Karatsuba - Karatsuba

...The long swords of the Kofun period include the ring-headed long sword, the head-backed long sword, and the keel-headed long sword, and their tsuba (guards) are made of gilt bronze or iron, and many are inverted egg-shaped, with wheel-shaped openwork and iron with gold and silver spiral inlays. Looking at the tsuba of the long swords of the Nara period that have been preserved in the Shosoin Repository, they are generally small in shape, and in addition to simple sheet metal, the tsuba of the Karatachi style was used. In the Heian period, the long swords came to be used for ceremonial and military purposes, and the same was true for the tsuba, and the tsuba of the ceremonial swords inherited the style of the Karatachi and was used for the decorative swords of the ceremonial swords. ...

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

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…古墳時代の大刀（たち）には環頭大刀，頭椎大刀，圭頭大刀などがあるが，その鐔は金銅あるいは鉄製で，多くが倒卵形をし，車輪状に透かしを施したり，鉄には金･銀で渦巻文を象嵌（ぞうがん）するなど，装飾を加えたものもすでにみられる。奈良時代では，正倉院に伝わる太刀の鐔をみると，概して形は小さく，単なる板金製のほか，唐大刀（からたち）形式の作には分銅形の唐鐔（からつば）が用いられている。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。…

※「唐鐔」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