autodex Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Well this is my first entry into Tsuba collecting and 1st post on the board. I am far away from owning a Nihonto katana so I am starting small :)A large iron late Edo (Mito Shoami circa 1750) octagonal tsuba of a dragon in the rain over stormy seas done in takazogan, takabori, and keibori. 8.16 cm x 7.67 cm x 3.8 mm. Purchased from Nihonto.US Steven Gold Quote
Mark Green Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Welcome ?, Nice start. Love Dragon tsuba of any kind. Don't forget to sign your posts. Mark G. Quote
Jean Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 Steven, And because you were deeply moved, your first reaction was to post in the Nihonto section and not in the Tosogu section Ok, I'll move it Edit to add: good one and well done Quote
John A Stuart Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 That dragon is a specific type of dragon. Do you know its' significance? Is it auspicious? John Quote
autodex Posted October 10, 2014 Author Report Posted October 10, 2014 Hi, I don't know the significance of the dragon. Unfortunately I do not have any additional information other then what is listed. If anyone can add any input that would be greatly appreciated. I like the aesthetics which the primary reason for the purchase. Steven Quote
bone Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 ???? Oh! I actually know this one! Not the tsuba the dragon. Quote
John A Stuart Posted October 10, 2014 Report Posted October 10, 2014 The most familiar type of Japanese dragon is the Tatsu or Ryu, which is a descendant of a primitive three-toed variety of Chinese dragon. Japanese dragons are traditionally associated more with the sea than rain. This is because Japan is less vulnerable to drought-related disasters as compared to China. Therefore they didn't feel the same need to pray to rain-releasing dragons. The Ryu originated from Buddhist religion and is one of the four divine beasts from Japanese mythology (the other three being the phoenix, turtle and kirin. Kirin is the Japanese unicorn). It is frequently the emblem of the Emperor or the hero. The Ryu rules water. There is a story of how Ryu (or Ryu-jin, the most well-known dragon in Japanese legend) summons a storm by howls, and then transforms into a tornado. The tornado is called "Tatsu-maki" in Japanese. Tatsu is the kanji (Japanese calligraphy) meaning "dragon". Maki means "roll". Sui Riu is a rain-dragon, which when in pain causes red rain, coloured by its blood. Fuku Riu is the Japanese Dragon of Good Luck. Likely to be depicted as "ascending" since an ascending dragon is a sign of good luck in Eastern culture. Quote
autodex Posted October 11, 2014 Author Report Posted October 11, 2014 Thank you for that explanation Quote
laowho Posted October 11, 2014 Report Posted October 11, 2014 We recently had reason to research the combination of dragon menuki and phoenix (Ho-o) tsuba for our build, and came upon this http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/dragon.shtml Seems a pretty decent explanation. Cheers Quote
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