Kodzuka. A small companion of a Japanese sword. Skralvetsky E.B.

The publication in 2006 of the book “Tsuba - Legends on Metal”, dedicated to the study of the main element of the frame of the Japanese sword, prompted the author to continue the further study of other elements of the artistic frame.

The reader is provided in this book for the first time (for the first time (for the first time In domestic literature) get acquainted with Kodzuk and Kogai - two auxiliary tools included in the set of the frame of Japanese cold weapons.

auxiliary tools (knife, nameplate, as well as cutlery fork and knife) accompany the cold (often hunting) Weapons of many peoples of the world. As a rule, these subjects themselves are not an object of separate study and collecting. Only Japan is an exception to this rule.

tsuba, Kodzuka and Kogai “separated” from the blade and have long been living an independent life in art. They can no longer be called purely applied elements of the sword, since they are made as an independent and self -sufficient work of jewelry.

the frame of Japanese cold weapons - not just a beautiful design of the blade and scabbard, but the synthesis of jewelry, exquisite design with history and the culture of an amazing country.

The first part of the book contains information about the history of the emergence, materials and technologies used in the manufacture of Kodzuk and Kogai.

The second part presents the Codzuka and Kogai catalog from private Meetings of St. Petersburg.

The comments on subjects tells about the myths and legends of ancient Japan, which have been reflected on the surface of Kodzuk and Kogai. The entire range of plots depicting ancient heroes, the inhabitants of the mythical and real world, the fauna and flora of the country of the rising sun, its customs, holidays and household items are widely represented. specialists, and for a wide range of readers who are not indifferent to the thousand -year history of the Japanese sword - the spiritual symbol of samurai.