Storehouse (kura)

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Storehouse, warehouse (kura)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Fire was a gread hazard in olden times and the strongly build "kura" were one way to protect one's property.

storehouse, tiled storehous, kura　蔵
dozoo 土蔵




storehouse for ricewine, sakegura 酒蔵



living room in a storehouse, for emergency situations, kura zashiki 蔵座敷



storehouse for rice, komegura 米蔵


Most farm estates in my area in Okayama have a kura, a special storehouse for the family treasures.
It is used to protect things from earthquakes, fires and hurricanes.
The strong walls are fireproof and the windows are very small with fireproof shutters. The strong doors are fireproof too. The timber used for a kura was covered with clay and then with a plaster finish.



Typical walls with tiles of a Tosa storehouse, Shikoku

The roof consists of heavy tiles to withstand storm and fire. Sometimes even the walls have a row or two of tiles to make a way for strong rain blown on the walls during a typhoon. This kind of wall is especially common along the seaside towns of Japan.


The doors had special locks to prevent thieves and burglers from their work.
Locks of the Edo Period / joomae 錠前



joo, kusari 鎖 is a chain that can be used with a lock.

- - - - - Matsuo Basho - - - - -

朝顔や昼は鎖おろす門の垣
. asagao ya hiru wa joo orosu mon no kaki .


鎖あけて月さし入れよ浮み堂
joo akete tsuki sashireyo Ukimi Doo

let us open the lock
and have the moon shine in -
Floating Hall
Tr. Gabi Greve

Visiting the 浮御堂 Ukimido Floating Hall - the details:
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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The walls were often strengthened with plaster, in various geometrical patterns. These "namako kabe なまこ壁" are especially beautiful in their contrast of white and black.


The black parts of this wall are made from flat black tiles, hira gawara ( 平瓦（ひらがわら）. The roofs of a storehouse were rather small in their overhang, to prevent a fire from being pressed down on the walls, and the tiles on the bottom of a wall were fireproof and also protected from the rain.
The beautiful black finish of these walls is very typical of some regions, where they get many extra layers of a special laquer 黒漆喰.


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Strong Doors of a Storehouse

Samurai Residence, buke yashiki 武家屋敷
Katsuyama, Japan

The door was built in some steps, each covered with mortar made of mud, so the fire sparks would not come in. This is called "kakego painting, kakegonuri 掛子（かけご）塗り.

Look at my collection of window shutters at a storehouse in Katsuyama !


More "plaster paintings" as decorations for storehouses, kote-e 鏝絵 （こてえ）. Click on the photo.


These relief works of art are made by the plasterers, usually with a pattern of good luck for the family. One of the famous masters of this kind of artwork was Irie Chohachi 入江長八
(Iri-e Choohachi) of the town of Matsuzaka (Shizuoka prefecture), where you can see a whole museum full of his artwork.


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Kurashiki, a town with many storehouses
倉敷 Okayama Prefecture Japan



Kurashiki and Daruma san



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Kawagoe and its storehouses


Kawagoe's fortunes owe everything to its strategic position on the Shingashi River and Kawagoe-kaido, the ancient highway to the capital. If you wanted to get goods to Tokyo, then called Edo, they more than likely had to go via Kawagoe, thus the town's merchants prospered as a result. They accumulated the cash to build fireproof kurazukuri, the black, two-storey shophouses the town is now famous for.
At one time there were over 200 of these houses, but their earthenware walls didn't prove quite so effective against fire as hoped (nor were they much use in the face of Japan's headlong rush to modernization). Even so, some thirty still remain, with sixteen prime examples clustered together along Chuo-dori, around 1 km north of the JR and Tobu stations, protected as Important Cultural Properties.
©　travel.yahoo.com

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source : popeye.sakura.ne.jp/tochigi...
kura dorei 蔵土鈴 clay bell of a warehouse
Tochigi is famous for its kura, 「蔵の街とちぎ」
. . . CLICK here for Photos - Kura from Tochigi -

. Tochigi Folk Art - 栃木県 .


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. Kuramae 蔵前 / 倉前 Kuramae district .
Edo, Asakusa, Taito ward


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External LINK
NHK: 蔵。美の壺


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

kigo for the New Year

kurabiraki 蔵開 (くらびらき)
first opening of the store house
..... okurabiraki 御蔵開（おくらびらき)


. NEW YEAR : Work begins

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- At the party of a certain person

香を探る梅に蔵見る軒端哉
ka o saguru ume ni kura miru nokiba kana

searching for the plum fragrance
I gaze up to the eaves
of this warehouse . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

This is a greeting for his host, Boosen 防川 Bosen, a rich merchant with a large warehouse.
The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.


Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


Boosen 防川 Bosen
Not much is known about this merchant. Two of his poems are in the Arano Collection あら野.

大服は去年の青葉の匂哉　
一本の葦の穂痩しゐせき哉


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蔵焼けて 障るものなき 月見哉
kura yakete sawaru mono naki tsukimi kana

My storehouse burnt down,
There is nothing to obstruct
The moon-view.
trans. Blyth

Now that my storehouse
has burned down, nothing
conceals the moon.
trans. Yoel Hoffmann

Mizuta Masahide 水田 正秀 (1657-1723)
Read the discussion of the translation here.


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Kobayashi Issa

よその蔵からすじかひに初日哉
yoso no kura kara sujikai ni hatsu hi kana

from a neighbor's storehouse
shining slantwise...
year's first sun



おち葉してけろりと立し土蔵哉
ochiba shite kerori to tateshi dozô kana

among fallen leaves
the storehouse
unconcerned


下戸の立たる蔵もなし年の暮
geko no tatetaru kura mo nashi toshi no kure

no storehouse was ever
built by a non-drinker...
the year ends


More KURA haiku by Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


The last haiku refers to a proverb
下戸(げこ)の建てたる倉も無し
geko no tateru kura mo nashi

Even if you do not drink sake, there is no promise you will get rich.
So it is better to drink a little and enjoy your life.



from Kuwagata Keisai 鍬形蕙斎『諺画苑』

This shows just the opposite, a drinker in his storehouse, enjoying his cup of sake.

Comment by Robin Gill on facebook:
In an early 17c book, the title of which H Mack Horton translates as Laughs to Banish Sleep, Anraku Sakuden plays with the old proverb in a poem which continues that "and a heavy drinker's storehouse has a hard time standing up."
Ah, the original, literally translated is that "there are no storehouses raised by teetotalers" (i suppose that merchants need the social lubrication to sell goods and amass treasure to be stored.

A verbal war between drinkers and non-drinkers in Japan goes back to the Manyoushu where we can tell the poems in favor of drink are responding to would-be prohibitionists or, at least moralists. The most interesting debates in poetry took place in mad poems and you may find a dozen or so on both sides (where the non-drinking physician Bokuyo defends teetotalers by attacks drinkers after a drinker put down teetotalers) in Mad In Translation.

Mad poetry is probably the biggest storehouse of drinking poems. My favorite of Issa's drinking poems does not concern practical matters. It is the one where he takes a swig of sake for each stroke of his hoe or the vice-versa (my memory is of the approximate type) -- a playful take-off on the Chinese poet said to write so many poems per cup of wine . . .


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秋ざくら倉庫とともに運河古る
akizakura sooko to tomo ni unga furu

cosmos flowers -
old storehouses along with
an old canal

Akatsuka Gogyoo 赤塚五行

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my neighbour's kura ...
he closed the door
with a loud BANG

Gabi Greve, April 2006

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Related words

***** Fire (kaji) The Town of Edo is burning down ...

. 浅草御蔵 Asakusa Kuramae - Edo Tokyo .
and Wadakura 和田倉 Wadakura, Chiyoda ward

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- #kura #gura #warehouse #storehouse -
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Hi no Oka Pass

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Hi no Oka Pass (Hi no Oka Tooge)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

Hi-no-oka, Hinooka 日ノ岡 , 日の岡





Hi no Oka is an old town on the Tokaido Road, leading to a pass road in the outskirts of Kyoto toward Yamashina.
From the pass there is a long waterway toward the city of Kyoto with some sluices near Hi no Oka.

The grave of tenno Tenchi 天智天皇御陵 is close by.




The Jizo Statue at Hi no Oka
山科区日ノ岡一切経谷町

There are many small Buddha statues at the feet of this Jizo.



花崗岩製で２ｍ近く丸彫り地蔵。江戸時代末の作風。宝珠と錫杖（鉄製）を持つポピュラーなお姿。国道１号線沿いの地蔵堂に大切に安置されています。このお地蔵さんの足下にたくさんの小石仏が置かれています。街道筋の石仏を集められたのでしょうか。
©　shigeru.kommy.com

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HAIKU

日の岡やこがれて暑き牛の舌
hinooka ya kogarete atsuki ushi no shita
(summer stanzas, #176)

Breezeless Hinooka
and hot to the point of burning
hangs the cart ox's tongue
trans. EM & HO

EM & HO comment:
"Hi no oka 日ノ岡," "Hill of the Sun" had a steep slope enclosed by hills that made it hot even by the standards of nearby Kyoto, as the poor straining beast shows.

Details are here : Introducing Haiku Poets:
Mizuta Masahide 水田 正秀


This pass road is situated on the east side of the mountain, so the morning sun hits the traveller and thus gave the name to this area, "Hill of the Sun".


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Related words

***** WKD Reference

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Haiku Sweets (haika)

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Haiku Sweets (haika)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Sweets, cakes and snacks, prepared in allusion to a famous haiku
haika 俳菓


Read the basics of Japanese sweets (wagashi) here
Sweets from Japan (wagashi)


one more speciality
Snack served with tea (cha no ko, o-cha no ko) Japan


Many tea sweets (chagashi 茶菓子) are named after famous short poems (tanka 短歌), but there are also some named after a famous haiku.

I will try and list them here as I find them.

Gabi Greve, May 2008

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芭蕉俳菓　 Basho Haika
Basho's haiku and the Japanese confection

©　桔梗屋伊左衛門 Kikyoo-Ya Iemon

伊賀市上野東町2949番地
TEL0595-21-0123

a partly bi-lingual BLOG by Kikyo San, a sweet maker in the 18th generation in Iga Ueno, the home of Basho.
Take your time to browse here !

The hokkku by Basho are not about food, though.
Only the sweets are all named after his poems.

. uguisu ya yanagi no ushiro yabu no mae .


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石山の石にたばしるあられかな
Ishiyama no ishi ni tabashiru arare kana
霰 arare
scattering on the stones
of Mount Ishiyama -
these hailstones
Tr. Gabi Greve

More about this sweet TABASHIRU
Matsuo Basho at Mount Ishiyamadera


MORE food haiku by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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化けそうな傘借す寺の時雨かな
bakesoo na kasa kasu tera no shigure kana

winter drizzle -
at the temple I borrow an old umbrella
looking almost like a ghost

Yosa Buson 与謝 蕪村
Tr. Gabi Greve


More about
Ghosts and Haiku

Winter drizzle (shigure) KIGO



Haiga by Buson
"Umbrella looking like a ghost"

Haiku Sweet: Shiguregasa : sleet and umbrella
「俳菓しぐれがさ」銘菓「時雨傘」

In the North of Kyoto there is the temple Ichijoo-Ji Konbuku-Ji 一乗寺金福寺 (Konpuku-Ji) where Buson wrote this haiku. He was on this way to Central Kyoto, when the rain became stronger and he borrowed this old tattered umbrella. The umbrella looked as if it would grow legs and arms, strecht out the toungue and start dancing in a moment.

The owner of a sweet store in Kyoto made a small cake looking like an umbrella and had his HIT right away. This was in 1903. The present owner of "Kyokado 京華堂" is in the fouth generation. The owner also seems to have created the word "Haiku Sweet", which is written on the explanation sheet of this cake.


京華堂利保
京都市左京区二条通川端東入ル難波町
©　www.digistyle-kyoto.com / 京華堂利保


. Konpukuji, Konbukuji 金福寺 / 金福寺 Konpuku-Ji - Kyoto .


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Here is Blyth's translation of the Buson haiku:

It may transform itself,
This umbrella lent by a temple,
In the winter rain.

Blyth's comment:
Rain begins to fall, and Buson goes to a temple nearby and asks for the loan of an umbrella. The monk gives him one, so old that it is hardly worth while returning. As he leaves the temple in the gathering darkness, the rain falling steadily and monotonously, Buson feels that this aged umbrella may suddenly transform itself into a fox or a witch or goblin. The old monk, the old temple, the rain, the tattered umbrella, the evening, the thoughts of ghosts and apparitions are all blended together with a power and compactness in the original which even a literal translation cannot emulate.
"Rain of a temple lending a bewitched umbrella" is nearer the Japanese, but omits the "may be" element of "looks as though it may be going to transform itself" expressed by "bakesoo."
Compiled by Larry Bole
Translating Haiku Forum

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


an old umbrella
turned into sweet cake ...
more haiku wonders

Gabi Greve


I shall look into it from another angle that perhaps is sweeter than any sweets:

an old umbrella
turned into a protective cover
of Lord Buddha

Kumarendra Mallick, Hyderabad, India


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柿食えば鐘が鳴るなり法隆寺
kaki kueba kane ga naru nari Hooryuu-Ji

eating a persimmon
the bell reveberates
at temple Horyu-ji
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Masaoka Shiki
Read a discussion of this haiku translation.


The shop Rokujiya 六時屋 in Matsuyama makes sweets in memory of haiku by Masaoka Shiki since 1953.
©　Rokujiya 六時屋
〒790-0878
愛媛県松山市
勝山町２丁目１８-８
TEL： 089-941-6666（代）


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source : baigetsu.hamazo


夏山や目にもろもろの草の露
natsu yama ya me ni moro-moro no kusa no tsuyu

summer mountain--
all sorts of dewdrops
in the grass
Tr. David Lanoue


. WKD : Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .


summer mountain --
in my eyes endless dewdrops
on all kinds of plants

. - Comment by Chris Drake .


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渋かろか　知らねど柿の 初ちぎり
shibukaro ka shiranedo kaki no hatsu chigiri

are they bitter?
I do not know, but - well,
the first take of a persimmon
Tr. Gabi Greve

Kaga no Chiyo-Jo 加賀千代女


- quote
Will it be sweet
this Japanese persimmon
the first in my hand?

Whether Chiyo-ni's marriage was sweet, or bitter like an unripe persimmon is unknown. Perhaps hints can be found in her poetry, which she began writing at the age of seven. By seventeen, her talent for writing clear, pure haiku was well known. In her later years she took vows and lived the contemplative, austere life of a Buddhist.
Perhaps even then she permitted herself an occasional taste of the sweet fruit of the persimmon tree.
Tr. lisabsf.blogspot.jp


Whether the fruit be bitter
Or whether it be sweet,
The first bite tells.
- tr. John Paris


hatsu chigiri ...
can imply taking the first persimmon fruit from a branch of the tree and take a bite.
chigiri 契り can also imply exchanging marriage vows and then hatsu 初　the first encounter of a newly-wed couple.


shibu-gaki、shibugaki 渋柿 bitter persimmons
a special kind that is skinned and dried for preservation, then hanged on a string it becomes the tsurushi-gaki.
. WKD : kaki 柿 persimmon fruit .


source :　邦太郎雑記

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a haiku about the garden of Tsubone-ya 局屋, a famous tea shop in Kyoto


庭の栗ふくめば京の旅路かな
niwa no kuri fukumeba Kyoo no tabiji kana

even the chestnuts
in the tea garden -
travelling in Kyoto
Tr. Gabi Greve

Konishi Chizuru 小西千鶴

©　tsuboneya Kyoto
〒605-0846
東山区五条橋東六丁目583
松村敏男

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Buson-An and Sakura-Ebisen
蕪村菴 さくらえびせんべい

In a pack with two crackers
From Kyoto



手まくらの夢はかざしの桜哉
temakura no yume wa kazashi no sakura kana

Yosa Buson

yume kazashi 夢かざし

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


Here is another Buson Haiku about TEMAKURA

手枕に身を愛すなり朧月
手枕に身を愛す也おほろ月
temakura ni mi o aisu nari oborozuki

My arm for a pillow,
I really like myself
under the hazy moon
(Tr. Robert Hass)


. . . CLICK here for temakura Photos !

makura, 枕 pillow
temakura, tamakura, my hand(s) for a pillow
you can sit on a table and use your hands
den Kopf in die Hand / Hände gestützt


hijimakura, ellbow for a pillow
udemakura, my arm(s) for a pillow
..... usually you are lying down

In a very wide meaning, I am tempted to translate

I like to sit there
with my head in my hands ...
hazy moon
English by Gabi Greve

WKD : the first person in haiku . wagami, watakushi ...



春の夜の夢ばかりなる手枕に
かひなくたたむ　名こそ惜しけれ

Suoo on Naishi 周防内侍 (? - 1110)
Female poet of the Heian period


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Thin filled waffers in memory of Shushiki, poetess of the Edo period
"Shushiki monaka 秋色もなか"



matsusugi o homete ya kaze no kaoru oto

Shigure no Matsu 時雨の松 Pine in Winter Drizzel
Matsuo Basho at Temple Jojakkoji, Ogura, Kyoto



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

A sweet shop in Kyoto with seasonal haiku sweets

むめ一輪一りんほどのあたゝかさ
嵐雪

馬をさへながむる雪の朝（あした）かな
芭蕉

菜の花に朧一里や嵯峨の寺
内藤鳴雪

見わたせば柳桜をこきまぜて　
都ぞ春の錦なりけり
素性法師


. 両の手に桃と桜や草の餅
ryoo no te ni momo to sakura ya kusa no mochi .
Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉

source : www.turuya.co.jp/wagashi　鶴屋




堀川や家の下行く春の水
Horikawa ya ie no shita ni yuku haru no mizu

river Horikawa -
below the house flows
the water of spring

. Tan Taigi 炭太祇 .


River Horikawa in　. Kyoto 京都 .


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Related words

***** Sweets from Japan (wagashi)

***** . Poetry and Japanese Food .



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Ghosts (yookai, bakemono)

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. yōkai 妖怪 Yokai - Japanese monsters .
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Ghosts (yookai, yuurei, bakemono)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


ghost. yuurei 幽霊
bakemono 化け物　 o-bake お化け
yookai　妖怪


Ghost Stories　怪談話 kaidanbanashi

In summer in Japan it is custom to tell stories about ghosts and gruesome events, so people will get a chill from it to keep cool. :o).

Here in our mountains it is cool anyway, but walking at night beside the family graves, at full moon, you might get some inspiration !



lonely graves
spooking away the ghosts -
summer in Japan

©　Gabi Greve, May 2005


. 江戸 Edo - 妖怪 Yokai monsters, 幽霊 Yurei ghosts .
- Introduction -


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. Monster festival (bakemono matsuri 化物祭 )
Tsuruoka Tenmangu Sai 鶴岡天満宮祭
Tsuruoka Tenmangu Festival
kigo for early summer

. . . . .


Bon-Kyogen performed on the 16th of July

. kiraigoo 鬼来迎 (きらいごう)
"Welcoming the Demons"
..... Oni Mai 鬼舞（おにまい）"Demon's Dance"
kigo for late summer

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- quote -

hitai kakushi 額隠 "forehead covering"
is a white piece of triangular paper or cloth worn on the head by yūrei.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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. Hyaku monogatari 百物語
One Hundred Ghost Stories 　　
kigo for late summer

Gruesome ghost stories were told to keep cool on a hot summer night.

In the Northern parts of Europe, where the summers are much cooler, ghost stories are often told in the long winter nights to entertain the children.


百物語はてて灯せば不思議な空席

Naito Toten (Naitoo Toten) 内藤吐天 (1900 - 1976)




江戸 本所の七不思議 Edo Honojo no Nana Fushigi

quote
The Seven Wonders of Honjo
Zack Davisson
Several of the ghost legends of Honjo were collected together and called the Honjo Nanafushigi (本所七不思議), the Seven Wonders of Honjo. The number seven is purely nominal; as in many places in the world, the number seven carries mystical significance and when you are telling ghost stories the “seven wonders” sounds scarier than the “nine wonders” or “eight wonders.”
source : hyakumonogatari.com


Translated Japanese Ghost Stories and
Tales of the Weird and the Strange
http://hyakumonogatari.com/


. WKD : Honjo Nana Fushigi 本所七不思議 - Seven Wonders of Honjo .
- and
Edo Nana Fushigi 江戸七不思議The Seven Wonders of Edo　


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Here are a few extra pages about my research of
the Japanese ghosts:
Take your time to read them leisurely.


The Hungry Ghosts are part of the Six Realms of Existence, rokudoo　六道　of the Buddhist religion.
Hungry Demons, Hungry Ghosts (gaki)

O-Bake, お化け, Literally means, "transforming thing." Anything that is fearful or super-large or otherwise out of the normal range is called O-Bake.
Japanese Ghosts and Ghost Stories, kaidan 怪談
On Overview of them all !

Oni, Japanese Demons and Art 鬼　と美術

Tanuki, the bewitching badger

Kappa 河童, the water goblin - Kappapedia

Oonyuudoo 大入道 O-Nyudo
Monster with a long neck and hanging tongue

Shoki (Shooki 　鍾馗　しょうき）The Demon Queller

Fireflies (hotaru) and the souls of the Heike clan


Ueda Akinari 上田秋成 (1734 - 1809)
He is famous for his eerie ghost stories and strange fiction in Japan.


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　NUE 鵺 a mythological beast
with the head of a monkey, breast of a badger, scales like a dragon, tail of a serpent and feet like a tiger


. WASHOKU
Yookai 妖怪 Monsters and Japanese Food


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Exhibition Storytelling in Japanese Art.
New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art
November 19, 2011–May 6, 2012



- quote
In 2002, The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired a rare masterwork of Japanese art—A Long Tale for an Autumn Night, a set of three illustrated handscrolls, each more than ten meters long, dating from the medieval period. This major acquisition gave rise to the exhibition "Storytelling in Japanese Art," organized by Masako Watanabe, Senior Research Associate in the Department of Asian Art. Together with this publication, the exhibition traces the rich history of Japanese painted narratives with examples in a range of formats, including illustrated books, folding screens, hanging scrolls, and even playing cards. These objects, which date from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, vividly capture the life and spirit of their time. The popularity of Japanese comics, or manga, and the preeminence of the graphic arts in contemporary Japan attest to the enduring legacy of these traditions.

Central to any exploration of this subject is the illustrated handscroll, or emaki, a narrative format that has been essential not only to the dissemination of Japanese tales but also to the very ways in which they are crafted. The more than twenty handscrolls on view in the exhibition, a selection of which are reproduced in arresting detail in these pages, invite viewers to explore myriad subjects that have preoccupied the Japanese imagination for centuries—Buddhist and Shinto miracle tales; the adventures of legendary heroes and their feats at times of war; animals and fantastical creatures that cavort within the human realm; and the ghoulish antics of ghosts and monsters.

The exhibition brings together outstanding works from public and private collections both local and from farther afield. We are especially indebted to the New York Public Library for their loan of more than ten precious medieval handscrolls from the Spencer Collection. Joined by a selected of objects from the Metropolitan Museum's own rich holdings in Japanese art, they offer a rare opportunity for visitors of all ages to experience the pleasures and intellectual challenges inherent in Japanese narrative painting.
- source : www.metmuseum.org

- quote
Welcome to the endlessly fascinating world of Japanese storytelling. Japan has a long and rich history of pairing narrative texts with elaborate illustrations—a tradition that continues to this day with manga and other popular forms of animation. Featuring more than sixty works of art in a range of mediums and formats, this exhibition invites you to explore myriad subjects that have preoccupied the Japanese imagination for centuries—Buddhist and Shinto miracle tales; the romantic adventures of legendary heroes and their feats at times of war; animals and fantastical creatures that cavort within the human realm; and the ghoulish antics of ghosts and monsters.

From illustrated books and folding screens to textiles and even playing cards, the objects on view, which date from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, vividly capture the life and spirit of their time. Central to our exploration of this subject is the illustrated handscroll, or emaki, a narrative format that is essential not only to the dissemination of Japanese tales but also to the very ways in which they are crafted. The more than twenty handscrolls on view in the galleries demonstrate the many ways in which the pictorial space of the emaki is designed to draw viewers directly into a story, offering a rare opportunity for visitors of all ages to experience the pleasures and intellectual challenges inherent in Japanese narrative painting.


Scene from The Legend of Kitano Tenjin Engi

Narrative Flow: Muromachi Tales and the Handscroll Format
Japanese storytelling reached its apogee during the Nanbokuchō and Muromachi periods (1336–1573). The more than four hundred tales that emerged during the Muromachi period are known collectively as otogi zōshi. Ranging widely in theme, from religious parables to capricious fables, these short, often didactic stories are a world apart from the courtly romantic tales of the Heian period (794–1185), the heyday of aristocratic society. Many of the plots stem from the epics of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), a time of marked military ascendancy and the rise of a powerful warrior class.

Contributing significantly to the development and dissemination of otogi zōshi was the handscroll, a major vehicle for painting and writing throughout East Asia. Illustrated handscrolls, or emaki (picture scrolls), first emerged in Japan in the eighth century. They generally measure about one foot high and can extend for more than thirty feet. Emaki are meant to be unrolled laterally, from right to left, and read in sequential segments of about two feet each. Usually, text sections are interspersed with images, with the narrative preceding the related illustration. A scroll is unrolled with the left hand, while the right hand rolls the part already viewed, allowing the story to emerge from the left and disappear to the right. With the freedom to move through the scenes at his or her own pace, the viewer physically experiences the progression of time and space as the past is rolled away, the present is slowly uncovered, and the future waits to be seen.
- source : www.metmuseum.org


An eight-headed, nine-tailed monster greeted us at the door of the exhibition. Fortunately for us, the monster was preoccupied with other business, for he guards the gate to hell.

Read more of these monster musings here :
- source : prufrocksdilemma.blogspot.jp


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Worldwide use


kyuuketsu ki 吸血鬼 blood-sucking demon
banpaia バンパイア vampire



Vampires have been introduced by the Europeans, in the 19th century.



Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki 100 monsters
Toriyama Sekien
source : commons.wikimedia.org

the name of the vampire is “Kyuketsu-ki,” which means blood-sucking Oni. in the late 18th century, the ukiyo-e artist Sekien Toriyama drew a picture in which the Oni is eating an animal with a skull lying at the feet in a cave. The text describes the Oni's relationship to a tiger and cow, a fang and a horn.

This Oni became famous at the same time that vampires began to appear in Europe. the name “Kyuketsu-ki” was introduced in the 19th century, in the Meiji era, a time in which Japanese and Western culture rapidly mixed. The monster image is not only an enemy of Japanese people, but also, a subjectivized character
(Kagawa, M. 2005. Edo no Youkai Kakumei
(The revolution of Japanese ghosts in the Edo period).

. Toriyama Sekien 鳥山石燕 (1712 – 1788) .

The Illustrated Night Parade of A Hundred Demons 画図百鬼夜行
今昔画図続百鬼 - all his works
The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past
source : 収録作品


バンパイアゐさうな闇の蛍狩
banpaia isoona yami no hotarugari

a vampire
might be out there in the darkness -
hunting for fireflies

Katsumata Tamiki 勝又民樹



お役者捕物帖 - - - 吸血鬼 / 栗本薫

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Philippines

Aswang shape shifter


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Things found on the way


Buson's Monster Scroll
蕪村妖怪絵巻
Buson Bakemono Emaki, Buson Yōkai Emaki



Start from here to see more of the monsters:
© ship.nime.ac.jp　/ Buson's Monster Scroll



the wailing old woman / 泣き婆


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Japanese art, ghosts and Buddhism:
Botan Doro 牡丹灯篭 Botan Dōrō The Peony Lantern

The setting of this story is based in Koyasan where the local Buddhist priest was telling the story of Botan Doro (The Peony Lantern). People had been waiting ages because they knew that he could tell ghost stories with passion and the setting was very mysterious.
。。。。。 Ogiwara Shinnojo was a samurai warrior but his heart was full of woe because he was a widower. At night he felt so alone and memories of the past came back to haunt him and it appeared that he would never feel the fluttering heart of love again.



... The Buddhist priest telling the story then said that “Their eyes gazed on Ogiwara because his corpse was entangled with Otsuyu for the last time but it appeared that the final minutes were full of fear judging by the face of Ogiwara.” The priest continued by commenting that “After Ogiwara entered the crypt it shut by itself once he embraced Otsuyu to make love to her but this time she would never let him go. Therefore, the last few minutes of his life were ended in a perverse and panic stricken nature because now he could see the truth but it was too late because the shadow of death swallowed him up.”

Lee Jay Walker
source : moderntokyotimes.com


美男美女灯籠にてらす迷ひかな
binan bijo tooroo ni terasu mayoi kana

a handsome man and a handsome woman
in the light of a lantern
lost on the way . . .

Are these two from our world? or are they from the other world? It is O-Bon and all is possible.

. Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角 .




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External LINK

Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition

Nihon ryōiki　日本霊異記　Nihon Ryoiki
Wunder­same Bege­ben­heiten aus Japan
um 800

translated by University Vienna
source : www.univie.ac.at

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HAIKU



化けそうな傘借す寺の時雨かな
bakesoo na kasa kasu tera no shigure kana

winter drizzle -
at the temple I borrow an old umbrella
looking like a ghost

Yosa Buson
Tr. Gabi Greve


"Umbrella looking like a ghost"
Discussion of this haiku and a famous sweet to go with it!


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小坊主の狸に化くる時雨かな
koboozu no tanuki ni bakuru shigure kana

a young priest
is turning into a badger ...
winter sleet

by a student of Buson
Tr. Gabi Greve

(usually the badger turns in a young priest, but here it is the other way round ...)




old Santa turns
into a badger ...
winter sunshine

Gabi Greve
in response to Buson and his disciple. May 2008



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Kobayashi Issa



柳からももんぐわとて出る子哉
yanagi kara momonguwa tote deru ko kana

from the willow
a ghost attacks!
the child

According to Issa zenshû, the child has thrown a coat over his head and is running out from the shadow of the willow, attempting to scare people
(Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79, 6.171).
Momonguwa (momonga 鼯鼠) is another word for the Japanese flying squirrel (musasabi); more generally it refers to a wide-eyed, mouth-open boogieman who frightens children; see Kogo dai jiten (Shogakukan 1983) 1642. Shinji Ogawa suggests that "ghost" is a good translation in context, noting that "the association of a willow tree and a ghost was well established by the time of Issa." The haiku captures a moment of energy and imagination, taking its adult readers back to an earlier time when all the world seemed magical.
A constant theme in Issa's poetry about children seems to be: Live that way again!



幽霊と人は見るらんすすき原
yûrei to hito wa miruran susuki-bara

where people
see ghosts...
field of pampas grass

Shinji Ogawa paraphrases, "The people may see the field of pampas grass as ghosts."

Tr. David Lanoue


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”雪明り明るき閨は又寒し”
©　緑陰漫筆 / 江戸俳画紀行 :（磯部勝著）


どこぞでは婆々にやならんたけり猫
dokozo de wa baba ni ya naran takerineko

Somewhere
it may become a hag--
the raging cat
Tr. Fumiko Y. Yamamoto

Takebe Socho (Takebe Soochoo 建部巣兆) (1761-1814)


Ghosts and Haiku - Discussion


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幽霊のよく出た庭よりカンナ咲く　　
yuurei no yoku deta niwa yori kanna saku

canna lilies bloom first
in the garden where ghosts
appear often

Goto Takashi (Gotoo Takashi) 五島高資
Medical doctor from Nagasaki
1968 -
source : 五島高資


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Related words

***** Bakeneko, the Monster Cat ... 化け猫




***** Halloween ハロウィーン

***** . Saijiki of Buddhist Events .


***** Sleet, rain mixed with snow, cold rain, winter drizzle (shigure) 　


More about the discussion
Imagination in Haiku


Graveyard warden (onboo 隠坊)


Yookai Hakase　妖怪博士 a professor takes a closer look at monsters:
. Inoue Enryoo 井上 円了 Inoue Enryo .


. Oni 鬼　Demon Amulets .

. Regional Folk Toys from Japan .
Including Monsters and Goblins.

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A New Collection of Monsters (Shinpan bakemono zukushi)
「新板化物つくし」- 1860

This entry is now continued HERE in the Kappapedia

. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai - Japanese monsters - .


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- #yokai #ghost #yookai #hitaikakushi-
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Go Game

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Go game, Igo 囲碁

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation



Go is a strategic board game for two players.
It is known as Wéiqí in Chinese (Traditional: 圍棋; Simplified: 围棋), Igo (囲碁, Igo) or Go (碁, Go) in Japanese, and Baduk in Korean (hangul: 바둑). To differentiate it from the common English verb go, it is sometimes written with a capital G or spelled Goe. Go originated in ancient China, centuries before its earliest known references in 5th century BC writing. It is mostly popular in East Asia but has nowadays gained some popularity in the rest of the world as well. Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simple rules.

Go is played by two players alternately placing black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a line grid. The standard size of this grid is 19 × 19, although the rules of Go can be freely applied to any size: 13 × 13 and 9 × 9 are also popular choices for simpler and more tactic-oriented games as well as a way to introduce Go to new players. The objective of the game is to control a larger part of the board than the opponent. To achieve this, players strive to place their stones in such a way that they cannot be captured, while mapping out territories the opponent cannot invade without being captured. A stone or a group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the opposing color.

Origin in China
General Guan Yu (160–219) being treated for a poisoned arm by the physician Hua Tuo while playing Go. 1853 Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.Some legends trace the origin of the game to legendary Chinese emperor Yao (2337–2258 BC), who had his counselor Shun design it for his son, Danzhu —supposedly an unruly sort—to teach him discipline, concentration, and balance. Other theories suggest that the game was derived from Chinese tribal warlords and generals who used pieces of stone to map out attacking positions or that Go equipment was originally a fortune telling device.

The earliest written reference of the game is usually taken to be the historical annal Zuo Zhuan(c. 4th century BC), referring to a historical event of 548 BC. It is also mentioned in Book XVII of the Analects of Confucius (c. 3rd century BC) and in two of the books of Mencius (c. 3rd century BC). In all of these works, the game is referred to as yì (弈), a name that is no longer in use today.

In China, Go was perceived as the popular game of the aristocracy, while Xiangqi (Chinese chess) was the game of the masses. Go was considered one of the four cultivated arts of the Chinese scholar gentleman, along with calligraphy, painting and playing the musical instrument guqin.


Spread to Japan and Korea

Although Go may have reached Korea as early as the 5th century AD, more solid evidence stems from the 7th century AD.By this time, Go had also reached Japan, where it gained popularity at the imperial court in the 8th century. By the beginning of the 13th century, Go was played among the general public in Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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goban 碁盤（ごばん） wooden board to play go


The straight lines are engraved with a heated Japanese sword.

. . . CLICK here for Photos of the board !


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Utanosuke Playing Go

Oban print by Kunisada (signing as Toyokuni III),
published by Tsutaya Kichizo in 1861.

From the series Meigi Sanju-rokkasen (A Selection of Thirty-Six Famous Geisha).
The haiku in the panel reads:

With the first move at go
the heat of this evening
is quite forgotten.


All about the Game GO
©　www.kiseido.com


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


shared by Hayato, Kappapedia facebook


. Kappa playing Go - Legend from Fukushima .
Akazu Jinja 不開神社 "Shrine not to open", now written 赤津神社 Akatsu Jinja .


- KAPPA - 河童 / 合羽　/ かっぱ /　カッパ - ABC-Index -

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Japanese Prints and the World of Go - - - by William Pinckard


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HAIKU



game of go ~
see the good goblet
that we share

(based on "Inner Truth"
in the Confucian Commentaries on the I Ching)

Photo: Mud Men on a Jade Stand by E. Andre
Overall Size of the Mud Men figurine: 30 X 48mm
(approx. 1-3/16th" X 1-7/8th")

Famous paintings of two sages playing GO:
There is a "poetic" name for it: Ranka　らんか【爛柯】.
Ranka, in Japanese, means "rotten axe handle",
and it comes from the following legend:

A woodcutter stopped by to watch a game of Go played by two mountain sages.
When the game finished, so much time had passed that he found that the handle of his axe had rotted away.

In the I Ching, one of the commentaries on "Inner Truth" is thus:

A crane calling in the shade.
Its young answers it.
I have a good goblet.
I will share it with you.

Shared by Elaine Andre
Joys of Japan, February 2012






. . . CLICK here for Photos of RANKA !


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An igo player
stirs the stones in the bowl.
Some steps in snow.

Le joueur de go
remue les pierres dans le bol.
Des pas dans la neige.

- Shared by Francis Tugayé -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013



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Related words

go ishi Daruma dorei 碁石だるま土鈴
clay bells with Daruma as stones for the Go game.
from Tochigi


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