Proto-Akasaka/Ko-Akasaka Jesuit IHS Slanting Rays of Light (Shakoh 遮光) or Sacrifice for the Christian Faith (Kirishitan Ikenie 吉利支丹, 生贄) Tsuba

[Iaido dude]

Yes, one of the qualities that I appreciate about the Shakoh I posted is that with a medium-sized tsuba, it is 6.5-6.75 mm thick and weighs 133 gm--a very substantial guard. Perfect for shifting the balance point of a sword towards the tsuka. I have mounted a similarly monstrous Ohno chock full of globular tekkotsu on my practice iaito to inspire my practice and to achieve the desired balance.

 

 

[Curran]

On 3/8/2025 at 2:38 PM, Iaido dude said:

Yes, one of the qualities that I appreciate about the Shakoh I posted is that with a medium-sized tsuba, it is 6.5-6.75 mm thick and weighs 133 gm--a very substantial guard. Perfect for shifting the balance point of a sword towards the tsuka. I have mounted a similarly monstrous Ohno chock full of globular tekkotsu on my practice iaito to inspire my practice and to achieve the desired balance.

 

 

 Nice tsuba, and nice looking rig.     Not all Ohno (or Ono) are great, but Ohno tsuba deserve more respect.

[Iaido dude]

I want to have a new says made for this iaito so that it doesn’t rattle on being sheathed during practice. It was a Japanese custom made iaito (1038 gm, 30” nagasa) gifted to me by my teacher about 20 years ago. Thinking of making the saya from hinoki myself, but it will be a steep learning curve. Besides, I am waiting for the arrival from Japan of a new super heavyweight Dotanaki style iaito. That one is slightly heavier. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/312907878796?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=tE8UuHeOQ8K&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=HMDEU0GLQ0e&var=611625317890&widget_ver=artemis&media=SMS

[Iaido dude]

Here is another Akasaka Shakoh tsuba I just acquired (en route from Japan) in the 2nd style with curved rays around the posts at 3 and 9 o’clock. There are bundo weights at top and bottom to acknowledge the Owari influence. The other rays are shorter than the early style  and are of equal length. We see these changes in the composition as persecution of Christians begins and intensifies after 1624. 

 

[FlorianB]

Steve,

have You recognized that the forms on the left and right could be warabite or stylized fern sprouts?

[DKR]

On 3/10/2025 at 2:59 PM, Iaido dude said:

Thinking of making the saya from hinoki myself, but it will be a steep learning curve. 

Indeed... making a saya out of hinoki will be a lot of fun. Hinoki (Japanese cypress !)

Until then, I'd recommend using honoki instead.........it is closer to the original and more easy to work with.

[ROKUJURO]

I would not recommend HINOKI because of the resin content.

[Iaido dude]

I’m glad you both brought up the hinoki v. honoki issue. I successfully sourced out honoki specifically for saya-making that made the same comments. What is confusing is that elsewhere people write that there is no difference between these and that honoki is an incorrect term. I agree with you both. 

 

The other aspect of Japanese traditional woodworking that has come of my watching videos on making saya is the almost super-human ability to work with chisels and planes in hand to achieve such accuracy. I’m in awe of the skill that can be developed, but it is quite daunting for a beginner. I use a set of high quality Japanese chisels in my restoration work on guitars, but I’ve not had to develop this level of finesse. 

[Iaido dude]

7 hours ago, FlorianB said:

Steve,

have You recognized that the forms on the left and right could be warabite or stylized fern sprouts?

 

Yes, you are absolutely right. Later, the posts become simple diamonds. 

 

[jsv]

On 3/14/2025 at 4:55 PM, Iaido dude said:

We see these changes in the composition as persecution of Christians begins and intensifies after 1624. 

Do you have a reliable source for this?

[Iaido dude]

On 3/5/2025 at 7:50 PM, Iaido dude said:

After a long and patient wait, I have just acquired my first tsuba in the composition of the Jesuit IHS Slanting Rays of Light (Shakoh) or Sacrifice for the Christian Faith (Kirishitan Ikenie). This is not a tokei tsuba (why would samurai and bushi adorn their swords with fittings depicting clock gears?). Here is my summary of this tsuba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my original post with the reference to Fred Geyer's article. However, I am stand corrected since according to his accompanying timeline and text, the 2nd style emerges in 1605 when Christianity achieves popularism and the original and vibrant 1st style with a composition that reflects the original Jesuit IHS symbol (alternating short and long rays) emerged in the late 16th century when the Portuguese Jesuits make first contact in Japan. According to Fred's timeline the first style appears in 1552, but this is based on the appearance of the iron plate qulaity and is not in keeping with the history of the early Akasaka masters. I don't think you can date iron tsuba by the appearance of iron because the Momoyama-Early Edo smiths were masters at forging the plate to look earlier in their attempt to express the Wabi Tea Culture aesthetics. 1624 is when Shodai Akasaka moved from Kyoto to Akasaka to found the new Akasaka school. I argue that the original tsuba I posted must be pre-1624 because the persecution of Christians begins in about 1614 and quickly intensifies in the following decade. Shodai would likely have stopped producing such overtly Jesuit IHS style tsuba by then. So, I call that this mumei tsuba Proto-Akasaka. The proposed timeline is not perfect, but it's pretty close. Dating is fraught with some element of uncertainty because the early Akasaka masters did not sign their works.

 

 

[Winchester]

Thank you, Steve, for this informative and thought provoking post. 

 

Have there been any articles published on Christian iconography in tosogu--a compilation perhaps, from a specific den or for a particular daimyo that converted?

 

Thank you in advance,

 

Brian

[Iaido dude]

Aside from Fred's published article in which he coins the term "Ikenie tsuba" as the most appropriate way to refer to these Shakoh tsuba (as opposed to Tokei), I only have a monograph on tsuba with Christian iconography purchased on Jauce and an article from the shared NMB archive (On Esoteric Buddhist Iconography in Early Japanese Matchlocks by A. Goetz). Interestingly, the monograph doesn't actually feature an example of Ikenie tsuba. Some of the purported Christian symbolism is a bit of a stretch. Others are quite compelling, including the one on the lower left of the cover (not geese in a ring). These are the only dedicated references that I have for religious iconography appearing on tsuba. I'm sure there are others, but my reference library is rather limited.

 

 

On_Esoteric_Buddhist_Iconography_in_Earl.pdf

[ROKUJURO]

On 3/15/2025 at 2:49 PM, Iaido dude said:

......the almost super-human ability to work with chisels and planes in hand to achieve such accuracy. I’m in awe of the skill that can be developed, but it is quite daunting for a beginner. I use a set of high quality Japanese chisels in my restoration work on guitars, but I’ve not had to develop this level of finesse. 

Steve,

the tools for SAYA making are different from "normal" chisels.  And the precision is acquired in years of work, repeating the same processes and movements over and over without ever getting bored!

[Iaido dude]

Yes. There is a special bent saya chisel that is often used. The only way for me to pull this off without the long hours over a long period of effort to acquire these skills is to use a router and precut template. I do this a lot on guitars. It’s cheating, but it gives a very precise way of achieving the goal. I tightened the koiguchi by gluing a thin veneer on the narrow side. To prevent rattling inside the saya, changing my technique for resheathing can go a long way.