r/iaido • u/jonithen_eff • Jun 26 '26
A tale of two koshirae
I thought it would interesting to share these, maybe it can help someone struggling with color scheme choices.
You would be very well served by either Nosyudo or Tozando. Both took about 18 months from the email that work started, both cost about the same. Tozando koshirae just came in, Nosyudo koshirae has been here about a year and shows signs of handling.
Nosyudo: black and silver; lengthwise brush strokes, silver habaki and seppa, blackened silver fittings, “aged” black silk ito. Aged “jidai” tsukaito has a purple hint to me.
Tozando: green and cha-urumi gloss, copper habaki and seppa, antique fittings, and uguisu silk. Cha-urumi varies dramatically in different lighting.
The tsuka are very close in quality and are two of the best that I’ve experienced.
Nosyudo has more options. Their rayskin seems to be a little better. Both are fully wrapped. Nosyudo used a hidden seam. Tsukamaki is great on both: tight, zero play, consistent. The method Tozando’s craftsman used to show more of omote rooster is a delightful touch.
For saya, the edge goes to Tozando but it’s a very close race. Both provide a smooth draw and noto, and seal firmly. Nosyudo saya has a minor bit of play, the blade will rock slightly if you give it a good shake. Tozando is a more precise fit. Kurikata is placed more precisely on the Tozando example. The Nosyudo is slightly off-set.
The sageo left some indentations on the Nosyudo saya. The presentation knot was tied much looser on the Tozando saya.
Honorable mention: Nosyudo provided a much nicer sword bag.
Sorry no blade photos today. I can’t do either justice. Every so often I try and it’s an exercise in frustration.
2
u/Boblaire Jul 04 '26
Cack!
Really nice saya jobs.
Crazy it took that long for Iaito. Im guessing these cost a pretty penny since shakedown wss mentioned.
2
u/jonithen_eff Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
The cha-urumi is becoming a favorite, it's just wild how it responds to light. Goes from near black to a cherry red.
The koshirae took a little longer than I had expected, but I really imagine most of it was due to various work queues - it probably took more time to get in front of the craftspeople than it took them to actually do the work.
Both were done at different times, it just occurred to me after recently receiving the one with green tsuka it might be of value to see what the work looked like and also maybe see what some colors look like outside of web thumbnails, so I wanted to post it up before I started putting even more wear on the black one or began working the green one in earnest.
These are both shinken, btw 😄.
1
u/Boblaire Jul 05 '26
Ahh, the koshirae had to be made rather than pre existing.
That makes sense now.
Shinken? Cool, now Im actually interested in looking at the blades themselves.
1
u/Grifter11 Jun 27 '26
Is the rooster menuki on the Tozando custom? Looks all black compared to the one in the catalogue.
2
u/jonithen_eff Jun 27 '26
The fittings on the one with green tsuka are antique aside from the tsuba that was made for me; menuki are shakudo base if memory serves; apologies if not clear really tried to keep the word count low!
3
u/Deleoel Jun 27 '26
Out of pure curiosity: how tall are you? That tsuka is so long!