Kogai
Kōgai ( Japanese 笄 ) denotes on the one hand decorative hairpins, on the other hand the so-called sword needle, which in feudal Japan was often attached to the sword ( katana , wakizashi or tachi ) together with the Kozuka accessory knife . Openings in the tsuba (the guard plate ) of the sword were usually used for this purpose , as well as pockets on the sides of the saya (sword scabbard).
Sword needle
The exact purpose of the sword needle is controversial. Probably the most martial explanation is that the samurai (warrior) often had to show his master the heads of the opponents defeated on the battlefield. The kogai therefore served as a kind of sewing needle to thread the severed heads, from which bundori (war trophies) were often made, onto a piece of string, because every direct contact with the dead was viewed in Shinto as a staining of the soul. It has been taught from childhood that this is something terrible and unclean. The end of the handle of the Kozuka is often shaped accordingly or provided with an eyelet to attach a string to it. Some historians also believe that the sword needle could have been used to pin up the hair or to fasten the hair knot. There are also special forms of the Kogai , which consisted of two halves and were used as chopsticks in the field .
The sword needle, like an awl, was most likely used to repair the movable armor parts connected with silk ribbon or the winding of the sword hilt.
Hairpin
Hairpins were popular in the Genroku period (1688–1704) when intricate topknots ( mage ) became fashionable. Together with the decorative hairpins ( kanzashi ) they served as clothing accessories and were made from wood, bamboo, tortoiseshell ( 鼈甲 , bekkō ), glass and the like. a. manufactured.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Moriya Masahiko et alii (eds.): 日本 美術 図 解事 典 ( Visual Dictionary of Japanese Art) . Tokyo Bijutsu, Tokyo 2012, ISBN 978-4-8087-0939-6 , pp. 212 .