Tosogu / Inro / Netsuke / Okimono

Tōsōgu 刀装具

Tōsōgu 刀装具 refers to the artistic, decorative, and functional metal fittings used on traditional Japanese swords. 

Key components of Tōsōgu include:

Tsuba 鍔: The hand guard situated between the blade and the handle. It protected the hands and balanced the weapon.

Fuchi-Kashira 縁頭: The collar and pommel that secure the hilt (tsuka).

Menuki 目貫: Ornamental metal pieces placed under the handle wrap to improve grip and add aesthetic flair.

Kozuka  小柄 & Kōgai  笄: A small utility knife and a decorative hairpin stored in the scabbard. Artisans used materials like iron, copper, bronze, and specialized alloys like shakudo (copper and gold) and shibuichi (copper and silver).

Materials:


Kozuka / Kogai were traditionally made from base metals, which acquired their characteristic colors through highly specialized alloys and finishing techniques of Japanese metalworking (Kodogu)


Shakudō 赤銅  One of the most important alloys in feudal Japan, consisting of copper with a small proportion of gold (approx. 2–5%). Through a special  chemical surface treatment (patination), this metal takes on a deep black, bluish-violet coloration reminiscent of dark velvet.


Shibuichi 四分一  An alloy of copper and silver (literally “one quarter,” as it often contains 25% silver). It produces refined shades ranging from silver-    gray to olive and brown tones.


Sentoku 宣徳  A special Japanese brass alloy. It consists of copper, zinc, tin, and sometimes a little lead. It is characterized by a warm, deep yellow to golden-brown hue and was highly valued for depicting autumn landscapes or certain animal motifs.


Shinchū 真鍮  A plain, lighter brass. It was often used for simpler pieces, for purely everyday use, or as a contrasting inlay.


Iron - Tetsu 鉄  While non-ferrous metals dominated, well-forged iron kozuka are considered especially elegant among connoisseurs. They often have a dark rust patina (Sabiji) and were decorated with deep, swift chisel engravings (Katakiri-bori). They appear more masculine and more purist.

 

Gold - Kin 金  Rarely used in pure form for the entire handle; it served primarily for valuable inlays, fine chasing, and accents to visually highlight

certain motifs.


Silver - Gin 銀  Rarely used in pure form for the entire handle; it served primarily for valuable inlays, fine chasing, and accents to visually highlight certain motifs.



Surface Textures:


To give the designs depth, various textures were worked into the metal.


Nanako-ji 魚子地  Fish-roe pattern. An extremely elaborate technique in which the background was punched with tiny, perfectly even, round dots. It gives the surface a fine, grainy structure that refracts the light.


Ishime-ji 石目地  An irregular texturing reminiscent of a rough stone surface.

 

Taka-bori 高彫 High-relief carvings in which the figures stand out three-dimensionally from the handle.


Kebori 毛彫り  Fine hairline engravings.



Well known Styles:


The Goto Style (Traditional & Refined): Typical reference images here mostly show deep black shakudō with the finest fish-roe pattern (Nanako-ji) and refined gold inlays depicting dragons or lions. It was regarded as the official court style.


The Kaga Style (Flat Inlays): Images of this kind often show handles of dark iron into which floral patterns were inlaid flat and flush (Kaga-Zogan).


The Machi-Bori Style (Creative & Popular): From the late Edo period onward, overview images show drastically changed designs – from landscapes and satirical scenes of everyday life to skeletal depictions, often made from shibuichi.

Inro 印籠

An Inro 印籠 is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects, suspended from the obi (sash) worn around the waist when wearing a kimono. 


They are often highly decorated with various materials such as lacquer and various techniques such as maki-e, and are more decorative than other Japanese lacquerware.


Because traditional Japanese dress lacked pockets, objects were often carried by hanging them from the obi in containers known as sagemono (a hanging object attached to a sash). Most sagemono were created for specialized contents, such as tobacco, pipes, writing brush and ink, but the type known as inro is suitable for carrying small things, and was created in the Sengoku period (1467–1615) as a portable identity seal and medicine container for travel.

How to tie an inro musubi step by step.


Netsuke 根付

Netsuke 根付 are small Japanese sculptures, originally designed to decorate traditional clothing accessories. The word netsuke is formed of two Japanese characters:

根 (ne) meaning root 

付 (tsuke) meaning attached

Netsuke were crafted as a type of toggle to open and close a small pouch called an Inro, as kimono robes did not feature pockets. Over time, this functional item became more elaborate and detailed, before finally becoming an established artistic medium. Typically hand carved in wood or ivory, netsuke have been produced for hundreds of years. Most popular during Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867), netsuke began to decline in use and production during the late 19th century as clothes became less traditional and their functionality was no longer required. 

54 of the best and most famous Netsukeshi are recorded by Inaba Tsūryū in the 1781 Soken Kisho 装剣奇賞 in Osaka.

Contemporary netsuke at it´s best

Fumio Noguchi, born 1964 in Gunma, Japan is a former journalist and now a fulltime Bone Carver / Netsukeshi from Nelson, New Zealand. He worked as an Editor for a Magazine in Tokyo and emigrated to New Zealand in 1999.

I recently bought my first genuine contemporary netsuke from him, and let me tell you, I am absolutely thrilled.

Imagine what happens when a Māori toa meets a Samurai and visit Fumio’s website to see for yourself the wonderful works that emerge from these two cultures.



Okimono 置物 

An Okimono 置物 may be a small Japanese carving, similar to, but larger than netsuke. Unlike netsuke, which have a specific purpose, okimono are purely decorative and are displayed in the tokonoma. This view has however sometimes been questioned, with some suggesting that okimono often had both utilitarian and decorative purposes, especially before Western influence. An okimono can be made out of wood, ivory, ceramic or metal.


One subcategory of okimono is the jizai okimono, an articulated figure, typically of an animal, made out of bronze or iron. Okimono are normally not larger than a few centimetres. They depict all sorts of animals, mythological beasts, humans, gods, fruit, vegetables and objects, sometimes combined with each other, in all sorts of positions. Sometimes a scene is portrayed as well, either a daily scene or from a story.