Tsuba - Tsuba

Japanese: 鐔∥鍔 - つば

In ancient times, it was called "Tomiha" and was read as "Tsumiha" in the Wamyōshō. It was placed at the boundary between the blade and the handle and protected the fist from the enemy's blade. The long swords of the Kofun period included the ring-headed long sword, the head-backed long sword, and the head-backed long sword, and their tsuba were made of gilt bronze or iron, and many were inverted egg-shaped, with wheel-shaped openwork and iron inlaid with gold and silver spiral patterns. Looking at the tsuba of the long swords of the Nara period that have been preserved in the Shosoin Repository, they were generally small in shape, and in addition to being made of simple sheet metal, the tsuba of the Chinese long sword (Karatachi) style used a weight-shaped Chinese tsuba.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

古くは〈都美波〉として《和名抄》は〈つみは〉と読んでいる。刀身と柄の境にかけ，敵の刃から拳を守った。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。

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

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