Ukiyo-e Prints浮世絵版画Port Townsend, Washington |
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INDEX/GLOSSARY
Si thru Tengai |
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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:
Siddhartha, Siebold, Sino-Japanese War, Soba noodles, Soku mie,
Sugawara no Michizane, Sugi, Sugoroku, Suidobashi, Suidobashi, Suji-guma, Sung Dynasty, Suriawase, Suridai, Suribotoke, Suzume-bachi, Tachibana, Tachibina, Tai, Takagi Umanosuke, Takanoha, Takao,
Takarabune,Takaramono, Takara zukushi,
Take,
Tamaya, Tan, Tanabata, Tanawa, Tanuki, Tatewaku,
日清戦争, 蕎麦, 束見栄, 草木成仏,
菅原道真, 杉, 双六, 水道橋, 筋隈, 宋朝, 雀蜂, 太刀, 橘, 立雛, 鯛, 鷹の羽, 高尾, 宝船, 磨り会わせ, 磨台 (?), 摺り仏, 寳物,
寳づくし, 竹,
玉屋, 丹, 棚機, 手縄, 狸, 立涌, 天保の改革, 点 and 天蓋
シッダールタ, シーボルト, にっしんせんそう, そば, そくみえ,
そうもくじょうぶつ,
すがわらのみちざね, すぎ, すごろく, すいどうばし, すじくま, そうちょう, 磨り会わせ, すりくだい すりぼとけ, すずめばち, たちばな, たちびな, たい, たかのは, たかお,
たからぶね, たからもの, たからづくし, たけ,
たまや, たん, たなばた, たなわ, たぬき, たてわく,
てぼり, ていはつ, てんぽうのかいかく, てん, たなばた, たなわ, たぬき, たてわく, てぼり, ていはつ, てんぽうのかいかく, てん, てんがい and てんがい. |
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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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Siddhartha |
シッダールタ |
A 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse based on the life of the first historical Buddha. He is also referred to as Shakyamuni (釈迦 or しゃか). 1 |
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Siebold, Philipp Franz Balthasar von |
フィリップ・フランツ・フォン・シーボルト
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German born physician (1796-1866) who went to Japan in 1822 as an employee of the Dutch government. Assigned to the small Dutch settlement on Dejima in Nagasaki harbor. Because his work gave him a lot of free time he was free to explore his many other interests. In 1824 he started a boarding school and soon was teaching Western medicine and treating Japanese patients. He was generally paid with ethnographic materials and art works. This became the core of his personal collection which in time was acquired by the Dutch nation and can now be found in the Sieboldhuis in Leiden.
The image of von Siebold on the postage stamp was posted on the Internet at http://commons.wikimedia.org by Le Corbeau. The image of the Siebloldhuis was also posted at that site. |
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Japanese scholars who were interested in Western learning gravitated to him and soon he was handing out 'doctorate' degrees. In 1826 he accompanied a delegation to Edo to honor the shōgun. There he made friends with the court's astronomer who was particularly keen to learn more about Dutch culture and science. Their exchanges were beneficial for both of them. However, in time, the astronomer's enemies used this relationship against him and he was denounced as a traitor while Siebold was accused of being a spy for Russia. A purge of Siebold's Japanese friends and acquaintances took place and many of them were arrested. He was interrogated at length and finally in December 1829 he was expelled from Japan forcing him to leave behind a young mistress with their two year old daughter. ¶ Upon his return to Holland he set about organizing his collection. In 1831 the King made him advisor on Japanese affairs to the Ministry of Colonies. Eleven years later he was knighted. In 1856 his became the first professor of Japanese at the university in Leiden. In 1859 he returned to Japan as an employee of the Netherlands Trading Company. He wanted to be the Dutch government's representative in Japan, but his diplomatic skills were wanting he was refused that position. ¶ "His collection of Japanese ethnographic material was bought by the Dutch government in 1837 and became the foundation of the present National Museum of Ethnology (Leyden). He introduced to the Netherlands more than a thousand trees and plants, including ichō (Ginko bilboa), sakura (Prunus serrulata), hydrangeas, varieties of chrysanthemums, lilies and irises, and several kinds of coniferous trees. His botanical and zoological collections are preserved at the Botanical Garden, the National Herbarium, and the National Museum of Natural History, all at Leyden." (Quoted from: Frits Vos entry in the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, vol. 7, p. 193) |
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Sino-Japanese War |
日清戦争 にっしんせんそう |
War between Japan and China 1894-5. 1 |
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Soba noodles |
蕎麦
そば |
Soba is the Japanese word for buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum. According to Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia: A to H by Audrey Ensminger (CRC Press, 1994, p. 280) this plant is native to Asia and was being cultivated by the Chinese by the 10th century. Shu Suehiro says that it was introduced into Japan via Korea in the 8th century.
Robb Satterwhite in his What's What in Japanese Restaurants: A Guide to Ordering, Eating, and Enjoying (Kodansha International, 1996, p. 71) gives a good contrast between soba noodles and Western spaghetti: "Very different in character from Western-style spaghetti, soba has a richer aroma and taste and a firmer, less porous texture, so it's not as dependent on sauces to give it flavor."
Both images shown in this section were contributed to http://commons.wikimedia.org/ by Chris 73. The one to the left is of zaru soba while the one above is self- explanatory. We are grateful that both were placed in the public domain.
Locals were making soba noodles by the 16th century and within a hundred years they had become a popular dish in the restaurants and stands near temple and shrine entries.
Menrui (麺類 or めんるい) is one of the generic Japanese terms for noodles. In The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo (Harvard Common Press, 2000, p. 155) the author tells us that the cultivation of soba "...is mentioned in the early Japanese history book Shokunihongi, written in 797. By the eighth century, the imperial government recommended growing buckwheat along with other grains..." Soba noodles were originally called sobakiri. By the Edo period the numerous noodles stands had become the 'fast food' of the period. ¶ Later the author adds: "Although buckwheat is grown throughout Japan, the cooler the climate, the more fragrant and rich-tasting the buckwheat."
"Traditionally, noodles were called nagamono [長物 or ながもの], which translates as 'things that are long,' and were eaten on hare no hi [晴れの日 or はれのひ] (special days)..."
Quoted from: The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking: A Traditional Diet for Today's World, by Gaku Homma, North Atlantic Books, 1990, p. 165.
For more information click on the yellow number one to the right. 1 |
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Soku mie |
束見栄
そくみえ
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Those familiar with ballet know that in the first position the dancer stands with the feet touching at the heels. The same is true here. Soku means 'sheaf' and I would suppose that the position of the actor in some ways mimics our vision of that object. There are quite a few different types of poses - "...a nonrealistic, sculpturesque, dance-like pose taken by one of more actors at a climactic moment in a play to make a powerful impression."
Quote from: New Kabuki Encyclopedia: A Revised Adaptation of kabuki jiten, compiled by Samuel L. Leiter, 1997, pp. 403-5.
The image to the left above is a detail from a print by Kuniyasu where an actor is assuming the soku mie pose. The lower example is from a Toyokuni III vertical diptych. Click on the number 1 in the column to the right to see the full diptych.
Leiter in his The Art of Kabuki: Five Famous Plays (published by Dover in 1999, p. 257) refers to soku as "standing like a sheaf". |
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そおめん |
An armored face mask. As yet we have been unable to find the kanji for this item and am not absolutely sure of the kana, either. This will be corrected when or if we find the correct characters.
"Full face masks (sô men) were not very highly thought of, for, while providing protection, they restricted breathing and vision; thus they were hardly ever used." (Quoted from: Samurai 1550-1600 by Anthony Bryant, p. 28)
To the left is our doctored image of part of the armor of Sanada Yukimura (真田幸村 or さなだゆきむら: 1570-1615). It was posted at commons.wikimedia by Raisa H.
"In order to protect his face, the bushi of the upper ranks usually wore a mask of iron, steel, or lacquered leather which covered the entire face from forehead to chin, or at least particular portions of it. Warriors of the lower rank and foot soldiers generally wore masks... [that] could be made from a single, rigid piece of metal or leather, or from several plates hinged together to make them more flexible." (Quoted from: Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, p. 217)
See also our entry on mempō. |
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Sōmoku-jōbutsu |
草木成仏 そうもくじょうぶつ |
The attainment of buddhahood by plants. This concept is mentioned in a number of Nō (能 of のう) plays, but according to Mark Cody Poulton is more of a theatrical device than the heart of the matter. Poulton's brilliant essay, "The Language of Flowers in the Nō Theatre", was a revelation to me on many levels.
Years and years and years ago I had the good fortune of studying for 7 years with the world's greatest expert on Chinese art and culture. One day I asked him about the nature of bodhisattvas, basically Buddhist saints, and he told me that these were figures which were capable of becoming buddhas, but chose not to until every last blade of grass had attained enlightenment. I have mentioned this to a number of people over the years and to a person anyone who thought they knew something about Buddhism argued with me. Sōmoku-jōbutsu it would seem would prove them wrong and my mentor right. |
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Dr. Poulton notes that this concept of attaining of buddhahood for plants has a number of contradictions built into it. According to some Buddhist tenets only sentient beings can attain a higher status and plants are not sentient. Added to this is the fact that the observed world is all illusion (maya) and plants are part of that category. Yet there are quite a few Japanese Nō plays where the main character is a tree or a flower which takes human form and speaks and moves about rather freely. In the play Saigyō-zakura (西行桜 or さいぎょうさくら) the reclusive Heian poet Saigyō scolds - in verse - his cherry tree, which is particularly beautiful, for drawing visitors to it. "Ah, lovely blossoms, this is all your fault!" Unperturbed, the spirit of the tree - a male figure - steps out of a hollow in the tree to point out to Saigyō that his beauty is not his fault and that the poet needs to direct his displeasure elsewhere. The tree's argument wins the day. ¶ While these flower/plant-buddhahood-attainment plays are infused with Buddhist jargon and concepts, Poulton argues convincingly that most of this is just window dressing to underlying Shintō (神道 or しんとう) concepts. Of course, that makes sense because within Shintoism all things sentient and insentient can be possessed by spirits.
Poulton tell us: "As many as forty plays refer to the idea of sōmoku jōbutsu, or the buddhahood of plants. The phrase is part of a longer verse, When one Buddha attains the Way and contemplates the realm of the Law, The grasses and trees and land will all become Buddha. (ichibutsu jōdō kangen hōkai sōmoku kokudo shikkai jōbutsu)"
Among the tree and flower based Nō plays are the cherry tree (Sumizome-zakura 墨染桜 or すみぞめさくら), pine (Matsu 松 or まつ), husband and wife pine (Takasago 高砂市 or たかさごし), plum and pine (Oimatsu, literally 'the old pine' 老松 or おいまつ), banana tree (Bashō 芭蕉 or ばしょう), the red leaves of autumn (Tatsuta, a place to view these leaves, 龍田 or たつた), iris (Kakitsubata 杜若 or かきつばた), plum (Ume 梅 or うめ), golden lace or Patrinia scabiosifolia (Ominaeshi 女郎花 or おみなえし), wisteria (Fuji 藤 or ふじ), willow (Yūgyō yanagi 遊行柳 or ゆぎょうやなぎ), et al.
One cautionary note: Royall Tyler in his "Buddhism in Noh" does make the point that not only is Shintō an element of Nō, but so is Buddhism in the forms of Amidism and Zen. As far as which might be more important at any given moment Tyler quotes a passage from one play that say: "Gods and Buddhas only differ as do water and waves." |
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葬礼 そうれい |
Funeral - sōgi (葬儀 or そうぎ)
is a funeral service.
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"On the night before the funeral (sōgi), there is an all night vigil (tsuya [通夜 or つや]) at which relatives and friends console each other and reminisce about the deceased. The priest performs an all-night vigil sutra chanting (tsuya fugin). [¶] On the day of the funeral the deceased is given tonsure (teihatsu [剃髪 or ていはつ]), just as he/she were alive, and undergoing ordination as a monk or nun." The shaving of hair and beard are highly ritualistic. "The priest then sprinkles water in three directions, in front of the mortuary table (ihai) and to its right and left." More ritual recitations and acts take place prior to the cremation. The Zen funeral ceremony is one of the most elaborate and expensive to be found in Japan. (Source and quotes: Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice, edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, p. 71 ff) |
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算盤
そろばん |
Abacus: A publication of a French mathematical congress held in 1902 stated that the soroban replaced the use of bamboo rods at the end of the 16th century. According to Sal Restivo in Mathematics in Society and History: Sociological Inquiries (pp. 55-56) Chinese mathematics was in decline as Japanese interests were developing. "The scholar Mori Shigeyoshi [毛利重能? or もり.しげよし: early to mid 17th century] who flourished in this period is Japan's first 'mathematician'. He is, according to legend, supposed to have traveled to China and returned with a knowledge of Chinese mathematical achievements and the suan-pan, a Chinese abacus. There is no historical basis for this story. The suan-pan was probably introduced to Japan much earlier. In any case, Mori was apparently a skilled manipulator of the suan-pan, known as the soroban in Japan . He taught the soroban arithmetic to many pupils, and may have written a text on the soroban, now lost." Two of Shigeyoshi's students wrote extant works which discussed the use of the soroban. Both wrote about square and cube root calculations and one of them also works on areas and volumes.
The soroban is referred to indirectly in the Chushingura.
To the left is a giga or comic print of a fellow happily using his soroban. It dates from ca. 1868. The image below was posted by 663highland at commons.wikimedia.org.
The samurai class looked dimly at subjects like mathematics because that was a tool of tradesmen, a lower class. In 1913 Frank Lombard wrote about Pre-Meiji Education in Japan: A Study of Japanese Education Previous to the Restoration of 1868. On page 106 he says: "Arithmetic was not encouraged in the terakoya [寺子屋 or てらこや: Buddhist temple elementary schools] and least of all in the government schools, attended by the higher classes. The occupation of trade was unworthy a samurai and only the introduction of Western science and the touch of Western commerce made Japan realize its value [i.e., the sarabon]. Even as late as 1835... the father of Yukichi Fukuzawa [福沢諭吉 or ふくざわゆきち: 1834-1901], famed as the patron of Western practical learning, had a private tutor for his children who was preremptorily [sic] dismissed because he taught the multiplication tables."
Ten years earlier, in 1903, Sidney Gulick quoted Dr. George Knox: "A maid servant in China was made ill with astonishment when she saw her mistress, soroban (abacus) in hand, arguing prices and values. So was it once with the samurai." |
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The two characters which make up the word soroban are 算 calculate and 盤 board.
In Japanese Etiquette & Ethics In Business by Boye Lafayette De Mente notes on page 183 the saying soroban to awanai: "Literally, 'it doesn't agree with the abacus,' this is an old term used to mean that the price is too high or that a business proposition would not be profitable. It is still used fairly often in informal, casual situations."
In an argument for equal rights for women Fukuzawa Yukichi mentioned above said that since the world was basically divided equally into men and women it would be wrong for a man to take several wives. In translation it quotes him as saying: "...it does not conform to the computations on the soroban." (Quoted from: Sources of Japanese Tradition: 1600 - 2000, p. 46)
"Eiichi Shibusawa [渋沢 栄一 or しぶさわえいいち] (1840-1931), a great contributor to modern Japanese capitalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, believed the harmony between profit and righteousness is an immortal principle common to the Orient as well as to the Occident. He writes in his well known book Rongo to Soroban (The Analects and the Abacus)... 'the ethics of the samurai is the same as the ethics of business.' " (Quoted from: Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society edited by Robert W. Kolb, vol. 2, p. 210)
Above is a castle model made up of soroban. It is on display in the 'Ono City Tradition Industrial Hall' and was posted on the Internet at commons.wikimedia.org by 663highland.
The Japanese equivalent for 'reading, writing and arithmetic' is yomi, kaki, soroban.
"The simplest and perhaps the most senseless method of divination is by the abacus (soroban). Its use is confined to cases of illness. To the number of years of the patient has lived are added the numbers of the month and of the day of his birth. The sum thus obtained is multiplied by 3 and divided by 9. If the remainder is 3 or a smaller number, recovery is considered certain. If it is a number between 3 and 6, the case is grave, the danger growing as the remainder ascends. Equal division is counted as a remainder of 9, and signifies certain death." (Quoted from: Japan: Its History Arts And Literature, Vol. 5 by Frank Brinkley, p. 232)
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Sōsaku hanga |
創作版画 そうさくはんが |
Creative print: a 20th c. invention where the artists does the drawing, carves the blocks and prints all by himself.
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Sugawara no Michizane |
菅原道真 すがわらのみちざね |
Michizane (845-903) was named as ambassador to China in 894, "...but his petition to the throne advocating the cessation of embassies to [that country] was granted and official relations between the two... lapsed for centuries." (Quote from Yamato Monogatari by Mildred Tahara, Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 27, no. 1, Spring 1972, p. 1)
This is our first entry begun on 2/13/10 on Michizane and we will be fleshing it out over the next few weeks to months or whenever. |
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Sugi |
杉
すぎ |
Cryptomeria motif: Dower notes that the "stately cryptomeria" was associated with numerous Shinto shrines from the earliest times. For that reason the wearing of this tree as a crest took on a religious significance. It also was considered an auspicious sign. M
Source: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, pp. 54-5. 1 |
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Sugoroku |
双六 すごろく |
A game played with dice on a large sheet of paper illustrated with a series of pictures. Like parcheesi a player moves according to the toss of the die. Traditionally it was played by children at New Year's. |
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Suidōbashi |
水道橋
すいどうばし |
An aqueduct bridge over the Kanda river/canal in the Ochanomizu district. Today it is only a traffic bridge. 1 |
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Suji-guma |
筋隈
すじくま |
"Streaked" makeup: A special type of lined makeup meant to enhance actors performing in the aragoto or "rough stuff" style. It is meant to strengthen their masculine presence. Originated by Ichikawa Danjūrō (1689-1758) possibly influenced by earlier Chinese sources.
The detail to the left is from an 1894 print by Kunichika of Ichikawa Sadanji I as Umeōmaru. |
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Sung dynasty |
宋朝 そうちょう |
Chinese dynasty noted for its cultural refinements 1 |
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Suriawase |
磨り会わせ すりあわせ |
Integration, coordination, fitting together: Although this is a term applied to business and industry it is only mentioned once as far as we can tell when it comes to the production of woodblock prints. Shigeyoshi Mihara in Monumenta Nipponica (Vol. 6, No. 1/2, 1943, p. 260) refers to suriawase as "...a trial of newly cut blocks to assure that the colour blocks fit exactly in the allotted outlines on the key block." |
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Suridai |
磨台 (?) すりくだい |
Printing stand: Hiroshi Yoshida said in his Japanese Woodblock Printing (1939, p. 66) that "The suri-dai, or low stand for the blocks used for printing, should slope down about twelve degrees away from the artist." |
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Suribotoke |
摺り仏 すりぼとけ |
Ancient block prints of Buddhist images or invocations addressed to Buddha. These are among the earliest printed images in Japan created centuries before the first ukiyo-e - perhaps as early as the 9th to 10th century. These prints were frequently placed inside of Buddhist statuaries.
Suri (摺) means to rub or print on cloth. Hotoke (仏), here pronounced botoke, means Buddha. |
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Suzume-bachi |
雀蜂
すずめばち |
Wasp or hornet 1
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Tachibana |
橘
たちばな |
A citrus fruit motif perhaps the mandarin orange: "Reputedly brought to Japan from China in the 3rd century A.D., the mandarin orange was immediately admired for its glossy green leaves, fragrant blossoms, and beautiful, succulent fruit." (Quote from: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, pp. 62)
Below is a detail from an Ellen Levy Finch photo posted at commons.wikimedia.
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Many fond yearnings for an orange tree's sweet scent draw the cuckoo on to come seeking the village where such fragrant flowers fall.
Lindberg-Wada notes that the cuckoo is the male who is drawn to the tree, his female lover. She also notes that oranges were thought to "...alleviate the nausea of early pregnancy." (Ibid., p. 10)
In a future age Will the fragrance of these orange blossoms Move someone again To think of me when in my turn I too shall be a person of the past?
A moment's doze Within the circle of the scent Of the orange flowers - Even in dreams the fragrance stirs my heart To recall his scented sleeves of long ago.
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Tachibina |
立雛
たちびな |
Standing dolls are usually made of paper. There is the taller male figure and the shorter female. He wears a short-sleeved kimono or kosode with hakama (袴 or はかま) 'pants' or formal divided skirt. She, a paper wrapped cylinder, also wears a kosode tied off with a paper obi. 1
"The standing hina [doll] forms are the most rudimentary of the group and are closest in structure to the earliest doll forms employed in the nascent Hina-matsuri [doll or girl's festival celebrated on the third day of the third month] from the sixteenth century. The oldest forms are barely differentiated by sex: a pair of figures each with long trousers made of paper painted with auspicious designs. Over time the paper was stiffened and textiles were applied, allowing the dolls to stand more readily on their own or to be propped up against the back of the display area. The most common Edo form has the male with his arms stretched wide, visibly displaying the long sleeves of his coat. The female in clear distinction is depicted as a simple cylinder with no discernible arms or legs. Neither figure is typically shown with hands or feet."
Quoted from: Japanese Dolls: The Fascinating World of Ningyo, by Alan Scott Pate, Tuttle Publishing, 2008, p. 59.
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Tai |
鯛
たい |
The king of fish. Served on New Year's holidays and on other special occasions. 1 |
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Takagi Umanosuke |
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Subject of a print by Kuniyoshi from the series "Sixty Odd Provinces of Japan - Dramatic Chapters" 1 |
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Takanoha |
鷹の羽
たかのは |
Falcon (or hawk) feather motif: Considering the masculine nature of falconry and its appeal to the military class it is no surprise that this motif would be used as a family crest or mon. Merrily Baird in her Symbols of Japan: Thematic Motifs in Art and Design (p. 108) she notes that "...falcons and hawks became natural emblems of the Japanese warrior class due to their keen eyesight, their predatory nature, and their boldness."
In crest design feathers were understood to be substitutes for the full images of falcons. |
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Takao |
高尾
たかお |
Tragic courtesan from the kabuki play "Date Kurabe Okuni Kabuki" or a similar play working with the same basic theme. Today it is only known as a minor subplot of a more important, but originally unrelated work. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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Takarabune |
宝船
たからぶね |
Treasure ship which is said to sail into ports on New Year's carrying the Seven Propitious Gods and their jewels and other symbols of good luck.
The image to the left is a detail from a print by Toyokuni I and shows only two of the seven gods. |
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Takaramono |
寳物 たからもの |
The "Myriad Treasures" often linked to the 7 Propitious Gods. 1
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Takara zukushi |
寳づくし たからづくし |
Assorted lucky treasures |
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Take |
竹
たけ |
As the bamboo motif: The plant was imported into Japan from China and became a basic element in the gardens of the nobility. This association with the upper classes is not surprising considering its significance to the Chinese. In China there were only two - some say three - recognized arts. The greatest was calligraphy and the other was painting. Both were performed with basically the same materials. In painting the greatest form was the rendering of bamboo. Intrinsic to the plant were all kinds of positive traits: resilience in the face of adversity, i.e., wind or cold and suppleness or its ability to bend and adapt. There were judged to be among the most desirable qualities.
In Japan many warrior families adopted the bamboo in form or another as their family crest or mon. 1
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筍 or 竹の子
たけのこ |
Bamboo sprouts or shoots: Satow noted that after 16 days growth the sprout looks like the adult plant "...whence the name 如母草 (plant like its mother)."
One of the 24 Tales of Filial Piety is of Mōsō (孟宗 or もうそう) whose mother has a yearning for soup made from boiled bamboo shoots. However, it is winter and a heavy snow has fallen. Mōsō sets out in search of the sprouts and cries warm, wet tears which "...like the warm rains of Spring, softened the hard wintry ground and caused the tender shoots to burst forth, in reward for his pious affection." (Quote from C. A. S. Williams)
The image to the left is a detail from a photo posted at Flickr by Joi Ito. Above is a detail from a Kuniyoshi print showing Mōsō in search of bamboo sprouts in the winter. |
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sprouting bamboos - one out of ten thousand grows into a bamboo
(Qutoed from: Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa by Makoto Ueda, p. 143)
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竹馬
たけうま |
Stilts: Literally 'bamboo horse'. Also pronounced chikuba (ちくば).
In Mark Spahn and Wolfgang Hadamitzky's The Kanji Dictionary (p. 1607) lists chikuba (no) tomo (竹馬の友 or ちくばのとも) as 'childhood playmate'. Tomo (友) is a friend.
"The word for stilts originally meant a branch of bamboo, with the attached leaves bringing up the rear, ridden around like a horse by children. Later it was used to describe the tall poles (made of bamboo in Japan) with places to put your feet that provide children with a new perspective on life as well as yet another opportunity to injure themselves." (Quote from: Kodansha's Dictionary of Basic Japanese Idioms, pp. 48-9)
"The Japanese have a charming expression, chikuba no tomodachi, which means boyhood friend, or, the friend I had when I walked on stilts." (Quote from: The Hasty Papers: The Millennium Edition of the Legendary One-Shot Review compiled by Alfred Leslie with an article on stilts by Hannelore Hahn, p. 77) |
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Saigyō (西行 or さいぎょう: 1118-90), Buddhist priest and poet wrote touchingly about the takeuma he owned as a boy:
Propped up by my cane, I hobble along remembering my boyhood when I loved playing horseman on a piece of long bamboo.
(Quoted from: Awesome Nightfall: The Life, Times and Poetry of Saigyō, translated by William LaFleur, p. 58)
The Meiji Emperor (明治天皇 or めいじてんのう: 1852-1912) wrote as a boy:
I remember now Those days when I neglected My writing practice Because my only interest Was riding a bamboo horse.
This poem is from Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912 by Donald Keene on page 48. In note 8 on page 733 the author notes that here 'a bamboo horse' probably means stilts.
It would seem that tradition was everything at the Tokugawa court. When an actor walked across the stage on stilts he was asked afterwards if this was traditional. When he said that it wasn't and that he had improvised he was banned from acting for some time. (Source: Nō and Kyōgen in the Contemporary World edited by Brandon and Leiter, p. 101)
Korean Games with Notes On the Corresponding Games of China and Japan by Stewart Culin (p. 32) it says: "The Wa Kan sai dzu e relates that T'áu Hien, of the Later Han Dynasty (A. D. 25-221), when fourteen years old, made himself a flag, rode on a 'bamboo horse,' and played. Kán Kung observed his appearance, and admired it, and granted him his daughter as a wife. His wife indignantly said: 'The boy of the T'áu family plays too much. How can we give him our daughter? Kán Kung replied: 'He has a noble aspect, which certainly presages great success,' and he gave him his daughter."
Here are a few more thoughts from the article The History of Stilts by Hahn: "One day, in 1891, a French baker [named Sylvain Dornon] stalked from Paris to Moscow on stilts, where he arrived fifty-eight days later." One myth about the origin of stilts is the African one. A farmer planting yams found that the ground was too hot for his feet so he invented them. But this was unlikely. Another theory was that it was an effort to rise above marshy water levels. But this too is highly unlikely. "...perhaps there are advantages to not knowing everything about something." ¶ "And Robert Graves, in his translation of the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, informs us that scouts on stilts, disguised as cranes, were successfully used by Claudius in his campaign for Britain." ¶ A stilt walking competition on a Dalmatian island could not only prove who was the most masculine, but could also win a bride. ¶ Stilt-jousting and stilt battles were not uncommon in medieval Europe. Hahn gives numerous other examples, but we think you should get the point by now.
The English etymology: Shipley gives an Indo-European source related to the origins of the verb 'to stand'. Then via the Greek 'to cause to stand' we get still, stilts, stilted and the German gestalt. Via the Italian we get pedestal.
The Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto has a somewhat different take: He says that our word for stilt probably came to us from the Low German and Flemish stilte. But that had a prehistoric Germanic root which meant to 'walk stiffly or strut. That led to the German stolz (proud) and the English stout. "The derived stilted 'over-dignified' dates form the early 19th century." |
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Taki |
瀧
たき |
A waterfall. (Eikei 英渓, one of our correspondents and one of the great contributors to this site, notes that nowadays a simplified form of the kanji character is more commonly used although that is not how it appears on most ukiyo prints. The simpler form is 滝.)
To the left is a detail of a print of a waterfall by Hiroshige. 1 |
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Takuhon |
拓版 たくはん
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Roger Keyes gives an absolutely poetical description of this technique. "Jakuchū adapted an old printing technique recently revived in the Kyoto area called takuhon, or 'rubbing,' which reversed black and white. Jakuchū's black outline drawing is white. The white sky is black. The river is gray. The riverbank and landscape are dark gray near the water, shading to light. The effect is startling. Like a Zen koan, it stops thought. Creates wonder. Enchantment."
Keyes is referring to the long, scroll-like printing of "Aboard the Ship of Inspiration." I first saw a copy of this masterpiece on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was all alone at the time. No crowds. A Noguchi fountain nearby was doing its very Zen-like thing and like Keyes said: "...it stops thought."
Keyes also notes that this art work was not produced in the traditional way: "...the printer did not ink the blocks, but gradually built each print by tapping ink onto the paper..." through the use of a tanbo [たんぼ] or "...large ball of inked cotton fiber wrapped in cloth."
Source and quotes: Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan published by the New York Public Library and the University of Washington Press, 2006, p. 86.
See also our entry on ishizuri-e on our Hil thru I index/glossary page and also comments about this technique on one of our Gengyo pages. |
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玉菊灯籠 たまぎく.どうろう |
A lantern festival held twice a year in the Yoshiwara. It was one of the three major ones held there each year. Named after a particularly popular courtesan who died suddenly at the height of her fame. "The origin of the festival is ascribed to the untimely death of a flourishing harlot, by the name of Tamagiku, in a former time. As she died suddenly in the midst of her prosperity, the whole quarter wherein she dwelt where [the] living lamented over the loss of her, and every house hanged out a lantern, upon which a kind of elegy was written for her. This being the origin of the celebration, it has now lost its mournful nature entirely, and taken a licentious character, and is celebrated yearly to attract visitors." (From The Yoshiwara From Within) |
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Tamagiku worked for the Naka-Manjiy-a "...a beautiful popular courtesan who died from overindulgence in sake. She was much pampered by her employer, and it is said that even while she received a moxa treatment... for her illness, her favorite shamisen music was performed for her pleasure, the entire house was closed, and a large crowd of guests were served sumptuous food and drinks. Generous and considerate by nature and always ready to tip everyone in her party, she was the favorite of many of the bordello and teahouse staff..." (Quote from: Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, by Cecilia Segawa Seigle, University of Hawaii Press, 1993, p. 107) ¶ Tamagiku died in the 3rd month of 1726. "In the seventh month of 1728, for the midsummer souls' festival (bon), the proprietor/musician of the Tsuru-Tsutaya... held a memorial for her. Three famous personalities created a masterpiece of a song for the occasion[Water Rhythms of a Courtesan]... A teahouse keeper who had been particularly fond of Tamagiku hung a lantern outside his establishment in her memory and other proprietors joined him in honoring her memory in this way." (Ibid.) ¶ Seigle adds in a footnote on page 255 that "Aside from the annual lantern festivals, Tamagiku's memorial was held frequently in Edo throughout the Edo period. There were many other songs written in her memory. 'Tamagiku lanterns' was written and performed at the Ichimuraza theater on the 150th anniversary of her death."
Above is a portrait of Tamagiku of as Kuninao imagined her or it may represent Sawamura Sōjūrō in the role of the courtesan as identified by the crest on her hairpins. Below is an example from another one of our pages.
De Becker gives a variant account in The Nightless City (p. 234): "...a story is told to the effect that on the 4th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of Gembun (10th August, 1736) a teacher of the samisen, named Kayei, who lived in Ageya-cho, held a service in his house in memory of Tamagiku and at the same time a new tune... was played. In the room were a number of lanterns bearing the kaimyo (posthumous name) of Tamagiku, and every guest was presented with one on his way home. As it was considered as unlucky to have lanterns inside the house bearing the Buddhistic name of a dead person they were hung up outside the tea-houses." For some inexplicable reason the managers of the Yoshiwara were upset by this display and had it taken down. |
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Tamagushi |
玉串 たまぐし |
"A branch of the sacred sakaki tree with zig-zag strips (shide) of paper or cloth, or lengths of tree fibers (yû) attached." They may be used as offerings or amulets and the tama element may have its origin in Nihonga which mentions a sakaki decorated with jewels. Strangely reminiscent of a Christmas tree.
An obscure term for a tamagushi-like implement is a haraegushi (祓串 or はらえぐし). |
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Tamaya |
玉屋 たまや |
A prominent brothel in the Yoshiwara 1 |
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Tan |
丹
たん |
An orange lead pigment which often shows oxidation. Personally I find this an extremely attractive element within Japanese prints. But that may be just my taste.
In the early 18th century "...artists began to apply a few colors to the print by use of a brush. This type of colored print was called a tan-e because of the red pigment (tan) that was used."
"Tan (yellowish red) is made of lead, saltpeter, and sulfur.... It is a pleasing color, but unfortunately, its tone is likely to change."(Quotes from: Japanese Print-Making: A Handbook of Traditional & Modern Techniques, by Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki, Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1966, pp. 20 and 54)
In a technical section on dyes at the end of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Catalogue of the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection (p. 254) Robert Feller, Mary Curran and Catherine Bailie note that "Although inorganic pigments tend to be stable...some of these can also readily change in appearance.... Red lake and white lead can discolor owing to the chemical reaction of these pigments with sulfides in the atmosphere, causing them to darken owing to the formation of black lead sulfide."
"Certain chemical changes in the pigments can be reversed, and the original colour restored. The blackening of tan, that orange pigment used by Koriusai and many other artists, can be removed and the original brilliance brought back. The same is true of a certain white that blackens in time. The processes employed are, however, easily capable of misuse; and the few persons who know the methods prefer not to make them public."(Quoted from: Chats on Japanese Prints, by Arthur Davison Ficke, published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917, p. 443) |
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Tanabata |
棚機 たなばた |
The Weaver or Star Festival originally held on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. That explains why it can also be written as 七夕. As the Star Festival it was also called the 星祭り or Hoshi Matsuri (ほしまつり). Today the festival is held on July 7th. ¶ The story is well known in many variations. The Weaver Maiden, clothier to the gods, also known as the star Vega and daughter of the King of Heaven, falls in love with the stellar Herdsman identified with the star Altair. The attraction is mutual and so much so that they find it difficult to keep apart. Because of their obsessions weaving and herding go wanting. Once their liaisons were discovered the Weaver Maiden's father separates the couple by placing them at opposite sides of the Milky Way, but his daughter's grief is palpable. Eventually he relents and agrees to let his daughter rendezvous with her lover once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. They are able to join each other via a bridge of magpies. However, if it happens to be cloudy that night the tryst is off and the lovers have to wait for the next year.
Ivan Morris in The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan (p. 156) the Tanabata Matsuri was first celebrated at Court in 734 A.D. Morris notes the Chinese origin of this celebration. There the maiden was called Chih-nü and the herdsman Chien-niu. "The festival was adapted by the Japanese Court from the Chi chiao Tien celebrations in China, and became immensely popular throughout most of the country possibly because of its romantic connotations." (p. 162)
"Leaves are spread in the garden of the Emperor's Residential Palace and, when it is dark, His Majesty and his Court seat themselves there to watch the meeting of the Weaver and the Herdsman [the stars Vega and Altair]. Poems are dedicated to the two stars, music is played all night, and the Magpie Dance is performed. Similar observances take place inprivate ouseholds, and women pray to the Weaver for help in weaving, sewing, music, and poetry." (Ibid.)
Donald Keene adds an interesting note to this Chinese-Japanese connection: "New themes, new modes of expression, and new uses of poetry were quickly naturalized, but the Japanese remained reluctant to borrow Chinese words for use in Japanese poetry. When, for example, the Japanese came to celebrate the Chinese festival commemorating the two stars that meet once a year, the seventh night of the seventh month, they called the occasion by a Japanese name, Tanabata, and carefully avoided terminology that might suggest the festival had foreign origins."
Quoted from Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from the Earliest times to the Late Sixteenth Century, by Donald Keene, Henry Holt and Company, 1993, pp. 86-87. |
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Tanawa |
手縄
たなわ |
The guide ropes held by the cormorant fisherman to control and retrieve his birds. See our entry on ukai.
The image to the left is a detail from a print by Eisen. We have added the yellow pointer for clarity. |
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Tanuki |
狸
たぬき |
An animal with supernatural powers which are viewed as more humorous than threatening. Often portrayed with an exceedingly large scrotum. 1, 2 |
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Tatewaku |
立涌
たてわく |
An ancient decorative motif made up of double wavy lines which repeat a pattern of narrowing and widening into a bulge before narrowing again. The bulges are often filled with other known motifs. Probably of Chinese origin. 1
According to the authors of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing (Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice and Jane Barton, published by Kodansha International, 1999, p. 76) note that the tatwaku pattern appeared in woven textiles and lacquer wares as early as the Heian period (794-1185). "This design became popular during the Edo period (1615-1868)..."
In Sashiko Style: Traditional Japanese Patterns for Contemporary Design (Japan Publications Trading, 2007, p. 41) it says "This ancient kimono pattern developed into more decorative versions encasing plant motifs with doubled or tripled lines for members of the royal court since the Heian Period (794-1192)" [The difference in dates in the two additions above are theirs, not mine.]
Some literal (poetical?) translations of tatewaku have been 'rising steam' or 'undulating lines'. |
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立山
たてやま |
"...in medieval times, the high mountain Tateyama in Etchū, also with pre-Buddhist associations with the other world, became strongly associated with an entrance to hell. Several medieval collections of tales containing stories of this place. They relate how a priest, climbing the mountain or dwelling in ascetic seclusion on its slopes, met a girl who told him that she had emerged momentarily from the hell that lay inside. She recounted her torments there and begged him to recite requiem sutra to shorten her time. Or again, travellers on the mountain heard cries from beneath the earth. They were the wails of the damned in the hell below." (Quote from: The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan by Carmen Blacker, p. 83) The sulphur springs of Tateyama helped advance the belief that this was the way to hell. (Ibid., p. 159)
Above is a photo of the Valley of Hell or Jigoku-dani (地獄谷 or じごくだに) at Tateyama. This was posted at commons.wikimedia by Kahusi. The tower of sulphur to the left is located in the same place and was made available at the same web site by Reggaeman. |
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Tebori |
手彫り
てぼり |
Hand-carved: The traditional Japanese use of needles to create a tattoo. Tebori can also refer to the carving of seals, jewelry or anything else for that matter. However, in the case of tattooing a distinction is made in that it refers to the technique used prior to the invention of the electric needle. Tebori is still being practiced.
The image to the left below is a doctored detail from an image by Yoshitoshi showing a tattoo being applied in the traditional manner. 1 |
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Teihatsu |
剃髪 ていはつ |
Tonsure: The shaved head of a monk. "Eminent nuns were perceived as having overcome their gender by symbolically becoming men. Although such cases remain exceptions, even ordinary nuns can be said to have loosened the gender constraints, inasmuch as ordination was a way for them to transcend the gender. Tonsure was believed to have the same effect as cremation, providing access to the Pure Land by transforming women into men." (Quoted from: The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender, by Bernard Faure, published by Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 114-15)
"In the late medieval and Edo periods, courtesans were often indicated by the term bikuni (nuns), or, upon occasion maruta (round[-headed] ones), an allusion to their tonsure." (Ibid., p. 254) Bikuni = 比丘尼 or びくに; maruta = まるた |
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Tempō Reforms (Also spelled Tenpō) |
天保の改革 てんぽうのかいかく |
At some time in the future I will deal with the general aspects of the Tempō Reforms, but for now I want to address the edicts specifically as they pertained to the production and sale of ukiyo woodblock prints. There is a fascinating article by J. J. O'Brien Sexton in a 1913 edition of "The International Studio" (p. 313): ""The Dating of Japanese Colour-Prints in 1842". In it Sexton refers to a copy of a document he received from Hogitaro Inada stating the prohibitions as they pertained to Japanese prints. "On the 4th day of the 6th month, 1842, the Yedo Machi Bugyō issued a proclamation to the effect that the sale or purchase of single-sheet prints of actors, courtesans, geishas and such like, being detrimental to morals, no new blocks for the same were to be made; nor were pictures of these subjects already in stock to be bought or sold." Also included were books with colored covers which incorporated prints along with texts. "Henceforth, subjects calculated to instil into young people's minds good moral precepts, such as loyalty, filial piety and chastity [sound familiar?] &c., were to be chosen; written description of pictures were to be abbreviated; no useless labor was to be expended on the covers and wrappers, and the use of colours thereon was strictly forbidden. All new publications were, on completion, to be submitted for 'Examination' (Aratame) to the 'Machi Toshiyori'; but no new series of pictures of more than three sheets nor books of an obscene character were to be permitted for sale.'" [See our entry on nanushi for information on the censor seals of this period.] ¶ "(The "Machi Bugyō" was a sort of governor with administrative and judicial functions. The "Toshiyori" were counselors or advisors to the "Nanushi" or Mayor [or as many dictionaries have it - the headman].)"
Sadahide and one of his publishers and his staff were all fined for attempting to market "...a caricature of Kuniyoshi's well-known print of Minamoto Raiko and the Earth Spider.... This took place on the 26th day of the 12th month, 1843." |
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"It was towards the end of the Tenpō era (1830-44) that commercial publishing came under the greatest legislative onslaught in the Tokugawa period as the Tenpō reforms sought to reimpose order and authority on urban society. Not only were the guilds themselves dissolved by order and the old edicts of earlier periods enforced with new vigour, but also new targets were identified and attempts made to channel popular publishing into new directions. Almost all of this legislation came in 1842 and it started with a ban on woodblock prints depicting kabuki actors or courtesans. These had been published for decades without causing offence but were now deemed undesirable, and in consequence neither could new prints be published nor old ones sold. The light fictional works known as gōkan were also banned, on the ground that the plots and illustrations were closely related to the kabuki theatre and indulged in luxury colour covers and wrappers. Authors were urged instead to write uplifting tales of filial piety and chastity, both of which were somewhat alien to the traditions of popular literature hitherto." (Quoted from The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century by Peter Kornicki - p. 343)
Whereas it appears that it was extremely difficult for the government to enforce its edicts "...Roger Keyes has noted that in Osaka there were no actor prints at all issued during the years 1842-7 following the Tenpō reforms, and this is at least an indication of stringent self-censorship by the publishing guilds, if not of strict supervision on the part of the city commissioners." (Ibid., p. 349) |
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Ten |
点
てん |
Dot pattern as used in clothing. |
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Tengai |
天蓋
てんがい |
The woven sedge hat worn by mendicant monks of the Fuke group of the Rinzai sect. These monks were never to take this item off whenever they were outside the confines of their monastery or temple. Of course, in time others started wearing these hoods as a form of disguise. They came to serve new purposes for lovers' trysts, criminals and spies.
Tengai also translates as canopy or dome.
The image to the left shows a detail of a tengai being held by a secret lover in a print by Harunobu. |
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Tengai |
天蓋
てんがい |
Canopy: One of the 8 Treasures of Buddhist symbology. Said to protect the faithful sickness and poverty. The other seven symbols are the conch shell, the Buddhist wheel, the sacred parasol, the lotus flower, the sacred vase, the urn and the bancho which is similar to the endless knot representing eternal life.
Note: The motifs decorating the bottom of the canopy do not consist of the other 7 treasures. Although these images were also considered auspicious there was a lot of mixing and matching going on over the centuries and I am not sufficiently versed to know when each grouping appeared and under what guise.
The detail to the left is from a print by Kuniyoshi. The green cartouche is part of the prints design. I have left it in the image because it overlaps the canopy itself.
For a discussion of the swastika symbol to to our Kutsuwa thru Mok index/glossary page and look at our entry on manji.
Also note that the kanji for the canopy and the sedge hat shown in the entry above it are exactly the same. Considering their separate but similar religious connections their use of the same character makes sense. |
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LINKS TO OUR OTHER INDEX/GLOSSARY PAGES Click on any of the pages listed below!
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