Aoi Tsuba - Aoi Tsuba

…In the Heian period, swords were divided into those for ceremonial and military use, and the same was true for tsuba. For the decorative swords of ceremonial use, the Kara tsuba was used, inheriting the style of the Tang daitachi. On the other hand, for the tweezers-shaped tachi and Hyogo Kusari-tachi used for military use, the Aoi tsuba and Shitogi tsuba were used. The Aoi tsuba has a four-leaf shape with ridges in the center of the four sides, and was used for a long time, even for the thread-wrapped tachi used by samurai in the Edo period. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Aoi Tsuba" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…平安時代に入ると太刀は儀仗用と兵仗用とに使い分けられるようになるが，鐔も同様で，儀仗用の飾剣には唐大刀の形式を受けついで唐鐔が使われた。一方，兵仗用の毛抜形（けぬきがた）太刀や兵庫鎖太刀には葵鐔，粢鐔（しとぎつば）が用いられた。葵鐔は四葉形の4辺の中央に稜をたてた形で，江戸時代の武家所用の糸巻太刀まで長く使用されている。…

※「葵鐔」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報