Please excuse the poor photos. They were taken by me through display case glass, in poor light, no flash, no tripod, etc. Hopefully they are enough to serve as an introduction to some of the earliest surviving sword fittings.
Iron Hoju Tsuba with inlay, ca. 600
Tokyo National Museum
This is a typical form of iron hoju tsuba. I have seen several similar examples with silver inlay. It appears to be inlayed in hirazogan style. Think about many Edo period tsuba have missing inlay. These early pieces are partially rusted away, but the inlay is still intact after 1,500 years. These are sophisticated, fully realized tsuba. Note that technically similar inlay is sometimes found on the sword blades of the time, such as the kokuho from Funayama tumulus in Kumamoto.
Gilt copper (?) Hoju Tsuba
Tokyo National Museum
Note the nicely formed rim. Again, the techniques used to produce our familiar fittings were in use very early on. These soft metal examples are usually in fairly good shape. The workmanship seen on horse trappings of the same time is very similar.
Bronze pommels covered in gold.
Left: Excavated from Shoguyama Tumulus, Gyoda-Shi, Saitma; 6th C
Right: Excavated in Korea; 6th C
Tokyo National Museum
The consensus these days is that the earliest swords in Japan were either brought from or sent by the "kingdoms" of what we now call the Korean peninsula. After that, raw materials from the continent were worked in Japan, probably by emigrant craftsmen. Eventually, native Japanese materials and techniques evolved and gave rise to what we recognize as Nihonto today.
Kanto Tachi Pommel
Matsumai (?) Tumulus, Kisarazu-shi
6th C
Approx 4" diameter
Tokyo National Museum
Tokyo National Museum
Tokyo National Museum
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