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Grade 9 and 10 students at THINK Global School explore
Japanese Cultural Crafts and Ceremonies
Object
For my art project I carved fourdifferent Tsubas out of rubber. Each one represents a different season so each have their own shape and theme this brings out the individuality of each Japanese season. Spring is delicate and round while winter is sharp and harsh. I chose to carve them with the theme of seasons because Japanese people take great pride of the individuality of each season that they have and how there are four distinct seasons in the year. I carved them each by hand and they are each unique.
The Edo period and the following Meji Revolution along with the outlawing of swords changed the use of the tsuba from a practical instrument to a piece of art. This statement may raise the questions of, what is a Tsuba? What was it used for? And what did the Meji Revolution have to do with changing the use of it? To answer these questions the Tsuba is the hand guard on a Katana sword or Wakizashi. They were made by special artisans who spent their entire lives only making tsubas. This leads to a long history that has caused the tsuba itself to be very different today then it was 2,000 years ago.
How to Make Your Own Tsuba
The Making and the History of the Tsuba
Alexis' project focuses on the tsuba; the hand guard on katanas and other Japanese swords.
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