Tsukamaki materials

My wife & I are upgrading our iaito after many moons, & have been pondering about the best material for tsukamaki ito, silk or cotton.

That got me to wondering about which materials were used for wrapping the tsuka of Nihonto. I can't find anything on when silk arrived in Japan, or whether it would have been available to sword smiths. I've checked out my own Nihonto, but honestly can't tell whether silk or cotton has been used.

Any ideas?

many in Japan prefer leather....

I recently handled an iaito with a nicely-wrapped leather tsuka, Chris, but it just didn't have the same "response" than the silk ito I'm used to. And I haven't seen any Nihonto with leather, either. Have you?

Hi Ken.

Your choice is further complicated by the composite tsuka maki materials available today. Even during the Edo period there were (I am told) composite materials , (a mixture of silk and cotton) used for tsuka maki. Today there are man made fibres which are very hard wearing being used for Iato. Pure silk is of course considered traditional on nihonto and silk it seems was in use in Japan from fairly early times, having been introduced from China. However, there are many nihonto fitted with cotton tsukamaki, and a variety of speckled leather tsuka maki was quite popular during the Edo period. Cotton is very common on modern iato because it is harder wearing. Silk/cotton mixtures are also common.

I guess we also need to bear in mind that the nihonto belonging to samurai were frequently refitted not only with new tsuka maki but also new tsuka. Generally speaking a sword was refitted this way roughly once a year according to the use it had been put to. Iadoka usually do not refit new tsuka and tsuka maki on so frequent a basis so the harder wearing materials are considered more practical for the frequent yet not abusive use to which an iato is put.

May I ask if you use an iato that is a zinc alloy type, or a shinken? Are you having your old iato refitted or upgrading to a new sword altogether? (Just curious :D ).

I recently handled an iaito with a nicely-wrapped leather tsuka, Chris, but it just didn't have the same "response" than the silk ito I'm used to. And I haven't seen any Nihonto with leather, either. Have you?

I have seen leather on Nihon-to on several occasions...

Like I said, I saw it quite frequently in Japan and can only assume it wears well....I suppose it is what you are use to.

I use a shinken in my Shinto-Ryu training, & a zinc-beryllium iaito in MJER.

My shinken is an old Bizen blade that's not collector-quality, & looking at the tsuka, it's definitely not of recent vintage, although I can't tell what the ito is made of, even under magnification.

I'm buying a brand new zinc-aluminum iaito. My old blade definitely looks the worse for wear after nearly 20 years (yeah, it was my first one). There are a multitude of mini-pits on one side of my iori mune, & they frankly worry me. I'm fairly sure that my saya's ho wood isn't hard enough to do that type of wear even if I was doing noto completely wrong for all these years (& I'm sure that Sensei would have said something to me long before!). And in the past few months, both Sensei's & another student's iaito have broken - the boshi of Sensei's blade came whizzing along the floor directly at me, & I had to jump over it - so Linda & I have decided that it's time for new swords completely. Whatever the ito is on our iaito has worn extremely well, even though my wife uses tons of hand lotion, & I'd love to know what the material is, but after two decades, I'm not sure I could still find the shop in Tokyo where we had them made....

I'm looking at iaito from both Yamato Bodogu & Tozando, as I've done business with both. We'll both probably get the customized Bishamonten blades from Yamato, but I'm awaiting some answers from them on the specific furniture we want. We're spending about the same amount that we would on a decent Shinto wakizashi, so we'll take the time to be picky.

That still doesn't answer my question about how to tell what the ito is/was on older Nihonto, but I appreciate knowing that new tsuka were refitted to Samurai weapons back in the day. I had never heard about that, although it makes sense. I know that heating cotton will make it burn, & heating silk will make it ball up, but non-destructive methods are probably a better idea. :D

Hi Ken

I dont know how much help this will be, but silk has a natural dull sheen to it whereas cotton generally doesn't. If you can find a place on the ito that has not been stained, sheened and/or discoloured by hand wear, like under a crossover of the ito then it should still show its original colour and finish. This is hard without the tsuka in hand so perhaps the best place might be where the menuki are held by the ito. The ito is normally fairly tight there. Is the tsuka in question a full same' wrap or an inlet same' panel style?

Generally speaking the better the quality of the iato, then the greater the chance of the ito being silk. On a nihonto we are groping in the dark a little since it could be either. My guess would be silk, since that is more common on nihonto but a guess wont help in this case because certain styles of ito wrap like the battle style is usually cotton.

Trying to help here, but discovering how difficult that can sometimes be

This identification process has given us a few good laughs, Keith. My engineer wife took a few hours to find her old sewing kit - which tells you how many items she's darned - & pulled out two spools of black silk thread & another two of cotton. Then we got out a good magnifying glass...& neither of us could tell which thread was which. One of the silk threads was virtually identical in sheen to one of the cotton threads, but none of them had any characteristic that allowed us to look & say, "Oh, yeah, that's silk for sure." The diameters were slightly different, but that doesn't help a whole lot when you want to ID the ito in an Edo-era Nihonto....

I'm really a bit amazed that this process is so dang difficult! And I'm now wondering if the extra $200 we were planning to spend for silk ito for each of our two new iaito is a reasonable expense. :?

Our old blades were custom-made for us in Tokyo, as I mentioned, & interestingly were paid for by our son's mother-in-law. She & our son's wife are part of the vast Yoshida clan, & evidently the entire clan was so excited to finally have two iaidoka again that they quietly pre-paid for our iaito & had them built to our heights & reaches, all unbeknownst to us, of course. I guess that's one main reason why we know so little about the construction details. But other than those hundreds of tiny mune pits, Linda's & my blades have certainly withstood our first learning MJER, & then actively training & practicing for lo these many years. Our tsukamaki looks, if not new, then certainly in the prime of its usefulness, with no looseness, precise diamonds, & tight menuki. The samegawa is a full wrap, by the way.

We also used the magnifying glass on a couple of our Nihonto. We have a lovely Owari-Seki blade in full koshirae, both of which have NBTHK origami; portions of the ito were slightly "ragged" (not perfectly smooth), which leads us to think that the ito is likely cotton in a battle wrap. But two much older papered wakizashi have extremely smooth ito, & we can't hazard a guess on either.

Is this a lost cause, or does someone out there have some definitive ways to tell what's wrapped?

Ken et al -

Leather was used more often prior to 1600 and it is popular in Japan now as it stands up well to the mold and humidity there. Silk became the norm in the Edo period because of the variety of colors and patterns that could be produced, the peaceful times allowing for a wider market. Silk is preferred by some as it is generally better at absorbing sweat while still providing a solid grip.

As you point out the burn test really is the only way to know for sure, if your ito is frayed you may only need a tiny snippet to confirm your suspicions...

-t

Thomas, I've been collecting Nihonto for quite a few years & am VP of our local Japanese Sword Society, but have never seen a leather-wrapped tsuka, other than modern - any idea why that may be? I can certainly understand why leather would be preferable in humid Japan, but just haven't run into any.

I'm not going to take the chance of ruining the tsukamaki on any of my Nihonto, so unless a non-destructive test comes to light, I guess we'll just have to guess. Do you have any references on silk usage pre- & post-1600?

Hi Ken,

There are many examples of leather bound tsuka dating from both koto and shinto periods. there have been two recently on http://www.nihonto.com one of which had been awarded Juyo status.

Tensho mounted blades often have leather or doe-skin binding over black lacquered same. Tensho mounts were discussed at some length in a previous thread (sorry I cant find it) if you want some illustrations pm me and I can mail some images to you.

Best Regards

Paul

but have never seen a leather-wrapped tsuka, other than modern - any idea why that may be?

because

nihonto belonging to samurai were frequently refitted not only with new tsuka maki but also new tsuka.

However this works for silk as well. I've posted a pic of a chinese Han dynasty Dao with mineralized fabric Ito, likely silk. Methink both were used very early.

Advantage of silk over cotton is to stay tight better in the long run.

Advantage of leather over silk is resistance in all-weather situations you typically find on a battlefield. In earlier times it might have been also cheaper.

When leather shrinks over the tsuka after being wrapped, it tighten the wooden parts of the tsuka so strongly that sometimes they break (quiet like Samè when a full wrap occur).

However when the process is complete it'll hardly move under stress, even when wet of water/sweat/blood.

Ken.

I think you are making this harder than it should be and since I am not doing this for the pleasure of providing you with a few laughs, lets look at this from the other side. Silk is superior, plain and simple. Cotton is merely a cheaper substitute. Silk does not stretch or rot as easily as cotton. Neither does it react with blood sweat or body oils as readily as cotton, and when wet it does not relax the way cotton does. When you take into consideration that the tsuka maki of the samurai were often deliberately wetted when going into battle or a duel to prevent the tsuka maki from becoming slippery with sweat and blood, and that most ryu would prefer and recommend silk for this reason, then the case for getting a silk wrap becomes clear. Since you dont like the idea of leather because of the 'response', whatever that may mean, then the choice becomes clearer. Two hundred dollars extra for a silk tsuka ito is an investment in longevity under adverse conditions. Spend the money! Personally for what it is worth, given the choice between silk and cotton, I would not consider a cotton wrap for either a nihonto or an iato that I owned or used. Regardless of what is on your present iato or nihonto, do you want the best for your new sword or not? Case presented.........Simple choice......

This is turning into a wonderful thread.

The book UCHIGATANA GOSHIRAE published by the National Museum has quite a few koshirae with leather wrapped tsuka. I also have one wrapped with deer hide.

I have had many tsuka wrapped with leather for people and have heard no complaints. Talking to people at tameshigiri get togethers, most preferred leather for the wear and the fact that it tightens up nicely when done correctly. It provides an excellent grip, wet or dry....

Indeed, as has been mentioned repeatedly, it was the material of choice in earlier times when swords were actually used. That should say something.

I agree with Keith. Cotton is second rate. Therefore, due to your tactile issues with leather, there is really no choice....

Leather wrap. blade is dated 1704 one peg hole.I think it is period handle to blade

Bernard

My Sensei practiced Iaido in Japan for over ten years. He uses leather. Your question finds me perplexed. If you have been in the same Dojo for any amount of time -- ask your Sensei. In Japan leather is used often.

John A

I've been collecting Nihonto for quite a few years & am VP of our local Japanese Sword Society, but have never seen a leather-wrapped tsuka, other than modern..

Different day and age, Ken. Pretty much every high-ranking iaidoka in Japan uses leather on their nihonto, modern or otherwise, so it should only be a choice of what feels best to you. If it was that much of a concern from a historical perspective, there'd be a lot less iaido hanshi using leather. I prefer it too, personally.

For Tsuka-Ito and other materials, you can go to Kevin Jones.

http://www.ryujinswords.com/

Apparently, Urushi/cashew is not exported anymore from Japan by ship and air according to a statement on his site.

Same is available through some sites and on ebay. The way to use same on a new tsuka is described here:

http://www.ausblade.com/images/articles ... /Part1.pdf

KM

Just received my newly wrapped tsuka in black leather. ¥40000 later I couldn't be more happy! This is for my Okamoto Kazumune Katana which is used for tameshigiri and batto kata.

Cheers

Jeremy

Tsunami ito (fake leather) has been good to me and has lasted quite a few seasons now.