Nihonto Message Board

[myochin]

Hello,

I have just been reading the "Tokugawa Jikki" (Yamanaka & Murtha) and was utterly amazed at the amount of sword-swapping that went on during the Edo period between Daimyô and Samurai.
What I have been wondering is were all these swords fully mounted in koshirae or where they (sometimes) offered in shirasaya. I know that a Samurai may have had several sets of koshirae for a giving sword to change to according to the occasion but I don't have any history of the shirasaya.

Does anyone know when the custom of using a shirasaya started ?

Many thanks,
Paul.

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Hi Paul.

In the section about scabbard (pp 145-146) in "The craft of the japanese
sword" by Yoshihara is stated that

quote...
plain wooden scabbard have been found from early Edo period, when
they were used for safekeeping of swords donated to Shrines.
These early Shirazaya were crudely made and were oval or eight-sided
in cross section.
In later Edo period, some wealthy Samurai who wore full mountings
when they took their swords outside would replace them with plain
wooden scabbard for storage at home.
These storage scabbards were called Yasumezaya (resting scabbards) or
aburazaya (oil scabbards). After 1876, when the Meiji government
proscribed the wearing of swords, the importance of full mountings
declined. For a sword that could not be carried about in public a plain
wrapper was sufficient.
...unquote.

Interesting topic and I would be glad is anybody adds some more info.

Cheers.

[myochin]

Many thanks Carlo for your very quick reply.
This answers my questions.

Paul.