Tsuba Yagyū

Three Stars in a Triangle (sansei-sankaku)

84x83 mm

Thickness: 5.2 mm

Origami: the tsuba comes with a hozon tosogu certificate issued by the NBTHK.

The design is one of the best-known and elegant from the famous Yagyū school. There are different interpretations about it: some say that it represents the three basic studies of Buddhism (sangaku), which are kaigaku (precepts), jōgaku (contemplation and meditation), and eigaku (wisdom). But in Yagyu Toshikane Ren’ya’s teachings we find also the term “sanma no kurai” that means “Three Ways of Learning” which are narai (learning), keiko (training), and kufū (to work actively on what you have learned and trained); according to Ren’ya, these three elements are essentially the route that one has to follow to improve his swordsmanship. Others suggest that the meaning of the mitsuboshi-sankaku motif that it stands for the so-called “sangaku'en no tachi”, a group of sword kata of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. Furthermore YagyūToshinaga, the 20th head of the Yagyû-Shinkage-ryūin his “Shōden-Shinkage-ryū” talks about mind/heart, sword, and body, embedded into a circle, which stands for the desired ability to change  different techniques and to flow smoothly from one movement to another.

The fourth master of the Yagyū school of military art was Yagyu Toshikane Ren’ya. Having devoted his entire life to samurai traditions in the service of the Tokugawa family, it is not surprising that he became interested in the designs of swordguards. Under his influence the artisans began producing sword guards that expressed  the code go the Yagyu warrior. All the symbolic designs are said represent Yagyū sword defending techniques and strategy. 

Renya’s involvement in the production of swords guards is thought to have spanned two decades, between 1661 and 1681.