Size Matter? Tsunagi Guys!

[Stephen]

Old question thats been kicking around for some time.

 

Other than aesthetic's does a full tsunagi serve a purpose? Does it keep lower inside of saya from swelling? Or would half a one serve just as well. I have saya coming in with one and was wondering what or if it would be a minus if only half size. 

[Fuuten]

It keeps everything together?

[Pete Klein]

Capon's lament...

[Stephen]

Tasty !! back to OQ     does a a complete tsunagi serve a better function? Guess its never been thought about or its just a stupid question.

[Greg F]

Fair question Stephen, i have wondered myself. I think the main purpose apart from keeping it all together would be to keep moisture out with habaki and i spose if its full length maybe there could be less movement if its not %100 tight.

 

Greg

[Ken-Hawaii]

I think Axel's answer makes sense. Without the tsunagi, the koshirae couldn't remain as one piece, & with the tsuka disconnected, the koiguchi would be left wide-open for bugs/dust/gunk to gather. Simple Japanese engineering came up with the tsunagi.

 

Ken

 

[Stephen]

Who said anything about no tsunagi???

[Brian]

To answer the original question....
No Stephen, I think practically, a short "part" tsunagi is just as functional as a full size one. The proper "full length" one that duplicates the sword exactly is likely just for aesthetic purposes.
No disadvantage to only having a few inches of blade replicated aside from the fact that your saya may wobble a little bit more, but since it isn't handled too much, should be fine.

[Stephen]

with a proper habaki fit, id expect no wobble, so ten inch or twenty seven should be no matter. 

[Guido]

What Brian said, except for the wobbling part  . Katana often have what's called a "han-tsunagi", half tsunagi. They perfectly hold the koshirae together, but it's less work to make them.

[Michaelr]

Just a thought from a new guy. Could the purpose of a full length Tsunagi be to show the curvature of the blade? Since it seem like a Saya that is already made-as opposed to one made custom for a specific blade-, may not fit every blade curve the full length Ttsunagi would give a better example for proper fit than a " half length " one?

Mike

[Stephen]

Good thoughts Mike, and half or shorter may fit many saya and not one with deeper sori.

[Guido]

Reversed thinking. In the vast majority of cases, a tsunagi is made to hold the koshirae together after the sword is polished, to avoid that the blade will be scratched or otherwise soiled by the old saya - not as a template for another sword being used in the old mountings. A han-tsunagi costs a little less than two thirds of a full one, but since tsunagi aren't that expensive anyhow, most people will opt for the 1:1 version.

 

OTOH, a koshirae without tsunagi is rare, but not unheard of, so going for a half-length one might save a lot of work (and paying a premium).