Japanese sword mountings
They were externally featureless save for the needed mekugi-ana[3] to secure the nakago (tang), though sometimes sayagaki (blade information) was also present.
The need for specialized storage is because prolonged koshirae mounting harmed the blade, owing to factors such as the lacquered wood retaining moisture and encouraging corrosion.
Such mountings are not intended for actual combat, as the lack of a tsuba (guard) and proper handle wrappings were deleterious; as such they would likely never make their way onto a battlefield.
A more accurate word is tōsō (刀装), meaning sword-furniture, where tōsōgu (刀装具) are the parts of the mounting in general, and "kanagu" stands for those made of metal.
A koshirae should be presented with the tsuka (hilt) to the left, particularly in times of peace with the reason being that one cannot unsheathe the sword easily this way.
During the Edo period, many formalized rules were put into place: in times of war the hilt should be presented to the right allowing the sword to be readily unsheathed.
The han-dachi (半太刀) koshirae was worn katana-style but included some tachi related fittings such as a kabuto-gane instead of a kashira.
The aikuchi (合口 or 匕首) is a form of koshirae for small swords in which the hilt and the scabbard meet without a crossguard between them.
[6] The word literally means ai ("meeting") + kuchi ("mouth; opening"), in reference to the way the hilt fits directly against the scabbard.
[7][8] Originally used on the koshigatana (a precursor to the wakizashi) to facilitate close wearing with armour,[6][9] it became a fashionable upper-class mounting style for a tantō (literally, "small sword", nowadays regarded as a dagger) from the Kamakura period onwards.
The shikomizue (仕込み杖, "prepared cane") or jotō (杖刀, "staff sword")[10] is a Japanese swordstick.
The kaiken (懐剣) is an 8–10 inch long, single- or double-edged dagger[11] without ornamental fittings housed in a plain mount, formerly carried by men and women of the samurai class in Japan.
Women carried them in their kimono either in a pocket like fold or in the sleeve [12] for self-defense or for suicide by means of slashing the jugular veins and carotid artery in the left side of the neck.
The saya of a koshirae (scabbards for practical use) are normally manufactured from very lightweight wood, with a coat of lacquer on the exterior.
Fuchi (縁), a cap type collar or ferrule which covers the opening in the tsuka of a Japanese sword.
The tsuba (鍔, or 鐔) is usually a round (or occasionally squarish) guard at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons, like the katana and its variations, tachi, wakizashi, tantō, naginata etc.
Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudō.
