Why So Many Holes

[Prewar70]

As I look at hundreds of sword pictures I am curious as to why some swords have so many holes in the nakago. Would it not be easier to fashion the tsuka to fit the existing holes? And some swords I have seen have 4 holes, in places I cannot see a logical reason for. Is it do to shortening the length of a blade?

[Stephen]

yes

[Teimei]

Hi James,

 

in former times swords were not treated like pieces of art(like nowadays) but just like a lot of everyday items. Especially in the sengoku jidai thousands of swords circulated through a lot of hands. So, when it was time to make a new koshirae they slammed a new ana in, no big deal.

 

 

regards,

[Grey Doffin]

Sometimes you'll see 2 holes close to each other and these are probably 2 different tsukas at the same length of sword.  When the holes are spaced along the length of the nakago it shows that the sword has been shortened once or more often.  The proper distance between the hole and the machi is 3 finger widths for a katana or 4 for a tachi; if the blade gets shortened a new hole has to be made to maintain the proper distance from the machi.

BTW, this distance allows for mekugi placement between the strands of the tsuka-ito and it also provides for the optimal attachment of the blade to the tsuka.  Scientific testing and centuries of use have shown that this distance gives the best security.

Grey

[Mark]

occasionally due to change of tsuka, maybe made as katana but then mounted as tachi, blade length the same but hole in different spot. I have seen some Hizen blades where the original hole is closer to the machi that normal and a later one was put in lower on the tang.  Probably a variety of reasons but suriage is most common

[Shugyosha]

According to Nobuo Nakahara (Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords) it's also a device used by the unscrupulous (presumably of all times, not just modern) in order to make a sword seem older.

[Pete Klein]

This got me to thinking - it would seem that this placement of the mekugi would put it under the index finger when the sword was being drawn/held which would facilitate the mekugi being prevented from slippage, perhaps even tightening if loose. Any basis in reality?

[SteveM]

I have a personal theory that some mekugi ana are added to gimei swords deliberately to cover up a counterfeit job gone wrong. 

[Darcy]

The double double double cross theory is good maybe 1 in 1000 times at best.

 

Some nasty stuff is done indeed. But, it's the exception rather than the rule. I had one guy read Nakahara's book and ended up with a vivid hate of bohi because he believed that any horimono was made to remove flaws. You cannot ever dismiss fakery or any kind of modification of things in order to fool people. This does happen. It's real. But it's in the minority by far.

 

Mostly they were doing what's convenient. It's very easy to blast a hole in where you need it and nobody is ever going to see the result. Blade gets shortened a bit more and you just blast another hole in where you need it. Sometimes, especially in the case of tanto, if you retrofit a koshirae this is the easiest thing to do. Much harder to move the mekugiana on an existing koshirae and less visibly appealing than blasting another hole through the nakago.

[Ted Tenold]

By and large, as mentioned before, the most common reason is continued suriage of a blade during it's existence.

 

As koshirae styles changed, so also did the variance of step back placement required for the ana.   The thickness of the tsuba, seppa, number of seppa, and the depth of the fuchi all have an effect on where the ana will eventually lay out in a tsuka.   Habaki also play into this because the "nomikomi" (notch at the munemachi) on some are very deep, while others (i.e. some tachi habaki) have no nomikomi at all. Habaki were also subject to stylistic changes through time.  Looking at a Soshu wakizashi and tanto which have such a stubby nakago with lots of taper, these considerations are demonstrated in the number of ana placed all along the length of an otherwise ubu nakago.  The tolerances are much more confined. If the fittings/koshirae extended further from the munemachi to take up more length of the nakago, the result would be very little of the nakago actually inside the foundation of the tsuka, thus the motives behind machiokuri of them also becomes more clear; to extend more steel into the tsuka.  

 

Some swords may also have had more than one koshirae for different requirement of wear or purpose, and taking into account the above, could also be a reason for additional ana installation. 

[SAS]

I am making a new tsuka for a shortened tachi, and i was curious if my mekugiana was within the specs that Grey posted; it is not, only two of my fat fingers width from the machi. I made the hole in the tsuka to fit the mekugiana instead of the other way around. I wonder if there is data that shows how the placement of the mekugiana affects the security of the blade other than historical convention?

[Grey Doffin]

Han Bing Siong (I'm pretty sure I've mispelled his name; sorry) wrote a series of articles on the subject for "Token Bijutsu" English edition.  The math to show optimal placement was included.

Grey

[SAS]

Does anyone have this information available online?

[Jacques]

About the good location of the mekugi-ana,  this one with a scientific approach is very instructive  .

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-sword-blades-Alfred-Dobree/dp/0873870344 

[seattle1]

Hello:

 Han Bing Siong it is Grey. For those interested in a further example of the scholarship of the late Mr. Han, see Japanese Swords in Dutch Collections. The Netherlands Token Society, 2003.

 Arnold F.