'Ninja' tsuba with papers.

[Hector]

This tsuba is currently for sale on the Japanese Yahoo Auction website.

If my translation is correct, the seller claims it to be some kind of ninja artefact. What it actually is, I leave to the experts here.

 

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l1208828191

 

 

[Spartancrest]

It is a type of tsuba that does not need a Katana Kake - [sword stand] as the flat base will allow the sword to lay blade up without rolling on any flat surface. It also has udenuki-ana but probably just as a form of adornment. Nice piece  - beyond my pay grade! 

 

The Yahoo advert says it is "unique" but that is far from the truth.  Nothing about it is "Ninja"

 

Edited Saturday at 01:08 PM by Spartancrest

[Jake6500]

The very use of the term "ninja" amongst historians is highly contentious in and of itself. What even was a "ninja" and where did the concept come from?

 

The weird mythologised blend of ikko-ikki peasant roots, espionage and what could bluntly be referred to as "magic" prompt many scholars of the period to avoid use of the term altogether. I cannot think of any equivalent class (real or mythologised) in Western culture...

 

Maybe a DnD Paladin? 

Edited Sunday at 05:23 AM by Jake6500

[ROKUJURO]

It is a typical NINJA TSUBA. They could stand the TSUBA upright and hide behind it to not be seen. There is some literature about the "Invisible NINJA"!  Secret lifted!

[Grey Doffin]

I believe this is referred to as Ninja is because, with a sturdy saya, the Ninja could lean the sword against a wall, point down and with the flat of the tsuba against the wall, step on the projecting opposite edge of the tsuba and get a boost in climbing over. The flat stops the tsuba from rolling. 

I have been told that there is little evidence ninja ever existed. Makes a good story, though.

Grey

[Kantaro]

I never buy Ninja Tsuba without papers.

[lonely panet]

its a nice piece of iron,  interesting idea.

 

but ninja hahahahha

 

some idiot paid 500,000

[Spartancrest]

[Bugyotsuji]

Ninja Rule Number One

Leave no proof you ever existed.

[Kantaro]

Some say that with this devise the invisible Ninja could hit you from around the corner.

Edited Monday at 09:03 AM by Kantaro

[JohnTo]

Hi, No one seems to have mentioned that the NBTHK Hozon attributes the tsuba as mumei: Mito

 

best regards, John

[Hector]

On 11/29/2025 at 10:02 PM, Spartancrest said:

It is a type of tsuba that does not need a Katana Kake - [sword stand] as the flat base will allow the sword to lay blade up without rolling on any flat surface. It also has udenuki-ana but probably just as a form of adornment. Nice piece  - beyond my pay grade! 

 

The Yahoo advert says it is "unique" but that is far from the truth.  Nothing about it is "Ninja"

 

That's the logical explanation I was hoping for Dale! 😁👍

 

I think the whole 'ninja' grift comes from the word 'shinobi' (忍者) written on the box lid (if I'm reading it right).

 

Best,

Hector

[Bugyotsuji]

忍者

Can be read either ‘Shinobi mono’ or 

‘Ninja’, often shortened in speech to ‘Shinobi’.

 

A woman in this role could be referred to as ‘Kunoichi’ = く　ノ　一

(The sound suggests possibly: ‘First in suffering’, or ‘one of the most stressful things in life’)

Write those three sounds in order and you get 女 Onna.

 

[lonely panet]

the bullshits back with jauce.

 

looks like hes recjected the very nice offer of 500,000 yen and relisted it

★A rare masterpiece! Iron Tsuba with a unique hammered surface and a pattern of proverbs and characters, unsigned, Mito, important sword fittings grade, double-hitsu-ana (holes), ninja tsuba, uchikaeshimi (mimi) pattern, paulownia wood box [Tsuba 15] | Jauce Shopping Service | Yahoo Japan Auctions. eBay Japan