Tojiru = 'sword Juice'? Really?

[acoyauh]

I prepare and use tojiru (water or oil based) for sword finishing, fresh for every sword I work with. It helps give shine to the blade and brings out hada/hamon beautifully.

 

I recently saw a vendor on eBay selling tojiru flasks and he translates it as "sword juice". Is this true?

I always understood it to mean something like 'close' or 'detail' for fine finishing.

Just idle curiosity, I'll admit, I just found this translation kind of funny.

 

 

[John A Stuart]

The 'jiru' component  汁 means, broth or juice so combined with 'tou' 刀 as in sword could mean 'sword juice'. John

[Brian]

So what is in this magic concoction?
It is sounding sadly like something that shouldn't be used.

[Pete Klein]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tojiru-20ml-Pre-Made-Uchigumori-Paste-for-Japanese-sword-polishing/112701024583?hash=item1a3d812947:g:jNMAAOSw-0xYgO8B

[Brian]

Everyone thinks they are a frikking sword polisher

[Pete Klein]

 Yup - and just think how much real sword polishers make fixing their mistakes.  Oh well, as Darth Sidious once said,

 

[Ted Tenold]

..... and everytime we read about these follies:

 

[Ted Tenold]

 Yup - and just think how much real sword polishers make fixing their mistakes.

 

 

 

 

Not nearly enough....

[IanB]

Since the polishing stones are calcareous, the only consolation is that the 'juice' can not be acidic but what a risk using the stuff.

. 

Ian Bottomley

[Stephen]

he has all kinds of goodies for those who watch a video and thinks "i can do that! how hard can it be?"

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/itzcasper/m.html?item=112701024583&hash=item1a3d812947%3Ag%3AjNMAAOSw-0xYgO8B&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

[GregD]

_{There is a reference to torjiru in Kapps book "The Craft of the Japanese Sword"....rubbing two pieces of uchigumori together  and used with prepaired hazuya to aid in starting the polish on a sword.In discussion with a Japanese friend what the term meant it was that simple ....Juice.}

[acoyauh]

Yes, GregD. Tojiru is used to get a hazuya/jizuya started. Also to use an uchigumori, so you don't apply 'bare' stones to the sword but have some slurry from the start.

[Bugyotsuji]

On the other hand, (pedant mode 'on') 味噌汁 Misoshiru does not mean miso juice, but Miso soup or, as John suggested, broth. 

A better translation might have been something like 'blade cleaning solution/liquid'., etc. Juice is just what came up in the web dictionary, with no consideration for context. Weird indeed.

[k morita]

Tojiru writes as 砥汁 in kanji.

[SAS]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tojiru-20ml-Pre-Made-Uchigumori-Paste-for-Japanese-sword-polishing/112701024583?hash=item1a3d812947:g:jNMAAOSw-0xYgO8B

 

What is that yellow crap? Uchigumori are not yellow.......

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, Morita San. I was not aware of that. Many thanks. So it is more like grinding or polishing concoction.