Akasaka tsuba with Bows and Arrows

Edo Period, 17th - 18th Century

Iron pierced with positive openwork design

Diameter: 7.8 x 7.6 cm

Thickness: 7 mm

Specifications: Tatemarugata tetsu-ji, ji-sukashi, marumimi

NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsogu

Elegant iron tsuba with positive openwork design of four bows and arrowheads pointing inwards. The hitsuana obtained from the bows’ shapes.

Arrows are symbolic of the samurai, especially during the Muromachi period, when bows where used much more often than swords during battles. A subject of arrows on a tsuba may have been a vow to improve martial skills or a prayer to the god of war for protection.

Akasaka sword guards were manufactured in the Akasaka area of Edo, starting in the Kan-ei era (l648) and continuing until the ninth year of Meiji (1876). The style reminds Owari rather than Kyo tsuba and some believe that the first two masters, both named Tadamasa, came from the Owari region.

Akasaka tsuba often are made of three layers of metal welded together and this can be seen in the inside of the rim of this one.

The tsuba comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsogu certificate (fitting especially worth of preservation) issued by Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai.