Читать книгу Mingei: Japan's Enduring Folk Arts - Amaury Saint-Gilles - Страница 8

1	HOKKAIDO
	AINU TEBORI-BACHI

Hokkaido is Japan’s youngest region, being settled by the Japanese only a century ago. To find what may truly be classified as folk art there, one has to go beyond that time period and seek work from the Ainu culture. The Ainu had long lived in this area and although much of their tradition has been both suppressed and altered since the Meiji era, they continue to create original works although not in great quantity. Several villages, where the majority of the residents are blood-related Ainu, (full Ainu being a rarity these days) have school-factories for woodcarving. Many of the designs are commercially inspired like letter-holders with a bearded countenance and a long-haired lass in traditional garb, while sculpture seldom seems to vary from a bear firmly gumming a salmon.

The problem is that both of these styles are made by a host of factories and in some cases even imported from South Korea where hand labor is considerably cheaper, thereby gaining another market edge on souvenirs. Where Ainu carvers have the distinct upper hand is in the making of exquisitely finished bowls and assorted food equipment. Items they have traditionally hand made for their own use are now being made in limited quantity for the buying public. The difference in quality between the average and most easily found souvenir carving and a bowl, perhaps like the one shown in the sketch, is like night and day. Pride in craftsmanship imbued in such a finegrained wooden bowl shines subtlely through. The soft, velvety finish inside and out, as well as the intricately patterned design on its winglike handles, demonstrates the maker’s love of craft and the care with which he fashions a product worthy of respect and deserving of use.

Outside of food products like smoked salmon and any of a number of unusal flowering plants peculiar to the wilds of this northermost island, the only sensible souvenir is Ainu-associated folk art. The best and consequently more costly is hand-carved work that is functional but not overly decorated. Carved patterning serves only to enhance each object and not to dominate it. Spoons, serving bowls in a range of sizes and thick slabs of hardwood made into traditional chopping blocks, each with border edge patterning and a shallow indented keeping well carved into the flat cutting surface are available intermittently. Most such production is made for use within the community.

2	AOMORI
	YAWATA-UMA

Honshu’s northernmost prefecture, Aomori, has many fine examples of folk art throughout its mountainous region. Most have their origins in the hard life climatic extremes created seasonally.

Historically, YAWATA-UMA are related to feudal castle life at Nejo, a suburb of Hachinohe on the Pacific coast. Nejo samurai customs included yearly demonstrations of martial prowess in “Yabusame” contests: bow and arrow shooting at a stationary target from a galloping horse. Yabusame events were regularly held on the grounds of Yawata Jingu, a Shinto shrine dedicated to Hachiman, the god of war. These memorable occasions eventually evolved into a set festival for all area residents. Nowadays it is regularly held on Aug. 15. Scores of stalls in and around the shrine offer visitors these miniature horse mementoes recalling the samurai and their mounts of yesteryear.

The horse became a popular symbol and souvenir of the area about the time of the Meiji restoration when an itinerant woodworker settled in Tenguzawa, just to the south of Hachinohe. As supplemental income to what he earned by producing lacquerware, he fashioned a number of small chargers using only an ax and chisel. His roughly formed horses were decoratively painted and sold at the yearly Yawata Jingu festival. Popularity spurred productivity and soon many local residents were using snowbound winter days to advantage by fashioning similar Yawata-uma. Inset horse hair manes and tails add to the charm of the toys as much as does the brocadelike painted decoration which resembles the armour samurai mounts used to wear.

Yawata-uma come in a variety of sizes — from the truly minature (as big as your thumbnail) to child size. They come in two basic colors — red and black. A good guess as to why goes back to the original occupation of the first producer. Being primarily a lacquer artisan, his trade typically used these two colors almost exclusively. A nice holdover from the past.

3	IWATE
	ONI-ARARE-GAMA

Iwate-ken is part of what is logically called “snow country.” Straddling lattitude 40 N, Iwate includes Honshu’s furthest east cape. It is also the home for Nambu tetsubin, iron kettles that are but one of several regional folk art specialities to derive their name from the feudal clan that maintained a castle in Morioka when the prefecture was known as the Nambu district. Iron ware is made in several localities about Japan but Iwate’s are the most renowned.

Iron wares have a relatively short life in comparison to many other metals but the availability of iron ore and an abundant supply of fuel made it a natural material for folk art craftsmen. Forging and casting are the two main modes of ironware production with casting used for Nambu tetsubin. This involves making a sand mold into which will ultimately flow the liquid metal. Creating this mold is time-consuming and an art in itself, the quality of the finished product dependent on the quality of the mold. Fineness of finish is determined by the inner surface of the sand mold.

Using dampened sand, the ironworker creates a negative of what he hopes to cast. Often a wooden copy of the pot to be made is forced into the prepared sand and carefully removed. The portion of the cast that creates the inner body is made in a similar but reverse manner. After it has been dried the sand mold attains a remarkable stability despite its fragile component. When the two parts are fitted together, the space between echoes the pot to be cast. To be filled with molten iron and then cooled, the completed mold is halfway to a completed vessel.

Everything from bulky hibachi to fist-size teapots are made of iron. The ONI-ARARE-GAMA shown, literally meaning “hail-stone,” is used to heat water and gains its name from the bumpy knobs all over its outer surface. Patterns vary from pictorial scenes to simple but effectively pleasing decorations that barely suggest tuffs of grasses along a meandering stream.

Iwate is one place to find tetsubin in abundance and Morioka, the prefectural seat, is where one can find the widest selection of traditionally made wares. Although anonymity of the maker is a passing feature of this craft, the mingei flavor of testsubin is indelible and will last as long as Nambu wares are made.

4	AKITA
	IWAI-GERA

Among the many Tohoku folk crafts are a number of items using natural fibers. Everything from snow boots and bundling baskets to winnows and rain-capes are created from a variety of native flora. Most common are straw creations because this plant fiber is abundantly found as a byproduct of two staple Japanese crops: barley/wheat and rice.

Raincapes, MINO in Japanese, are found in almost every prefecture, although no two areas seem to share the same style or production techniques. Differences range from material variety through embellishment patterning to outright function. Assorted flora: rice and barley straw, sedge or water reed, join the coarse but durable crisscross hempen palm fiber as mino making materials. Bark of the Japanese lime (bodaiju) and cypress (itohiba) trees are also used but mention of flora was not meant to be misleading. Perhaps the term stretches enough to fit the tough, black-green seaweed (nori) often used in decorative tandem with one of the lighter hued grasses or barks.

Akita-ken is one of the northern areas where a peculiarly beautful and unusual raincape is still made and used. One finds that deep in the rural regions, customs are both respected and practiced. Mino were and are used as gifts of felicitation between men and women, marks of affection if you will. When so used, they’re called IWAI-GERA. They can also be referred to as DATE-GERA or showy mino. Being attractive apparel, the iwai-gera of Akita-ken are in a class apart. A neckband of three of four colors in a pattern maintains the yoke shape of the flowing mino. The dark strands are meter lengths of sun-cured seaweed that shed water most effectively while remaining supple and useful for years. These same nori strands are used sparsely in mino from several other districts purely as decoration. The normal design has several stripes of softened lime bark used decoratively against a sold background of cured nori. Each spaghetti-thin strand is attached to a netting of the same material to form a backing for the rainwear.

Needless to say, these mino are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. Nothing can be done to alter this trend because the making of such mino from collecting necessary materials right through finishing, requires time, talent and considerable cost. That they survive to this day and age is testimony to die-hard, age-old customs and the support of contemporary folk art collectors. May both endure for the generations to come. Two photos appear on page 134.

5	YAMAGATA
	ITTO-BORI

Yamagata-ken is an area rich with historical traditions. In the south of this Tohoku prefecture is a mountain called Sasano-yama or bamboo mountain. When Japan was first becoming a complete nation in terms of territory, Sasano—yama was an important frontier landmark. It was there, on the outskirts of presentday Yone-zawa-shi, that settling Japanese faced the Ainu.

Divided by the mountain, the two groups lived uneasily for only a short time. About 800 A.D. Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro was dispatched by the emperor to quell the Ainu. At Sasano-yama he prayed to Senshu Kannon, the 1,000-handed diety, for success against the Ainu and used as symbols for his plea the ITTO-BORI peculiar to this region.

Itto-bori (literally one-knife carvings) were long used to felicitate the Japanese pantheon of gods in this part of Tohoku. An indigenous shrub, aburanko, is used. The technique of carving was borrowed from the Ainu who used similarly shaved work (inau) in their rituals.

The Ainu campaign was highly successful and the emperor’s military emissary eventually drove the Ainu completely from Honshu. They remained semi-isolated only in Hokkaido where today they are prominent minority.

It is not known what form the carvings he presented to Senshu Kannon took but an educated guess is they were probably a hawk with all its war-like and virile symbolism.

The traditions of itto-bori continue with what is popularly known as Sasano-bori. Soft, white aburanko is cut and well seasoned before being laid to the knife. Two special knives are used to shave single posts and achieve the feathered finish. See photos on page 128.

The assortment of birds carved these days ranges from the simple to the rather exotic — the onagadori or longtailed rooster is a fine example of this extreme.

Careful slivering of the carving block creates an array of characteristic birds enhanced by simple surface color. Note the easily recognized line of the sekirei or wag-tail whose bobbing tail feathers can be seen at almost any summer stream.

Sasano-bori can be a perfect gift if characteristics each bird is noted for are matched to the receiver (i.e., roosters for early risers, peacocks for showy people, wag-tails for fertility, etc.) but be careful or you may lose a friend or two!

6	MIYAGI
	KOKESHI

KOKESHI are probably the only mingei-hin known throughout the world. Surprising as it may seem, kokeshi have a relatively recent history. They date from the late Edo period when both leisure time and affluence in farming communities became not just a sought-after dream. Essentially a doll, the kokeshi are believed to have their origins in the practice of spiritualist religion. Dolls fashioned of most any material, including paper and clay, were thought to contain the spiritual essence of the dead and as such were often created for honorary remembrance.

Sumptuary laws surely had a creative hand in the first kokeshi’s form taking. Probably it was a roughly human form turned on a handpowered wood lathe. Without decoration or face, the early kokeshi no doubt looked much like the tumbler-style wooden clothespins my mother used years ago in hanging out the laundry. The addition of decorative clothing a la simple rings of color and the expressive, even suggestive, faces that so many kokeshi wear, turned them from simple children’s toys into works of collectible folk art.

Slight variations in floral and banded patterns occur with sizes ranging from 10 cm to well over 40 cm in height. Each is made from a single piece of finely turned and finished hardwood. Wood varies widely but the most generally used type is the native dogwood which is both fine-grained and light in tone as well as easily available and durable.

Probably the most well-known, Naruko-no-kokeshi come from a small community located in the northwest of the prefecture and is one of the main entry points for the Kurikoma National Park. An abundance of hot springs makes kokeshi turning all the more lucrative a winter pastime, although widespread popularity of this particular kokeshi surely demands year-around manufacture.

Early kokeshi were turned out on foot- or hand-powered lathes. Some still are, but most have turned to automation in some form for easier production. The form being so standard, lathe powering is hardly as important as the overall design and hand-decorated face and apparel.

The visitor to other regions of these isles will often find local varieties quite distinctly original from their far northern cousins. The appealing manner of these simple wooden dolls make them a favorite with all ages, hence, their strength as an enduring folk art of Japan.

7	FUKUSHIMA
	NISHIN-BACHI

Of course, it isn’t necessary to have such a rectangular ceramic dish to make your pickled herring in, but when the dish is almost as famous as the inner concoction, one adds to the other in the way that a well-seasoned frying pan seems to impart special flavor.

Nishin or herring come in several sizes and, accordingly, so do the Aizu-Hongo nishin-bachi from Fukushima-ken. The Aizu part of the area’s name refers to its historical district name, while Hongo derives from a prominent local mountain. It is from this mountainside that the Aizu-Hongo clays are collected and the same is true for glazes used to seal the porous suyaki. Aizu-Hongo-yaki is made at only one kiln — the Munakata-gama, a 150-meter long noborigama (hill-climbing kiln) fired thrice yearly using only seasoned pine fuel. A true mingei kiln, Munakata-gama has a one-family history dating back nearly 300 years and covering nine generations.

While the kiln is well-known for these deep-sided and thick-walled storing bowls for salted or pickled herring, it produces a rather wide range of “kitchen wares.” In the mingei tradition, Munakata-gama output is oriented toward functional everyday ceramics. Their sturdy appearance testifies to their endurance, while outer surface-glazing decoration is truly minimal, generally a solid shade over which may be laid some casual strokes of simply applied contrasting glazes. Typically the tone is deep brown with off-white contrasts but a creamy background is sometimes created with contrasting splashes of apple green. Everything from the massive (and weighty) nishin-bachi or wheel-thrown hibachi right down to the smallest sake-choko are given almost casual glazes which fire to multihues with smokey visual effects.

Nishin-bachi are slab-built from thick plates of clay expertly sized and fitted together. Inside comers are reinforced with additional clay strips and two basic handles pinched onto the outer ends. Simplicity from start to finish, these herring bowls are made to last. And to be used.

While Aizu-Hongo nishin-bachi can be found in almost any first-rate mingei shop, buying at the source gives extra pleasure. In central Fukushima-ken, the area bordering Lake Inawashiro in Bandai Asahi National Park is dotted with Aizu place names. The largest is Aizu-Wakamatsu, just south of which is a village called Hongo-cho where the Munakata workshop-kiln is located.

8	NIIGATA
	SANKAKU-DARUMA

Niigata-ken typically faces wintery onslaughts fresh out of Asia. Truly “snow country” in every respect, a common winter sight is of troops of children togged out in conical straw snow capes. A group of these children trudging through snowy fields is thought to be part of the reason behind the form SANKAKU-DARUMA take. Literally “triangle daruma,” these simple votive figures have a history dating 150 years.

The larger of the pair is red-robed and the mate blue while the faces of both daruma have a quizzical look with ever downcast eyes. Why the averted look? Well, an explanation for that needs some historical background. Daruma is thought to be a perversion of the Indian word for law — dharma. The doll so popular throughout Japan apparently represents an Indian Buddhist priest whose real name was Bodhidhama. After long studies in his own land, he traveled to China and the court of King Wu. When he realized that the king was not disposed to his teaching, he took leave to reside in a mountain temple at Shao-linssu. There he meditated for nine years without moving and thus lost the use of his legs (the reason why daruma dolls seem to be eternally seated in a lotus posture). The red robe that seems essential recalls the dhoti Indian monks generally wear.

It was during these long years of meditation that the priest evolved the doctrine of Zen (Dhyana) — a method of training the mind and body by quiet sitting. Zen is oriented toward making the eyes see by looking at nothing. It took a while to explain but that is the look these daruma have. Eyes that see (and know) by looking at nothing. Bodhidhama died in 536 and was buried on a nearby mountain.

Sankaku-daruma are usually bought at the first fair or hatsu-ichi of the new year in Niigata. Placed on the kami-dana (household Shinto altar), they are believed to protect the family fortunes for the year to follow.

Agricultural households ask daruma’s protection over livelihood crops and the successful growth of their silkworms, while fisherfolk ask daruma’s indulgence to ensure large catches and safe voyages. The set from the previous year are given to the children as toys. A special game played with them involves throwing them to the ground. The first to right itself is the winner while the doll that breaks whilst playing so roughly is the loser. A good explanation why there are few, if any, “antique” sankaku-daruma.

9	TOCHIGI
	NIKKO-GETA

Amore Japanese form of footwear would be hard to find. Geta are as common today as they were in the times when kimono were de rigueur. A man dressed in a summer weight kimono or perhaps a cotton yukata definitely needs a pair of geta to set off his clothing correctly. Socks and shoes could never do what geta accomplish in style.

Just what are geta? A form of clog or patten traditionally made from a single piece of wood. The flat oblong foot-rest is supported by two cross bars which keep the wearer’s feet above the ground. They are kept in place by a thong which passes between the big toe and its neighbor and from there branches into two strands, which are attached to the geta’s body once again near the arch. Mentioning an arch is almost a joke as geta are flat-surfaced and have no supporting features such as are common to Western footwear.

The duo depicted has a bed of finely plaited bamboo firmly attached to the upper surface of the “shoe” and are known as NIKKO-GETA. Well-known for the highly embellished Toshogu Shrine complex that dates from the early Edo period, Nikko-geta likewise date to such a time and were originally made for priests serving in the Toshogu precincts.

Besides the plaited bamboo padding which surely makes wearing them infinitely more pleasant, the thong is wrapped in white canvas. Previously, only priests were allowed to wear white thonged geta and all others wishing to have a similar pair for their own personal use had to be content with black thongs. Times change as we all know far too well, and it’s a buyer’s market these days. White or black, it’s up to you, although the kanushi at Toshogu still affect only the white.

There are a number of other geta that have padding but only the Nikko variety uses bamboo skins. Most others use water rushes which wear through much faster.

The perfect finishing touch to a man’s kimono ensemble should be a pair of these finely made and bearably useful native clogs. Even if they don’t feel all that comfortable, once you tune into the clip-clop sound they make when you walk, you’ll be hard put to take them off.

10	IBARAKI
	KATAEZOME & AIZOME

KATAEZOME and AIZOME-NO-SHIMA are two related but visibly different types of indigo dyed cloth found in Ibaraki-ken. They are both made in the same area but no longer in any great quantities as both require enormously time-consuming production techniques. The patterns created in kataezome cloth are varied and many. Many are floral and most lend themselves to unobtrusive repetition.

The printing process for kataezome involves cutting a delicate stencil from heavy washi thickened and strengthened by persimmon juices. Nowadays one can often find these stencils mounted and sold in antique shops all over the country. Even well-worn, they have a special design appeal. If the pattern is especially fine, a netting of fine threads are adhered to the cut stencil to give it added life and usefulness.

When blank cloth to be dyed is prepared, the stencil is repetitively placed over the length of cloth. Each placement is painted with a rice glue paste that leaves the cutout pattern clearly visible. Patterns are usually cut into stencils in such a manner that they fit perfectly together when placed end to end. Usually dying is accomplished in only one indigo shade, although multiple tones can be and are used not infrequently.

When the pasted cloth is completely stenciled, it is turned into a vat of heated dye. These huge tubs are usually dug into the ground and their long use gives the dye house an eerie sense of being out of the underworld of King Emma. When the dye has taken, the cloth is washed, usually in a nearby fastflowing stream. The paste compound is then removed and voila, the covered areas have retained their original color (most commonly white cotton). A colour close up is on page 123.

Aizome-no-shima is related but this cloth uses predyed threads to create striped material in tones of indigo. The weaving plan determines the depth of color the cloth will take on in its finished state. The threads are dyed in the same huge ground-level vats that the kataezome was done in, but the threads are washed before weaving and sometimes the finished cloth is washed once more for sizing. This woven cloth is much heavier than yukata material but is still summer-weight. Fine-striped bolts are generally reserved for a man’s kimono, while the widely spaced and multitoned stripes are popular for ladies wear.

11	TOKYO
	MANEKI-NEKO

The origin of this “good fortune” symbol is based on an actual incident. Around 1800, there existed outside the gate of the Ekoh-in Temple in Ryogoku, two similar tea shops. Business was neither good nor bad but the rivalry of the two shops was still intense. To attract customers, both shops had porcelain statues of a beckoning cat made for outside their entryways. One was golden hued and the other silver. Such an unusual feature were these two cats that they attracted much attention and were often mentioned in local publications.

The owner of the one shop (fronted by the golden cat) was a layabout given to wasting both time and money. Were it not for the abilities of his charming wife, business would long before have faded to nothing. Needing money to pay her husband’s debts forced this lady to borrow from an admiring clothing merchant. But the money the merchant eventually lent her was not his and by giving it away thus, he brought ruin on his trusted friend.

To atone for his mistake, he resolved to throw himself into the Sumida River from Ryogoku-bashi. As he rested against the bridge railing summoning up the courage who happens along but his vainly loved lady. He reproached her for bringing him to this situation. On hearing the full tale, she resolved to join him in shinju (double suicide) and join her lover on his journey into the other world. Over the bridge they went and the ensuing sensation caused by their dramatic deaths brought much fame to the shop of the golden cat and in turn economic ruin to its rival neighbor.

The fortune “beckoning” abilities of the cat were soon picked up on by local hucksters apparently in collusion with temple authorities. It quickly became important to buy a small copy of this cat on the first dragon day of each month. A set of 48 collected over a four-year period was required for future financial success. The hitch in this scheme (and scheme it was indeed) was that if any misfortune such as a death occurred, the collected cats must be disposed of and a new collection begun. Ever try to go through even a single year without some mishap that could well be construed as “misfortune”?

The golden coloring together with multiple collecting have been dropped in favor of single images in more natural shades — primarily a black spotted white. Next you see one of these come hither felines, reflect on why after nearly 200 years it’s still drawing crowds and you just may unlock the economic secret of this fascinating land.

12	CHIBA
	UCHIWA

Southeast of Tokyo proper is the Boso Peninsula (Boso Hanto), one of two seaward stretched arms that enfold Tokyo Bay. The whole of the peninsula belongs to Chiba-ken and is a popular vacation spot, especially along the Pacific coastline which is a quasi-national park. The nearly year-round fair weather of the area makes it a natural truck farm arena, sometimes humorously referred to as the “kitchen of Tokyo” because it is from there that most fresh vegetables reach the populous consumer market of the nation’s capital. It is also due to the exceptionally mild weather in Boso that bamboo proliferates in many varieties, from tall, thick stemmed “moso” to a slender leafy type generally used for ground cover.

Why is bamboo so important? Without the light and easy formed structure of a bamboo stalk, fans would undoubtedly look quite different. UCHIWA is the Japanese term given one variety of fan found throughout the country. Round and flat, it cannot be folded like its relative, the SENSU. Tateyama-shi, located almost at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, is where the best uchiwa are made.

Production of this handpowered cooler takes an exceptionally steady hand. The selected piece of bamboo stem will be divided neatly into carefully cut long fingers. Each is skived to brittle thinness. When these segments are spread, the basic fan shape evolves. Two sheets of durable handmade washi are prepared and it is between these two layers of paper that the spread ribs of the uchiwa are bonded in place. Paper used for Tateyama uchiwa is called tejika washi — especially strong paper that will allow long life for the finished product. A rim strip of semiprotective bamboo is sometimes slipped over the unspread ribs. This is attached to the outer edge of the paper/rib/paper bonding to give added strength and durability. A photo of production is included on page 135.

With simple stenciled patterns in one, two or three tones, uchiwa are just right for hot summer days. When summer ends they can be used to winnow rice or direct local sumo. End of fall, no trouble! Winter fires usually need some gentle fanning to help them get started, and before you know it, spring will have arrived when an uchiwa is a perfect but coy serving tray. Anyway, anytime of the year, a first class uchiwa can come in handy.

13	GUMMA
	DARUMA

Gumma-ken is probably best known for its DARUMA. Sankaku-daruma, conical pairs made in neighboring Niigata, covered fairly well the historical background of just whom daruma dolls are though to represent. Made of papier-mache (hariko in the vernacular), strips of paste-impregnated paper are laid one on another till the basic desired shape is formed. Set aside to dry thoroughly, decorative enameling is added to create the familiar rotund, armless and legless doll. Legless he is indeed, having supposedly lost the use of them through nine intensive years of meditation but armless? Not quite! His arms are tucked conveniently out of sight in the folds of his brilliant red dhoti (Indian style robe) so he only appears to be minus both.

Gumma-daruma have blank eyes. This isn’t strange at all when the whole truth is known. New daruma are always sold with both eyes white blanks as the purchaser usually wants to make a special invocation for help to the gods. When that wish is made known, one eye is painted in. This is usually done with some festivity. Many a huge daruma receive just one eye in hopes of success but, one wonders what you do with a one-eye daruma when your wish is denied?

Fulfillment of the wish creates another happy situation where amid further festivities, the second eye is ceremoniously painted in place and the daruma is whole again. His fearful countenance and whiskered face just doesn’t come off with whitened sockets blankly staring. Painted in place, the doll finds its rightful place in the Japanese pantheon of gods.

One more aspect to daruma that bears mentioning is weighting at the base so that however much it veers to one side or the other, it always rights itself. Daruma of this type are also called okiagari koboshi, which literally means the bonze (monk) who gets up easily. The saying “nana-korobi-yaoki,” or seven falls and eight rises stands for the try, try again spirit synonymous with the undaunted daruma.

Size depends on your pocketbook as they range from intermediate sizes to a gigantic 90 em tall. You can get one at a Daruma-ichi (market) like the one pictured on page 131.

14	SAITAMA
	FUNADO-HARIKO

Saitama-ken borders the Tokyo metropolis and is in many respects wedded to the city. Commuters by the hundreds of thousands stream from and to abodes in Saitama daily to and from stations of work somewhere in the sprawling maze of Tokyo’s streets. Being so close by doesn’t especially invite the continued production of true folk art but still there survives in this prefecture a perfectly charming toy with a long history.

FUNADO-HARIKO is the vernacular name of these papier-mache dolls with bobbing heads. The variety of personages made in this type doll is quite numerous. Hari-ko is the Japanese term for papier-mache whatever the form. Strips of paper soaked in a rice paste solution are laid atop one another to fashion simple dolls, an exotic range of beasts and of course daruma in sizes ranging from tiny to gigantic.

Some hariko use moulds into which are pressured paste-dampened paper strips but most are freely built. A practised hand knows just how much and where to put each ready strip of moistened paper. Pinched into shape by agile fingers, the damp form is sun-dried before decorative painting is done. Simple forms take on added dimensions when the lines of a kimono are added and even the simple white band indicting a fundoshi (loincloth) helps to make the doll more real.

What really gives each doll “life” is the bobbing head which has been fashioned separately and is attached to the main body via a single string. In mobile style, heads bob and twist with the slightest stir of air currents. A perfectly stationary doll that suddenly moves must activate the awe of any child even in these days of battery-run toys. But then, these simple dolls hark back to a time when there were no batteries and even the simple clock spring key-wound toy of the late 19th century had yet to be invented.

These engaging “live” dolls are not the rough and tumble type today’s youngsters are used to, but then not everything has to be handled to be appreciated. Funado is the Saitama suburb where they first originated.

15	NAGANO
	HATO-GURUMA

Hato in my dictionary is either pigeon or dove. Considering how the bird depicted in this folk art offering symbolizes peace as well as love, I’ll opt for it being a dove.

That established, this Nagano-ken toy is called a HATO-GURUMA or dove cart. It was first produced about 130 years ago in Nozawa-shi by Anshin Kawano but production stopped after his death and wasn’t resumed till nearly the end of the Meiji era (about 1900). Nozawa is in an area abounding with onsen (hot springs) and Zen temples. Many flock there all the year round to indulge themselves in either one or the other. Visitors always want to bring home some remembrance of their travels and so hato-guruma were reborn.

The full name is Zenkoji Hato-Guruma which reads Good Light Temple Dove Cart. Whatever its religious implications, the two-wheeled woven bird is appealingly evocative of the way in which a dove pecks while eating. Loosely axled wheels gives it a rolling gait that combines with a trailing bumper to recreate a sense of naturalness. The repetitive action of searching out food that the dove and pigeon make gives them the appearance of being hard working. Hato-guruma are thus associated with industrious effort. Ownership of one of these handmade toys will purportedly bring you copious good luck and good health every day of your life. With that kind of come-on, who wouldn’t want to have one just in case?

Woven of natural fiber, the current problem in Nagano (especially nearby Nozawa) is the lack of the proper vine called akebi.

The akebi’s hard sinewy vine makes for durable goods of many types. Anything made from the vine falls in the category of akebi-zaiku including hato-guruma. Autumn finds collectors of this vine combing the hills. The long strands are then cleaned and debarked. It’s white understands resemble raffia, and likewise are made easily pliable when put into water for a short time. They are woven when damp.

Hato-guruma come in two sizes, the smallest easily cupped in your palm, while the largest is lifesized. With two black specks for eyes and a sharpened branch for a beak, hato-guruma lack only a pair of spindly legs to fully resemble the real bird. But then, if you had two very fine wheels, you probably wouldn’t need legs either.

16	KANAGAWA
	KOMA

Not far into Kanagawa-ken lies the village of Isehara where Oyama koma are made. Koma means top, and there probably isn’t a country in the world where spinning a top isn’t part of a child’s growing-up memories.

In Japan, the number of top styles figures nearly 100. The differences are mainly in painted designs, much like the major differences between kokeshi is not in their shapes but rather their painted stylizations. The Oyama koma is a rather sturdy type having a large solid wood disk with two protruding spindles. The upper portion is where one loosely attaches the spinning rope while the lower one is a spinning point upon which the weighty top will dance madly to its own circular patterns.

There’s something about the balanced, circuitous dance a top follows to its final anxious twists. When it finally does stop, hardly anyone can resist giving it another throw to start it off once again.

All of my childhood tops were plain colored and the excitement of seeing them spin was more in knowing what they were doing than in actually visualizing the movement. Japanese tops tend to have patterns of concentrically painted, multicolored circles. Oyama tops offers a broadside view of rich purple while its top has assorted circular widths of red and purple. The thick hemp rope is perhaps one of the more surprising aspects of the Japanese top and no doubt one of the hardest-to-master features. The dexterity of small children with such a bulky rope amazes me yet.

Formerly, tops were popular gifts at New Year’s (shogatsu) when the children had to play inside more often due to the harsh weather. In fact, a children’s song sung prior to the coming of shogatsu used to wistfully dream of new spinning tops and hoping the days until the holidays will quickly pass so their new toys will be in hand.

If you get a top whilst traveling, you’d best get some expert instruction on how to properly wind it and set it going its merry way. It’s no do-it-yourself trick and the frustration of having it constantly falter, instead of dance as hoped, is enough to make one cry.

Koma come in all sizes but most are at least fist-sized while many are a great deal larger. Almost without exception are they ovoid and smoothly finished.

17	YAMANASHI
	KOSHU-INDEN

KOSHU-INDEN is made of softened deerskin onto which has been stenciled a thick design of lacquer. The Koshu portion of its name comes from the former designation given the prefecture now called Yama-nashi-ken.

The making of this peculiar art work dates back 13 generations (and perhaps even farther in other areas.) Some of the earliest examples of this lacquer strengthened leather work is to be found in yoroi (ancient Japanese armor). Large plattens of deerskin and sometimes pigskin were thickened and thereby toughened by coating the outer surfaces with fine designs of colorful lacquering.

When armor was widely used, production of inden was rather widespread. The end of the warrior era forced many inden makers to either quit or find new outlets. Yamanashi makers turned to the production of inro or cases for medicine and/or personal seals. These items became much sought-after for their unusual styling as well as their serviceability. Yamanashi makers kept abreast of the times and as changes in style and need occurred, production of related inden articles took new directions.

The drawing shows a rather finely decorated change purse. The tiny white dots represent its lacquered design while the black background is a very soft-to-the-touch dyed buckskin. Lacquer coloring resembles the variety of the spectrum although only one shade is used on a single work. The backing leather is similarly dyed in single tones and the combination of the two colors is usually a most compatible contrast.

The range available these days tends to be an assortment of bags — from small pouches for hanko through change purses shown here to large handbags with pull-string closures. Several sizes of wallet along with comb, meishi and teiki cases make up the current goods available in traditional Koshu-inden.

Practical and lightweight, inden is a modernized mingei with an undeniable link to Japan’s romantic historical past. Simplicity and function — two inherent aspects of folk art that are surely applicable to this 20th century updating.

18	TOYAMA
	YANAGI-GORI

One has to have lived long in Japan to have memories of this folk ware. Almost every family looked forward to the annual visit of the medicine peddlers from Toyama-ken who came with a rather huge but extremely lightweight box of supplies on their back. The trunk along with its inner goods are traditional products in this Japan Sea coast prefecture originating near and in the city of Toyama itself.

Made of willow wands with edges and corners reinforced with strips of cloth or lacquered leather, the broad expanses of willow are woven on the same type loom used to make goza (tatami coverings) but differ in that warps are spaced farther apart. They are occasionally four-hettle loomed allowing the weaver to create intricate patterns dependent on the spacings of both warp and weft.

To get back to the medicine peddler, they usually made a set round of villages visiting each home at about the same time annually. With a large furoshiki of green and white covering a payload of medicines, their yearly arrival was typically announced by a chorus of village children singing any of a number of nonsense songs, some quite rude, about Toyama kusuri. Unwrapping his main YANAGI-GORI (willow wand case), he must have seemed to be some kind of magician to the children crowding around when an array of ever smaller willow boxes was displayed. The housewife usually brought out that particular kusuriya-san’s company bag which hung in a closet and had the goods used over the past year replenished. Medicines used were tallied up and charged for as well as replenished. Trust was an integral part of both the sale and the use of this style medicine.

One reason why children seemed to look forward to the peddler’s visit so much probably hinged on the rather unusual paper balloons they passed out, as appreciated and looked forward to as shogatsu koma.

Unfortunately, the whole style of peddling Toyama medicines has altered greatly with the economic resurgence of modern Japan. The peddler no longer trudges or bikes from village to village nor does he leave a black paper medicine sack, this having been replaced by convenient plastic bags. The willow wand cases with all their inner compartment boxes too have gone and one finds this style box only as a storage case for summer/winter clothes in homes where tradition dies hard.

19	SHIZUOKA
	TAKO

Akite

in the same place

in yesterday’s sky!

This Buson haiku (translated by Blyth) captures the floating freedom one naturally feels on seeing a small wisp of paper and bamboo sailing lightly aloft, tied to land only by the thinnest cord. The East is famed for its variety. Crowded Edo spawned miniature varieties flown on slim threads, kites smaller than the size of a modern calling card. Other locales created monstrous behemoths that required a steady breeze and 40 able men to send them soaring skyward and to keep them aloft. The in between ranges run the whole gamut in sizing with washi and take as materials. Kite makers talents are slowly being recognized as worthy of propagation.

Not to slight any locale, this chapter is concentrating on just one particular kite — the fighting kite of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. For three days every spring a kite festival brings thousands of spectators and hundreds of participants from all over Japan. Kites used all resemble the one pictured, although their visual design varies greatly. Huge kites often have a single complex kanji. Others use crests (mon) and some pictoral representations such as the Japanese crested crane, symbol for happiness for over 1,000 years. The kite shown has the katakana “na” as its sole pattern. No doubt size (paper face being about 70 cm square) dictates the simpler design but some small kites are vertitable works of art with intricate patterns.

Formalized fighting, pitting one district against another, was the final outcome of restrictive regulations on size and decor. Limited on two fronts, flyers turned to fighting style to express their enthusiasm during the May fete. By friction of string on string, one or more bridle cords holding the kite to a stable flight position will snap. Uneven pressure will then break its remaining holds, causing it to run free and fall. The winning team is delirious and the losing team anxious to repair their fallen wonder for another try. A related photo is on page 129.

20	GIFU
	BANGASA

Nothing seems so lovely as a kimonoed lady sheltering from the rain under a BANGASA. Light filters through the translucent covering and delicately illuminates its sheltered user. These lightweight items are a speciality of Gifu-ken where both abundant varieties of versatile bamboo and handmade paper are readily available. It’s no coincidence that makers of these umbrellas are also typically makers of chochin or paper lanterns, the materials being identical.

Bangasa come in at least four varieties. There is a thick-handled and sturdily ribbed man’s model, a thinner, more feminine style for ladies and a child’s size. In addition, there is the brightly tinted slim style favored by refined ladies and geisha. All are essentially the same construction with hinged bamboo ribs that use horsehair threads to secure them firmly in place. Horsehair is also used to reinforce the paper covering, being glued into folds of the paper along the edges.

One difference readily apparent is the halfway stop ladies’ bangasa have. When the rain pelts down, a halfway stop allows the owner to cock it open in a conical position that hugs head and shoulders more closely.

Another distinguishing feature are the number of ribs. Men’s usually number about 50 while ladies’ typically have 40.

The previously mentioned four types must be expanded if one includes the HIGASA, surfaced with fine silk and meant only to protect the user from the sun’s heat. The hi in it’s name derives from the kanji for sun.

SHUGASA are yet another variety that should be mentioned, although they are not to be seen on the street. These huge umbrellas are used for shade in garden tea ceremonies. Commonly a bright red, their two-meter plus diameter of crimson casts a large shadow.

First mention of the ribbed-style umbrella dates to the reign of Emperor Kimmei (539—571) when the King of Kudara, a large province in Korea, sent as tribute several finely decorated silken kasa. Prior to that time, large reed hats were widely used for rainwear.

They are still extremely popular at most traditional ryokans who stock them for patrons when it rains. These kasa are often adorned with the name or mon of the inn decorating an otherwise plain style. See page 130 for two related colour photos.

21	ISHIKAWA
	WAJIMA-NURI

Shikki is the correct Japanese term for lacqueware, although a great many varieties of the same exist throughout Japan. Prior to upgrading of kiln technique in the early 17th C, lacquering was the most widely used medium for food vessels. The advent of cheaper seto-mono caused a decline that finally took its toll of a cottage industry whose small scale production could not compete on the level of the newly improved ceramics centers.

WAJIMA-NURI derives its name from where it is made on the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa-ken. Nuri is a conjugation of the verb nuru which means to paint. Similar place names are applied to other extant lacquerware centers scattered thinly about the islands.

Most are identified by some distinct design characteristic. Tsugaru-nuri (often referred to as bakaurushi or foolish lacquer) is easily discerned by multihued crazed patterns. In Iwate, where the Heian-era stronghold of the Fujiwaras flourished, is found still a style dating from those exuberant days laced with gold leaf in elegant but classic motifs.

Another northern lacquerware is the wood-grained variety found in Sendai, Miyagi-ken, which differs from the wood-grained Shikoku style in that the wood is completely covered on those from Tohoku while the Kagawa type uses natural wood colouring to augment an overall design of concentric circles.

Nara has yet another type one can easily recognize — red patterns painted over black backgrounds. But all contrast readily with Wajima-nuri’s simple, straight forward forms and solid tones where black outer surfaces are generally lined with inner surfaces of red and vice versa.

It is reassuring to know that in Wajima wood alone is used. Icho or ginko wood is favored, although many types are used. It seems the ginko tree is lightest and strongest as well as easiest to form into thin walled pieces.

Lacquering takes months for the finest pieces — sometimes a full year between the first lacquer application and the final layer. As many as 12 and occasionally double that are not uncommon but cost well reflects what you are buying. Two related photos are on page 132.

22	MIE
	MARUBASHIRA-YAKI

Marubashira, Mie-ken gained its name from the huge wooden pillars it supplied to the Nara court. A small sleepy hamlet then, it hasn’t really changed all that much in the intervening years. What has changed is that the village is no longer known for massive timber posts. Its present fame rests on ceramics that have been the villagers’ production mainstay for several centuries.

Marubashira donabe are well known throughout the nation. Dobin (ceramic teapots) glazed a lovely bluegreen share the spotlight with the glazed, buff-colored cooking pots but are made at just one kiln.

Fukumori-gama is the lone holdout for tradition in this valley with a half-dozen-plus potters under the direction of the kiln’s master. A close look at the majority of the lidded pots put out by the many villagers who pot for their livelihood shows moulding and jigging are rampant. Only the Fukumori workshop creates its whole line on the potter’s wheel. The similarity of most donabe coming out of the village is offset by the lovely forms and hand-finished fillips given works by the Fukumori potters.

The young master of the kiln is an expert cook. His personal conviction is that fine cooking ware adds considerably to the art of good cookery. It won’t make poorly prepared food tasty but it will heighten the pleasure of eating any well-made meal. So his kiln regularly produces variations on the standard donabe. Shapes and glazes custom-crafted to form an assortment of cooking vessels that fit contemporary cookery: high-sided casseroles, low teppan-yaki dishes with roomy lids, shallow-lidded pans and deep bowls with wooden covers. Decorations are minimal and glazes used tend to earthy hues.

Clays and glazes are locally collected and refined at Fukumori-gama. The kiln master, heir to several centuries potting heritage, is trying to continue the better aspects of his craft while changing those portions that bear improvement. Form and glazing are two areas that constantly need updating. Not everything left to the present from days long past is as functional now as it once was. Improvements fostered by this kiln, while maintaining traditions of craftsmanship and function, bring this mingei pottery into active touch with the 20th century.

23	SHIGA
	HATTA-YAKI

SShiga-ken skirts the shore of Lake Biwa and melts into mountains that literally cover the whole of the Kii Peninsula. Hatta is a quiet little village of level paddies where one can easily find the kiln of Juji Miyaji. Hatta-gama (fired jointly with a nephew) sidles up the hillside above his home, the fire pits handily convenient to the overhanging porch of his aged workshop.

The illustrated examples demonstrate the full range of wares made there. All sizes of both TOKKURI and KATA-KUCHI are made, each with the distinctive plum flower pattern in iron underglaze.

Tokkuri (sake warming and serving bottles) are the most interesting ware he creates mostly not for the liquid it will someday hold but for the unusual potting manner used to form each one. Throwing off the hump as do the majority of the Japanese potters, Miyaji-san throws countless upper halves slicing each from the spinning clay mass when it reaches the right size. When he has handy stock of these “uppers” on a rack board, he begins to fashion lower halves off the same spinning hump of local clay.

Using a measuring device aptly termed a “tombo” or dragonfly, he forms a cylinder that exactly echoes the “uppers” diameter. That accomplished, the wheel is stopped while an “upper” is deftly fitted to a “lower.” The wheel is slowly started once more while an egote is thrust through the neck of the vessel to aid in sealing the two parts together. Outside fingertip pressure and inner pressure from the forming tool’s knob binds the seam and makes the two cylindrical halves one.

String-sliced from the wheel and set onto a drying rack, it is given a spout-forming pinch before curing for a day or so. Bottoms are then trimmed and the next steps are bisque firing, underglaze decoration, overglazing with a translucent white and final firing. Voila, rows of red-topped raw-glazed sake-warmers become rust-capped and flower bedecked warm grey.

Katakuchi (used to measure liquids) are made in single throws with the spout taking a little extra work. No rusty caps but plenty of flowers — the same sort as have been decorating these mingei ceramics for the past three centuries.

Miyaji-san died shortly after this was first written (1978). Hatta-yaki is no-longer made in this manner although a neighboring village kiln is recreating the style.

24	FUKUI
	KAMA & NIGIRI-BASAMI

First-time residents in this land of contradictions soon become addicted to learning about such “reverse” logic wherever it is applied. Tools create a heaven of discovery with saws that pull instead of push and planes that do likewise. If one’s view extends to field tools, you must come to grips with scythes that pull instead of sweep when they slice and clippers that squeeze instead of cut with fulcrum leverage like Western scissors do. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Instead, one (if you intend to live here for any time) comes to grips with the movements of these implements or you buy Western imports more familiar in shape but outrageous in price.

The hand scythe shown is a grass cutter. One hardly ever sees a reel-type mower, although they are available. Grass lawns are hardly a widespread phenomenon and small border trimming and weeding is done with this hand cutter. That means you must be stooping to ground level to work it and work is just exactly what it is. Hard work!

Blades come in a variety of curves with the longer ones used primarily for weed control while shorter shanked types are used to remove not just the greenery but also its root system. Those used harvesting the fall bounty of rice are notched along the cutting edge much like the wavy slicing edge of an expensive bread knife.

Scissors are found in an equal range of sizes. Huge clippers fashioned in exactly the same way as this tiny pair are used for chopping on farms. Everything from vegetable greens to be discarded or fed to domestic animals to trimming hooves. Inside one is sure to find several pairs including a sewing basket that wouldn’t be complete without a sharp pair of hasami.

Fukui-ken is known throughout the nation for production of these fine iron tools. Hand-forging is nearly a forgotten art elsewhere but pockets of activity still exist in this mountainous prefecture fronting the Japan Sea. The finest blades are signed with the signature markings of the maker both on the blades and on the handle. Scissors too are often etched with the maker’s trademark. Little of the iron ore used to create these blades is mined in Japan any longer, but the workmanship and pride imbued in each is easily evident in the manner in which they are both displayed and cared for, from shop to home — right where mingei has its roots.

25	KYOTO
	SENSU

One runs into mention of fans on almost every other page of ancient poetry collections and court-life chronicals. A recounting of the story of the invention of SENSU may be of interest (even if it has to be believed with more than two or three grains of salt).

The widow of Atsumori Taira (son of Kiyomori, the central character in The Tales of the Heike) retired to a rural Kyoto temple to grieve and mourn her loss. The temple was Mieido where, as a nun, she long resided practising her devotions and trying to better the lot of her fated young husband. While in residence, the abbot of the temple fell ill with a raging fever. Atsumori’s widow ministered to his sickness and with a folded paper, she tried to cool his fevered head. Days of fanning the sick man whilst muttering incantations seemed to effect a cure and the recovered abbot was very grateful.

The fan-shaped simply-folded paper she used to cure his illness was soon turned into the stick-supported fan one sees so often today and the priests at Mieido were/are thought to be especially adept at making these fans. Even today, one finds many shops dealing in fans named “Mieido” in luck-bearing appreciation of the originating temple.

The convenience of folding fans makes them a favorite with both sexes during the humid summer months. A good light-weight folding fan (of suitable design, of course) is worth its salt (leftover from believing the invention story) on a hot train ride or anywhere where elbow room is to be had.

Folding fans are used in traditional theater in a variety of ways. Some are accessories for dancing taking on the guise of letters to be read, cups brimful with sake to be drunk and partitions to be hid behind. Such use of fans takes long hours of practice but when one sees such illusionary expertise in action, the fragile beauty of the whole dance routine is heightened.

Folding fans are also used for emphasis by Rakugo and Noh actors but outside the theater, one finds another unusual aspect to fans. They mark esteem and are given according to your inclinations toward someone special. Most young people these days would be mystified by so subtle an approach. Still, as long as the delicately splayed bamboo and paper folding fan is made, this holdover from another era won’t lose its imaginative charm.

26	WAKAYAMA
	KUJJIRA-BUNEE