Question on tsuba identification

[Shugyosha]

Hi Piers and Jean,

Sorry, I'm late to this but my interest was piqued.

 

So a related question for Jean, we are always told that a punched mekugi ana is an indicator of an older blade and that of a "drilled" peg hole is suggestive of a later blade but I've never really known where the cut-off point was and in my head (more than likely incorrectly) had it down as later koto period because:

 

• I'm pretty sure that I've seen "drilled" mekugi ana on shinto blades (but I'm working from memory, so I may have that wrong); and
• I recall Darcy writing that the scratchy signatures on later Bizen blades were done in that way to avoid work-hardening the tang, which would (I assume) be done if the mekugi ana was punched - and I guess that might be applicable to armour plates too and perhaps make them too brittle (again beyond my metallurgical knowledge so nothing I can back up with evidence); also
• I recall Ford saying that sukashi work was done by drilling a hole or holes and then joining them up with a file or saw. On earlier katchushi/ tosho tsuba there is often very fine sukashi - I had what I believe was a ko katchushi dragonfly tsuba (I have an old photo which is too high resolotion to upload) and there are others out there where the delineation between the wings and the design of the head is very finely done (in the sense of it is small) and would have been hard to achieve by punchwork rather than drilling and cutting.

With regard to swords, I guess that it would be possible for the peg-hole to be created by punching prior to final hardening and tempering of the blade but there is the risk that the work would be wasted if the blade cracked on the quench?

 

So, I don't know what the answer is, I'm just throwing stuff out for discussion and I don't want to get down to the level of the cast tsuba/ moldings debate but it's certainly interesting to discuss and any insights would be welcome.
 

 

[ROKUJURO]

7 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

.....I recall Darcy writing that the scratchy signatures on later Bizen blades were done in that way to avoid work-hardening the tang, which would (I assume) be done if the mekugi ana was punched - and I guess that might be applicable to armour plates too and perhaps make them too brittle...

.....With regard to swords, I guess that it would be possible for the peg-hole to be created by punching prior to final hardening and tempering of the blade but there is the risk that the work would be wasted if the blade cracked on the quench?

Hi, Piers and John,

this thread brings up some really interesting subjects!

Let me reply first to Piers' post:

I was not there, and I would not deny that they used drills to make small holes. Spindle drills are an old invention, and it could be done, but it certainly was a time-consuming work. The manufacture of hardened drill-bits might also have been a big challenge, but these were even used on much harder precious stones, so why not on iron? (An image of simple drill-bits for a spindle-drill in the attachment)

It might be of interest that (cutting) spiral drills were invented by Giovanni Martignoni in 1863.

I had a look at a MENPO right now which has a number of small holes in the less than 1 mm thickness iron sheet metal, but the method of making these is not at all evident. 

Generally, punching holes cold in thin sheet iron is easy, precise, and fast. Drilling might still be more precise, allow for smaller holes, and the flattening of the metal, possible correcting of a distortion, and finishing the holes is not necessary. 

As I am not familiar with armour, I am unable to proclaim a "last word" on that.

John,

work-hardening is done on cold metal with a lightweight hammer and very many fast blows on the chosen part of the surface (as in peening a scythe). Cutting/chiselling a signature would not cause work-hardening, and the same applies to punching a MEKUGI-ANA. This is always done on a red-hot NAKAGO, so absolutely no danger of cracking in the quench.

We often see NAKAGO of older blades with 2 or more MEKUGI-ANA. Usually, one of them was initially punched by the smith. Later MEKUGI-ANA could not be punched and had to be drilled.  

There are modern steel alloys with high manganese content (as an example: for rails) that are likely to work-harden so easily that drill holes cannot be pre-punched. The drill-bit would not "bite"!

It remains to be researched when drilling iron/steel was first introduced in Japan. I believe that there is quite a difference in work between thin sheet material and 6, 7, or even 8 mm of a steel NAKAGO.

  

[GRC]

4 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

With regard to swords, I guess that it would be possible for the peg-hole to be created by punching prior to final hardening and tempering of the blade but there is the risk that the work would be wasted if the blade cracked on the quench?

This wouldn't be an issue at all because you don't quench the tang.

The possibility of a "stress point" from the punched hole creating a traveling crack line to where the blade is being quenched, would be nearly impossible in my opinion.

One caveat: I have never personally made a sword... but sure have watched a lot of Forged in Fire lol 

 

With regard to probable method, regardless of whether it was a tsuba, a sword tang, or armor: I put my money on punching.

 

I say this having done some precision punch work in a blacksmithing workshop two years ago.

It was the first time I had done it, and it didn't take long to get a very precise hole punched.

I even had an initial mishit on one of them, and it was really easy to adjust my punch angle and course correct it.

You mark a spot with a chisel that has a finer point,

then punch your way maybe 4/5 of the way down with your hot punch,

then flip it over and the punched area is thinned so much that it cools faster and looks black compared to the rest of the dull red hot metal around it,

with one or two taps with the punch, the "plug" just pops out.

The punch is tapered a little so that it smooths out the inside of the hole as you drive through a little at the end of the process.

 

This whole process is very quick (and certainly precise if done by any moderately skilled blacksmith) and would have been the faster method of production until such time as there was a mechanical means of drilling.

 

That's my two cents... but as @ROKUJURO said, I wasn't there, and there's no period documentation to say one way or another.  

[Shugyosha]

Hi Jean and Glen,

Many thanks for your comments.

[Iaido dude]

On 1/25/2025 at 7:58 PM, GRC said:

These two are a Japanese concept called "komorebi" 木漏れ日... dappled sunlight "leaking" through trees.

Either looking up through the branches and/or the resulting dancing light and shadows cast on the ground.

To my knowledge, it's a motif whose conceptualization in relation to tsuba sukashi, was first realized by Bruce Kirkpatrick.

I discovered the correct name for it (komorebi) through some extensive searching on Japanese sites... and some luck.

 

You won't see that motif stated by major papering organizations because it doesn't fall into their narrow set of pre-existing labels.

As with all papering institutions, if it doesn't fit into an existing label, make it fit... because it must have a label... 

 

Bruce and I have many tsuba from this un-named maker, and hope to put together a paper on his works some day 

He's been chasing down this rabbit hole for years... I happened to stumble on the same path and am now going down the same rabbit hole. lol

 

The rest of the tsuba on this post (other than the shippo ones) are showing clouds and/or clouds with geese, a much more common motif that was produced by many tsuba makers for centuries.

 

I came upon this tsuba with composition that is described as rokugan (descending geese or geese alighting). Apparently there is a traditional Japanese hard candy with this name because it resembles descending geese. I think that it has some of the elements of komorebi.

 

 

https://world.seiyud...m/product/tu-010415/

[FlorianB]

The motif is called „Katata no Rakugan“ 堅田落雁, descending geese at Katata, one of the famous Eight Views of Omi at Lake Biwa. This is connected with clouds or fog, thus a view to the sky, so komorebi seems unlikely.

There are a variations of this theme in other parts of Japan, for example a series by Hiroshige who locates the Eight Views around Yokohama: https://yokokanaguide.org/?page_id=15064

[FlorianB]

Concerning drilling: I own a little Kanayama with two small holes at the top and bottom. The holes have been drilled from both sides as seen on the sketch I made.

 

[ROKUJURO]

Florian,

you get the same effect in case you use a small punch from both sides.

[FlorianB]

But wouldn’t punching thin out this area?
I can’t see any difference in thickness around the holes, that’s why I thought of drilling.

[Iaido dude]

10 hours ago, FlorianB said:

The motif is called „Katata no Rakugan“ 堅田落雁, descending geese at Katata, one of the famous Eight Views of Omi at Lake Biwa. This is connected with clouds or fog, thus a view to the sky, so komorebi seems unlikely.

There are a variations of this theme in other parts of Japan, for example a series by Hiroshige who locates the Eight Views around Yokohama: https://yokokanaguide.org/?page_id=15064

 

Very nice. I see that now. The reason I thought it might be Komorebi is because of the elements of the branches AND what looked like birds in the example on the left that Glen showed at two and three 'oclock. 

[Iaido dude]

This must be a Komorebi tsuba, which Dale posted before. It is Akasaka with some residual gold colored coating (lacquer?), which would be weird for Akasaka. Perhaps just a feature of the crumbly mimi surface patina. Condition is not great, but a nice example.

https://www.aoijapan...nbthk-hozon-paper-2/

 

[FlorianB]

Don't think it's gold nunome, just abraded patina.

[ROKUJURO]

On 2/2/2025 at 4:14 PM, FlorianB said:

But wouldn’t punching thin out this area?....

Florian,

no it would not, if the iron is really red-hot when punching. It is only one blow or two from each side. In the contrary, the iron can show a slightly proud "cushion" around the hole instead of thinning out the material. 

[Iaido dude]

The tsuba arrived. It is round-cornered, slightly dished, and actually has a well-preserved patina with a really impressive seppa-dai. The quality of the forging is quite good. The image by seller on Jauce is overexposed. If I were to give this tsuba a single attribution it would be Shoami because of the seppa-dai and it's more generic Edo period production and sensibility that incorporates numerous influences.

 

The only issue is that in order to fit it on my iaito, I would have to significantly alter the sekigane. Somehow, now faced with the prospect of altering anything on this tsuba to suit the original intent for use, I hesitate to "defile" it even though it was purchased for $65. It's not about monetary value. It's just a respect for antiques and the history they hold. Thinking about the tradition of repairing tea bowl cracks with kintsugi, and how these flaws simply add another chapter to the intended Wabi Tea aesthetic like the scars and bruises we all experience through a human life, perhaps I shouldn't hesitate to file down the sekagane (pretty non-invasive). Does anyone have any basic tips for doing this?

 

I include a pic of a Kanayama that I picked up on Jauce for $320 (posted separately earlier), mounted now on a custom-made folded tamagahane katana forged in the kobuse style that I use for tameshigiri practice. The tsuba could be mounted snugly without alteration of any kind.

 

Dimensions: 65.7 x 62.2 mm, 6.0 mm at mimi, 5.4-5.5 mm at seppai-dai

Wt: 71 g

 

 

[FlorianB]

On 2/6/2025 at 11:17 AM, ROKUJURO said:

In the contrary, the iron can show a slightly proud "cushion" around the hole instead of thinning out the material. 

Jean,

if I understand it right the punched holes must have raised rims of squeezed material, which have been hammered flat or filed off afterwards. 

 

The same hole  on my tsuba (front and back side). 

It seems possible the rims have hammered flat here causing a slight deformation of the circular shape. 

[ROKUJURO]

Florian,

yes, that looks typical!