Showing posts with label - - - Craftsman Artisan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label - - - Craftsman Artisan. Show all posts

11/02/2015

seihonshi book binder

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
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seihonshi 製本師 bookbinder - Buchbinder
seihonya 製本屋 - seihon gyoosha 製本業者

seihon ginooshi 製本技能士



- quote
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from an ordered stack of paper sheets that are folded together into sections or sometimes left as a stack of individual sheets. The stack is then bound together along one edge by either sewing with thread through the folds or by a layer of flexible adhesive. For protection, the bound stack is either wrapped in a flexible cover or attached to stiff boards. Finally, an attractive cover is adhered to the boards and a label with identifying information is attached to the covers along with additional decoration. Book artists or specialists in book decoration can greatly expand the previous explanation to include book like objects of visual art with high value and artistic merit of exceptional quality in addition to the book's content of text and illustrations.
Bookbinding is a specialized trade
that relies on basic operations of measuring, cutting, and gluing.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- - - - - some keywords

. akahon 赤本 red book .
- and more about ezooshi 絵草子 Ezoshi, illustrated book or magazine



chitsu 帙 wrap-around box, cloth-covered stiff box


detchō, detchoosoo 粘葉装 Detchoso, paste-leaf book
(see kochōsō butterfly binding below)
pasted paper leaf book


fukuro-toji, fukurotoji 袋綴 pouch-binding
- quote -
Also read fukurotsuzuri. Also called karatoji 唐綴 and fukurozoushi 袋草子 (fukurozooshi). Lit. pouch-binding.

The most common type of book-binding in Japan, made of thin sheets of paper which are inscribed or printed on only one side, folded in half, text-side out, and stacked together. Covers are added to the front and back, and the book is stitched along the spine (the edges opposite the folds) so that each double-leaved page forms a pouch, fukuro 袋, which is open at the top and bottom. Although variations exist, typically four tiny holes are made at equidistant lengths along the spine edge and the sheets and covers are then bound together tightly with thread. The fukurotoji was introduced from China and began to replace most other binding styles after the 14c.
One of the earliest examples is the Anthology of Regent Ichijou ICHIJOU SESSHOUSHUU 一条摂政集 (mid-12c). Double-leaved pages are pasted together indicating the initial stage of pouch-binding.
- source : JAANUS -


hanshitagaki 版下書き copyist


. horishi 彫り師 block carver .


kansusoo, kansusō 巻子装 Kansuso, scroll binding  copyist
a binding style of a horizontally long sized scroll of paper

. kibyooshi 黄表紙 Kibyoshi, "yellow book covers" .

kikai-zuri 機械刷り machine printing


kochōsō, koochoosoo 胡蝶装 “butterfly binding”
- quote -
Lit. butterfly book.
A type of book-binding, which, according to some, is the same as *detchousou (detchoosoo, detchōsō 粘葉装 (paste-leaf book). Others maintain that it is the same as *retchousou 列帖装 (a multisection book). The finished book opens so that each pair of leaves joined with paste stand out at an angle like the wings of a butterfly.
The term kochousou (Ch: hudiezhuang) was used for this type of paste binding in China.


retchōsō, retchoosoo 列帖装 Retchoso
Also tetsuyousou (tetsuyoosoo) 綴葉装 or retsuyousou (retsuyoosoo) 列葉装 retsuyoso.
A multisection book. A type of Japanese book-binding. The first three to five sheets of paper are piled up and folded in half to make a set. Then several sets of folded sheets are arranged in a neat pile with the folded edges forming the spine. The binding is made by sewing the sections together using a complex and time-consuming procedure. The finished book, therefore, can be opened perfectly flat.
Retchousou originated in Japan in the 12c, and was widly used for works of native literature, including narrative stories, *nou 能 texts, and anthologies of Japanese poetry (waka 和歌). It was not used for Chinese or Buddhist texts. Confusingly, the terms *kochousou 胡蝶装 (butterfly book) and *yamatotoji 大和綴 are sometimes used to refer to multisection books, and during the late Edo period even the term *detchousou 粘葉装 became confused with retchousou.
- source : JAANUS -


seihon 製本 bookbinding -
seihonjo 製本所 bookbinding factory, bookbindery, Buchbinderei


. surishi 摺り師 printer .


techōsō (see Yamato toji)
tetsuyoosoo, tetsuyōsō 綴葉装 “multisection” binding



wasoobon, wasoohon 和装本 Japanese book making
wahon 和本 Japanese Book


yamato-toji 大和綴 Yamato binding technique
- quote -
Also musubitoji 結び綴じ, lit. knot-binding.

The simplest style of book-binding and usually a type of pouch-binding fukurotoji 袋綴. The process of making yamatotoji involves punching four (or sometimes two) horizontal slits in the book near the spine and threading a flat cord (or sometimes a strip of paper) through each pair of slits. The cord ends are brought to the front, and each cord is secured tightly with a square knot.
Yamatotoji also uses long corner pieces added to strengthen the otherwise unsupported corners. Extant examples, dating from the 12c, are decorative books, often waka 和歌 anthologies, in which colorfully designed cords and front and back covers are used. This binding style, is sometimes called kochousou 胡蝶装 (kochoso), although this generally refers to a different type of book-binding.
- source : JAANUS -


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the Book in Japan:
A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century
by Peter F. Kornicki (Author)

This monograph covers every major aspect of the book in traditional Japan: its place in Japanese history; books as material objects; manuscript cultures; printing; the Edo period book trade; authors and readers; and importation and exportation."
- at amazon com and google books -

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- quote -
Japanese Bookbinding
Here is a brief sketch of the development of the Japanese book binding trade from its early development to its commercial beginnings and eventual industrialization written by Dana Gee.
The word in Japanese for bookbinding is seihon.

Papermaking was developed in China during the Han dynasty in the second century AD; the earliest recorded reference to papermaking in Japan was around 610 AD. The earliest “books” were calligraphed paper rolls. Beginning during the Tang dynasty period in China (618-907), Buddhist texts were folded accordion style, making the texts easier to handle, less fragile. The folded edges form the edges of the pages. This is called 折本 orihon (concertina or accordion-style binding) in Japan, common up until the nineteenth century, and is still used. In addition to Buddhist sutras, this form was used for maps, calendars and some types of reference books.

Also developed during the Chinese Tang period, the “butterfly binding” (detchō or kochōsō in Japan) came into use, mostly for printed books. Each piece of paper was folded in half and laid on top of its predecessor; a cover was glued to the folded edges. When opened, each pair of pages “tends to stand up with an effect resembling the wings of a butterfly.”i

From the late Heian period (794-1185) onwards, another technique, yamato-toji (or techōsō) was used, mostly for manuscripts of Japanese literary works. Folded pages were placed one inside the other forming a booklet or fascicle, and thread was used to sew them together along the fold, and several of these would be joined together to make one volume.ii

By the time the book trade in Japan became established, in the Tokugawa or Edo period (1603-1867), the form known as fukuro-toji was the most common type of Japanese binding. Practised in China early as the Tang period, widespread by the Ming dynasty period (1368-1644), and transmitted to Japan in the Muromachi period (1392-1573), by end of which, in the late 16th century, it had become the standard form for printed books. Each page had printed or handwritten text on one side only, folded with the text on the outside, and placed on top of its predecessor; assembled pages are sewn together, the stitches passing through the blank margins next to the loose edges, so the sewn edges form the spine and folds form the edges of pages. This stringbound style continued through the Meiji period.

Books were handmade and calligraphed until the advent of block printing, originating in China, with the earliest known East Asian examples produced in Japan and Korea in the eighth century. Texts produced for the reading public were not introduced until much later in the Heian period, in the eleventh century. In the Kamakura period the temples of Kyoto began printing; it was the center of printing for the next 500 years. By the Tokugawa period, most books were produced in three cities: Edo, Kyoto and Osaka. It was during this period that the rapid growth of the publishing industry created the publishing houses, guilds and book trade professions. Printing shifted from private printing under patronage to mostly commercial printing by the mid 17th century. Movable type was introduced in the mid 16th century, but woodblock printing was dominant until the 1880s.

During the Tokugawa period, the process for producing a book was a collaboration of artists and craftsmen and women. First the text would be given to the copyist, or hanshitagaki (the copy was called the hanshita). The copied text would be given to the block carver, horishi. The carved block would be passed to the printer – surishi – and after printing to another worker for page alignment. The maker of covers was the hyoshiya. Book covers would be paper with thick backing; from about the 17th century onward, design became an important part of commercialization and marketing.

By early Meiji the covers were stiffer, made of cardboard. The printed pages and covers would be passed to a binder who sewed them together (seihongyousha or seihonya – the first word refers more to the individual, although it can refer to the business; the second word refers more to the shop – it is a question of emphasis).iii The word shitateya was generally used for a person who finished off sewing jobs and the word shitate was sometimes used for the final stages of production of books including covers and sewing.iv A book having soft covers would have a chitsu, or wrap-around box, made of stiff cardboard covered in cloth. Then the completed work (with printed protective paper wrappers, beginning in the second half of Tokugawa) would be sent to the bookseller.v

In the Tokugawa period, book covers began to evolve from simple undecorated colored paper to more artistic design work. Sometimes the color of the cover would be based on content. In Edo in the 18th century it was common for lighter genres of fiction to have different color covers, the genre names derived from the color: akahon “red books” and kibyoshi “yellow covers.”vi In the seventeenth century, literary works began to regularly include illustrations; artists were named in colophons. Book cover designs became more elaborate, with embossed or burnished paper designs, and later color woodblock prints from popular ukiyo-e artists. In the 19th century, lavish color woodblock covers were made for the elaborately designed illustrated popular fiction books called gōkan.vii

With larger firms, all the book trade craftspeople would work together in-house – “but smaller-scale publishers contracted some parts of the process out to sub-contracting specialists like block-carvers and binders, and cover-makers ran their own separate firms from the early seventeenth century onwards.”viii Bookbinders did not get credit like publishers/booksellers, artists or designers. Sometimes copyists and block carvers were named in colophon, but rarely binders.

Women worked as binders during the Tokugawa period.
Peter Kornicki, in The book in Japan: a cultural history from the beginnings to the nineteenth century, says: “… although the whole process of production and distribution of books is commonly presented as if it were exclusively male, this picture needs some correction … it seems that bookbinding was often undertaken, at least in 19th century, by women in the publisher’s household, and there is a record in a book published in 1716 to the effect that copyist responsible for the clean copy or hanshita was a woman. … a few women were active as publishers and booksellers, having inherited the family firms when there were no male heirs available.”ix Other binders transitioned to different roles; Honda Ichijirō, head of the publishing house Unkindō, came from a bookbinding family.x

The transition from all hand work to kikai zuri , or machine printing, didn’t start in earnest until the 1880s; books transitioned from monotypes to hybrids with woodblock, or collotype under-images with woodblock printing on top, to fully machine printed materials, perfect bound Western style. Traditional binding is still practiced.
Here are some illustrations of different styles of book covers:


1929: TSUDA SEIFŪ, designer. (a page from) SŌTEI ZUAN-SHŪ Dai-Ishū.

- snip -
- source : bookbindersmuseum.org -


gajoosoo, gajoo jitate 画帖仕立て album binding

orijoo, orijō 折帖, folded binding,
accordion-style binding with thicker paper

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- quote -
Printing and Publishing
Pre-Modern Printing
- - - - - Tokugawa Period
..... Roughly 300 titles were produced in the 1590s-1630s using moveable type, .....
- snip -
The earliest publishing houses emerged in Kyoto around 1600; simply called hon'ya (bookstores) they engaged in both printing/publishing and retail, and numbered over a hundred by the 1630s.
- snip -
Over the course of the entire Edo period, an estimated 3,757 publishing/bookstore operations were established in Japan, 1,530 of which went out of business before the end of the period.
- - - - - Process
Publishers would often initiate projects, deciding on themes and hiring illustrators or print designers. The illustrators would then submit their designs to the publisher, who would then take over much of the remainder of the process.
- hangiya (板木屋, block-carver)
- copyist or hanshitagaki (版下書)
- nishiki-e and surimono
- the verb 上梓 (jôshi), meaning "to print" or "to publish."
- woodblocks, known as zôhan (蔵版)
- - - - - Paper
- hemp (mashi 麻紙) - kôzo (楮) - Bamboo paper (tôshi 唐紙 or gasenshi 画箋紙)
- - - - - Pigments
- hide-glue called nikawa
Sumi - the same black ink used for painting and calligraphy was used for printing blacks and greys.
White pigments made from seashell (gofun) or lead oxide (enpaku)
Dayflower blue (tsuyukusa) - a light blue hue which reacts easily to moisture, turning yellow.
Prussian blue - the first chemical/artificial pigment developed in the world (i.e. deriving directly from neither vegetable or mineral sources); first used in Japan in 1829; a deep, rich blue that does not fade or discolor.
Beni (safflower red), used to produce various shades of red, pink, orange, and yellow.
Purples obtained by mixing dayflower blue with safflower red, or by other means.

- reference source : wiki.samurai-archives.com/index -
(very extensive reference !)

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The World of the Japanese Illustrated Book
The Pulverer Collection, acquired in its entirety by the Freer Gallery of Art in 2007, includes numerous rare and pristine examples of Japanese illustrated books produced in the Edo period and beyond.
..... This online catalogue offers three ways of searching, and provides a set of annotation and comparison tools to use while researching the collection.
- source : pulverer.si.edu -


. Join the Ukiyo-E friends on facebook ! .




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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

暖房や糊の香甘き製本場
danboo ya nori no ka amaki seihonba

heating -
the sweet smell of glue
at the bookbindery


高井北杜 Takai Hokuto

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樹木形ランプや春の製本所
jumokugata ranpu ya haru no seihonjo

this lamp
like a tree - spring
at the bookbindery


. Miyasaka Shizuo 宮坂静生 .



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- - - To join me on facebook, click the image !

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. shuppansha 出版社 publishing company, book publisher .
ABC - Introduction


. kashihonya, kashihon'ya 貸本屋 booklender, booklender
furuhonya, furu-honya 古本屋 selling old books .


. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]- - - - - #seihonshi #bookbinderedo - - - -
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10/22/2015

shokunin craftsmen ABC list

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
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- - - - - ABC List of Edo craftsmen 江戸の職人 - - - - -

A craftsman making tools and things was often called ...shi 師,
while the vendor of his products was called ...ya 屋.

takumi 匠 master craftsman, master artisan



. shokunin 職人と伝説 legends about craftsmen, artisans, Handwerker .

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. Food-related craftsmen and business in Edo .
tabemono 食べ物 - shokuhin 食品

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. bekkoo shokunin 鼈甲職人 craftsman making tortoiseshell items .

. bugushi 武具師 making armor and weapons .
- - - - - tooken kaji 刀剣鍛冶 sword smith etc.
mostly swords, bows and arrows.

. bunshinshi, bunshin shi 文身師 making tatoos (bunshin) .
irezumi 刺青 tatoo

. busshi 仏師 / 佛師 making Buddha statues .

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. choochinshi, chōchin-shi 提灯師 / 挑燈 making Chochin paper lanterns .

. chookin, Edo chokin 江戸彫金 metal chasing .

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. daiku 大工 carpenter . - tooryoo 棟梁 Toryo, master carpenter
- - - funadaiku 船大工 "shipbuilder carpenter"
- - - miyadaiku 宮大工 "shrine carpenter"
- - - . Hida no takumi 飛騨の匠 Master Builders from Hida .

. Daruma hariko shokunin 達磨張子職人 making Daruma dolls .

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. fudeya 筆屋 making writing brushes .

. fukuromonoshi 袋物師 / 嚢物師 making bags and pouches .
fukuromonoya 袋物屋 shop for bags and pouches
fukuromono tonya 袋物問屋 pouches wholesaler

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. gangueshi, gangu eshi 玩具絵師 painter of toys .
and more about Edo toys

. garasu ku 硝子工 glass blowers .
biidoroya, biidoro-ya 硝子屋 craftsman making glass ware

. getaya 下駄屋 making Geta wooden clogs .

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. Hakata ori shokunin 博多織職 craftsman for Hakata weaving .

. hakeshi 刷毛師 making brushes / hakezaiku shokunin 刷毛細工職 .

. hakuuchi, haku-uchi shokunin 箔打職人 pounding gold foil .

. hanabishi 花火師 firework makers .
hanabi uri 花火売り street vendors of small firework
Ryogoku no hanabi 両国の花火 famous firework in Edo

. hashishi, hashi shi 箸師 / hashiya 箸屋 making chopsticks .

. haribunko shi 張文庫師 making small trunks for books .

. harikoshi, hariko shi 張子師 artisan making papermachee dolls .
- - - - - harikoya, hariko ya 張子屋 shop selling Hariko dolls

. hikimono shokunin 挽物職人 craftsmen making turnery .

. himonoshi 檜物師 "artisan making things from Hinoki cypress wood" .
magemonoshi 曲物師 craftsmen of bentwood products
The vendors of their products were called himonoya 檜物屋.

. hinaningyoshii, hina ningyoo shi 雛人形師 making Hina dolls .
Edobina, Edo-bina 江戸雛

. hookishi, hooki shi 箒師 making brooms, Besenmacher .
hookiya 箒屋 vendor of brooms, 「hooki uri ほうき売り」and「hooki kai ほうき買い」

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. idohorishi, idohori shi 井戸堀師 digging a well - ido .
mizuya 水屋 water salesmen
mizubugyoo, mizu bugyō 水奉行 waterworks administrator

. ikakeya 鋳掛屋 / 鋳掛け屋 / いかけや  tinker, repairing metal tools .

. inrooshi, inroo shi 印籠師 Inro maker - 印籠 / 印篭 / いんろう .

. ishi ku, ishiku, sekkoo 石工 / ishiku shokunin 石工職人 stone mason .

. itamae, ita mae 板前 chef cook .

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. jigyooshi 地形師 "ground-preparing" worker, ground leveling worker .

. juzu shokunin 珠数職人 craftsman making rosaries .

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. kagamishi 鏡師 mirror maker .

. kagoshi 籠師 basket maker .
..... mushikago 虫かご / 虫籠 basket, cage for keeping insects
..... seiokago, seoi-kago 背負いかご / 背負い籠 backpack basket
..... yurikago ゆりかご / 揺り籃 cradle
..... zaru ざる / 笊 bamboo basket

. kago 篭 / 駕籠 / かご, kagoshi 篭師 palanquin maker .

. kajiya 鍛冶屋 blacksmith .
fuigo matsuri 鞴祭 bellows festival

. kamadoshi, kamado-shi かまど師 / 竈師 making the earthen hearth .
- hettsui shokunin 造竃職人 / へっつい屋 hettsuiya /
- - - - - kamabutashi kamabuta-shi 釜蓋師 making a lid for the iron pot
- - - - - Kamafuta Jinja 釜蓋神社 "Kamafuta Shrine", Kagoshima

. kamisukishi、kamisuki shi 紙漉き師 making paper, paper making artisan .
kamiya, kami-ya 紙屋 paper maker // 紙漉職人 kamisukui shokunin

. kamiyuishi 髪結師 Kamiyui hairdo master, hairdresser .
- - - - - motoyui 元結い / mageyui 髷結い

. kappaya, kappa-ya 合羽屋 Kappa raincoat maker .

. kasashi, kasa-shi 傘師 making paper umbrellas .
kasa hari 傘張り gluing paper to umbrellas

. katatsukeshi, kata-tsuke shi 型付師 pattern maker for dyeing patterns .
katahori shokunin 型堀職人 pattern carver

. katchuushi 甲冑師 / busokushi 具足師 making Yoroi suit of armor .
yoroizaiku 鎧細工

. katsurashi, katsura shi 鬘師 wig maker / kamojiya 髪文字屋 / 髢屋 .

. kigu shokunin 木具職人 craftsman making wooden tables for offerings .

. kijishi 木地師 maker of wooden items, wood turner .
kijiya 木地屋 dealer, vendor of wooden items

. kiseruya, kiseru-ya 煙管屋 making long tobacco pipes .


. komashi, koma shi 独楽師 making spinning tops .
Edo koma, Edo-koma 江戸独楽 spinning top from Edo
tsurigoma 釣り独楽 "fishing spinning tops" // or teguruma, te-guruma 手車 "hand wheel"
teguruma uri 手車売り vendor of a "hand wheel" toy

. konya 紺屋 making "blue" things, cloth dyer .
- aizomeya 藍染め屋, aizome shokunin 染物職人 artisan dyeing with indigo
- 土屋五郎右衛門 Tsuchiya Goroemon


. kumihimoshi 組紐師 making Kumihimo ribbons .
- - - - - itokumi 糸くみ / kumi-ito shi 組糸師

. kurenaishi, kurenai shi 紅師 making lip red from safflowers .
beni no hana 紅の花、紅花, 紅藍花 Benibana, safflower
They also used the color to dye cloth - beni seizo shokunin 紅製造職

. kushishi, kushi shi 櫛師 comb maker / kushi shokunin 櫛職人 craftsman making combs .
tsugegushi 柘植櫛 combs in Edo

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. masushi, masu shi 枡師 making square Masu measuring cups .
tsurukake masu 弦掛枡 / kijimasu 木地枡
Kyoomasu 京枡 Kyo-masu, Kyoto-Masu / Edo masu 江戸枡
Kyoto 枡座 Masu-Za - 福井作左衛門 Fukui Sakuzaemon
Edo 枡座 Masu-Za - 樽屋藤左衛門 / 樽屋与左衛門 Taruya Yozaemon

. makieshi, maki-e shi 蒔絵師 making sprinkled lacquer items .

. menuchi shokunin 面打職人 making masks for Noh and Kagura .

. mizuhiki shokunin 水引職人 craftsman making Mizuhiki .

. mongata shi 紋形師 craftsman making family crest patterns .

. monuwaeshi, mon uwa eshi 紋上絵師 painting family crests .
- kamon 家紋 family crest

. mushikagozukuri 虫かごづくり / 虫籠づくり making basket for keeping insects .
mushiya 虫家, mushi-uri 虫売り dealer for insects
mushiko uri 虫籠売り vendor of insect baskets and cages

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. niwashi 庭師, uekiya 植木屋 gardener / 植木職人 ueki shokunin.
伊兵衛三之烝 Ihei Sannojo in Somei 染井

. nuibarishi 縫針師 making sewing needles .
maigiri 舞錐 "dancing drill" (mawashigiri 回し錐).

. nuihakushi 縫箔師 / nuimonoshi 縫物師 making embroidered goods .
- Edo Shishu 江戸刺繍 Embroidery from Edo

. nurishi, nuri-shi 塗師 lacquer master .
nushichoo 塗師町 laquer workers district / urushi 漆 laquer
kijishi 生地師(きぢし)prepared the vessels
nurishi 塗師 applied the lacquer base
makie-shi 蒔絵師(まきえし)applied the inlay images

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. okeya 桶屋 / oke shokunin 桶職人 bucket makers .
living in 桶町 Okecho, Okemachi, "Bucket district"

. oshieshi, oshi-e shi 押絵師 making raised cloth pictures .
oshi-e 押し絵 / 押絵 raised or padded cloth picture, fabirc picture, lit. pressed picture

. oshiroishi, o-shiroi shi 白粉師 making white face powder .

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. radenzaikushi, raden zaiku shi 螺鈿細工師 craftsman making Raden items .
raden - mother-of-pearl

. roosokushi 蠟燭師 making candles .
roosokuya 蠟燭屋 Rosoku-ya
roosoku no nagare kai ロウソクの流れ買い buying candle wax drippings
Kanda, Roosokuchoo 蠟燭町 Rosoku district in Edo
roosoku 蝋燭, waroosoku 和蝋燭 Japanese candle

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. sashimonoya 指物屋 furniture maker .
- Edo Sashimono 江戸指物 Wood Joinery

. seihonshi 製本師 bookbinder - Buchbinder .

. senkoo hanabi 線香花火 making hand-held firework sticks .

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. shakan, sakan 左官 plasterer, stucco master .
kote-e 鏝絵 "painting with plaster", relief painting
often as decorations on the storehouse of rich merchants.
- and
shikkuishi 漆喰師 making lime plaster walls

. shamisenshi shamisen shi 三味線師 Shamisen maker .

. shibai doogu kata 芝居道具方 making tools for a performance .
- 大道具方 / 小道具方


. shiborizomeshi, shibori some shi 絞染師 dyeing with Shibori technique .
- aizome 藍染 dyeing with indigo

. shibunuri shokunin 渋塗職人 craftsmen applying 柿渋 kakishibu persimmon extract .
- shibuya 渋屋

. shitateya 仕立屋 making robes (seamstress, tailor) .
- omonoshi 御物師, shinmyoo 針妙 Shinmyo

. shoogishi 将棋師 making Shogi tiles and boards .
shoogi, shōgi 将棋 Shogi generals' chess, Japanese chess

. sudare 簾 bamboo blinds, misu shokunin 翠簾職人 making blinds .

. sumishi 墨師 making charcoal for writing .

. suzurishi 硯師 making stones to rub ink .
suzuri 翡翠硯(すずり)硯 inkstone

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. tabiya, tabi-ya 足袋屋 making split-toe Tabi socks .
tabi shokunin 足袋職人 craftsman // 足袋店 shop selling Tabi

. tansuya 箪笥屋 Tansu maker, making chest of drawers . .

. tatamiya 畳屋 Tatami mat maker .
- the Iami Family (伊阿弥 / 藺阿弥) in Tatami-machi 畳町 Mat-maker's village

. tateguya 建具屋 making doors and sliding doors .
fusuma 襖 , shooji 障子 sliding doors and wooden decorations

. temarizukuri 手まり、手毬づくり making Temari balls .

. tenuguiya, tenugui-ya 手ぬぐい屋 / 手拭屋 making hand towels .

. teppoo kaji 鉄砲鍛冶 gunsmith producing Teppo matchlocks .

. tezuma 手妻, wazuma 和妻 traditional magician .

. tobishoku, tobi-shoku 鳶職 construction workers .
鳶 tobi、鳶口 tobiguchi、鳶の者

. togishi 研ぎ師 polisher of mirrors, swords and blades .
- kenma 研磨 sword polishing

. tokkuri shirushitsuke 徳利印付職 printing a name on a Sake flask .

. tookooshi 陶工師 suetsukuri 陶工 Tokoshi, potter .

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tookoo 刀工 blacksmith, making a sword
sword craftsmen


photo wikipedia

. katana 日本刀 the Japanese sword .

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. tsuchiningyooshi, tsuchi ningyoo shi 土人形師 making clay dolls .

. tsukegishi, tsukegi shi 付木師 making Tsukegi "matches" .

. tsumamizaikushiつまみ細工師 making ornaments with tsumami (pinching) techniques .
Edo Tsumami-Kanzashi 江戸つまみ簪 Ornamental Hairpins

. tsurizaoshi 釣竿師 making fishing rods .
wazao 和竿 "Japanese fishing rod" - Edo Wazao 江戸和竿 Edo Bamboo Fishing Rods

. tsuzura shokunin 葛篭職人 making wicker boxes .

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. uchiwashi, uchiwa shi 団扇師 / 団扇職人 making handfans .
sensu shokunin 扇子職人 making folding fans

. uekiya 植木屋 / niwashi 庭師 gardener .
伊兵衛三之烝 Ihei Sannojo in Somei 染井

. ukiyo-e shi 浮世絵師 Ukiyo-e producer .
ukiyo-e, lit. pictures of the floating world. Paintings and #woodblock prints.
- planned by the publisher hanmoto 版元 and produced in collaboration with the painter/designer eshi 絵師, carver horishi 彫師 and printer surishi 摺師.

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. watauchi, wata uchi, men uchi shokunin 綿打職人 hitting cotton .


. yakiin shokunin 焼印職人 making a branding seal .
..... inkan 印鑑, hanko 判子 stamp, seal

. yaneya 屋根屋 roof maker, roofer - kawaraya 瓦屋/ 瓦師 roof tile maker .
瓦職人 kawara shokunin

. yanebuki 屋根葺 roofing with thatch .
. . . . . Fukiyachoo 葺屋町 Fukiyacho District of roof thatchers
- - - - - . hafu 破風 gables and roofs .
- - - - - . kokerabukishi, kokerabuki-shi 柿葺師 craftsman roofing with wooden shingles .


. yuuzenzomeshi, yuzen someshi 友禅染師 dyeing Yuzen cloths .

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. zoori shokunin 草履職人 making Zori straw sandals .

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- click for more photos -
- reference source : edoichiba.jp/edoichiba/artist... -

- reference : Wada sanzo Ohmi Gallery -
'Occupations of the Showa Era in Pictures' Japanese Vocations / Collection of Ross Walker


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. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
- Introduction -

. shokunin 職人と伝説 legends about craftsmen, artisans, Handwerker .

. Construction work for a Japanese Home .
- with more specialized craftsmen

. Traditional Crafts of Edo - Tokyo .

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- #shokuninabc #edoshokunin #craftsmen #takumi #artisan ##shokunin -
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10/21/2015

kajiya blacksmith

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .
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kajiya 鍛冶屋 kajishi 鍛冶師 blacksmith

. Takadono tatara 高殿鑪 Japanese Sword making .
- - - - - including
fuigo 鞴 bellows - an important tool for melting metal
Fuigo Jinja 鞴神社 "Bellows Shrine"
kaji no kami 鍛冶神 Deity of the blacksmiths



There were different blacksmiths for various special items needed in the town of Edo.

kugi kajiya 釘鍛冶屋 special blacksmith for nails
nokaji 野鍛冶 Most local blacksmiths used to make tools for agriculture like sickles and spades.
tookoo 刀工 sword maker

. tansu 箪笥 / 簞笥 -- たんす chest of drawers, Kommode .
The chests were made with all kinds of metal fittings and decorations.


source : wafusozai.com
saiga shokunin burui 「彩画職人部類(さいがしょくにんぶるい)」より
sword maker 「(刀)鍛冶」


. kugi 釘 nail, Nagel - Introduction .


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teppoo kaji 鉄砲鍛冶 craftsmen producing Teppo guns


source : members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/6785fmqm

- quote -
Nagahama - Shiga prefecture
The skills needed to produce the kazari kanagu (metal decorations) that decorate hikiyama (fetsival floats) can be traced back to the gunsmiths of old Nagahama.
Guns, the first of which were brought by Portuguese sailors to Tanegashima off Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu during the Muromachi era (14th-16th centuries), soon began to be made in old Kunitomo Village in the Nagahama area.
Gunsmithing established itself in this area, and gunsmiths formed a big group known as Kunitomo Teppo Kaji (Kunitomo Gunsmiths).
Guns manufactured in Nagahama, which became a major center of matchlock production, were characterized not only by their functionality but also the beauty of their decorations. Their barrels were ornamented using an inlay technique borrowed from metalworking to create patterns by engraving and cutting off parts of the barrel and fitting another metal into the resultant grooves.
Gunsmiths from Kunitomo were invited by the townsmen of Nagahama to utilize their mastery of inlaying metal to make kazari kanagu for hikiyama. Today in Nagahama, kazari kanagu artist Kiyoshi Tsuji continues the mastery and tradition of inlaying metal.
Kunitomo Teppo no Sato Matchlock Museum - 534 Kunitomo-cho, Nagahama-shi, Shiga
- source : mtlo.co.jp/us/valueone/metal/nagahama -


source : jti.co.jp/tobacco-world/journal

Another famous quarter of the Teppo gunsmiths was in Sakai, Osaka, Teppo Kajiyashiki cho
鉄砲鍛冶屋敷町 / 1-3-22 Kitahatago-cho-Nishi, Sakai-ku, Sakai City
The art of gunsmiths was brought by 橘屋又三郎 Tachibanaya Matasaburo from Tanegashima, and soon the region became Japan's largest producer of matchlock guns.
In the peaceful times of the Edo period, they also made たばこ包丁 sharp knives to cut tobacco.

. teppoo, teppô 鉄砲 Teppo, gun, musket, matchlock, Gewehr .

under construction
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- - - - - special districts and quarters for the blacksmiths in Edo:



. Kajibashi 鍛冶橋 Kajibashi Bridge, "Blacksmith Bridge" .
This neighborhood is home to people who specialise in iron work.

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- - - - - Chiyoda Kanda Kajichoo, Kajimachi 千代田区 神田 鍛冶町


source : gakuyaura.chesuto.jp

They use hand and feet to work. The one on the right uses his foot to work the box bellows (箱鞴 hako fuigo) to regulate the heat of the fire.


Kajiyachoo, Kajiyamachi 神田鍛冶屋町 in Kanda
This district was established in 1603.
Its Bakufu government supervisor was bakufu kajigata tooryoo 幕府鍛冶方棟梁
Takai Iori 高井伊織
who was also responsible for the blacksmith guild in the Eight Provinces of Kanto (Sagami, Musashi, Awa, Kazusa, Shimousa, Hitachi and Ueno).
Apart from the blacksmiths, there lived other craftsmen working with iron and metal, like the
imonoshi 鋳物師 metal casters
kamashi 釜師 making metal water pots for the tea ceremony - and others.
Many were re-settled by Tokugawa Ieyasu from Sunpu (Shizuoka) and also made the metal parts used for the many buildings in the growing town of Edo.
It was the center of the kinzoku koogyoo  金属工業 metal industry in Edo.

The Fuigo matsuri 吹子祭 , 吹革祭 Festival of the Bellows was celebrated in these quarters with extra fervor and joy.


CLICK for more street signs!

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Minami Kaji-machi 南鍛冶町  South blacksmith's village



Kanda kanamono doori  神田金物通 street of the metal workers


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- quote -
Blacksmith Divinity - Okinawa
Studies related to blacksmithing in Okinawa have taken multi-angled approaches, i.e.archaeological, historical, folkloristic, and also industrial and technological histories. Since iron is not produced in Okinawa, the development of steel making and blacksmithing techniques lagged behind other advanced areas. Thirst for iron and its riches may have well been the source for Okinawan legends regarding the advent of iron and blacksmithing techniques. Seemingly, however, it remains presumable, only through folk tales, as to when, from where, and how the aspired skills in steel making and the art of blacksmithing came to Okinawa. Thus further archaeological progress is needed in the study of this issue. On the other hand, preceding folk studies have taken up a wide range of themes including Yago (屋号)---occupation and/or location-based household nicknames, which may refer to a physical feature unique to family members, toponyms, annual ceremonial festivals and community events, such as bellows festivals, traditional songs, ballads and legends. However the availability of a detailed description of blacksmith divinities remains limited to date.

In Okinawa, ex-blacksmith families own most of the “blacksmith divinity” images. These are mostly in the form of hanging scrolls. Okinawan Blacksmiths{by Hiroaki Fukuchi (福地曠昭) Kaifu-sha 1989} has numerous remarks from blacksmiths interviewed. However, description of the images themselves remain scarce. Quoted below is Mr. Koji Asaoka (朝岡康二) refering to Akaya (阿嘉屋), one of the blacksmith families, which once flourished in Kumoji, Naha:

Originally, the balcksmith family Nareira (宮平) headed the “Mindakari (新村渠) Kanja (Blacksmith) Family”. Akaya, a family of court painters, up until the great-grandfather’s generation, joined Nareira in the mid Meiji Period (latter 19th century), whereby Akaya acquired the blacksmithing technique to reestablish itself as the blacksmith family Akakaji (阿嘉鍛冶). The first master of Akakaji painted and gave out freely many hanging scrolls with the Blacksmith Divinity image to his fellow workers. He had a natural talent for painting, as his ancestors used to be court artists. Although many of these hanging scrolls have been scattered about and lost, several former blacksmith families in Okinawa preserve them. The blacksmith divinity hanging scroll uses the complete mainland style that you would find in Kanayama-ko (金山講) hanging scrolls used in blacksmiths’ self-support gatherings i.e. Kanayama-ko, Japan. In short, Kanayama-sama (金山様) divinity is painted in the center, as Yokoza (横座) the bellow operator sits on the left, while Sente (先手) the assistant sledgehammer swings down from the right. Excluding minor differences, the basic composition was shared all over Japan. Notably, however, the blacksmithing images (Mainland Japanese style) are completely irrelevant to the blacksmithing procedures practiced in Okinawa.

In Japan, the Kanayama-sama divinity hanging scroll would be found in alcoves (床の間) on occasions of Kanayama-ko self-support gatherings. In Okinawa, however, the image is believed to have been used in annual bellows festivals, as self-help groups equivalent to the Kanayama-ko were never formed by Okinawan blacksmiths. (Ref. Koji Asaoka, Ironware Culture of Japan-Comparative Ethnology of Blacksmith, Chapter Four: Okinawan Blacksmith and Ironware Culture, p.184)

Fuchiyue (鞴祭: bellows’ festival) is respected by Okinawan blacksmiths as the hallmark of annual events. It is commonly celebrated on November 8th according to the lunar calendar, in Japan, whereas in Okinawa it is celebrated, by some, on November 7th, or for two days (November 6th and 7th) or for three days (November 7th to 9th).
During Fuchiyue the image of the bellows divinity is respectfully placed in front of the bellows, as sledgehammers, iron holders and other blacksmith tools are put as offerings. Prayers are offered to banish fire, accidents and injury throughout the year. Special dishes are prepared and shared within the neighborhood. In some cases blacksmith families visit and worship Okuma Kanja-ya (奥間鍛冶屋), the first legendary blacksmith enshrined in Okinawa, just as blacksmiths on Miyako Island would visit Funadatedo (船立堂), the sacred praying spot for blacksmiths.

According to Asaoka, the introduction of boxed bellows from mainland Japan, more specifically Sakai, Osaka, relates, particularly, to the attachment that Okinawan blacksmiths have formed to their bellows festival. Fuigo-cho (吹子町) the bellows ”manufacturers” quarter of commercially advanced Osaka is believed to have manufactured standardized boxed bellows for nationwide distribution. Asaoka states that because many Okinawan legends of blacksmith divinities speak not only of iron and the advent of steel-making techniques, but also of the introduction of boxed bellows, this proves that boxed bellows were accepted technologically advanced devices. Bellows festivals in the Ryukyu Archipelago have maintained considerably different ritualistic styles when compared to other village festivals, such as Tanetori-sai (種取祭), seed-sowing ceremonies and bountiful harvest thanksgiving ceremonies (豊年祭). Thus Asaoka retains that Okinawan bellows festivals originated on the mainland and, once introduced to Okinawa, were quickly diffused throughout the Ryukyus.
(Ref. Asaoka, Study of Ironware Culture in the Archipelago of the Ryukyus, pp. 188, 204, 257)

Images of Blacksmith Divinity and the Goddess/God Kanayago (金屋子)
Mainland Japan

In the northern Tohoku area of Japan, during blacksmith self-support gatherings, Kanayama-ko, alcoves or tokonoma (床の間) were adorned with “blacksmith divinity” hanging scroll images. Found in midwestern Chugoku, Japan, instead, would be the “Goddess Kanayago” and pictorial stories on “the birth of steeling technique”. During the Edo period, the scrolled images and pictorial stories were worshipped by tatara steel laborers, blacksmiths and casting workers all over Japan, mainly at iron producing mines.
Blacksmith divinities in ancient Japanese myth included Hinokagutsuchino-kami (火之迦具土神), Kanayamahikonomikoto (金山毘古命/金山彦命), Kanayama-himegami (金山毘売神/金山姫命), Amenomahitotsukami (天目一箇神) and more. On the otherhand, Inarigami (稲荷神), originally a god of rich harvest, was altered to a god of fire, eventually becoming a blacksmith divinity. This occurred, presumably, through the sacred rite of “Ohitaki” (御火焚) for an abundant harvest in the Kyoto and Kinki areas.

The word “tatara” originated in India, meaning blast furnace. In Japan, “tatara” appears in the names of ancient goddesses in Kojiki (古事記) and Nihonsyoki (日本書紀) e.g. Seyatatara-hime (勢夜陀多良比売), Hototataraisusuki-himenomikoto (富登多多良伊須須岐比売命) or Himetataraisukiyori-hime (比売多多良伊須気余理比売). According to myth, Izanaminokami (伊邪那美神) had her private parts (mihoto) seared as she delievered her baby Hinokagutsuchino-kami, and was, thereafter, banished to the netherworld (黄泉). It may well be in this light that the word “hoto” frequently appears in the names of ancient goddesses. Furthermore a wind way bamboo kiro (木呂竹) is inserted from the hole “hoto” to connect the bellows to the basin of a mud furnace, whereby a correlation between “tatara” and the goddesses is also suggested.

Kanayago Shrine in Nishihida (西比田), Hirose Town (広瀬町), Nogi County (能義郡), Shimane Prefecture, is an established center of worship for Kanayago, the goddess/god of steelmaking and blacksmithing. According to the stories of her advent and the origin of the shrine (which dates back to the Edo period), a snowy egret carried Kanayago on its back and flew from Harima Province to a Japanese Judas tree in Kuroda Forest, Nishihida village, Nogi County, Izumo Province.

Since Kanayago has also been worshipped as a child-loving goddess, tatara steel workers in Kamisaibara Village (上斎原村), Tomata County (苫田郡) Okayama Prefecture, for example, are known to have shown their faith in Kanayago (originally the tatara steel workers guardian deity) by inviting children to their homes every New Year (January 1st to 3rd) to tell them the old tales and legends. (Ref. Akinori Maruyama ,“Goddess Kanayago and Children: Folklore from a Tatara Village”)

In contrast, Kanayago’s hatred of adult women (who menstruate and bare children) was a source for the taboo against menstrual blood (赤不浄) as a symbol of uncleanness. However it is frequently noted that the uncleanness of death, which is symbolized by the color black (黒不浄), was readily accepted or even favored in these legends.

Mandarin oranges were believed to have been an offering at the bellows festival, much like as done by public bath owners and glue makers, each of whom were fire-relevant by trade, who gave away rice cakes and oranges to children. According to a legend in Yamaguchi Prefecture, an ugly one-eyed blacksmith deity got away from a barking dog by climbing up a mandarin orange tree.Fierce concentration at their furnaces frequently cost tatara steel workers the loss of an eye. The fact created one-eyed blacksmith divinities legend which in its turn are considered to have been diverted to single-eyed ogres of legend, oni (鬼). It is, presumably, in this context that toponyms such as Onimura (鬼村) and Onigashiro (鬼ヶ城) are often located close to iron mines.

Mandarin oranges were believed to have been an offering at the bellows festival, much like as done by public bath owners and glue makers, each of whom were fire-relevant by trade, who gave away rice cakes and oranges to children. According to a legend in Yamaguchi Prefecture, an ugly one-eyed blacksmith deity got away from a barking dog by climbing up a mandarin orange tree.Fierce concentration at their furnaces frequently cost tatara steel workers the loss of an eye. The fact created one-eyed blacksmith divinities legend which in its turn are considered to have been diverted to single-eyed ogres of legend, oni (鬼). It is, presumably, in this context that toponyms such as Onimura (鬼村) and Onigashiro (鬼ヶ城) are often located close to iron mines.

Images of the Goddess/God Kanayago 金屋子 are largely categorized into the following three styles:
A) A Goddess on a Fox



A goddess in a Chinese dress, wearing a long, thin scarf (領巾) rides on a white fox, with a sword in one hand and a gemstone in the other. In other instances, she may have a magic cane, or wear a jewelled crown and armor, holding a pouch in one hand. The fox wears a jewel in its tail, and may sometimes have a hoe in its mouth. The goddess in Chinese dress, who wears the long, thin scarf (領巾) and carries the sword and gemstone, resembles, in appearance, Dakini (荼吉尼天), the harvest divinity. However Dakini is recognized as the original Buddhist form (honji 本地) of Inari-gami in accordance with the philosophy of honji suijaku (本地垂迹) a theory expounding the correspondence of Shinto and Buddhist deities. Imaginably, Inari-gami and Dakini, both of whom came to be accepted and worshipped as fire and blacksmith divinities, could have been confused to be represented both in the same scene.

B) A Goddess and Two Attendants (Male and Female)
Mainly found in hanging scroll images, which depict the story of the origin of Kanayago Shrine or scenes of steel-making and blacksmithing. Frequently a long-haired woman in sacerdotal kimono, attends a holy area located close to a mountain top and sanctified with a set of hallowed straw ropes (注連縄). A lady of the court in a red hakama and over-robe would be found on the right and a nobleman on the left, both may be standing or seated, ready to serve the goddess. A white fox may accompany the two attendants. At the foot of the mountain, there is a smith’s yard with the foot-pedaled bellows humming with steeling and refining. Court-attired noblemen and blacksmiths (in their medieval hats, eboshi, and aprons, hitatare) would be found laboriously at work.

C) Sampo-kojin
(三宝荒神) Image
A series of monochrome hanging scrolls in wood block print, which Kanayago Shrine issued and distributed from the end of the Edo to the early Meiji periods, would find the Kanayago deity seated on a lotus pedestal as Sampo-Kojin. In northern Tohoku, Sampo-kojin as a standing figure is frequently painted on hanging scrolls as a blacksmith divinity. Composition-wise, Sampo-kojin often stands erect on the boxed bellows and blacksmiths are working underneath. Oni, the ogres, are also at work in the smith’s yard, sending wind to the bellows or hammering down as Sente, the assistant hammers.


source : xxx
金屋子神 - 出雲の伝承 Deity Kanayago from Izumo

Okinawan Images of Blacksmith Divinity
The four blacksmith divinity scrolls that we were able to view during our field studies in the Yanbaru (山原) area, northern Okinawa, had basically the same composition, although they differed in the details. They belong to Type C, as mentioned above, in which the blacksmith deity is expressed as Sampo-kojin (三宝荒神). Furthermore, the four scrolled images show three Oni (鬼), ogres, that are assisting as Sente (先手), a woman in kimono, who is operating the bellows as Hakozashi (箱差し) or Fuigozashi (鞴差し) and a man wearing formal headwear (烏帽子) and an apron (直垂), working as Yokaza (横座). During the forging of iron, the boxed bellows would be found in totally different positions in Mainland Japan, Okinawa and China. At least in the latter medieval period (the Kamakura and the Muromachi eras) in Mainland Japan, it is believed to have been a common practice that Yokaza alone, without Fuigozashi, operated the bellows.

On the other hand, it was a characteristic on Okinawa to have Fuigozashi sit behind Yokaza and operate the boxed bellows, as Yokaza worked without touching the bellows. The first job that an apprentice, in an Okinawan blacksmith’s yard, would be assigned to was Fuigozashi. If so, even though Meuchi (前打 i.e. Sente) and Yokaza are painted in different positions, the four hanging scrolls do not contradict with blacksmithing practices in Okinawa, because they depict how Yokaza and Fuigozashi played distinguishable roles from each other, as Asaoka indicates. Most hanging scroll images from Iwate and Gifu Prefectures (Mainland Japan) have also been found to differentiate between Yokaza and Fuigozashi.

However, the female Fuigozashi (bellows operators) that are in blacksmithing images in hanging scrolls from Okinawa (fig.21,23,24) are rarely found elsewhere. As we have discusssed, most blacksmith divine images in Okinawa are believed to be copies of the originals (that are presumed to have their roots in, and have come to Okinawa from, Mainland Japan, or have been drawn, relying upon information that had been passsed on by word of mouth. Akakanja would have made models of such originals for the many blacksmith divinity hanging scroll images that they created. It is, therefore, not totally deniable that changes might have been made by the painters to reflect more of the real blacksmithing practices in Okinawa.

Although the three headed Sampo-kojin-like figure was depicted frequently as the blacksmith deity in the hanging scrolls that we viewed (fig.24), the balcksmith deity in Okinawa is also imagined as a goddess at times(fig.23). It may be possible to assume the influential role that the myth of the Goddess Kanayago from Izumo Province had while crossing over the sea to Okinawa. We found an example in which a Sampo-kojin-like Blacksmith Divine is represented by three female faces while wearing feminine clothing, whereas Sampo-kojin should be represented by wrathful faces. This image was likely adopted by local painters to fill the gap between the faith of the people and the diffusion of painted images.

Did the images of blacksmith divinities accompany the bellows when they were introduced onto Okinawa from Mainland Japan, or could the images have possibly taken different routes? The question entails further progress in these studies, as well as the discovery of more blacksmith divine images from Okinawa which have hitherto been unseen.

The widespread practicing of bellows festivals was, presumably, fueled by the orders and policies issued by the royal government of the Ryukyus, according to Asaoka (Ironware Culture of Japan--Comparative Ethnology of Blacksmithing, p.257). Blacksmith divinity scrolls could well have been one of the most significant ritual tools that popuralized the bellows festivals. In the 20th year of the King Sho Shitsu (尚質: 1667), the dynasty of the Ryukyus started the “Stationed Blacksmith System” (在村鍛冶制) administered by Ko shoken (向象賢). As Kaji-yaku (blacksmith officials) assigned to villages were non-craftsmen, the system is considered to have spurred the presence of Akakanja and other specialized blacksmith families, as well as that of traveling blacksmith (廻村鍛冶) which was to emerge later. The roles of the Kaji-yaku are assumed to have shifted from blacksmithing to the management of the bellows festivals and smiths’ yards. (Ref. Asaoka,Ironware Culture of Japan-- Comparative Ethnology of Blacksmithing, pp. 152, 193, 224, 249).

In Okinawa the blacksmith divine is worshipped at many uganju (praying spot). Also blacksmith tales are sung in ancient ballads like “Kajiyadi Fu”. Believed to have brought forth the advent of farming with iron farming tools, the balcksmith divinity is also identified with the farming deity. (Ref. Hiroaki Fukuchi, Okinawan Blacksmiths, pp. 255 to 266). According to legend the Kunigami Aji (国頭按司 chief of Kunigami Village), Kaniman (金万・金満), who was the second son of Okuma Ufuya(奥間大親), the head of Jana Village in the Urasoe quarter, and a younger brother of King Satto (察度王), was believed to have founded the Okuma Kanja Blacksmith family. For helping Kanemaru (金丸), the future King Sho En (尚円), Okuma Kanja was said to have had his second son authorized as Kunigami Aji. The presence of Okuma Kanja continues to date as the ancestor of all Okinawan blacksmiths. Having the power attained through blood-related Monchu (門中) clans and the privileges, such as tax exemptions, and abounding riches, received through such ties, this glorious story of how one family member was promoted to Kunigami Aji is considered to have been suitable for the descendants of blacksmiths. Furthermore, they connected the legend of Okuma Kanja to the myth of the farming divinity and the advent of farming, through which Kaniman was, likely, idealized and idolized as a great ancestor and founder of blacksmith families. Today, Kaniman Aji and his wife are enshrined as founders of Uekaneshi Tunchi (上兼次殿内) or Kaniman Tunchi (金万殿内), in Kaneshi, Nakijin Village (今帰仁村), where the image of the blacksmith divinity has been traditionally recognized as that of Kaniman-sama(fig.35).

References: . . .
- source : okinawazuzou -

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里並に藪の鍛冶屋も祭哉
satonami ni yabu no kajiya mo matsuri kana

even in the village woods
the blacksmiths celebrate -
festival of the bellows

Tr. Gabi Greve

. WKD : kigo for kaji 鍛冶 blacksmith .


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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .



........................................................................................................... Kyoto 京都府

Inariyama 稲荷山 Fushimi Inari Shrine 伏見稲荷神社
All the blacksmiths of the region come here to worship.
Once the 三条宗近の鍛冶師 blacksmith Munechika from Sanjo had a dream given to him by the 土祖神 local deity. If he would take the earth from Inariyama and mix it with the water for the blade (刃の湯) he would be able to make wonderful sword blades.
When he did as told in his dream, indeed, his sword became quite famous as Kogitsunemaru 小狐丸.
Now all the blacksmiths and 金物師 metal workers come here to worship.


稲荷山 小鍛冶。刀匠・宗近が稲荷の使いに相づちを打たせ、小狐丸という名刀を作り上げた。
by Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920)
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


"Imayo Kokaji”Sanjo Kokaji (Swordsmith)
. Azuma Odori 東踊 Azuma Dance .




........................................................................................................... Yamagata 山形県
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南陽市 Nanyo City

. blacksmith making a kanabo 金棒 metal stick .


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- source : nichibun yokai database -
鍛冶屋 (36) / 鍛冶 (24) - collecting

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. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

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. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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