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. Edo shokunin 江戸の職人 Craftsmen of Edo .
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momen 木綿 cotton in the Edo period
. momen, wata 木綿 cotton, Baumwolle - Introduction .
wata 綿 floss silk
momenbari 木綿針 sewing needle for cotton thread
itoguruma 糸車 a spinning wheel
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Transition from Linens to Cottons
here were many wholesale textile merchants who purchased and sold cottons in Õdenma-chô (present day Nihonbashi in Chûô-ku), which were called "momen-dana" (literary means "cotton merchant").
It must be noted that the development of cotton industry transformed the fashion of Edo. The period saw the transition of one type of clothes to another on the streets, as the linens worn by the people in the past could no longer be seen so often in public and it was replaced almost completely with cottons. Cotton is strong as well as nice and soft when touching it, and besides competent for moisture alsorption. Moreover, as it can be dyed easily, the fabric began to be adopted for casual-style kimono called "hitoe" (literally means "single-layered clothing") such as yukata, as well as for other products such as a padded dressing gown (i.e. wataire), socks (i.e. tabi) and bedding.
Furthermore, unlike expensive silk, cotton was not a costly fabric, and thus, it soon became popular among the people and grew into absolutely necessary products.
Picture of Dye House
from "Picture Book: Amusements of Edo" （Ehon Azuma Asobi Kouya no Zu)
Compiled by Asakusa-an and painted by Katsushika Hokusai 1802 (Kyōwa 2)
This, however, can be said that it occurred as a result of the encouraging policies about making cottons of the Tokugawa Shogunate as well as of the local feudal domains across the country. Especially, both Kansai region and Tôkai region were famous for their cotton products. These cottons were transported from these regions to the city of Edo, and many towns consisting of wholesale cotton merchants were developed here and there in the city of Edo. One famous example of this is
Õdenma-chô.
- source : Tokyo MET library
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. Doing Business in Edo - 江戸の商売 .
source : 1000ya.isis.ne.jp...
takani momen uri 高荷木綿売り selling cotton
cotton cloth seller
He had the rolls of cloth piled up high for the customers to see it easily and make their choice. By putting up different patterns every day before walking the streets of Edo, the vendors could choose their customers.
Image by 松野霞城 Kajo Matsuno Kajo
- reference source : tobunken.go.jp/materials... -
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. Ōdenma-chō 大伝馬町 Odenmacho district .
The packhorse and messenger superintendent 馬込勘解由
Magome Kageyu from Mikawa (now Aichi) was the first to establish his business here. He welcomed Tokugawa Ieyasu in Edo and was given the privilege as superviser and head of the ward.
Many of his people from Mikawa made a living as horse keepers in Edo and made some extra money by dealing in cotton from Mikawa (
momendana 木綿店). They lived mostly in the second district of Odenmacho.
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. Hirata momen kaido 平田の木綿街道 Hirata Cotton Road .
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. kenyaku 倹約 frugality, thrift - Sparsamkeit .
Yukuta robes from cotton were allowed, so the craftsmem made them with ever more elaborate patterns.
Bright red and yellow colors were not allowed any more. so the craftsmen prepared
hyaku nezumi 百鼠
a hundred shades of gray
so show their individual tastes.
. shitateya 仕立屋 / 仕立て屋 tailor, seamstress .
futomonodana 太物(ふともの)店 sold "thick robes" made from cotton 木綿, in contrast to the Gofukuya, who often sold silk material 絹.
kiwataya 木綿店 cotton cloth dealers
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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .
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moohatsu 毛髪 Mohatsu, human hair // 糸車
Human hair has mysterious power. If it is hung on a tree, birds will not come close. In the ground it does not rot.
If someone is fleeing, if people put his hair on a spinning wheel and turn it left, this person will get lost and soon come back.
................................................................................. Akita 秋田県
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鹿角市
Kazuno city // 糸車
kitsune 狐 fox
In the middle of the mountain forest, a fox shapeshiftes into a woman using a spinning wheel. If someone shoots with a gun, she will just laugh. In that case the hunter should aim at the spinning wheel, not the woman.
. kitsune densetsu 狐と伝説 fox legends .
................................................................................. Ehime 愛媛県
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喜多郡
Kita district // 木綿針
. kooryuu 蛟龍 / 蛟竜 Koryu, a mythical dragon monster .
................................................................................. Gifu 岐阜県
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大野郡
Ono district 丹生川村
Nyukawa village
doosai どうさい / ドウサイ / 蟇 Dosai Hikigaeru bull frog
Every night there came a beautiful woman to the mountain hut of the forest workers and used
itoguruma 糸車 a spinning wheel to make 木綿糸 cotton thread. They were quite afraid and asked a hunter to shoot her. The next morning there was a
doosai bull frog dead on the ground, with a shot in one eye.
It was about 100 cm long.
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Gifu 高山市
Takayama city 上宝町
Kamitakara town
iwana イワナ / 岩魚 bull trout
There is a river pool with a strong whirlpool, where the great master of the iwana bull trout lives.
There was a beautiful girl in the village and a handsome young man came to visit her regulary. But the mother of the girl was suspicious of the young man and made him eat 麦の焼き餅 mochi grilled with barley straw. Then she put a thread in her needle for cotton work and stuck it into the man. When she followed the cotton thread, she saw a large bull trout trying to swim in great pain. The bull trout asked the mother to forgive it and disappeared.
................................................................................. Hyogo 兵庫県
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姫路市
Himeji city
ike no naka no wata 池中の綿 cotton threads in the pond
There was a small pond where a child had drowned and died. The villagers wanted to drain the pond and make fields out of it. When they had gotten all the water out of the pond, there were white connon threads at the bottom. There were so many that the villagers could sell these high-quality threads to other villages. The villagers became quite rich with this trade.
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Hyogo 神戸市
Kobe city
chi no ike jigoku 血の池地獄 the blood pond of hell
There is ritual near the 観音橋 Kannon bridge over the small river on the way to the 不動の瀧 Fudo Waterfall near 摩耶山 Maya san. Women who have died giving birth are supposed to fall into the blood pont of hell, but on this bridge they have put some white cotton cloths on sticks. People passing here can scoop some water and if the cloths make a hole to let the water through, the soul of the dead person will be saved and soon go to the Buddhist paradise.
. Maya san 摩耶山天上寺 Temple Tenjo-Ji .
. Waterfalles named "Fudo no Taki" 不動の滝 .
. chinoike 血ノ池 Chi-no-Ike - "The Blood Pond" .
................................................................................. Ishikawa 石川県
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鳳至郡
Fugeshi district 門前町
Monzen town
choota mujina 長太ムジナ A badger named Chota
In the evening, walking on the narrow road from Minazuki toward Kamiozawa there is often the badger Chota coming out. He piles rocks on the road so that people can not pass. When travelers wander around the rocks their food will be stolen. The badger shape-shifts into a huge serpent or a monster and scares people. Once a man could feel the badger coming on and threw a stone at him. A man appeard and said "Let us have a fight!" "Let us compare the size of our
kintama 金玉 "golden balls", testicles. (Badgers are famous for the size of their testicles.) They placed a
furoshiki 木綿風呂敷 wraping cloth from cotton on the ground and the badger pulled out his testicles, in a hurry tearing them apart, so he fled back to the mountain. Since then he never appeared here.
. tanuki 狸 - mujina 狢 － racoon dog, badger legends .
................................................................................. Iwate 岩手県
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. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .
The warm winter robes wor working in the snow have a crotch of 黒木綿 black cotton. This should prevent serpents to sneek inside while the owner takes a nap.
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遠野市
Tono city 土淵町
Tsuchibuchi town // 糸車
. zashiki warashi 座敷童子 / ざしきわらし girl spooks .
The
zashiki warashi 座敷童子 girl spook at the home of 助十 Sukeju can make a noise like
itoguruma 糸車 a spinning wheel turning. Nobody has ever seen this girl, but the sound can be heard day and night. Sometimes there is also the sound of someone walking in the room.
................................................................................. Kagoshima 鹿児島県
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ittan momen 一反木綿 "one roll of cotton" Yokai monster
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"one bolt(反 tan) of cotton") are a yōkai monsters from Kōyama, Kimotsuki District, Kagosima Prefecture (now Kimotsuki. They are also called "ittan monme" or "ittan monmen.
According to the Ōsumi Kimotsukigun Hōgen Shū (大隅肝属郡方言集) jointly authored by the locally born educator, Nomura Denshi and the folkloricist Kunio Yanagita, at evening time, a cloth-like object about 1 tan in area (about 10.6 meters in length by 30 centimeters in width) would flutter around attack people.
They are said to wrap around people's necks and cover people's faces and suffocate people to death,[2][3][4][5] and in other tales it is said that wrapped cloths would spin around and around and quickly come flying, wrap around people's bodies, and take them away to the skies.
- more in the wikipedia
................................................................................. Hokkaido 北海道
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登別市
Noboribetsu city 幌別町
Horobetsu
Things used for a funeral are not thought to be impure. Items made of cotten can be used to wrap around the body when going fishing.
................................................................................. Kochi 高知県
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幡多郡
Hata district 大月町
Otsuki town // 糸車
. neko 猫 / ねこ と伝説 Legends about cats, Katzen .
Once a murderer was loading his gun to shoot a girl in front of a cat. The cat hurried out, shapeshifted into the girl using a spinning wheel. However much the murderer shot at her, he did not hit her. The mother-in-law suggested to shoot at the spinning wheel instead and indeed, the cat died.
One should never load a gun in front of a cat.
................................................................................. Miyagi 宮城県
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角田市
Kakuda city 東根
Higashine // 糸車
Kakuda no nana fushigi 東根の七不思議 The Seven Wonders of Kakuda
③ Number 3 - At the parking space of Kanomata hall there often appeared a monster with three eyes in the evening. It made the sound of someone turning
itoguruma 糸車 a spinning wheel.
................................................................................. Nagano 長野県
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木曽郡
Kiso district 上松町
Agematsu town
hebizuka 蛇塚 stone mound for a serpent
In 萩原の里 the hometown of Hagiwara there was a farmer’s home where three beautiful sisters lived. The youngest sister was especially beautiful and soon had a young lover, who came to her home every night. The other members of the house felt a bit strange about this man. One day they put a cotton thread in a sewing needle and stuck it into his robe. Later they followed the thread to 箱だたみの淵 the
Hakodatami river pool. The young man was a serpent living there. The young man never came to the house again. The daughter got pregnant and had a child, which was a young serpent. The girl died soon after that. The family built a stone mound to pray for the serpent.
. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .
Lake Hakotatami / 箱だたみ池 Hakodatami
................................................................................. Shimane 島根県
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出雲市
Izumo City 大塚町
Otsuka town
shiroi momen 白い木綿 white cotton
When someone has a problem with an itching eye, if it gets worse, one has to wrap a piece of white cotton three times around the leg of the side where the eye hurts, saying "I take you off when my eye is healed!"
When the eye is healed the cotton colth has to be cut off.
................................................................................. Saitama 埼玉県
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豊野村
Toyono village
momen boozu 木綿坊主 the cotton monk
The cotton monk comes in the fourth lunar month. This is the time for sowing cotton seeds, when people pray for a good harvest. Farmers prepare special
mochi 餅 rice cakes and call out: "Please come to stay here!"
The number of the rice cakes must be 21 or 23.
................................................................................. Shiga 滋賀県
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伊香郡
Ika district 余呉町
Yogo town
ushi no toki mairi 丑のときまいり cursing ritual at the hour of the ox
People have to do this for seven nights, hitting a nail into a straw doll.
Once a man did this, wearing 白木綿 a white piece of cotton and two candles on a holder. He had the impression that invisible people were shouting at him in disgust.
. ushi no toki mairi 丑のときまいり to curse a person .
................................................................................. Wakayama 和歌山県
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東牟婁郡
Higashimuro district 北山村
Kitayama village
. Kojoro 小女郎 the Tanuki prostitute .
Kojoro had been often going to the pond 船戸池
Funatoike to meet a man. Her parents put a needle with a cotton thread into her robes and followed her. The poor Kojoro threw herself into the pond and died and her man followed her. Near the pass there is a grave of both. Kojoro was a beauty with long black hair, but from the waist down she looked like
same 鮫 a shark.
................................................................................. Yamagata 山形県
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ito-tori ba 糸とり姥 the spinning old hag // 糸車
On the Eastern mountain of the village, farmers could often see an old hag near the fire turning 糸車 the itoguruma spinning wheel. They were quite afraid and asked a hunter to shoot her. He tried many times, but could not stop the sight. So the farmers asked him to shoot the fire, which he did with great doubts. When they looked, they found a lot of big and small coins on the ground. This might have been the money collected by 狸 the Tanuki, who was the old hag.
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最上郡
Mogami district 真室川町
Mamurogawa town// 糸車
banba 婆んば an old hag
It became dark, a strong lukewarm wind like a typhoon begun to blow and the mountain was rumbling. A hunter appeared and fired his gun at the mountain, where a female demon seemd to lurk. The villagers saw an old hag with white hair turning her spinning wheel. When the villagers followed the bloody track, they found a dead serpent in a hole in a tree.
................................................................................. Yamaguchi 山口県
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阿武郡
Abu district 福栄村
Fukue village // 糸車
. kitsune densetsu 狐と伝説 fox legends .
A hunter made a shelf for his guns, but it was a bit to small and they say a monster would live there. Every night there was a strange light and they heard the sound of a spinning wheel turning. If he shot at the light, the bullet would not leave the gun. His friends advised him to shoot at the spinning wheel and the spook stopped.
It might have been the trick of a fox.
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Yamaguchi 防府市
Hofu city
. Tateishi Inari 立石稲荷 / 立石稲荷神社 .
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- reference : nichibun yokai database -
. Edo, Tokyo 江戸 - 東京 - 伝説 Legends Index .
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. Kaido 街道 Highways - ABC Index .
. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .
. Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .
. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .
. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .
. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
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