Tsuba collecting - motivations?

[Dan tsuba]

So, I was just wondering (and I thought this may be interesting) what was your motivation to start collecting tsuba?

 

For me, it was that I practiced and trained in the martial art of Iaido for a while (along with another martial art).

 

I also read several books on Zen.

 

I wanted a fairly inexpensive way (at least when I started collecting!) for me to (how can I say it?) feel closer to the bushido spirit and the samurai of old Japan.

 

That is why I only try to collect pieces that show that they have been mounted on a blade and appear that they are at least from the Edo period (or before).

 

What started as a small collection has (over the past 6 years) expanded into a rather large collection!

 

I am now (quite literally) surrounded (by all the tsuba hanging on my walls) by the bushido spirit and by pieces that samurai probably (hopefully!) had mounted on their blades.

 

Each tsuba is unique.  Each tells a story in the designs and motifs (sometimes referring to legends and tales in old Japan and sometimes showing family kamons) that are carved on the piece.

 

Just wanted to share my reasons why I started collecting tsuba!.

 

Onward!

[Jake6500]

Teaching. The first two tsuba I bought were intended for use in the classroom, now its a hobby bordering on an addiction 

[Jesta]

I was given two when I was around 15. I lost one, but still have the other. I have always loved Japanese art, and the connection with my past led me to look at tsuba again. I fell in love with the way that artists take a very mundane item (a sword guard) and turn it into a thing of such beauty and style that it becomes a thing on its own. I love the way that the artists use the constraints of all the different tosogu pieces to make their stories and art visually appealing.