Keigyoku Wolf Tsuba, female tosogu artist!

[Brian]

The photo makes it look like the wolf is raised over the seppa-dai. But I think the border is carved/sunken, and that it is all level...meaning it would mount just fine.

[terminus]

They dont look like wolf's to me.

Maybe Japanese version of chupacabra?

Interestingly enough, when we typically think of wolfs we think of the default larger North American wolfs. Japanese wolfs are actually quite smaller, like a dog and weasel mixed together and the tsuba examples above portray them fairly accurately. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_wolf

 

[Stephen]

The tsuba wolf's look nothing like that wiki.

More like starving dogs.

[MauroP]

The theme "hungry wolf in the moonlight" (月下餓狼 - gekka garō) is reported in the second volume of "Tsuba - Kodōgu Gadai Jiten" by Numata Kenji. Here below the relevant pages.

Maybe some of the members interested (and more proficient in Japanese) could take the task to make a translation.

[Stephen]

Thank you Mauro.

Now that is a wolf!!

Be something to own that one!

[terminus]

The theme "hungry wolf in the moonlight" (月下餓狼 - gekka garō) is reported in the second volume of "Tsuba - Kodōgu Gadai Jiten" by Numata Kenji. Here below the relevant pages.

gekka garo.jpg

Maybe some of the members interested (and more proficient in Japanese) could take the task to make a translation.

Not a translation, but I believe that particular tsuba is Hagiya Katsuhira's version of the wolf moon theme. Probably the most famous wolf-moon tsuba out there due to the innovative way he crafted the moon. 

[SalaMarcos]

Hi Tony, thanks for posting your tsuba, I was specially interested in the female tsubakô, we must study more about this and maybe someday Artemisa Gentileschi will apear on this field

 

Regarding the topic of the wolf, the 18th generation of Edo-Itô school, Itô Masanori (Ôkawa Chikô - Tôhôsai Masami) told me that this motif is called Gekka Garo, and means a hungry wolf that is searching some food when suddenly the Moon apears behind the clouds, and then the wolf tries to bite it. Here I post the tsuba of this motif that Ôkawa san did with a tetsu plate and kin zôgan.

 

 

 

[Krystian]

Here are few photos of tsuka I just got with the wolf and moon fittings. 

[terminus]

I rlly like this set, it's done very very well! 

[Brian]

We all do!