Three things - things to see

There are three types of metal fittings for sword fittings: kozuka, kogai, and menuki. Kozuka is the handle of a small knife (kogatana) that is inserted into the sword's sheath, kogai is a spatula-shaped metal fitting that is placed in the sword's sheath, and menuki is a decorative metal fitting attached to the handle. Menuki is attached to a tachi (tachi), while kozuka and kogai are attached to the koshigatana (scabbard) that is worn on the waist when the tachi is worn on the shoulder, but during the Muromachi period when uchigatana (katana) became common instead of tachi, they also began to be attached to uchigatana. Until the early Edo period, only menuki and kogai were used, and kozuka was not included, but eventually sets of the same three pieces came to be respected. It was mainly made by successive craftsmen of the Goto family (Goto Yujo).

[Nobuo Ogasawara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

刀装（拵(こしらえ)）用の金具で、小柄(こづか)、笄(こうがい)、目貫(めぬき)の3種をいう。小柄は刀の鞘(さや)に差し添える小刀(こがたな)の柄、笄は刀の鞘に挟む箆(へら)状の金具、目貫は柄につける飾り金物である。目貫は太刀(たち)につき、小柄、笄は太刀を佩用(はいよう)するとき腰に差した腰刀(こしがたな)（鞘巻(さやまき)）につくが、太刀にかわって打刀(うちがたな)が一般化した室町期には、打刀にもつくようになった。江戸時代初期までは目貫、笄の二所物で小柄は含まれなかったが、やがて三所同作の揃(そろ)い物が尊重されるようになった。おもに後藤家（後藤祐乗(ゆうじょう)）代々の工人によってつくられた。

［小笠原信夫］

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