S010 - Ku Yo 九曜透

Tsuba shape (八つ木瓜形, Hatsu Boke Gata). Design of Kuyō (九曜), the 9 planets, in Sukashi (透), opening. Rounded border Maru Mimi.

• Height: 86 mm
• Width: 86 mm
• Thickness: 5.0 mm
• Weight: 165 g

This Tsuba has a Kuyō (九曜) motif. It is the coat of arms or Mon (紋) of the Hosokawa clan who ruled the prefecture of Higo, now Kumamoto prefecture. This domain was given to them by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the battle of Sekigahara.
Miyamoto Musashi lived there and wrote his martial treatise 'Gorin no Sho' at the invitation of his patron Hosokawa Tadatoshi.
This My cosmogonic, from the 'Navagraha' of Hindu mythology, represents 9 planets of which 7 correspond to the days of the week/ planets (Monday/ Moon, Tuesday/ March, Wednesday/ Mercury, Thursday/ Jupiter, Friday/ Venus, Saturday/ Saturn, Sunday/ Sun), to which Ragou 羅睺 and Keito 計都 are added.
Ragou (Rahu) is the god of the eclipse, also called "Head of the dragon", it represents the ascending node of the moon in relation to the equatorial plane of the earth.
Keito (Ketu), also called "Dragon's Tail", represents the node descending from the moon relative to the equatorial plane of the earth.
These 9 planets influence human destinies and the course of nature.
This Tsuba has a great similarity with a Tsuba attributed to Hikozo Hirata, 2^nd generation, from the beginning of the Edo period.