Tsutsu (Japanese Pipe Case)

Tsutsu is the short name for the case made for the Japanese kiseru pipe; its full form is kiseru-zutsu. Since traditional Japanese dress had no pockets, the pipe was tied together with the tobacco pouch on a cord and hung from the sash (obi) wrapped around the waist. The case in this arrangement both protected the pipe's metal fittings from knocks and formed the longest visibly worn piece of the kit. For this reason kiseru cases were regarded as objects displaying their owner's taste rather than mere containers, and some are today classed by museums as sculpture.

Forms by Body Structure

Five names have become established in the collecting literature; three are single-piece designs and two telescope inside each other. This five-way division is more a classification used by the antiques market than a fixed rule; museum catalogues don't always use the same terms.

The single-piece types are carved from a single block and hold the pipe without a lid:

• Otoshi-zutsu: a case hollowed out end to end, open at the top. It is among the most common forms and accepts pipes of different lengths; on the other hand, having no lid, the pipe can fall out and be lost.

• Wari-zutsu: a variant of the otoshi with the mouth split on both sides. Because the edges of the split grip the pipe, the risk of it falling out is lower, though examples are rare.

• Senryu-zutsu: a cage-like case whose body is left largely open. The pipe sits between a notch that holds the bowl and a ring that the stem passes through. This design lightens the case, but also makes it more prone to breaking.

The two telescoping forms close like a telescope:

• Muso-zutsu: a tube in which a thin upper piece slides into a thicker lower piece. When closed, the diameter of the upper piece is visible to the eye. Because its length can be adjusted to some extent, it fits different pipes, and is considered the most commonly encountered type.

• Aikuchi-zutsu: closes on the same principle as the muso, but the upper piece is worked with two diameters; when closed, the case looks like a single, unbroken cylinder of one diameter. Since its length cannot be adjusted, it must have been made for a specific pipe. It is noted to be scarcer, though its workmanship is said to be above average. Its name comes from the term aikuchi, describing the tsuba-less dagger fitting whose scabbard meets its hilt without a break.

Material and Craftsmanship

The great majority of cases are carved from wood or deer antler. Since both deer antler and bamboo are already hollow inside, a long, narrow body can be produced from these materials with little additional work. Ivory, though an easily worked material, is rarely seen: carving out a case end to end turns most of an expensive block into shavings. Lacquer cases are more often found in the two telescoping designs; the most commonly seen type, made by lacquering woven reed, bamboo, or tightly twisted paper (ganpi), is known as nagato-zutsu. Leather and cloth cases, on the other hand, are common in the otoshi design; sources note that until the mid-19th century most cases and tobacco pouches were made from these two materials. Cases made from hardened paper are also said to have been common, though few have survived to the present.

Craftsmanship ranges widely: alongside everyday workshop pieces there are also examples signed by leading netsuke masters of the period. As for size, most cases were made to the roughly 18–20 centimeter bamboo-shanked rao-kiseru; museum collections also hold examples up to 25 centimeters, so this range should not be taken as a strict limit. Cases made end to end for the fully metal nobe-kiseru are rare.

Its Place in the Kit and Weapon Variants

The case is one link in the ensemble of items hung from the sash (sagemono); it was designed together with the cinching bead threaded on the cord (ojime) and the tobacco pouch. Museum records also include kits in which the case itself served as the toggle attaching the ensemble to the sash. How the pieces were assembled together is detailed in the entry on the Japanese personal smoking kit.

A small number of cases have a defensive purpose. Examples made of heavy metal are known, as are mechanisms that look like an aikuchi-zutsu from outside but conceal a dagger when opened. Pieces called teppo-zutsu, meanwhile, are not cases at all: they are firearms given the appearance of an otoshi-zutsu. The Japanese terms used in this entry are gathered in the glossary of Japanese pipe terms.