Donut Shaped Object?

[grnamin]

Greetings! I searched for this first before posting, but couldn't find anything. What is the donut-shaped object hanging from this samurai's uwa-obi?

 

[Greg F]

Hi Greg this was discussed recently but for the life of me I cant remember what it was. Something to do with archery maybe. My memory (lack of)is just frustrating .

 

Greg

[Greg F]

Actually I think it is the string holder.

 

Greg

[grnamin]

Thank you, Greg. Makes sense that the bow string would be in a spool. Search of bow string holder brings up "tsurumaki" which is, indeed, donut shaped.

-Greg N.

[Bugyotsuji]

Correct. At least one spare is carried in the tsurumaki. They continued to be worn with the armour symbolically long after the role of archers had waned, as too the Gyo-yo.

[grnamin]

I came here just for nihinto and now I find yoroi and its accoutrements just as interesting.

[Stephen]

Fishing line..he he.

[grnamin]

Fishing line..he he.

LOL! I thought the same thing the first time I saw it.

[IanB]

The above image is a little unusual in that the tachi or katana is often shown pushed through the tsurumaki. Today, kyudo practitioners still use them for carrying spare strings.

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

The ones we use in our teppotai hang from the usually kidney-shaped Koshi-ate (not evident in that painting) for the tachi.