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JAPANESE PRINTS A MILLION QUESTIONS TWO MILLION MYSTERIES |
Ukiyo-e Prints浮世絵版画 |
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Port Townsend, Washington |
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INDEX/GLOSSARY
Kutsuwa thru Mokumezuri |
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The white lilies are being used
to mark addition The negative image of the iris posted at commons.wikimedia.org by D. L. Lindwall were used in March and April. |
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TERMS FOUND ON THIS PAGE:
Kutsuwa, Kyōgō, Kyoka, Kyokki, Kyokuba, Kyōsoku, Kyūri, Lake Biwa or Biwako, Richard Lane, Samuel Leiter, Martin Luther,
Maneki neko, Manji, Man'yōgana, Man'yōshū, Marumage,
Matsu,
Matsumoto Koshiro V, Matsuri, Meiji Restoration,
Mimasu, Minamoto Tametomo,
Minogami, Misu, Mitate, Mitsu buton, Mitsu gashiwa,
Mitsu tomoe, Miyagi Gengyo,
Mizaru,
Mokkotsu and Mokumezuri
轡, 校合, 狂歌, 旭旗, 曲馬, 脇息, 胡瓜, 琵琶湖,
人間国宝,
万葉仮名, 万葉集, 丸髷, 松,
松皮菱, (五世)松本幸四郎,
祭り, 明治維新,
面彫り, 密教, 御子, 神輿, 三升, 耳付, 源為朝,
三蒲団, 三柏, 三つ巴, 宮城玄魚, 三猿,
餅, 没骨 and 木目摺
くつわ, きょうごう, きょうか, きょっき, きょくば, きょうそく, きゅうり,
びわこ, にんげんこくほう, マルティン ルター,
まえがみ, まがき, まきもの, まねき.ねこ, まんじ,
まんようがな, まんようしゅう, まるまげ, まつ,
まつばめもの, まつかわびし, (ごせ)まつもと.こうしろう, まつり,
まゆずみ,
めいじいしん,
みっきょう, みこ, みこし, みます, みみつき,
みなもとためとも,
みのがみ, みす, みつぶとん, みつがしわ, みつどもえ,
みやぎ.げんぎょ, みざる,
もっこつ and もくめずり
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One more note about this page and all of the others on this site: If two or more sources are cited they may be completely contradictory. I have made no attempt to referee these differences, but have simply repeated them for your edification or use. Quote anything you find here at your own risk and with a whole lot of salt. |
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TERM/NAME |
KANJI/KANA |
DESCRIPTION/ DEFINITION/ CATEGORY Click on the yellow numbers to go to linked pages. |
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Kutsuwa |
轡
くつわ |
A bit motif: "These small pieces on each side of the horse's bit not only gave a martial impression when used as crest motifs, but also were later adopted by several Christian families because of the 'hidden cross' design."
Quoted from: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, published by Weatherhill, 1991 edition, p. 106.
Lafcadio Hearn in his writings mentioned a cricket, the kutsuwa mushi ( 轡虫 or くつわむし) or bridle-bit-insect, which made the sound the rings attached to the sides of each bridle would make. He even quotes a poem by Izumi Shikibu (和泉式部 or いずみしきぶ) who was born in the late 10th century.
Listen! His bridle rings - That is surely my husband Homeward hurrying now Fast as the horse can bear him! Ah! My ear was deceived! Only the Kutsuwamushi!
Hepburn says that a homonym for kutsuwa means "A prostitue house," but doesn't mention is it is a proper or common noun. |
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Kyōgō |
校合
きょうごう |
Black ink keyblock print used for making color blocks.
David Bull (デイビッド.ブル) of the Baren Forum adds that after the proof prints were pulled they were sent to the designer, i.e., artist, who would indicate what colors were to be used where. 1
Question: Why do any kyōgō still exist today? Hiroshi Yoshida provides the answer. "A few more impressions than the number of the colours to be used in the print must be taken. If ten colour blocks are anticipated, fifteen may be necessary." ( Japanese Woodblock Printing, 1939, p. 31) ¶ In the 20th century other colors were used in printing kyōgō. "...they are often printed in red, green, or blue, in order to bring out the feeling which the artist desires." (p. 75) |
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Kyoka |
狂歌 きょうか |
Literally "mad verse" - a 31 syllable comic poem |
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Kyokki |
旭旗
きょっき |
Rising Sun Flag: It is the red and white of the flag which is important to us here. White represents the yin (陰 or いん) or male element and red the yang (陽 or よう) the female. Elsewhere I noted: "Another question arises from something else I read a number of years ago, but for the life of me have been unable to find again to check my sources. The quote said that the red and white of the Japanese flag represented the red or female element and the white was the male. It doesn't take a stretch of the mind to understand the sexually oriented use of these symbolic colors. The contrast of the two in combination is - if this is true - a clear analogy to the yin-yang concept."
Well, I finally sound something on the subject, but not exactly what I was looking for. "Let us return to the red and white, which colors have had a metaphorical resonance across Asia, from ancient Iran to Japan. The Chinese conception, reflected in the funerary rituals, is that the (red) flesh comes from the mother, whereas the (white) bones come from the father. More specifically, the mother's 'red drop' contributes the skin, blood, flesh, fat, heart, and soft, red viscera; whereas the father's white drop contributes the hair, nails, teeth, bones, veins, arteries, ligaments, semen - in other words, all that is white, hard, structural. This is very much like the Greek conception, described by Aline Rousselle, in which semen goes to build the 'noble white parts.' Therefore, a woman who wants a son must 'whiten' or 'masculinize' herself. According to Aristotle, 'Man produces sperm because he is a warm nature, such that he possesses a capacity for bringing about an intense concoction of the blood, which transforms it into its purest and thickest residue: sperm or male seed. Women cannot perform this operation. They lose blood, and at their warmest can only succeed in turning it into milk... Thus, the ultimate difference between the sexes lies in the fact that one is warm, and dry and the other is cold and wet, qualities that reveal themselves in their aptitude or inaptitude for achieving concoction.' Incidentally, this distinction is presented as the ultimate rationale and justification of the androcentric social order. The Egyptian theories of reproduction, too, ascribed the bones to the male principle and the flesh to the female."
Quoted from: The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender, by Bernard Faure, published by Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 83.
A side note: "According to an interesting (and widespread) Japanese belief, the gender of the child is said to depend on who gets the most pleasure from sexual intercourse. According to the Shaseikishū [13th c. - 沙石集 or させきしゅう], for instance, the conscience is formed by the fusion of the 'white drop' of the father and the 'red drop' of the mother; and depending where the sexual pleasure was, the child will resemble the father or the mother." (Ibid., p. 85)
Another fascinating side note which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Japanese flag, but does pertain somewhat to the text above: Faure quotes St. Jerome: "As long as a woman is for birth and children she is as different from man as body is from soul. But when she wishes to server Christ more than the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called man." (Ibid., p. 128)
For more on the curse of 'redness' look at our discussion of the Blood Pool of Hell on our page devoted to the Courtesan from Hell - a print by Kunisada II.
The image of the flag of the Rising Sun above is shown courtesy of Thommy at http://commons.wikimedia.org/. The detail to the left is from a triptych by Koson.
See also our entry on
koshimaki or the red undergarment traditionally worn by Japanese women.
You will find it
on our Kogai thru Kuruma page.
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Kyokuba |
曲馬
きょくば |
Circus/equestrian feats: "Japan has had its own circus for nearly 500 years. It is called kyokuba or trick horse-riding was at first its main attraction. Kyokuba started in the middle of the Muromachi period (1394-1573), and from its very beginning consisted of fancy horse-riding, acrobatic acts, comic plays and performances by monkeys and dogs."
Quote from: Mock Joya's Things Japanese, p. 483.
The image to the left is a detail from a Yoshiharu print from 1871 showing a troupe (kyokuban - 曲馬団 or きょくばだん) of female, European riders. Click on the number to the right to see the full print.
A stunt rider is a kyokubashi (曲馬師 or きょくばし). 1 |
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Kyōsoku |
脇息
きょうそく |
Armrest: "A support board (hyōban) measuring approximately 18 by 6 inches...was elevated on legs at either end, and covered with a cotton-padded cushion. Armrests might be made of imported karaki woods, zelkova, or paulownia, or lacquered and decorated in mother-of-pearl inlay or maki-e."
Quoted from: Traditional Japanese Furniture, by Kozuko Koizumi, published by Kodansha, 1986, p. 102. 1
I was wondering in general how old this type of furniture was and was surprised to find that it is mentioned in the oldest piece of Japanese literature, the Kojiki which was presented to the Imperial Court in 712 A.D. Toward the end of this tale Wodö-pime of Kasuga sings to the Emperor Yūryaku. In her song she wishes she were the armrest the Emperor leans upon. |
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Kyūri |
胡瓜
きゅうり |
Cucumber: A kappa's favorite food.
Now...I have a confession to make. The cucumber to the left is not a Japanese cucumber - as far as I know. I bought it in a local grocery store today. I even searched for the one which I thought a kappa might find most attractive. Be that as it may, considering all of the international trade going on this cucumber may well come from Ecuador or Chile or some such place, but definitely not Cuba or North Korea. Of that I can be fairly sure. Besides, all I cared about was finding a decent looking kyūri for your visual and intellectual delectation. Now there's food for thought.
Kiuri is an alternate spelling for kyūri listed in the text volume of the Utamaro catalogue from the great British Museum show. I mention this because a scholarly friend of mine who is fluent in Japanese questioned my original use of kiuri. I revised my entry to this, i.e., kyūri, Anglicized variation.
The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, published by the British Museum Press, London, 1995, text volume, entry #119, p. 125.
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Lake Biwa or Biwako |
琵琶湖 びわこ |
Japan's largest freshwater lake. 8 of its famous views have inspired many artists. 1 |
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Lane, Richard |
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Major author of works on Japanese prints including Hokusai: Life and Work 1 |
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Leiter, Samuel |
サミュエル・L・ジャクソン |
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Living National Treasure(s) |
人間国宝
にんげんこくほう
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Starting in the late 19th century during the Meiji Period the Japanese began to recognize the importance of preserving and protecting tangible national treasures. In 1929 the Preservation of National Treasures Law (Kokuhō Hozon Hō) was enacted. "In the immediate post-World War II years a new effort to nurture traditional crafts and performing arts on a national basis resulted in the promulgation of the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Assets (Bunzaki Hogo Hō), amended and expanded in 1954 and 1970. The 1950 law covered certain intangible assets (mukei bunka-zai) as well as intangible objects." Artist/craftsmen became known as 'bearers of important intangible cultural assets' or jūyō mukei bunkazai hojisha [重要無形文化財保持者]. This included everything from ceramicists, wordsmiths, fabric artists, lacquerers, doll makers, woodworkers, and performers and practitioners of music and theatrical arts, etc. |
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"The first list of 31 persons designated by the government for 28 categories of skills was made known on 15 February 1955 and the public immediately transferred the word kokuhō, meaning national treasure, from the 1929 law referring to the preservation of important objects, to the individuals named in the first list, calling them Ningen Kokuhō (Human National Treasures). The termn has been used ever since, despite protestations on the part of the Ministry of Education and he designees themselves that the program is designed not to honor individuals, but to ensure that certain traditional skills will be transmitted for future generations."
65 different skills have been recognized. Each spring the list is reviewed. If an honoree dies he or she is not necessarily replaced with another. Sometimes it is a whole group like a dance troupe which is recognized. A small annual stipend is given to each individual or group. "There is no specific teaching requirement, but the honored individual is expected to find and train apprentices and successors..." Recipients are expected to leave full records, including films, or their practices and to participate in annual exhibitions.
Source and quotes: "Living National Treasures" by Barbara C. Adachi in vol. 5 of the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (pp. 60-1).
The top image shown above is a photo of Iwano Ichibei kneeling next to his certificate. He is a master paper maker who provides the finest sheets used for woodblock printing. (See our entry for mimi-tsuke below.) The bottom image of the Washington Monument with blossoming cherry trees is by Kawase Hasui (川濑巴水 or かわせ.はすい. He was named an honoree in 1955, but died in 1956. I don't know of any other ningen kokuhō named for woodblock print artistry since then. Itō Shinsui (伊東深水 or いとう.しんすい) was honored in 1950 when his print oeuvre was recognized as a national treasure, but that was before the 1955 designations although he lived until 1972 and could easily have been included in the list, but wasn't. If anyone out there knows of other print honorees please let me know and bring irrefutable proof. |
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Luther, Martin |
マルティン ルター |
Great leader of the Protestant Reformation 1483 -1546 1 |
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前立
まえだて |
A crest attached to the front of a helmet. Some dictionaries define it as a plume or pompom.
An interesting aside: When parsed the kanji characters for maedate mean separately 前 'in front' and 立 'stand up' or 'erect'. Not surprisingly these two combined also deal with prostate issues.
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Maegami |
前髪
まえがみ |
Forelock: If anyone had told me years ago that I would be writing about forelocks and I wouldn't have believed them and would have laughed out loud. Nor would I have imagined that forelocks have historically played such an important role in Japanese culture. (See our entry on murasaki bōshi.) Who would have thought it. Turns out that the forelock on young men in Japan was supposedly an extra special turn on for many homosexuals. The only forelocks I remember from my youth were those on Superman (スーパーマン) and some popular singers. If I wasn't wearing a crew cut or a flattop I would occasionally have a forelock. Still do sometimes. However, either because times have changed or for cultural reasons or for a lack of a certain physical pizzazz I was not the focal point of older men. (I am not complaining.)
Samuel L. Leiter wrote: [A] " 'Forelock wig,' worn by a youth whose forelock (maegami) still has not been cut off, an action that was part of the celebratory rites surrounding his passage into manhood (genpuku [元服 or げんぷく]). There are a variety of names for the maegami. Those split down the center into two parts are the hachiware [はちわれ], those stiffened with pomade are the aburakomi [あぶらこみ], those fashioned like a pompon are the tsukamitate, and so on." (New Kabuki Encyclopedia: A Revised Adaptation of kabuki jiten, p. 383)
"Plays about male-male love filled the repetoire during the time female impersonation was banned (1651-54), and continued after the ban was replaced by a 1654 regulation of permissible actors hairstyle... The long forelocks (mae-gami) were the glory of the boys' appearance, and the shearing of the wakashu [a young male actor] was a shocking mortification to actors and a source of mourning for the patrons. Ihara wrote that shaving the mae-gami was 'like seeing unopened blossoms torn from the branch.' One source said a young man without his forelock was no longer a young man. "He was, as they said at the time, no more than a peasant. Finding that their beautiful wakashu were no longer wakashu, their admirers, it is said, wept tears of blood." However, enterprising actors found that by using a purple cloth they could remain as alluring as ever.
Source and quotes: Homosexualities, by Stephen O. Murray, University of Chicago Press, 2002, p. 174. |
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The shaving of the forelock may not have been such a sudden act for a boy of 15 or 16. In the introduction to the The Great Mirror of Male Love (Stanford University Press, 1990, p. 29) Paul Gordon Schalow tells us "At the age of eleven or twelve the crown of the male child's head was shaved, symbolizing the first three steps toward adulthood. The shaved crown drew attention to the forelocks (maegami), the boys distinguishing feature. At the age of fourteen or fifteen the boy's natural hairline was reshaped by shaving the temples into right angles, but the forelocks remained as sumi-maegami (cornered forelocks). This process, called 'putting in corners' (kado o ireru), was the second step towards adulthood. From being a maegami (boy with forelocks), the wakashu had now graduated to being a sumi-maegami (boy with cornered forelocks). The final step, completed at age eighteen or nineteen, involved cutting off the forelocks completely; the pate of his head was shaved smooth, leaving only the sidelocks (bin). Once he had changed to a robe with rounded sleeves, the boy was recognized as an adult man (yarō). He was no longer available as a wakashu for sexual relations with adult men like himself but was now qualified to establish a relationship with a wakashu."
Schalow addresses the historical issues of sexuality and the cutting of the forelocks on pages 35-36: "Much to the chagrin of the authorities, kabuki next became a vehicle for displaying the charms of beautiful boys, whether as wakashugata or as onnagata. During the reign of the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, the social problems produced by this situation were not addressed, possibly because he was known as something of a connoisseur of boys himself. Within a year after his death in 1651, boys were finally banned from the stage, first in Edo and then in Osaka and Kyōto. Theater proprietors negotiated with the authorities and were eventually allowed to reopen the theaters under certain stipulations: the name kabuki was forbidden, and the name 'Mime Theatrical Show' (monomane kyōgen zukushi) replaced it; actors were told to reduce eroticism and increase the realism and dramatic quality of their roles; and perhaps most important, boy actors were required to shave off their forelocks in the manner of adult men (yarō)."
Above is the cover to the paperback edition of The Great Mirror of Male Love written by Ihara Saikaku. In it are numerous references to older men smitten with young boys and either waxing poetically about or pining for one more view of the young boys' forelocks. |
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Magaki |
籬
まがき |
A latticework. In the Yoshiwara or red-light district "There were three classes of bordellos..." The houses with the highest class of prostitutes had a latticework which was the largest, most expansive, running from near the floor all the way to the ceiling. This was referred to as the ōmagaki or sōmagaki, i.e., the large or complete lattice. Medium sized houses had lattices which which only covered 3/4th of the space of the ōmagaki. These were called han-magaki or majiri-magaki (a half or mixed lattice). The lowest class houses which never offered the highest rank of courtesans had a half lattice, i.e., the bottom was latticed and the top half was open. These were called so-han-magaki or 'complete half-lattice'.
Source: Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, by Cecilia Segawa Seigle, University of Hawaii Press, 1993, pp. 234-5.
A magaki can also be a fence or hedge as can seen in the image below. 1
See also our entry on kōshi on our Kogai thru Kuruma index/glossary page. |
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Makimono |
巻物
まきもの
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Scrolls: When shown in pairs they are one of the symbolic lucky treasures. They are often displayed crossed.
The image to the left on top is similar to one shown in John Dower's book on Japanese crests or mon. However, Dower lists it under a section on amulets and notes that it was used by a branch of the Ikeda family from Bizen province who remained 'hidden Christians' after the outlawing of Christianity. This design was chosen not because of its well known connection with Buddhism, but because it contained a hidden cross motif. The image shown below that is shown in its more traditional form as one of the lucky treasures. (See the first graphic entry on manji below.)
Source: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, published by Weatherhill, 1991 edition, p. 102. |
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Maneki neko |
招き猫
まねき.ねこ |
Beckoning cat: When the wearing of earrings became more popular among young men a number of years ago I was incredibly naive. I still am, but now I know that there was a coding system at that time as to which ear it is worn in. Quickly I was taught the anti-gay mantra of "Right is wrong and left is right". And no I am not anti-gay, buy that is the saying. I mention this because there seems to be a lot of discussion out there as to the significance of which paw the beckoning cat has raised. Mock Joya says that there is "...a popular tradition that when a cat passses [sic] its left paw over its left ear it is a sign that visitors will come." It must be true because these creatures are ubiquitous. They come in ceramic, wood, bronze and other forms. They show up in shops and restaurants everywhere. Sometimes the businesses are owned by Japanese, but one is just as likely to run into them in Chinese, Korean or even Waspish establishments.
One story about its origin: There was a famous Yoshiwara courtesan who had a pet cat. As the woman was entertaining a client the cat kept pawing at her and would not go away. Irritated the client drew his sword and beheaded the cat. Its head flew up toward the rafters and it killed a snake which was about to strike the courtesan.
Grief stricken the courtesan gave it an elaborate burial and erected a tombstone. Then she asked a sculptor to recreate the cat in all its features. When done it showed the cat with a left paw raised to its ear. She caressed and fed it - or tried to - everyday. And this was the first maneki neko.
Source and quote: Mock Joya's Things Japanese, p. 110.
The image to the left was created by David Wilcox especially for this site. Thanks David! |
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Manji |
万字
まんじ
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The swastika which has its origins in Indo-Aryan design and was adopted as a positive Buddhist symbol of happiness and well-being. In China it came to mean 10,000 or longevity, even eternity. "In Zen it symbolizes the 'seal of buddha-mind'..."
Quoted from: The Shambala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (p. 214)
See also our entry for sayagata.
A personal note: If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times that the arms of the Asian swastika go a different direction from that of the Nazi swastika. As best I can tell this is untrue. The Asian swastika was so often incorporated into decorative schemes that it can be found going both ways in the same design. It would seem that people insist that there is a distinct and noticeable difference between the swastika as it was used by the Asians and by that of the Germans because they are trying to exonerate the original source. However, this is really no more realistic than your run of the mill urban myth.
The word 'swastika' is of Sanskrit origin and was meant to convey a concept of well-being, fortune or luck. Among certain Tibetan groups this symbol was always shown rotating counterclockwise... "unlike the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist swastika, whose sacred motion is clockwise."
Source and quote: The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, by Robert Beer, published by Shambala, 1999, p. 344.
The image to the left is a detail from a Kuniyoshi print.
To the left above the sickle, kama (鎌 or かま), crest or mon functions on various levels. As a sickle it is associated with a protective deity which cuts down its enemies. Combined into a swastika form would simply magnify its efficacy.
Anyone who has studied ukiyo-e long enough will know that the manji is used frequently, almost ubiquitously, over a period of decades. Ordinarily it appears in the most subtle forms on the under-robes - generally in blue and white patterns which are interlaced - being worn by some of the figures. Because of its positive connotations it is rarely seen on the clothing of villains as it is here.
Below is an example by Kunitsuna where the blue and white swastika design is clearly shown. To the left we have isolated a part of the design for easier viewing.
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Man'yōgana |
万葉仮名 まんようがな |
"Man'yōgana are a set of unmodified Chinese characters that were once used as phonetic symbols to represent Japanese syllables. As the name suggests, man'yōgana (manyo + kana) was the writing system used in the Man'yoshu, an 8th century anthology containing poems from the 5th century to 759 AD. Most attempts to write Japanese prior to the Heian period (794-1185) fall into the category of man'yōgana. Thereafter man'yōgana gives way to other forms of kana." These characters were written "...without modification or simplification." Since they represented only sounds they might look like a traditional Chinese text but would be completely unreadable nonsensical to a Chinese reader. (Source and quotes from: the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, vol. 4, p 131, entry by Haruo Aoki) |
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Man'yōshū |
万葉集 まんようしゅう |
Japan's oldest poetry anthology dating from the 8th century. Donald Keene in his Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century (Henry Holt and Company, 1993, p. 3) says: "Japanese poetry did not begin with the Kokinshū. Indeed, it is generally accepted that many of the finest poems of the language are found in the Man'yōshū, a collection compiled well over a century earlier; but the secret of how to read the complicated script in which the poems of the Man'yōshū were transcribed was not unlocked until the seventeeth century, and during the nine hundred years after the completion of the Man'yōshū, poets looked back to the Kokinshū as the finest flowering of court poetry, a model that they sought to emulate in language, subjects and above all its typical form, the waka." |
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Marumage |
丸髷
まるまげ |
"...lit. a round chignon. the [sic] marumage hairstyle, a traditional coiffure developed during the Edo period (1603-1868). The style is made up of an elevated oval-shaped chignon, a small front tuft, and puffed-out back and side locks. It was widely worn by married women until the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912).
Quote from: Dictionary of Japanese Culture by Setsuko Kojima and Gene A. Crane, p. 203. |
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Matsu |
松
まつ
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Pine tree - a symbol of longevity, winter and New Years and being virtuous.
The image to the left on top is a detail from a Toyokuni I print showing a painted backdrop.
Being green throughout the year, resistant to strong winds and heavy snows the pine came to symbolize longevity. Several families adopted a variation on the pine motif for use as their family crest. |
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松葉
まつば |
Pine needle(s): These were "...were used to express one's sincerity and sentiments in presenting gifts to others." (Quoted from: Mock Joya's Things Japanese, p.364)
Above is a photo of Portuguese pine needles posted at commons.wikimedia.org by Tintazul.
In a prominent Kyoto restaurant one dish is called matsuba sōmen or green tea noodle fans. It is described as "Fans of thin noodles, deep-fried to resemble pine needle sprays."
In some cases real green pine needles are used as skewers for food much in the same way people in the West use toothpicks.
The International Dictionary of Food and Cooking describes a particular display of splayed cucumber as matsuba because it is reminiscent of pine needles.
Mushi-garei (蒸鰈 or むしがれい) is steamed flatfish which is cooked with pine needles at the beach.
The image to the left is shown courtesy of Shu Suehiro http://www.botanic.jp/index.htm. |
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Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規 or まさおかしき: 1867-1902) wrote a thoughtful and evocative poem in 1898 - as translated by Burton Watson:
Gusts of winter wind- pine needles strewn all over the outdoor Noh stage
In a discussion of tattooing techniques in Irezumi: the Pattern of Dermatography in Japan by Willem R. van Gulik (p. 100) lists matsuba-mikiri (松葉みきり) or a pine-needle border of "...closely spaced short vertical straight lines."
One of the houses of prostitution in the Yoshiwara district of Edo was the Matsuba-ya or House of Pine Needles. Courtesans from this establishment were illustrated by Choki, Eishi, Utamaro and Kunisada. Below is a print of the courtesan Ichiwa of Matasuba-ya by Utamaro. It is in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Notice that the background pattern is the pine bark motif (see matsukawa-bishi further down this page):
An age-matsuba (上げ松葉 or あげまつば) is a teahouse in a garden where pine needles carpet the ground to keep it and the moss from freezing in winter. It is said that "...Furuta Oribe [古田織部 or ふるたおりべ: 1545-1615] devised this technique. These strewn matsuba are picked up (ageru, age) little by little from New Year's Day in the lunar calendar starting with those closer to the teahouse until they are completely removed." (Source and quote from: Chado: The Way of Tea, p. 105) A poem by Fuhaku (不白 or ふはく: 1716-1807) from the same book goes: The day when the bush warbler starts singing is the day pine needles are picked up. |
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Matsubame-mono |
松羽目物 まつばめもの |
Kabuki plays adapted from Noh theater 1 |
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Matsukawa-bishi |
松皮菱
まつかわびし |
Pine bark lozenge motif |
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Matsumoto Kōshirō V |
(五世)松本幸四郎
(ごせ)まつもと.こうしろう |
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Matsuri |
祭り まつり |
Festivals |
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Scott Schnell in the Rousing Drum: Ritual Practice in a Japanese Community (University of Hawaii Press, 1999, p. 290) tells us exactly what the purpose of a matsuri is. "The matsuri has been used at various times by its participants to commune with the supernatural, establish or strengthen interpersonal relations, generate and preserve a sense of collective identity, garner prestige, further political ambitions, assert or reaffirm the authority of the local elite and/or the state, challenge that authority, seek retribution for perceived injustices, relieve tensions through cathartic expenditure of energy, settle old scores, and stimulate economic development."
Gloria Ganz Gonick in her Matsuri! Japanese Festival Arts (published by the Fowler Museum, UCLA, 2002, p. 24) adds to what Schnell says: "The essence of matsuri is a prescribed sequence of religious rites held for a group and led by a Shinto priest. The original impetus for establishing a matsuri was usually a felt need to commemorate a historic event of local significance or to seek a fortuitous change in the economic or agricultural outlook of a community. To accomplish this, it was deemed necessary to directly interact with the Japanese deities (kami) and beseech their cooperation." ¶ These festivals "...may include a lively costumed pageant, promenading band, adn semiprofessional dance troops, as well as abundant feasting and drinking." All of this originally has a religious basis, but today such gatherings are increasingly secular. ¶ "Matsuri are hosted by a particular Shinto shrine (jinja) of one community and organized by its neighborhood association (chōnai-kai)." For that reason each matsuri has it own local flavor.
See also our entry on yamaboko or festival float on our Ya thru Z index/glossary page. |
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Mayuzumi |
黛 まゆずみ |
Blackened eyebrows, eyebrow paint or an eyebrow pencil: After shaving off their real eyebrows early aristocratic women would sometimes paint on new false one's higher up on their foreheads. (See our entry on okimayu. There is a description there of one of the concoctions used.)
Above is a detail from a Yoshitoshi print.
眉墨 is an acceptable variant for mayuzumi. |
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Meiji Restoration |
明治維新 めいじいしん |
Restoration of Imperial power in 1868 1 |
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盲 めくら |
Blindness: "The blind have played a key role in the history of Japanese shamanism. Most shamans were women, but blind men also served in this capacity. Even today in certain remote regions of northeastern Japan, a few old blind women still occasionally practice a sort of divination which is the modern remnant of shamanic tradition. In pre-Buddhist Japan, the blind were apparently understood to be particularly capable of communications with the gods. In more recent times as well, the congenitally blind in some areas have been trained from childhood to become shamanic intermediaries. This underlying belief in the spiritual 'sight' of the blind also helps account for the large number of blind biwa hōshi and even the existence of blind 'picture explainers.' " Buddhism, on the other hand, had a totally different approach. Anyone who was congentially blind, deaf, mute, lame or suffering from leprosy was not closer to the gods, but further from them. They were being punished for wrong-doings in a previous life. (Source and quotes: The Legend of Semimaru Blind Musician of Japan by Susan Matisoff, p. 22)
Note: There are a number of Japanese words for blindness. We have chosen this one even though English is our first language. |
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めんぽ |
A half mask worn over the cheeks, chin and nose. NOTE: This next quote seems to contradict what we have just said. Once we have figured it out we will try to make all of the appropriate corrections. "According to Stone, there were five basic types [of face masks.] The first covered the entire face (mempo, membo, so-mempo) with removable pieces. The second covered the face below the eyes (hoate). The third covered the cheeks and chin, leaving the nose and the mouth exposed - thus resembling a monkey's face (saru-bo). The fourth covered the lower part of the face (often the chin only) and was referred to as swallow-face (tsubame-bo, tsubame-gata). The fifth covered the forehead and cheeks only. The masks which covered the chin had a hole (asa-nogashi-no-ana) to allow the perspiration to escape.... (A handkerchief, or fukusa, was worn between the mask and the chin.)" (Quoted from: Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, p. 217)
"These face masks... were patterned to represent 'faces of men, demons, or animals, and were cleverly made, old men selecting a youthful mask and vice-versa.' " There was the Korean face (korai-bo), the ghost (moriyo), the evil demon (akuryo), the Southern barbarian (namban-bo), the long nosed tengu, the old man's face (okina-men), that of a youth (wara-wazura) and even a woman's face (onna-men). (Ibid., p. 218)
The image to the left was taken by Pom² at the Musée Guimet and posted at commons.wikimedia.org.
See also our entry on sōmen. |
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Menbori |
面彫り めんぼり |
Face carver: Now this is an odd term because as far as we can tell it only appears once in all of the literature on ukiyo prints in an article by Shigeyoshi Mihara in Monumenta Nipponica (Vol. 6, No. 1/2, 1943, pp. 245-261). That's it. No one else seems to use this term although one would expect that they would if this is being used properly. ¶ Rebecca Salter in her Japanese Woodblock Printing (p. 60) makes it clear how difficult certain carving tasks could be. "The apprenticeship of a carver would last at least ten years. He would start by carving very simple letters on scraps of leftover wood, would move on to carving the script for song books before graduation to the plain colour blocks for nishiki-e. He would still not be allowed to cut the single brush stroke outlines but could cut the patterns on textiles. In such spare time as he had, the apprentice would practice spacing these geometrical patterns with a compass and ruler because the artist rarely did more than give an indication of the textile patterns required of large areas on the blocks before learning the art of cutting the figure. ¶ His figure-carving career began with the hands and feet and, after mastering finger tips, he was allowed to cut the nose which had to be done in one pull and there was no chance of rectifying any mistakes. The ear and head including the outline of the face came next. This part of the composition called for considerable experience and judgment on the part of the carver. The aim at all times was to preserve the freshness of the brush-drawn line on the original drawing so if possible the carving was always done in the same direction as the brushstroke. The brush line, however, would be wider than the final printed line so it was up to the carver which side of the original line he followed and by how much he reduced the width. A true master carver was capable of carving a face line characteristic of each artist without reference to a drawing."
A term which might be synonymous with menbori is kashibori or head carver. |
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Mikkyō |
密教 みっきょう |
Esoteric Buddhism of the Shingon and Tendai sects |
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Miko |
御子
みこ |
The female shamans - maidens - of Shinto shrines. They are also known as fujo (巫女 or ふじょ) or even fuyo.
An observation: Considering how pervasive Shintoism is in Japanese culture it is amazing that it doesn't show up in print images more. It does occasionally, but only in the most subtle ways and rarely if ever is the focus point. I have personal theories about why this might be, but they are only my theories and probably would just come across as hot air. However, if anyone out there reading this has any ideas on this subject I would love to hear from you. Not on to the subject at hand - the miko.
The image above shows two miko walking behind a kannushi or Shinto priest leading a wedding procession. The bride and groom are shown immediately behind the miko and sheltered beneath a large red umbrella. This photo and the isolated detail to the left is shown courtesy of Melanom and Shinichi Sugiyama as posted at http://commons.wikimedia.org/.
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A miko originally was "...a medium who acts as the bridge between the people and the ancestral deities, and performs magic rituals of purification, healing, and divination."
Quoted from: Handbuch der Orientalistik, by Benito Ortolani, Horst Hammitzsch, W J Boot, Bertold Spuler, Hartwig Altenmüller, published by Brill, 1990, p. 2
Chinese chronicles describe late 2nd century Japan, the land of Wa, as being engulfed by warfare. Much of the nation eventually united around Himiko* (or perhaps Pimiko) - 卑弥呼 or ひみこ - a young woman who may have only been a teenager at the time, but who was said to have mastered 'The Way of the Demons' or kidō (鬼道 or きどう). According to the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (vol. 3, p 139, entry by Saeki Arikiyo) Himiko's "...rule was doubtless invested with a strongly religious character. After she became queen, very few persons were allowed to see her. She is said to have had 1,000 female laves in her service, and only one male was allowed to enter her living quarters, in order to bring food, drink, and messages. Her private quarters and their palisadelike out enclosure were strictly guarded at all times by soldiers." The Handbuch der Orientalistik states that "Queen Himiko... was probably a miko.... In her exalted position as supreme ruler she might well have begun a primitive form of the ceremonies that later became the duty of the emperor as head of the Shinto religion." (Handbuch, p. 2) ¶ "...a number of kagura [sacred dances and songs of Shintoism] are still performed after sunset, because it is during darkness that the miko perform their conjurations, when the spirits of the dead appear, and the help of the protector kami against the evil influences is most needed. In general, shamanistic activity requires darkness also as a symbol for the journey of the shaman from the limits of normal consciousness into the light of the dimension where the sacred communications take place." (Handbuch, p. 6)
*It is interesting that the kanji 鬼 is the opening character for the goddess of childbirth and children, Hariti (鬼子母神 or きしもじん), and also for witch or demoness (鬼女 or きじょ), and wizard or genius (鬼才 or きさい) among other words.
The Handbuch (p. 22) states: "The word miko is used mainly for priestesses, female shamans/mediums, and shrine maidens, but male miko are not rare in primitive Japanese tradition. Miko were chosen through sacred lot or, in some communities, because of family tradition. Some of the first rulers of primitive Japan were probably miko, and the principal miko of the great Shinto shrines have enjoyed since their foundation a very prominent social position. ¶ It seems that originally the miko were supposed to be virgins, who would abandon their practice when they married. There are, however, many cases of miko who continued in their funcitons after their marriage. Besides the miko belonging to the shrines, there were aruki miko (wandering miko) who also would act as mediums conjuring the souls of the living and the dead, pronounce divine oracles, and pray for the faithful. A relatively high percentage of these miko were blind. A number of miko became professional entertainers and prostitutes. ¶ The importance of the miko for the performing arts cannot be overestimated. The beginning of several forms of later genres of theatre are connected with miko... The first kabuki is attributed to a wandering miko, the legendary Okuni."
Today the miko play a far different role. They are generally girls from the family of priests. "They take care of menial duties and also perform elegant, slow, dignified kagura dances, in which it is often hard to discover even a trace of imitation of the original trance phenomena." (Ibid.) In the early dances the miko became a receptacle for the kami itself. ¶ The Handbuch (p. 23) tells us that the two oldest words for dance in Japan are mai (舞 or まい) and odori (踊り or おどり). "Mai is derived from the custom of the shamaness of circling around and around to reach a state of trance (mau is a contraction of mawaru=to rotate, to move in circular motion). Odori is traced back to the fact that male shamans would leap repeatedly up and down to induce the deity to possess them (odoru means to leap, to jump)." The stamping of feet might be meant to pacify spirits, the raising of hands to welcome possession, and the linear movements meant to cover the cardinal points.
There are two other ways of writing miko: 神子、巫子.
When a child or young adult has suddenly disappeared it was traditionally assumed that the victim has been abducted by a supernatural power. The locals would go searching the area thoroughly. "If these measures failed to bring the child back within a fixed period of time, the relatives could as a last resort request a miko or white witch to recite appropriate spells. If these in their turn did not prove efficacious within seven days the child was given up as hopelessly lost."
Quoted from: "Supernatural Abductions in Japanese Folklore", by Carmen Blacker, published by Nanzan Unviersity, Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2, 1967, p. 111. For more on abductions see our entry on kamikakushi.
"In the Edo period, women known as 'wandering miko,' many of them loosely affiliated to large shrines, traveled through Japan, alone or in groups, until their activities were suppressed in 1873. The main characteristic of these women was that they were in motion, which contrasts with the relative immobility of monastic reclusion or of domestic life. The social evolution that transformed certain nuns into loose women, however, is by no means characteristic of Buddhism alone, since the priestesses (miko) of the Shintō shrines suffered the same fate. Originally, these asobime [遊び女 or あそびめ] (courtesans; lit. 'play-girls') were perhaps sacred prostitutes... Admittedly, and the sacred were intimately connected in archaic Japanese religion." ¶ The author notes later that a Jesuit priest, Luis Fróis, visiting Japan in the late 16th century, had commented on the fact that women did not seem to value their chastity highly and that rape was not an impediment to marriage later on.
Source and quote from: The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender, by Bernard Faure, published by Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 252.
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Mikoshi |
神輿 みこし |
A portable shrine |
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Mildew |
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In 1917 Ficke said: "Mildew discoloration is ineradicable."
Quoted from: Chats on Japanese Prints, by Arthur Davison Ficke, published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917, p. 443.
I am mentioning this here as a warning for any serious collector. Of course, it was said in 1917 and I am not completely up on the contemporary science of conservation, but would reiterate what Ficke has said to any potential buyers or collectors. If a print has mildew all caution should be taken - even if the print is free. That is my very strong opinion. Often referred to as foxing its spread can be halted, but generally at great expense by professionals. The print should be worth the cost. I am not sure if the effects of mildew can ever be reversed completely.
In 1913 Frederick William Gookin, writing for the Japan Society in his Japanese Colour-prints and Their Designers (p. 22) called mildew "...the dread foe of the Japanese housewife..." I don't know why he singled out housewives when he was talking about this scourge, but whatever... |
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Mimasu |
三升
みます |
Masu means measure and in this case in particular it referred to measurements of rice. A triple masu crest was adopted by Ichikawa Danjūrō I (1660-1704) supposed after a fan gave him an object with this design. After that it was worn by his namesakes. There may also be another connection in that Ichikawa Danjūrō I wrote more than fifty plays for himself to star in, but he did this under the pen name Mimasuya Hyōgo (三升屋兵庫 or みますや.ひょうご). |
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Mimi-tsuki |
耳付
みみつき |
The deckle edge of a sheet of handmade Japanese paper.
The process of paper making is incredibly labor intensive. Gathering, treating and beating fibers hardly gets at sense of it. Numerous books have been written on the subject. But here we concerned mainly with the end product, i.e., the sheet of paper.
A keta [ 桁 or けた] or wooden frame called a deckle is essential in forming sheets of paper. Liquid loaded with fibers in suspension is ladled from a vat and poured into the keta "...which is lined with a fine slatted bamboo gauze (su) held together with silk thread. The water drips through the gauze and leaves a thin sheet of paper resting on the top." The deckle is shaken to form even sheets. Repeating the ladling process creates thicker paper. The outside edges of each sheet are thinner and clearly show the deposited fibers. This outer edge is the mimi-tsuki. [Source and quote from: Japanese Woodblock Printing by Rebecca Salter, p. 40-41.] |
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Traditionally deckle edges were trimmed. However, in the 20th century, especially in the shin hanga movement, these edges have often been left uncut and have been considered a desirable quality. These distinctive sheets are often found on the prints of Hiroshi Yoshida, Kotondo, Shinsui, Natori Shunsen, Jacoulet, et. al.
Both Hiroshi and Tōshi Yoshida have written about this deckle edge.
In his 1939 book Japanese Wood-block Printing Hiroshi Yoshida wrote: "Mimi-tsuke (paper with uncut edges) is generally characterized as good paper; the natural edges are preserved for beauty. Cheaper ones have their edges trimmed." (p. 69.)
In 1966 Tōshi Yoshida and Rei Yuki wrote in their Japanese Print-Making: A Handbook of Traditional and Modern Techniques: "Good handmade paper is slightly dark in tone, and its edges are invariably left untrimmed. Paper in this state is known as mimi-tsuki (with ears). The quality of the paper can thus be tested by drawing out the fibers in long tough threads. If the paper is of good quality, these fibers can hardly be torn." (p. 52)
The example to the left was sent to me by my great friend and supporter Mike Lyon. He told me that this sheet was made by Iwano Ichibei (岩野市兵衛 or いわの.いちべえ), a Living National Treasure. |
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Minamoto Tametomo |
源為朝 みなもとためとも |
We have discussed Tametomo elsewhere. He is mentioned as a god who defends people against smallpox. (See our entry on hōsō.) He is also the hero of one of Bakin's masterpieces described by Aston in his A History of Japanese Literature (published by William Heinemann, 1907, p. 355). "For intelligence and valour he had no peer. His stature was seven feet. He had the eyes of a rhinoceros, and the arms of a monkey. In strength he had no equal, and was skilled in drawing the nine-foot bow. Nature seemed to have destined him for an archer, for his left arm was four inches longer than his right. His eyes had each two pupils."
Above is the book jacket to volume 5 of the collection of the Hokusai Museum. It clearly shows Tametomo in a display of this strength. Not even breaking a sweat. (This series is a great visual resource for anyone interested in Hokusai's art.)
Tametomo is the hero of Bakin's 1805 masterpiece Yumibari-tsuke (弓張月 or ゆみばりずき). (A History of Japanese Literature, by William George Aston, published by William Heinemann, 1907.) Bakin wrote that at the age of 12 Tametomo was allowed to attend a lecture at court by Shinsei, a great scholar. When the topic of great archers came up Tametomo interrupted the gathering by bragging that it was moot to even discuss such matters when he, the greatest archer of all time, was right there before them. ¶ Shinsei was startled by the boy's braggadocio so a challenge was set forth. If the boy could survive arrows being shot at him by two of the best archers in Japan he would win. If not, he would most likely die. Tametomo wanted to know what he would get if he won. Shinsei said the boy could have his head. ¶ Tametomo stood before the archers and "Not only the sovereign but all present wrung their hands till they perspired, expecting every moment to see Tametomo's life fade faster than the dew beneath the sunbeams." Norishige and Norizaku let fly. Tametomo caught one arrow with his right hand and the other with his left right before it struck home near his heart. Frustrated the two archers, not wanting to kill the boy, nevertheless redoubled their efforts swearing that this time he would not be able to catch the next round. One came so fast that all Tametomo could do was entangle it with his sleeve. The other was even faster leaving the boy no option but to catch its tip between his teeth "...and at once crunched its head to atoms." Everyone was amazed because it had happened as fast as a bolt of lightening. At this point Tametomo yelled "Now, your Reverence, you will be so good as to give me your head..." Fortunately at this point the boy-wonder's father interceded and the scholar was spared. (Aston, p. 358) |
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港町 みなとまち |
Port city |
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Mino |
蓑
みの
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A straw raincoat.
Above is a photo of a traditional Japanese mino taken by Jnn and posted on http://commons.wikimedia.org/. Jnn placed this in the public domain and for this we are appreciative. We altered the background to isolate the image.
The image to the left is a
detail from a ca. 1838 Toyohide print showing Kanpei with his rifle and |
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Minogame |
蓑亀
みのがめ |
Long-tailed turtle - a symbol of longevity. Actually the tail is algae growing on the backs of some older turtles. 1 |
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Minogami |
美濃紙 みのがみ |
A special paper made from mulberry bark. This paper is also known as kozō (楮 or こうぞ). It is used in making the preliminary drawing or hanshita which is laid down on the woodblock surface for carving the keyblock. It has to have special qualities - mainly strength - to withstand the process which ends up in its destruction. This long-fibered paper was also used in producing traditional lacquer ware and even in puppet making. |
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In Margaret Price's 1999 Classic Japanese Inns and Country Getaways she states that "In the days when washi (handmade paper) was made entirely by hand, Mino was one of the biggest, most active centers in the country. Echizen papers from the Sea of Japan coast were the choice of artists and calligraphers, but Mino fed the voracious appetite for books among the increasingly literate residents of Edo (Tokyo) during the Edo period. The fine blemish-free Mino paper, sold at bulk discounts, was so popular with Edo woodblock printers that the size of the Mino folding frames determined the standard sizes of books. And rather as Westerners now call crockery 'China,' the generic name for the most common scroll-mounting paper is still mino-gami. ¶ The only visible remains today of the hundreds of papermakers who once lined the banks of the Itadorigawa river are the two hon-mino-gami (genuine Mino paper) masters who are designated 'living national treasures.' Their homes still have tall boards propped out in front to dry the fruits of their considerable labor."
In a publication from 1879 professors W. E. Ayrton and John Perry stated that mino-gami was used to polish metallic mirrors because it was softer than silk.
One of my favorite sculptors from any nation in the 20th century was Isamu Noguchi. When he visited Gifu Prefecture in 1951 to watch the cormorant fishing which was done at night by torch light he was inspired to create his Akari lamps which are made up of minogami paper strips stretched over bamboo frames. I have always liked these but did not realize until I was researching this topic that it was minogami which was used. Below is a detail from a photograph of hanging Akari lights posted on the Internet at commons.wikimedia by Evrik.
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Misu |
御簾 みす |
Bamboo blinds |
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Mitate |
見立て みたて |
Properly the translation of this term is 'selection or choice', but sometimes loosely as 'parody.' |
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In an article in "Impressions: The Journal of the Ukiyo-e Society of America, Inc." Number 19, 1997, Timothy Clark points out that this term has often been overused and misunderstood. In fact, sometimes it is "an inventive pairing of disparate things, what I described earlier as 'a brain-teasing collision.'"
"A very common pictorial device in Ukiyo-e prints and paintings - reflecting a common pattern of thought in Edo society as a whole - was that of mitate-e, variously translated, but not completely summed up, by such English words as 'parody', 'travesty', 'burlesque', 'analogue'. The basic form of such 'parody pictures' was already apparent in certain genre paintings before Ukiyo-e had ever appeared, and consisted of an ancient tale or incident, acted out or otherwise alluded to in some way by characters wearing contemporary dress."
"The range of subjects suitable for reworking in this way was expanded and codified in a series of printed books and albums by Okumura Masanobu [奥村正信 or おくむらまさのぶ: 1686-1724] during the early decades of the seventeenth century and was often drawn from Chinese and Japanese classical literature or lore, generally reworked in Japanese No plays, popular ballad singing, or Kabuki during the intervening centuries. The tone adopted varied from outright burlesque...to...simple parallels..."
The use of the mitate was often necessitated by effort to avoid government restrictions. "...to avoid censorship by the military government of reporting of contemporary events, many plots are relocated in the distant Kamakura period and the characters given new, but similar-sounding names. Popular literature of the eighteenth century, too, made extensive use of such techniques..."
Source and quotes: Ukiyo-e Paintings in the British Museum, by Timothy Clark, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992, p. 21. |
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Mitsu buton |
三蒲団
みつぶとん
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Bedding was obviously very important to courtesan. Not only for comfort for her and her clients, but also as a symbol of prestige. Only the highest order of prostitutes were allowed to own three layers of futons - hence the mitsu buton.
Cecilia Segawa Seigle states: "The tsumiyagu, or 'display of bedding,' was another event that enhanced an oiran's prestige, though it was not as important as sponsoring a new oiran. For courtesans, bedding was a necessary professional accoutrement, of course, and receiving a set of luxurious bedding in splendid fabric as a patron's gift was an occasion for special display. The quilts (futon) and coverlets that a high-ranking courtesan used were all of silk or silk brocade thickly stuffed with light cotton. The taya and oiran used three layers of these quilts for their beds."
Quote from: Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, by Cecilia Segawa Seigle, published by the University of Hawaii, 1993, p. 187.
Tsumiyagu may be 積夜具 or つみやぐ.
The image to the left is a detail from two prints of a triptych by Kunisada showing an actor as a courtesan in her bed chamber holding the coat of her lover. Behind her one can see the beautifully covered stacked futons. The detail on the bottom shows more clearly the three separate tiers. |
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Mitsu gashiwa |
三柏
みつがしわ |
A crest or mon of three oak leaves. (See our entry for kashiwa.) |
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Mitsu tomoe |
三つ巴
みつどもえ |
A circle formed of three comma shapes. These may represent heaven, earth and mankind.
Friedrich Hirth, a German born sinologist, argued that the ancient mitsu tomoe represents rolling thunder and hence that is why the thunder god is often beating a drum with the three comma motif. "But this ornament is not at all limited to the drums of the thundergod; it is, on the contrary, very frequently seen even on the drums beaten by children at the Nichiren festival in October. At many Japanese temple festivals which have no connection whatever with the thundergod or the dragon, the same ornament is seen on lanterns and flags. Hirth explains its frequent appearance on tiles as a mean of warding off lightning, based on the rule 'similia similibus'. " This motif on tiles was believed "...to drive away evil influences..." (Source and quotes from: Dragon in China and Japan, by M. W. de Visser, reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, 2003 - originally 1913, pp. 104-5)
"I formerly believed it to be the Yang and Yin symbol, the third being the T'ai Kih ( 太極, the primordium, from which Yang and Yin emanate). This primordium, which in China is represented by the whole figure, should by mistake have been represented by the Japanese by means of a third comma. Yang and Yin, Light and Darkness, however, are represented by one white and one black figure, somewhat resembling comma's and forming together a circle. It would be very strange if the ancient Japanese, who closely imitated the Chinese models, had altered this symbol in such a way that its fundamental meaning got lost; for replacing the two white and black comma's with two or three black ones would have had this effect. Moreover, in Japanese divination, based on the Chinese diagrams, the original Chinese symbol of Yang and Yin is always used and placed in the midst of the eight diagrams. Thus the futatsu-tomoe and mitsu-tomoe are apparently quite different from this symbol, and Hirth rightly identifies them with the ancient Chinese spiral, representing thunder." (Ibid., p. 105) |
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Miyagi Gengyo |
宮城玄魚 みやぎ.げんぎょ |
Artist 1817-80:
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Mizaru |
三猿
みざる |
The three monkeys who see, hear and speak no evil. "BY THE VILLAGE road, and more often at the dividing line between two villages there stands a koshin-zuka or a koshin stone tablet. Koshin is one of the most common deities worshipped by rural folks. As it usually stands on a village road, it is regarded as the guardian of the road or the protector of travellers. But originally it was the guardian deity for the local people." Such stone carvings are common, but according to Mock Joya no one is quite sure what they represent. However, many of these markers display the three monkeys and were known to all Japanese. Supposedly their origin is Chinese. "It is generally said that it was the Buddhist priest Dengyo (767-822) who first engraved the three wise monkeys on the koshin tablet, as he placed great value on the old teaching. If this be so, the three monkeys are a later addition to the original koshin tablet which was already an object of public worship."
The painted wood carving shown above is from the Tōshōgū shrine devoted to Tokugawa Ieyasu at Nikkō. It was said to be created by Hidari Jingorō (fl. late 16th c. to the early 17th c.:左甚五郎 or ひだり.じんごろう) who some believe was as great a sculptor as Japan has ever produced. In fact, Basil Hall Chamberlain in his Things Japanese was unequivocal in his praise: "Japan's most famous sculptor was Hidari Jingorō, born in A.D. 1594. (p. 84) Chamberlain said he died in 1634. Some legends say that his creatures come to life at night and roam about. In that Jingorō is compared to Pygmalion.
This carving is mounted above the entry to the 'stable' where the sacred white horse is kept for the use of the gods. Katherine M. Ball in her Animal Motifs in Asian Art: An Illustrated Guide to Their Meanings and Aesthetics (Courier Dover Publications, 2004, p. 122) says that these three moralizing monkeys are of Buddhist origin and are "...designed to warn against the three principal temptations."
For other images of these monkeys go to our page http://www.printsofjapan.com/Kunisada_Hear_No_Evil.htm.
We have been able to share this famous carving with you due to the generosity of someone self-identified as Fg2 who posted numerous photos at http://commons.wikimedia.org/. We are extremely grateful for this. Thanks! |
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水子
みずこ
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Archaically it meant an infant.
Later it meant a foetus, a stillborn fetus and in time it was a term used
for an aborted child. "With the dramatic rise in abortions eventually came
the creation of mizuko kuyō. Mizuko (literally 'water
baby/child') is an alternate term for a fetus, though it has largely taken
on the meaning of a fetus lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, or,
especially, abortion. Kuyō is a memorial rite, derived from the verb
'to offer,' as in to offer prayers and apologies. There are countless
varieties of kuyō in Japanese Buddhism, and they are among the most
common religious practices - everything from ancestors to sushi to broken
sewing needles receive kuyō rites. The actual procedural details of
mizuko kuyō differ according to the particular person or group
performing the rite, but they fall into several general patterns. Typically
a woman approaches a Buddhist priest and requests the service. The ceremony
is held in the main worship hall of the temple or a special shrine
specifically for mizuko kuyō (a mizuko jizōdō), where
the priest chants sutras, expresses the wish that the mizuko will
become a Buddha, and prompts the layperson to make offerings of incense,
toys and food. Often the woman purchases a small, childlike statue of Jizō,
dresses it with bibs and knitted hats, and prays to it for forgiveness; in
some temples a memorial plaque (ihai), normally used to enshrine
ancestors, takes the place of the statue." (Quoted from: Mourning
the Unborn Dead: A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America by Jeff Wilson, p.
7) See also our entry on ihai.
"Another way in which laypeople ritualize pregnancy losses that is outside the aegis of priests is by purchasing votive tablets (ema) and writing messages to the spirit of Jizō." (Ibid.)
The rather odd image to the left (above) is a detail form a Meiji period Japanese print showing a pregnant woman with a cut-away shot her fetus. The image below that is by our friend Angela. |
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Mochi |
餅
もち |
A sticky rice cake. It is eaten at New Year's, but not exclusively then, because it is said to bring good luck and prosperity. 1 |
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Mokkotsu |
没骨
もっこつ
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Timothy Clark describes a series of three Utamaro full-figure portrait prints "...that avoid black outlines whenever possible and replace these with coloured outlines, or 'boneless' (mokkotsu) areas of colour with no outline at all."
The Passionate Art of Kitagawa Utamaro, published by the British Museum Press, London, 1995, Text volume, p. 185.
Those three prints are among the greatest examples of their type. However, if you look closely you will find that elements of prints by many other artists show this 'boneless' technique as part of the overall design. To the left are two details from a Toyokuni I print showing both lined and lineless areas. To see the full print click on the number to the right. 1 |
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Mokumezuri |
木目摺
もくめずり |
Printing which clearly shows the woodgrain.
"Because the grain of the cherry blocks was so fine it rarely showed in traditional prints, although occasionally it can be seen in areas of flat colour or as a texture on kimono. Printing the grain across a whole edition required considerable skill. In contemporary prints, woods such as pine and cedar are used specifically for their grain. To further emphasise the grain, it can be enhanced by brushing with a wire brush or even scorching. The block is inked up and printed as usual but with a strongish baren. Strong grained woods such as pine need less pigment and nori, softer grained woods like zelkova should be printed like betazuri [or flat color printing].
Quoted from: Japanese Woodblock Printing, by Rebecca Salter, University of Hawaii, 2001, p. 109.
"Mokumezuri (grain printing) is more usually met with in modern prints than in the ukiyo-e. Since the grain in the block used for the ukiyo-e is too fine for this purpose, pieces of wood with a desirable grain pattern (usually keyaki) are inlaid at the necessary parts of the block. In order to print the grain distinctly, the pigment is used with less medium than usual, and the sixteen-starand baren is employed with more strength than in ordinary printing."
Quoted from: Japanese Print Making: A Handbook of Traditional & Modern Techniques, by Tōshi Yoshida and Rei Yuki, Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1966, p. 79.
The detail to the left is from a Kunichika print. To see the full image click on the yellow number 1 in the column to the right. 1 |
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Hiroshi Yoshida in his Japanese Wood-block Printing (1939, p. 101) wrote in general about the amount of pigment to be used: "Sufficient pigment should be put on the block, but if too much is used there will be a tendency for it to overflow and give a blunt definition to the print. If, on the other hand, too little pigment is used, then the grain of the wood will be brought out on the print. The best condition to bring out the grain of the wood when required, is to use as little pigment as possible, as much paste as possible, and then finish colouring the block by stroking the block with the brush parallel with the grain of the wood, and rubbing the baren in the direction of the grain."
Yoshida also discusses the opposite effect: Getting rid of the grain altogether. "The best way to obliterate the impression of the grain of the wood is to grind the surface of the wood with nagura [なぐら] (fine whetstone) and tokusa [木賊 or とくさ - it can also be 砥草] (dried pewterwort). Of course, in choosing boards for different colour blocks care should be exercised to get the right quality of wood. In spite of this care, it may become necessary to obliterate the grain by artificial means. Sometimes it becomes necessary to use an extra board of different grain on top of the first in order to do this. Though the grain may seem to be troublesome, by printing another block a certain pleasing result may often be obtained, a result which appears to have been obtained not from the grain, but from something else."
Above and below are photos of horsetails, i.e, pewterwort, i.e., Equisetum hyemale, which is mentioned above by Hiroshi Yoshida as a plant used to scour out wood grains - if that is the effect you want. I hadn't thought of it until I went searching for images of this plant, but horsetail plants were used in the past to scrub pots and pans in the West. Both of these images are shown courtesy of Shu Suehiro at http://www.botanic.jp/index.htm.
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LINKS TO OUR OTHER INDEX/GLOSSARY PAGES Click on any of the pages listed below!
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