Tachi Tsuba?

[FZ1]

Sorry for the "newbie" question.

 

I saw reference to a Tachi tsuba in a recent trawl of the Web. I had assumed that a tsuba for a tachi was the same as any other, so please can you advise what the difference is?

 

Thanks,

 

Jon

 

 

 

[Geraint]

Dear Jon.

 

The essential difference is in the way the sword was worn.  Katana and so forth, edge upward and so the design of the tsuba is read in this position.  Tachi, edge downward and so read in that position.  The most often encountered style is something like the one shown here, http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swords/katana/ms11_tachi_kiyomitsu.html  They feature on tachi koshirae and often in handachi koshirae.

 

There are many which are esentially plain with the decoration provided by o seppa, see here and scroll down.  http://www.samuraisword.com/nihonto_c/SOLD/Juyo/Fukuoka_Ichimonji_kiku/index.htm  You will quickly see the inspiration behind the koshirae of shin and kai gunto koshirae.

 

Sometimes the tsuba and the o seppa are riveted together, the two rivets often being quite visble.  Add to this other archaic styles such as shitogi tsuba.  

 

How's that for starters?

 

All the best.

[FZ1]

Excellent!

 

Thanks Geraint. 

 

[Spartancrest]

From what I understand 'original' tachi tsuba had no hitsu-ana as the koshirae did not involve kogai or kozuka. However this statement does not take in the fact that many tachi tsuba were altered to be used on katana or wakizashi. Often this has also meant the nakago-ana has also been altered to orient the guard [with a pattern or scene] in the correct viewing direction when remounted.

[rkg]

Jon,

 

If you want to go down the rabbit hole on tachi tsuba/tachi koshirae in general...  There's a bit of a blerb in torigoye's book Tsuba Geijutsu kou - Haynes's xlation is available, as well as the odd old tachi koshirae/tsuba image spread out across numerous Japanese books on the subject, but as a place to start I'd suggest getting a copy of Markus sesko's Koshirae taikan - he goes through the various types of koshirae through the ages (and if you get the e-book you can blow up the images...) - you can get it from him directly I think and its on lulu as well:
 

https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=koshirae+taikan&project_type=EBOOK

 

Otherwise Geraint's brief description covers it - tachi koshirae were meant to be worn blade down and the tsuba often have a shape conducive to that  (less width at the bottom than the top), generally used O-seppa (often made of leather early on - and during the Nambokucho period a lot of the tsuba were made of leather as well), and the old ones pretty rarely (or never depending on who you talk to) had hitsu (though they got added a LOT later as the tsuba got re-used).

and... and the really old ones often weren't that big.  I don't currently have any of the archaic (shitoji) pieces, but here's a examples of other styles:

 

kamakura period:

 

Nambokucho-muromachi period:

 

 

 

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

[FZ1]

Thanks very much Dale & Richard, much appreciated.

 

Richard - I'm not sure that I should dive into yet another rabbit hole, but the subject fascinates me, so I'll probably get far too engrossed in yet another aspect of Nihonto and Japanese history! 

 

Cheers,

 

Jon