

[Guido]

This style is called 色違ヒネリ巻 iro-chigai-hineri-maki.

[kyushukairu]

That's interesting about denoting han. I don't suppose you remember where you read it, or could suggest a source, Mr Farrer?

Boris, when I first began researching it I first thought it may have belonged to a merchant, for the following two reasons. Firstly, the flamboyancy of the tsuka, and secondly, because it's a chisaikatana and merchants weren't permitted to wear full length swords. However, the menuki threw me as it's definitely a Clan's kamon. There were two possibilities as to whose coat of arms it was, Goto being one, and the other I forget.

Thank you, Mr Schiller. Is that actually the name of the style, or is it just a description (my Japanese is pretty limited but I read it as simply, 'different coloured hineri wrap')

[Guido]

..., and secondly, because it's a chisaikatana and merchants weren't permitted to wear full length swords.

Do you mean Chiisagatana? It's one of those wrong labels that seem to stick forever. Somehow people got the notion it means a Wakizashi length sword mounted in oversized Katana fittings. A Chiisagatana is actually (at least from the Edo period on) a Tantô mounted with a a Tsuba and handle wrap, much like a regular Katana or Wakizashi, just on a smaller scale.

 

Is that actually the name of the style, or is it just a description (my Japanese is pretty limited but I read it as simply, 'different coloured hineri wrap')

Both: the style is Hineri-maki, which is done in two colors.

[Brian]

Mon, especially with isolated on a koshirae, do not necessarily link the sword to any clan or group. They were often just fashion. In this case, I doubt they mean anything at all.

 

Brian

[Dave R]

Something to bear in mind is that the longer Wakizashi are Samurai swords, my understanding of the following article is that Merchants were restricted to the shorter length Ko-Wakizashi.

http://archive.is/xZVmU

[pcfarrar]

That's interesting about denoting han. I don't suppose you remember where you read it, or could suggest a source, Mr Farrer?

 

A friend sent me the following info:

 

It was in a copy of the "Daruma" magazine (not sure of exact issue). Several types are shown, among which are two reflecting high rank versus low rank samurai of the Shonai Han. These two differ by two methods of alternating twists, rather than different colours, but the principle of indicating both han and rank by highly visible differences in ito maki style is established here. The article mentions the Ichinose family of Itabashi in Tokyo, who - at the time of writing - were capable of around seventy different styles and had many more on record for which there was no demand.

[J Reid]

Something to bear in mind is that the longer Wakizashi are Samurai swords, my understanding of the following article is that Merchants were restricted to the shorter length Ko-Wakizashi.

http://archive.is/xZVmU

 

 

From your link:

"However, until many years after the end of the Japanese Civil War (circa 1600) those old laws regulating the bearers of swords were not always followed by the people in Japan. This was partially because many of those older laws had varying definitions of katana, wakizashi and tanto in terms of their lengths. As the result, in the beginning of Edo period (early 1600s), there were still some chonin (i.e., townsmen) class commoners and many yakuza gangs who openly carried long wakizashi (i.e., called "oo-wakizashi") that were virtually equivalent in length to prohibited katana (Iiyama, 1995; Kokubo, 1993)."

 

and then:

 

"Then in March, Kanbun 8 (a.d 1668) the Tokugawa Shogunate once again issued Muto Rei, [No Sword Order], an executive order to firmly prohibit the commoner class carrying/wearing any swords longer than "ko--wakizashi" (i.e., small wakizashi) unless specifically permitted by the government (Iiyama, 1995). According Muto Rei, "ko-wakizashi" is defined as a sword whose blade length is shorter than 1 shaku 5 sun (= 45.54cm)."

 

So not all wakizashi "length" swords over 45.54 were made just for samurai. It is ,however, highly likely that wakizashi over 45.54 made after 1668, were made specifically for samurai.

[Dave R]

Which is why I posted a link to the article, rather than just making a statement.