Buson hatsumono first things

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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .
(1715-1783)

. hatsumono, hatsu-mono 初物　first things - Introduction .

The townspeople of Edo loved their "first things" and spent a lot of money on them!

There are many New and First activities and things throughout the year.

There are 386 kigo starting with 初...,　and
119 of them do not relate to the New Year.

There are 93 kigo that end with ...初 and
7 of them do not relate to the New Year.





Some translations are from the friends at this facebook forum:
. Formal Haiku - The Art of 5-7-5 .

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初秋や余所の灯見ゆる宵のほど
hatsuaki ya yoso no hi miyuru yoi no hodo

Early autumn--
Lights of houses are on
Even in a young evening.
Tr. Shoji Kumano


The start of autumn!
Evening is at the point where
other's lights are seen.

All the more expensive hard cover anthologies of the famous haiku writers will include prose versions of the haiku that include everything that the haiku hints at. Kumano's translation is a rendering of the prose piece accompanying this haiku in the Buson anthology I have. I think that writing everything in just kills the poetry in the original.
By making the evening the subject, Buson is able to give us a scene that accurately depicts the falling darkness through time so we can stand and watch the house lights in the houses he looks down upon come on. It catches the mood of the time of year when evening falls earlier and earlier.
Tr. and comment : James Karkoski - facebook


Lights of houses on
even in a young evening—
early autumn’s start
Tr. Bill Dennis - facebook


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初冬や日和になりし京はずれ
hatsufuyu ya hiyori ni narishi kyoo hazure

Winter comes
And with it the weather
Outside of the capital.
Tr. Thomas McAuley



初冬や訪はんと思ふ人来ます
hatsufuyu ya towan to omou hito kimasu

The first of winter--
One I've wanted to visit
Called on me.
Tr. Nelson and Saito

Early winter--
I thought I was going visiting
but the person has come here.
Tr. Sawa and Shiffert


Winter has begun!
The one I was hoping of
visiting does come.

When winter comes people tend to hunker down and stay at home, which can lead into a desire for the company of others. Buson hasn't been able to rouse himself to go visit a person that he wants to see, but now that person has come to visit him.
With an interesting twist, Buson has turned the negative connotations that usually follow the coming of the winter into a positive emotion.
Tr. and comment : James Karkoski - facebook


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初氷何こぼしけん石の間
hatsugoori nani koboshiken ishi no ai

The first ice--
What was spilled
Between the stones?
Tr. Nelson and Saito


The first skim of ice,
there's something that's been spilled on
the shrine's slab walkways.

'Ishi no ma' are the slabs of stones that are laid in as a walkway in the open air courtyard that connects the main hall and the worship hall on the grounds of a large shrine. The courtyard has been iced over, but something has been spread on the smooth walkway slabs to turn the ice on it into slush so people will be able to come and go on it. By wondering about why the walkway is slush, Buson is able to draw a contrast between it and the rest of the courtyard that is still skimmed by a smooth pristine layer of ice.
Tr. Jim Wilson, comment James Karkoski - facebook

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. yamadera no suzuri ni hayashi hatsugoori .
山寺の硯に早し初氷　

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初霜や吹き返しある葛の葉に
hatsushimo ya fukikaeshi aru kuzu no ha ni

The year's first frost--
On the kudzu leaves
Flipped over by the wind before.
Tr. Nelson and Saito


First frost of the year!
On the kudzu leaves that are
blown upside over.

The broad kudzu leaves attached to the vine are easily blown around by the wind and Japanese poets have been writing about them for centuries. Bashō wrote a haiku about noticing the frost on the front of the leaves and Buson is noticing it on the leaves that have been turned upside by the wind.
Another example of the different positional kind of perception that Buson was able to look at the world with.
Tr. and comment James Karkoski - facebook


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初霜やわづらふ鶴を遠く見る
hatsushimo ya wazurau tsuru o tooku miru

The year's first frost--
An ailing crane
In the distance seen.
Tr. Nelson and Saito

winter's first frost--
visible in the distance
an ailing crane
Tr. Ueda

the first frost;
seeing a suffering crane
in the distance
Tr. Michael Haldane


The first frost has fallen!
Worn suffering cranes
will be seen from afar.

Cranes are migratory birds that come into Japan from Korea and China at the start of winter. The first frost means the coming of winter, and Buson expects that the weary cranes ending their migration won't be far behind. The Japanese often just use the dictionary form of verbs as the future tense and I think it is clear that Buson is indicating a future action here. It could also be argued here that he might be talking about a habitual action, and so the present tense 'are seen' can be read too. But I think the probability of the cranes always showing up on the first day of frost is an improbable argument.
Tr. and comment : James Karkoski - facebook

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初潮に追はれてのぼる小魚かな
hatsushio ni owarete noboru shoogyo kana

By the first full tide
Pursued Upstream
swim the fries.
Tr. Nelson and Saito

By the high tide
swept away so they swim upstream,
the tiny fish!
Tr. Sawa and Shiffert


Being pursued
by a strong autumn moon tide....
the small fish climb upstream!

Pressed by the strong
autumn moon tide to rise up;
the small fish of the sea!

Hatsushio is the tide that is caused by the full moon that occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.
By the solar calendar it now occurs in September. Since the moon affects the tides, this very bright moon is considered to cause the strongest tides of the year.
In Japanese, the verb is always at the end of the phrase, and since they also place them together to make compiled verbs, and place them as modifiers in front of nouns, the three verbs Buson stacked together in this haiku make it able to have a double reading.
In the first version, the strong tide that the 15th night moon makes has moved up so far up river that it is forcing the small fish there to flee from it.
The second reading implies that the fish are in the ocean and the tide is making them rise up with it.
I prefer the first reading, my in-laws house is on a quite a distance up a small stream that runs into the sea, so I've experienced how much, and how far, the coming of the tides can affect fresh water levels and water quality.
Tr. and comment : James Karkoski - facebook

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. hatsu yuki no soko o tatakeba take no tsuki .
初雪の底をたたけば竹の月

The first snow
Emptying itself to its last flake--
The moon above bamboo.
Tr. Nelson and Saito

when the first snow
strikes the lowest culms
bamboo moonlight
Tr. Addis

A bamboo moon
Is caressing the round
Of early snow
Tr. ?

The season's first snow,
A few flakes slowly falling --
Bamboo and moonlight.
Tr. Jim Wilson - facebook


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- hatsushigure 初時雨 first winter shower

秋のあはれわすれんとすれば初時雨
aki no aware wasuren to sureba hatsushigure

Autumnal sadness
Just about to forget as I was--
The first winter shower.
Tr. Nelson and Saito


Just when I'd thought
I had forgotten autumn's pathos;
the first rain of winter.

The haiku is pretty explicit and needs no explanation.
It catches the state of mind that happens when the soft thin beginning rains of winter start to wet the brown and desolate landscape that the end of autumn brings. Buson used 19 morae to express sentiment.
Tr. James Karkoski - facebook

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みのむしの得たりかしこし初時雨
minomushi no etari kashikoshi hatsushigure

A bagworm--
Complacent and proud
The first shower in winters.
Tr. Nelson and Saito


Straw raincoat bugs
without any hesitation,
the first rain of winter.

The straw raincoat bugs
have done well for themselves:
the first rain of winter.

Bagworms in Japanese are called 'minomushi' (literally straw raincoat bugs) because they will often camouflage themselves with twigs and leaves that make them look similar to the old style made from straw 'mino' raincoats that were in use before the modernization of Japan.
They are a fall 'kigo' because the males in autumn will seek out the females who never leave their protective 'bags' (or coats) to mate. The female dies and the eggs ride out the winter until hatching in the spring.
The phrase 'etari kashikoshi' (literally 'having obtained wisely') is translated in Japanese to English dictionaries as 'readily, very eagerly, without a moment's hesitation,' but in Japanese dictionaries it is explained as 'when things go the way you thought and and proceed well to satisfaction.'
I like the first version better because I think it brings out the connection between the seeking of the female and the winter rain with a bit more humor. (I have added a syllable in the 2nd line of the first translation, 'a' instead of 'any' just doesn't sound right to me)
Tr. James Karkoski - facebook

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- hatsune 初音 first call of the bush warbler

うぐいすの 枝ふみはずす 初音かな
uguisu no eda fumihazusu hatsune kana

A warbler
Missing its footing on a twig--
Its first song in spring.
Tr. Nelson and Saito


A bush warbler loses
its footing on a branch:
its first sound I hear!!

I live at the foot of a mountain so I often hear the bush warblers when they are around in spring. As the video link below shows, their warbling does have a slippery slope quality to it, which Buson humorously relates to loosing balance while singing. The verb here can also be read as indicating the future, but in this case I don't think it does.
- reference :youtu.be/FhXfQrKvokU -
Tr. James Karkoski - facebook

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うぐひすの 麁相がましき初音哉
uguisu no sosoo ga mashiki hatsune kana

The warbler's
inexperienced simplicity is better
year's first song
Tr. Crowley


The warbler's rough
inattentiveness has increased:
the first songs it sings!

The young warblers initially have trouble making the sounds that has made them the favorite songbirds in Japan. The pitch of the fledglings can be quite wild until they hear enough of the smoother older birds who they start copying.
In Buson's day, the practice of keeping caged warblers in the house was popular and it is most likely that he is writing about a young warbler that he is keeping as a pet. Perhaps, the lack of being around other birds is what is keeping this one from singing sweetly? Having had the experience of hearing a caged warbler sing, I can attest to how much of a force of sound they can generate in an enclosed space.
A young one who is in the stage of practicing must be quite jarring indeed!
Tr. James Karkoski - facebook



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. hatsumono, hatsu-mono 初物　first things - Introduction .

. WKD : Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 - Introduction .

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

. BUSON - Cultural Keywords and ABC-List .


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tako kite kites

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. tako　凧 Kites of Japan - Introduction .
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tako, Edodako, Edo-dako 江戸凧 Kites of Edo

Toyohara Kunichika 豊原国周　

. tako　凧 Kites of Japan - Introduction .

tako is the Edo word for "kite", and up until the great linguistic levelling of the Meiji period the Kansai area used
几巾 ikanobori.

Flying a kite in Edo was a pastime during the New Year holidays and in spring, when the wind was blowing strong, enjoyed by young and old, men and women!

. wadako 和凧 Japanese Kite .


source :　hikaru
Kunisada : Kites of Edo

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- quote -
EDO
'Edo' is the old name of Tokyo and this kite is one of the most decorative kite today in Japan. Its painting designed was depicted for famous historical stories or traditional stories in Japan.
Today, Edo-dako is designed so as to be assembled at the flying site because of convenience for handling. The number of bridles of Edo dako are 11 or 14 and each length of strings is about 20-25 times of its height. It is very difficult to adjust the center position of strings for good flight. It is famous for its large hummer on the top of kite. This kite is fit for the wind speed of 5 m/second - 15m/second.
A hummer is fixed on the top of kite and sounds with wind.


source : google for more

EDO KAKU　江戸角凧
Edo kaku is a smaller size of Edo such as 30-60cm in width and 60-90cm in height. This kite is very popular as well as Yakko-dako in Japan. It has three bridles and usually two tails.
. tako　凧 Kites of Japan - Introduction .


CLICK for more Daruma kites !

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Edo Yakko 江戸奴凧





source : kumon-ukiyoe.jp/index
風流十二月ノ内　青陽　　　（正月）　
国貞　（歌川国貞／三代　歌川豊国／香蝶楼　国貞） Kunisada

. yakko 奴 servants in Edo .

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source : kumon-ukiyoe.jp/index

江都勝景中洲より三つまた永代ばしを見る図　
Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川　国芳

Slightly to the right you can see a Daruma Tako in the sky!

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source : ukiyoe.yamabosi.jp

東京名勝図会 上野広小路 Ueno Hirokoji  （凧絵入り）
Hiroshige 広重画

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source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/youitirou68

富嶽三十六景 Fujisan - Hokusai 北斎　

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Utagawa Yoshimori 歌川芳盛 (1830 - 1884)
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source : kaminokura.co.jp/p

A hanga 新板 print of Tako paintings 凧絵


. MORE Ukiyo-E about Edo kites .

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A Tako maker in our times . . . one of the few still working in Tokyo.

志村康夫 Shimura Yasuo
He pays special attention to the beards of the faces he paints.



- source : tatsujin.kitaku.net/tatsu-jin -

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takozukuri 凧作り making kites / takoya　凧屋


source : kobo-toki.com

. naishoku 内職　home worker, side business in Edo 　 .

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凧揚げて天狗をたのむ童かな
tako agete tengu o tanomu warawa kana

flying his kite
this child has his hopes
in the Tengu . . .


. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .



. Tengu 天狗 the long-nosed mountain goblin .

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. tako　凧 Kites of Japan - Introduction .

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

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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teppo guns

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .
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teppoo, teppô 鉄砲 Teppo, gun, musket, matchlock, Gewehr
hinawajuu, hinawajū 火縄銃 Hinawaju
teppo ashigaru 　鉄砲足軽　matchlockmen
tanegashima 種子島, also hinawajū 火縄銃 Tanegashima matchlock


source : kotobank

- quote -
Tanegashima (種子島), also hinawajū (火縄銃), was a type of matchlock configured arquebusfirearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese in 1543.Tanegashima were used by the samurai class and their foot soldiers (ashigaru) and within a few years the introduction of the tanegashima in battle changed the way war was fought in Japan forever.



1 History
1.1 Origins
The tanegashima seems to have been based on snap matchlocks that were produced in Portuguese India, at the armory of Goa (a colony of Portugal since 1510). The name tanegashima came from the Japanese island (Tanegashima) where a Chinese junk with Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm in 1543.
The lord of the Japanese island, Tanegashima Tokitaka (1528–1579), purchased two matchlock muskets from the Portuguese and put a swordsmith to work copying the matchlock barrel and firing mechanism. The smith (Yaita) did not have much of a problem with most of the gun but "drilling the barrel helically so that the screw (bisen bolt) could be tightly inserted" was a major problem as this "technique did apparently not exist in Japan until this time." The Portuguese fixed their ship and left the island and only in the next year when a Portuguese blacksmith was brought back to Japan was the problem solved.
Within ten years of its introduction, over 300,000 tanegashima firearms were reported to have been manufactured.
1.2 Sengoku period
1.3 Edo period
1.4 Modern use
2 Parts of the tanegashima
3 Gallery
- source : wikipedia -

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- quote
Teppô is the Japanese term for arquebuses, or matchlocks, the first European firearm to be introduced to Japan. Though some forms of gunpowder weapons existed in Japan earlier, having been introduced from China via Korea or the Ryukyus, European firearms made a major impact upon Sengoku period samurai warfare.
While the term teppô might literally be translated as "iron cannon," or "metal gun," the term hinawajû is sometimes also used, meaning literally "fire rope gun," and referring to the matchlock mechanism.

Introduction to Japan
The introduction of the European matchlock began in 1543, during the Sengoku period. In that year, two or three Portuguese arrived aboard a Chinese junk off the coast of Tanegashima, south of Kyushu. Though the account by Fernao Mendes Pinto is oft-cited, that by Antonio Galvano, governor of Malacca from 1536-1540, is considered by some scholars more reliable. According to his account, published posthumously in 1557, the three Portuguese were Christopher Antonio da Mota, Francis Zimoro, and Antonio Perota, who had abandoned their Portuguese compatriots in Siam and found passage aboard this Chinese junk.

After trying out the arquebuses the Portuguese had with them, the lord of the island, Tanegashima Tokitaka, purchased from the strangers two examples of the firearms for his family treasury and is said to have occupied himself ceaselessly with learning to use them. He instructed a retainer to learn to make the gunpowder, and another, the swordsmith Yasuita Kinbei Kiyosada, to reproduce the weapon itself. According to some accounts, Tokitaka gave his daughter to the Portuguese in exchange for the weapons, and/or for instruction in their production. Kiyosada encountered difficulties, however, in reproducing the spring mechanism, and also in properly sealing the end of the barrel. Fortunately the next year a Portuguese ship arrived (by some accounts bearing the same Portuguese men), and a smith on board was able to teach Kiyosada about the spring mechanism, and how to close the barrel. This discovery led to the production of several tens of firearms in a period of a little over a year. Tokitaka instructed his retainers to practice on the new weapon, and many beccame proficient. Later, the Sakai merchant Tachibana Iemonzaburô, later known as Teppô-mata, came and stayed on the island for one or two years and learned the craft. From him, the knowledge spread throughout the country.

After that the Portuguese had begun to openly trade with other cities in Japan. Nagasaki had become a major trade port for trade between the Japanese and Portuguese, and the traders brought a variety of novelties including wool, velvet, tobacco, clocks and eyeglasses. But the most popular and less novel item brought to Japan by Europe, was the matchlock arquebus.

Many of the daimyô were impressed after seeing the European matchlock; by 1549 many daimyô ordered their weaponsmiths to copy and mass-produce this advanced weapon. One daimyô in particular who saw potential in this weapon was Oda Nobunaga; he placed an order for 500 arquebuses, the largest order to date...

Soon the Japanese demonstrated not only their ability to quickly assimilate objects from other cultures, but also their ability to improve upon it. Many metalsmiths went to work and even improved the teppô. This weapon was found to be more powerful then the bow, and easier to use. Eventually the teppô replaced many archer units in battle.

A look at the Teppô
The First 30 Years
1549 - Oda Nobunaga's father placed an order for 500 arquebuses.
1570 - Oda Nobunaga's army of 30,000 were forced to withdraw by a fierce counter attack of the Ikko-ikki of Ishiyama Honganji. 3,000 Ikko-ikki matchlockmen used controlled volley firing against Nobunaga's men. .....



- - - - - Edo Period
Firearms continued to be used by both samurai authorities and by peasants & commoners in the Edo period. Sakai and Kunitomo continued to be the chief sites of production, and matchlocks continued to be the dominant form of firearms used; firearms technology did not advance much within Japan over the course of the 17th to mid-19th centuries. Flintlocks, which had replaced the matchlock in Europe, were known and occasionally produced, but the matchlock remained dominant in Japan, possibly in part because they produced less recoil. These sorts of muskets were by far the most common form of firearm in the country, with some estimates claiming that roughly 150,000 to 200,000 firearms were in circulation at any given time in Tokugawa Japan. Peasants' weapons generally fired shot two to three monme in weight, equivalent to .440 to .495 caliber, in today's terminology. At the request of the shogunate, gunsmiths also on occasion produced handguns and small cannon.
David Howell argues that over the course of the period, within the countryside at least, firearms came to be seen less as weapons (i.e. for military purposes) and more as essential agricultural equipment. Peasants maintained possession of their guns after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Sword Hunts in the 1580s-90s, which specifically targeted swords, and not firearms. It was only in 1657 that regulations on peasant ownership of weapons began to be put into place; even then, hunters, and farmers who claimed they needed guns to help defend themselves and their crops against wild boar and other such threats, were permitted to continue to own firearms. .....
..... A series of edicts issued in the 1720s not only permitted the use of weapons by peasants year-round, but actually encouraged their use, and the borrowing of weapons, for the purposes of scaring away animals.
..... In the early 19th century, the shogunate began to worry about the amorphous imagined threat of "bad guys" - including rônin, jobless commoners, and the like - hoarding weapons and planning violence or other criminal activities. Numerous edicts banned peasants from engaging in martial activities, including firing practice.
- - - - - Bakumatsu
Meiji Period
- source : wiki.samurai-archives.com



Tanegashima / Teppo / Hinawaju ... Japanese Matchlock Guns
source : militaria.co.za/nmb/topic


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Teppo-machi, teppoochoo　鉄砲町 Teppocho, Gunsmith's village
now 日本橋本町3・4 - - - Nihonbashi

Teppokaji 鉄砲鍛冶 Craftsmen producing guns were only allowed to work in this district.

. teppoo kaji 鉄砲鍛冶 gunsmith producing Teppo matchlocks .
- Introduction -


There is also a Teppo-machi in other cities of Japan.
Nagasaki.
Not far from Shimabara Castle in Nagasaki's Shimabara City sits the town's well-preserved samurai district. Known as "teppo-machi" or "gun town", this district once housed foot soldiers of the local clan who were skilled in firearms use.
Today, the neighborhood is a quiet place. The single main street boasts a small canal running through its center; on either side, many of the imposing gates of old samurai mansions still stand. Three of the old samurai houses are open to the public and admission to all of the properties is free.
Low-class samurais lived in Teppo-machi (what is called 'Samurai-house zone')
- source : en.japantravel.com/nagasaki -


- - - - - List of Teppo-Cho in Japan
鉄砲町（てっぽうちょう、てっぽうまち）
- reference : wikipedia -

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

O-Teppo Matsuri お鉄砲まつり Teppo Festival

In 宮城県 Miyagi, Kurihara District at 花山村 Hanayama village after the festival when all guns are shot, if there was one that did not fire properly, the family of this man will have bad luck. Therefore they all keep the weapons very clean and free of ritual impurities.

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Gunma 群馬県 勢多郡 横野村

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
「樽」の酒屋は大身代で、守護の大蛇が棲んでいた。大蛇のために、毎年36石入り、6尺の大樽の酒を用意していたが、ある時主人が、蛇さえいなければ身代ももっと上がると考え、火縄銃で撃ち殺してしまった。遺骸を埋めたのが蛇塚で、その後、酒屋は没落してしまった。


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Ibaraki 茨城県 水戸市 Mito

mujina ムジナ Badger
ある人が雨の日の夜に月を見て、それが狢の化けているものだと知り、油断をさせて火縄銃でその月を打ち落とした。狢は月に化けることがある。


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Kochi 高知県 幡多郡 黒潮町

tanuki 狸
炭焼をしていた話者が夜竃をしていた所、自分の娘が呼びに来た。怪しんで火縄銃を差し付けたら、逃げて行った。また別の日、隣の男が来て「お前の女房が病気だから帰ってくれ」という。怪しんだ紺蔵が男を竃の前で待たせて観察していると、男は居眠りを始め、耳も口もすっかり狸の相を現してしまった。そこで燃える炭を叩き付けると狸は逃げ、翌朝、焼け爛れた大狸が谷川に浮いていた。

.......................................................................
土佐山村 Tosayama
山で妖怪に行き会ったときは、火縄銃にある照尺の小穴からのぞくと正体が分かる。

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Nara 奈良県 添上郡 月ヶ瀬村 石打 Tsukigase Ishiuchi

Toosuke Jizoo 藤助地蔵 Tosuke Jizo


source : geografi.nu/region
The mountain path toward Tosuke Jizo at Tukigaseishiuchi

Once upon a time,
a hunter named Tosuke took his beloved dog and went hunting in the mountains. He waited in his mountain hut for a prey. Suddenly he heard a loud noise and run outside, but he did not see anything. His dog seemed to see or sense something, but he trembled in fear.
Tosuke became afraid, took the last bullet and shot his gun into the dark. But out of his gun came a ball of fire toward himself and he died almost on the spot. His dog pulled him inside the hut and watched over him.
But then the hut burned down in the fire in no time and the body of Tosuke became a 黒仏 "Black Buddha".
The villagers built a small sanctuary for him, Tosuke Jizo, and came here to pray every year on the 6th day of the 8th month.
Many years later when his descendants tried to re-built the hut, they found a hinawaju 縄銃 gun in the straw roof of the building.
This is near 小字 堂山 Shoji Doyama. There are actually two stone statues, one of 不動明王Fudo Myo-O and one of 藤助地蔵 Tosuke Jizo.


source : panoramio.com/photo


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- - - - - 上北山村 - - - - - ippon datara イッポンダタラ
「ハテノハツカに伯母ヶ峯越すな」と言う。伯母ヶ峯にはイッポンダタラが出て通る人を食らった。西原の射場兵庫という鉄砲名人が退治したのが12月20日で、この日にはイッポンダタラの供養がある。ハテノハツカにはその時の火縄銃が汗をかくという。

. Ippondatara, Ippon-datara 一本ダタラ - Ippon tatara .
Yoshitsune and his horses 義経の馬 .

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Saitama 埼玉県 秩父郡 Chichibu district

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
沼の主の大蛇を火縄銃で撃ち殺すと、その人の子孫は背中や脇の下にうろこのようなあざがあり、毛の生えている子供が生まれる。大蛇が殺された時、沼が決壊して大水になった。死んでいる大蛇を見た人は病気になった。


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- reference : nichibun yokai database -
222 to explore
火縄銃 OK

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source : militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14557
Woodblock prints with matchlocks!



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

- source : Kobayashi Issa - David Lanoue -

鉄砲の三尺先の小てふかな
teppô no san jaku saki no ko chô kana

three feet
from the musket's barrel...
little butterfly

Susumu Takiguchi points out that guns were "brought to Japan for the first time by the shipwrecked Portuguese in 1543 (some say 1542), and revolutionised the way battles were fought and castles were designed. They were initially 'hinawa-ju' (matchlock or firelock) and this must be the type of 'teppo' which Issa was talking about."


鉄砲の先に立たり女郎花
eppô no saki ni tachitari ominaeshi

in the musket's
line of fire...
a maiden flower


木がらしや鉄砲かつぎて小脇差
kogarashi ya teppô katsugite ko wakizashi

winter wind--
he shoulders a musket
and a short sword


雨乞にから鉄砲のきげん哉
amagoi ni kara teppô no kigen kana

after praying for rain
in a mood
to shoot the musket



. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

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sugideppo 杉鉄砲 blowing toy for children made from Sugi wood

春や昔杉鉄砲の痛きこと
川名大

杉鉄砲借りしが縁児と笑ふ
浜田みずき

良寛堂ひとりやだれの杉鉄砲
松田ひろむ

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神杉を突いて鉄砲宮相撲
茨木和生

鉄砲射堋(あづち)霧間の樹神(こだま)かよひけり
調古

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

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

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]- - - - - #teppoguns #gunsteppo #hinawaju #tanegashima #matchlock #kunitomo #国友- - - -
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Tenpura Tempura in Edo

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. Food in Edo 　江戸の食卓 .
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tenpura てんぷら . 天婦羅 . 天麩羅 . 天ぷら Tenpura, Tempura
deep-fried battered food

The name "Tempura" was only used to describe fish Tempura.
agemono　揚げ物 deep fried food
shoojin age　精進揚げ　deep-fried vegetables

- quote -
"Agemono", or deep-fried foods, are of three basic types.
"Suage", in which foods are fried without a coating of flour or batter, is appropriate for freshwater fish, eggplant, green peppers and other vegetables whose color and shape can be utilized to good effect.
"Karaage", in which food is first dredged in flour or arrowroot starch, preserves the natural water content of the food and produces a crisp outer surface. In "tatsutaage", a variant of "karaage", pieces of chicken are marinated in a mixture of "sake", soy sauce and sugar, lightly covered with arrowroot starch and deep-fried.



"Tempura" belongs to a third type of "agemono", in which foods are coated with batter. For "agemono" a heavy pot with a wide bottom is used. Vegetable oil is poured into the pot to a depth twice the thickness of the foods to be fried and is then heated to a temperature of 160°to 180°C (320°to 360°F). To keep the oil at a constant temperature, it is important that the foods do not cover more than a third of the surface area of the oil.
- reference source : web-japan.org/museum/others/cuisine -

- quote -
Many ingredients are deep-fried. Mostly fish and seafood and vegetables.
Even the new leaves of greet tea are made into tempura during the season 新茶の天婦羅.
..... The recipe for tempura was introduced to Japan by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries particularly active in the city of Nagasaki also founded by the Portuguese, during the sixteenth century (1549).
Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, reportedly loved tempura. Originally, tempura was a popular food eaten at street vendors called 'yatai'(屋台) since the Genroku era.


Tempura yatai (stall) - (Fukagawa Edo Museum)

Today, tempura is still a popular side dish at home, and is frequently eaten as a topping at soba stands.
..... In Japan, restaurants specializing in tempura are called tenpura-ya and range from inexpensive fast food chains to very expensive five-star restaurants. Many restaurants offer tempura as part of a set meal or a bento (lunch box), and it is also a popular ingredient in take-out or convenience store bento boxes. The ingredients and styles of cooking and serving tempura vary greatly through the country, with importance being placed on using fresh, seasonal ingredients.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

frittierter Fisch, frittiertes Gemüse

WASHOKU : Tenpura Tempura dishes in our BLOG

basu tenpura バス天ぷら tempura from black bass
ブラックバス天ぷら付のうどん
From Lake Biwa

Maple leaves tempura (momiji tenpura)


kinpura きんぷら 【金麩羅】Kinpura, Kimpura (golden Tempura)
To make the dish look more "golden" in Edo they used egg yolk with the coating.


"Suwamachi Kimpura"　すわ町 金ぷら Kinpura from the Suwamachi district
"Kimpura" using luxurious egg made a clear departure from tempura sold at the stand and "Kimpuraya" in Suwamachi (present-day Komagata, Taitō ward) gained popularity as a restaurant serving "Kimpura". A painter, Yoshitsuya was a student who was good at drawing samurai and showed great performance as an ukiyo-e (wood block prints) artist in the end of the Edo period.
source : library.metro.tokyo.jp/portals...

Sometimes the coating is made with buckwheat flour. Oil from torreya nuts (kaya 榧(かや) is used for frying.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


. yatai 屋台 food stalls, pushcart stalls .
The most famous three ones were for Sushi, Tenpura and Soba buckwheat noodles.

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江戸前天ぷら　Edo-mae tempura, made with local seafood from Tokyo Bay.
The most favorite were shrimp and tiger prawns, ika 烏賊 squid, anago 穴子 sea eel and megochi めごち eel,
kohada 小鰭 spotted shad and kisu 鱚 smelt-whiting, Sillago japonica.

The fried ingredients were picked up with a small bamboo stick, dipped in a sauce of soy sauce with grated radish (daikon) and enjoyed outside, from spring to autumn.

In Edo, only goma-abura　ごま油 sesame oil was used for Tempura. It kept longer tasty when re-heated.
Tempura stalls were only allowed to fry outside homes to prevent fires. Inside a home or restaurant it was forbidden to prepare Tempura.

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tenpuraya　天麩羅屋 vendor of tenpura in Edo
They were the beginning of small stalls selling "fast food" to be eaten while standing, for the fast-living workers of Edo.


source :　homepage3.nifty.com/shokubun

. Food vendors in Edo .

天麩羅の指をぎぼしへ引きなすり
tenpura no yubi o giboshi e hikinasuri

he wipes his fatty tempura fingers
on the giboshi decoration
of the bridge

This Senryu tells us about the carefree behaviour of the tempura cooks.
Tempura was made with some flavor on the food items, but not served with sauce as it is today.
Some sources say Tempura dipping sauce was introduced much later in the Meiji period.

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu in Edo .

. giboshi 擬宝珠 metal decoration of a railing .

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source : togetter.com/li

Tsukioka 月岡芳年「風俗三十二相 　むまさう 嘉永年間女郎之風俗」
A prostitute eating shrimp tempura

mumasao むまさう Umaso, this is so delicious !

. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839 – June 9, 1892) .


The pose of the lady, turning to the side to wipe her face, is the same as in a favorite ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, which was used to put on a handfan for some cooling in summer.


歌川国芳- 園中八撰花 Enchu Hassenka (Eight flowers of the garden)
- 松 Matsu (with pine in the background)

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- quote -
Collection of Famous Edo Restaurants: Keiseigakubo in Hakusan
白山傾城ヶ窪

This is one piece of a collection of 30 printes of famous restaurants in Edo.
Keiseigakubo was located on Nakasendō road that ran from Nihonbashi through Sugamo
and through to the post station of Itabashijuku.
The Hakusan Daigongen shrine was close by.
The print shows travelers relaxing and women busy attending to customers at the restaurant.
A partially-papered screen door shows the words "meals served instantly"
and a noren doorway curtain is adorned with the name of the restaurant, Mankin.
An official bulletin board can be seen at the right,
and the whole image exudes the atmosphere of a thoroughfare bustling with travelers and their horses.
The comic haiku written in the fan-shaped frame shows that this restaurant was famous for a thick rolled egg dish.
The name of the restaurant, 万金 Mankin, also appears in a restaurant ranking
compiled in 1861 (Bunkyū 1), suggesting that this streetside establishment had a long and prosperous history.
source : Tokyo Metropolitan Database

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

The kitsune 狐 Fox likes tempura and tempura oil . . .

................................................................................. Ibaraki 茨城県

In the 稲敷郡 Inashiki district at 江戸崎町 Edosaki village there are many fox legends, when people have to walk along the paths of the fields, were foxes and badgers play their tricks on the humans.
Sometimes the fox steals the tempura of someone returning from town and bringing it home as a present for the family 土産の天ぷら.


................................................................................. Miyazaki 宮崎県

In えびの市 Ebino town, in 尾八重野 Obeno, there was a lady fox called おせん狐 O-Sen , the King of all the regional foxes there.
She lived in the trenches dug during the war by the army of 西郷隆盛 Saigo Takamori.
When people walked along 浜川原 Hamawawabaru at night, there was a large branche of a pine tree in the middle of the road and they could not pass. This was an act of the Fox O-Sen. So they threw some Tempura at the branches, and they dissolved, leaving them to see a huge fox with a large tail on the road.


................................................................................. Nagano 長野県

Offerings for the ancestors on the family altar (butsudan 仏壇) for the O-Bon rituals contain many things, among them 野菜や天ぷら vegetables and tempura.
.
In the 上伊那郡 Kamiina district sometimes people get bewitched by a fox.
They behave quite wild and strange, walk on all four's an want only Tempura to eat.
To get rid of the spell they have to be kept in one room over night and hit with branches of a peach tree 桃の枝. That will bring them back to normal.
.
To get rid of the bewitchment of a fox, among other things, people say prayers and have to eat Tempura.
.
In the 東筑摩郡 Higashichikuma district were people kept silk worms 養蚕, they had to fry their tempura away from home by the river so as not to get the smell to the silk worms.
Sometimes at night a fox came, dipped his tail into the Tempura frying pan and made it un-usable. If the farmers forgot to take the bottle with sesame oil home, this would also be gone by next morning.


................................................................................. Niigata 新潟県

In 十日町市 Tokaichi town there was a fox called サンクロウギツネ Sankurogitsune, living between the hamlets of 蒲生集落 Gamo and 室野集落 Murono. If people walked there he would steal their 天ぷらや油揚 tempura and Aburaage Tofu.


................................................................................. Osaka 大阪府

In 堺市 Sakai town there was a fox
At the 城蔵稲荷 Inari Fox Shrine they tell this story:
An old priest once kept a White Fox with three legs. The brother of the priest was a hunter and the fox feared him. The fox shape-shifted into the old priest and pretended his brother had killed someone and wanted to have him punished. But the brother understood the trick, put some Tempura of a rat on the ground, tricked the White Fox to catch it and killed the fox.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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- quote -
Sugoroku for Introducing Popular Local Specialties of Edo, New Edition
(Shinpan Gofunai Ryūkō meibutsu Annnai Surogoku)

This is an illustrated sugoroku (a Japanese board game similar to western Snakes and Ladders), which starts from morning market in Nihonbashi and ends at Sannō festival. In the form of a sugoroku, it depicts famous specialties in the Edo period. Many food and restaurant names can be found.
In this picture sugoroku, you can find soba (buckwheat noodles), broiled eel, sushi, and the names of confectioners and restaurants including those serving tempura. There are various stories regarding the origins of tempura, but an essay called "Kiyūshōran", written in the latter part of Edo period, introduced that Yoshibei sold fried fresh fish at a stand in Nihonbashi a little before the Bunka period (1804-1817). Tempura was popular among the general public in the 19th century.
You can also find the words "Suwamachi Kimpura" and a yellow picture of tempura. "Kimpura" means tempura with coating of flour mixed with egg yolk (it also means tempura with coating of buckwheat flour). "Kimpura" using luxurious egg made a clear departure from tempura sold at the stand and "Kimpuraya" in Suwamachi (present-day Komagata, Taitō ward) gained popularity as a restaurant serving "Kimpura".
A painter, Yoshitsuya was a student who was good at drawing samurai and showed great performance as an ukiyo-e (wood block prints) artist in the end of the Edo period.
- Tokyo Metropolitan Library -
. sugoroku　 双六と伝説 Legends about the game Sugoroku .

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

天麩羅にかぎる魚や花曇
tenpura ni kagiru sakana ya hanagumori

this fish is best
as Tempura . . .
cherry blossom haze

綾部仁喜 Ayabe Jinki (1929 - 2015)

. WKD : "hanagumori" 花曇, .
- - kigo for late spring - -
A clouded sky during the Cherry blossom season, blossom haze, is "hanagumori", 花曇, only in this season used as a kigo for late spring and never used for other flowers in haze or clouds.

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歳晩や親身のような天婦羅蕎麦
長谷川かな女 Hasegawa Kanajo

天麩羅にからりと揚げて春告げ草 高澤良一
天麩羅の種のねずつぽ石鼎忌 石川桂郎
てんぷらの揚げの終りの新生姜 草間時彦
てんぷらやすでに鰭張る今年鯊 水原秋櫻子

たらの芽の天麩羅の棘食べにけり 長谷川公二
人獣の舌の天麩羅花ぐもり 磯貝碧蹄館
刀豆の天麩羅といふごわつけり 高澤良一
土用入り天麩羅箸の先焦げて 荒巷樹(野火)
活鯊に天麩羅油ぱちぱちと 長谷川櫂 蓬莱
竹の春吹かれとてとて天麩羅食ふ 攝津幸彦
草餅に草の天麩羅みどりの日 御子柴弘子
落葉降るさなか天麩羅匂ひけり 中嶋秀子
退屈も*たらの芽も天麩羅にせり 櫂未知子
餅あはひ天麩羅そばを皆たのむ 櫻井康敞
餅花の下を天麩羅そば通る 鈴木鷹夫 春の門
鱚天麩羅に笑ひ納めをいたしけり 辻桃子
稲の秋てんぷらの鍋鳴りはじむ 長谷川櫂
蓮枯れたりかくててんぷら蕎麦の味 久保田万太郎
長月のてんぷらあぶら古りにけり 辻桃子
黄菊白菊てんぷら揚がる市場の中 穴井太

- reference : haikureikudb -

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source : yoshi43.blog97.fc2.com

even the cats
enjoy their Tempura -
Spring in Edo

Gabi Greve, April 2016

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- Senryu -

てんぷらの店に筮（めどき）を立てて置き
tenpura no mise ni medoki o tatete oki

at the Tempura shop
they put up bamboo stick containers
for all to use

The bamboo sticks were put into a bamboo container and customers could take one out to eat their fill of Tempura.

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筮竹で判断させる天麩羅屋
seichiku de handan saseru tenpura ya

the Tempura cook
judges the food
by the bamboo stick

Since the fish was covered in batter and put in hot oil, the cook had no other choice to guess the situation by the babmoo stick still sticking out of the oil.

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小平次を竹鑓（たけやり）で突く天麩羅屋
koheiji o takeyari de tsuku tempuraya

at the Tempura shop
the spotted shad is pierced
by a bamboo spear

koheiji 小平次 is another word for kohada 小鰭 spotted shad

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- reference : wheatbaku.exblog.jp -

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source : www.6128080.com/sun/edo/ - Onodera Nenryou

To make good tempura, the heat of the oil has to be adjusted.
for fish, about 180 - 185℃, for vegetables only 160 - 180℃.

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. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

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

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]- - - - - #tempura #edomaetempura #tenpura #foodinedo - - - -
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Kojimachi district

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Koojimachi, Kōjimachi 麹町 / 麴町 Kojimachi district
. Chiyoda ku 千代田区 Chiyoda ward - "Fields of Eternity" .



Many shops who made and sold Koji for Japanese food lived in this area, hence the name.
For example 麹屋三四郎 Kojiya Sanshiro.



Another explanation links the name to the beginning of the road to Koshu, Koofuji　国府路 Kofuji, pronounced fast as Koji and soon written with the character 麹.

. kooji 麹 Japanese yeast .
with Aspergillus oryzae or A. sojae
To make soy sauce, miso paste, rice wine and other types of Japanese food and drink.


During the Edo period, many wholesalers lived here, also carpenters and wall plasterers and many merchants which delivered to the Bakufu government　(goyootashi 御用達) and Edo castle.
okuishi 奥医師 　Doctors who attended to the Tokugawa concubines of Ooku 大奥 also lived here.

Kojimachi is a long district with many sub-districts, the third one, Sanbancho often simply called "Bancho", where many Hatamoto retainers lived. They had a special area for horse training, 騎射調練馬場.


source : ameblo.jp/tkyburabura

Since 1865, the second and third sons of 旗本 Hatamoto came here, placed 焙烙 Horoku earthen plates on their head and tried to hit them down while riding in two fighting groups. ほうろく調練場.

Now it is a very expensive area with luxury appartment houses.

麹町 … 宮城(皇居)とその周辺地域

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A neighborhood in Chiyoda, Tokyo.
Prior to the arrival of Tokugawa Ieyasu, it was known as Kōjimura (糀村 Kojimura). The area developed as townspeople settled along the 甲州街道　Kōshū Kaidō. In 1878 Kōjimachi became a ward in the city of Tokyo. It was the forerunner of Chiyoda which is now a special ward.

The Kōjimachi ward was larger than past day Kōjimachi. The area centered upon Kōjimachi including the districts of the Banchō (番町 Bancho) area, Kudanminami, Kioichō, Hirakawachō and Hayabusachō is sometimes referred as the Kojimachi area (麹町地区).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Edo Nana Fushigi 江戸七不思議 The Seven Wonders of Edo　 .
番町七不思議 Banchoo Nana Fushigi

. Hayabusachoo, Hayabusachō 隼町 Hayabusacho district . - Chiyoda

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Kojimachi Shimizudani 麹町清水谷
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Shimizudani Park, famous for cherry blossom and autumn foliage viewing,

During the Edo period (1603-1868),
the area was known as the Shimizudani valley because the Kishu Tokugawa, Owari Tokugawa, and Ii families had residences here, and fresh water would gush out from between the Kishu and Ii homes.
This is reproduced in the 心字池 Shinji-ike pond found there today.
In 1878, after the Meiji Restoration, Okubo Toshimichi, one of the three great nobles of the Restoration, was on his way to the Imperial Palace in Akasaka when the Kioizaka Incident, in which he was assassinated by Shimada Ichiro, a samurai from Ishikawa Prefecture, broke out here. This incident shocked the world at the time, and a monument to Okubo Toshimichi was erected at the site, which later became Shimizudani Park.
Later, in 1890,
the land in the area was donated to the city of Tokyo, and as part of the city's urban planning strategy, the park was opened as the Shimizudani Park. In 1956, the park became a metropolitan park, and in 1965, it was transferred to the Chiyoda City, where it remains today.
Incidentally, Hotel New Otani Tokyo now stands on the site of the Ii family's former residence, and the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho and the Sophia University campus stand on the site of the Kishu Tokugawa family's residence and the Owari Tokugawa family's residence respectively.
Shimizudani Park is also characterized by its seasonal scenery.
In spring, the Somei Yoshino and weeping cherry trees bloom, and the avenue of double-flowered cherry trees facing the park turns the area peach-colored. In the fall, the leaves of the trees and ginkgo trees begin to change color, giving visitors a sense of the changing of the seasons.
- source : visit-chiyoda.tokyo -

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. 麹町地区 Kojimachi and other sub-districts in Chiyoda .
List of sub-districts featured in the Edopedia

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Soto sakurada benkeibori kojimachi Kojimachi and the Benkei Canal at Soto Sakurada
by Hiroshige 広重 - 糀町一丁目山王祭ねり込 Sanno Festival at Kojimachi I-chome


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Kojimachi and Bancho - an old samurai residential area
The Kojimachi and Bancho areas stretch from Hanzomon Station to the east of the Kokyo (Imperial Palace), towards Shinjuku. The area was formerly used as a residential area for Edo Period samurai but in the early 21st century the area is significantly different to that found here in earlier times.
The Kokuritsu Gekijo (National Theatre of Japan), Japan's only classical art theater stands near Hanzomon Station today. The building was designed to imitate the Azekura-zukuri (Azekura style) of Todaiji Temple near Nara and its splendid atmosphere embodies the beauty of Japanese tradition. Offering Kabuki in the 'Large Theater,' Hogaku (traditional Japanese music), Gagaku, and Bunraku (a form of Japanese puppet show) in the 'Small Theater,' and Rakugo (a traditional Japanese sit-down comedy), Manzai (a Japanese stand-up comedy), and Kodan (storytelling) in the Engeijo (Engei Hall), it has something for everyone. In addition, tours can be taken of its exhibition room: THE best place to know about Japanese traditional performing arts.
- 'Bancho.' Its name originates from the fact that 'Bankata' soldiers used to live here. ('Bankata' soldiers consisted of Hatamoto who served under the direct control of the ruling Shogun.)
... Chidorigafuchi 千鳥ケ淵 moat "Plover Moat" ... Uchibori-Dori ...
... Walking around Kojimachi and Yotsuya, you will often feel the mood of the old Edo Period. The coexistence of modern buildings alongside their older counterparts. Fashionable shops in a quiet residential area sat amidst historical monuments being an example. It is a fun area to walk around and to browse through shops that catch your eye. Or, for the more historically inclined, it is another interesting area of the capital in which to tour historical sites and to glimpse Japanese history.
- source : att-japan.net/en -

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Chidorigafuchi Moat
The name of this moat northwest of the Imperial Palace, Chidorigafuchi, is said to come from its unusual shape. The structure of the walls resembles plovers, called chidori in Japanese.
From around the end of March to early April, the walkways around the moat are tinted pink by hundreds of cherry trees. The Chiyoda Sakura Festival is held at the same time, so for the duration of the cherry blossom season the trees are lit up at night. This magical sight draws Tokyoites and visitors alike. Enjoy an evening walk under the glowing tunnel of flowers.
- source : japan.travel/en... -
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The Banchō area (actually consisting of six neighborhoods, from Ichibancho to Rokubanchō),
an upper class residential area, home of the embassies of Belgium, the UK and Israel.
Ichibancho 一番町 First district
Nibancho 二番町 Second
Sanbancho 三番町 Third
Yonbancho 四番町 Fourth
Gobancho 五番町 Fifth
Rokubancho 六番町 Sixth district

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In Edo, meat was offered at the market of Kojimachi 麹町.
chiku 畜 referred to four-legged animals that should not be eaten by Buddhists and kin 禽 referred two-legged animals, birds to be eaten.

momonji referes to the meat of wild animals, like wild boar, deer, monkeys or Tanuki badgers and even dogs. (Dog meat was a favorite with the samurai of the Satsuma domain 薩摩.
The first momonjiya shop in Edo was most probably the Kooshuuya　甲州屋 Koshuya in Koojimachi　麹町 Kojimachi.
Yamaokuya 山奥屋 offered wild boar and monkey meat.

. momonjiya ももんじ屋 / 百獣屋　 selling meat "from one-hundred wild animals" .
kedamonoya　獣屋 dealers in wild animals
yamaokuya 山奥屋　dealers with stuff from the far-away mountains
kusuriguiho　薬食舗　restaurant serving "medicine" meat



麹町狐を馬に乗せてくる
koojimachi kitsune o uma ni nosete kuru

Kojimachi town -
a fox comes riding
on a horse

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

haifuri tanuki 灰降狸 the ash-throwing Tanuki


source : plala.or.jp/cotton-candy

In the year 1854 in the 6th lunar month there was constantly ashes raining down to the ground of the 平河天満宮 Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine in 麹町 Kojimachi.
People thought it was the malicious deed of a Tanuki badger.

Another legend tells of stones raining from the sky near the back entrance of the Shrine, sometimes 50 to 60 during day and night. They were rather large stones with moss on them. Some looked like pieces of roof tiles. But they never hurt any person.
When someone collected the stones in one place during a day, they were all gone after the next night was over.

On a stormy night, it rained hairs of an animal in Kojimachi. Since people there used to eat meat of animals, even horses, it might have been the hair of the 天馬 "heavenly horse" mentioned in the sutra 山海経 Sengai Kyo.

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

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. Kappa 河童 water goblin .
In 1785, 麹町飴屋 a sweet shop in Kojimachi, every evening there came a child, begging for a sweet. one evening the shop owner followed the child and saw it disappear in the canal. Now he knew this must have been a Kappa.
A few days later, the child came back again, got his sweet and paid for it. That was the last time the Kappa showed up.

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三年坂 Sannenzaka / Sannen-zaka
In the middle of Sannenzaka there is a bake-yashiki 化け物屋 / bakemono yashiki 化物屋しき Monster House.
if a couple walks here late at night, the face of the woman might begin to get longer or smaller and become quite horrifying.
The light in the room goes on and off and a woman lying down being ill suddenly goes up to do some cleaning and then disappears on the spot.

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Sara yashiki 皿屋敷 "the Dish Mansion"
This is a famous story centering around an old well in Kojimachi or Bancho 番町皿屋敷. More legends about this story relate to a well in Izumo, Harima and other regions.

A Japanese ghost story of broken trust and broken promises, leading to a dismal fate of "O-Kiku and the Nine Plates"
. Sara yashiki　皿屋敷 "the Dish Mansion" .

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kai-i 怪異 something strange
Dote Yonbancho 土手四番町

In March, a man living in Yonbancho was suddenly able to float things in the air, like his dinner tray, tobacco tray or even a stone mortar.
Some said it was a curse of a mountain priest or an 陰陽師 Onmyoji or even the Kami and Buddhas themselves and performed exorcistic rituals, to no avail. Some said it was a forebode that his family would perish. Some said something similar had happened to a man in 目黒 Meguro, but that was not true. Eventually he had to dismiss four of his workers and the strange thing stopped.

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shari 舎利 sacred bones of Buddha
Once there lived a man in Kojimachi, who did not believe in the Laws of Buddha 仏法.
But one day a sacred bone of Buddha came out of his forehead.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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



source : yasuda.iobb.net/wp-googleearth_e

麹町　壱丁目 Kojimachi First District
「江戸名所図会」 - - 山王祭 Sanno Festival
絵左の天水桶に描かれる屋号が岩に見えるので、岩城枡屋前

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麹町十三丁目まで祭かな
koojimachi juusanchoome made matsuri kana

until the thirteenth district
of Kojimachi
its festival time . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

Nomura Kishuu 野村喜舟 Nomura Kishu (1886 - 1983)


. WKD : matsuri 祭り festival .
- - kigo for all summer - -

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炎天や麹町なし水巴なし
enten ya koojimachi nashi suiha nashi

this blazing sky -
no more Kojimachi
no more Suiha

Saitoo Kuuge 斎藤空華 Saito Kuge (1918 - 1950)


Watanabe Suiha 渡辺水巴 (1882 - 1946) Haiku Poet
Suiha ki 水巴忌 Suiha memorial day (August 8)
- reference -

. WKD : enten 炎天 blazing sky .
- - kigo for all summer - -

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. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

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

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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