Seibu Train Posters

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. Famous Places and Power spots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Seibu Train Posters

- quote
Seibu Railway's train etiquette posters in ukiyo-e style
are a hit in Japan and overseas
Posters that use traditional kimono-wearing characters portrayed in the style of Edo Period ukiyo-e to educate train passengers on proper etiquette have gained attention abroad, with the works featured in a British exhibition and printed in Taiwanese textbooks.

First introduced in September 2016, the light-hearted yet educational posters can be found in train stations operated by Seibu Railway Co. in and around Tokyo. The ukiyo-e art form traditionally depicts scenes of the Edo Period (1603-1868).

One image shows a courtesan sitting on a train as she uses a smartphone, while a man with a topknot lounges next to her with a book on his lap. The surrounding passengers are looking at them in annoyance and the poster has text reading,
“Please let others sit comfortably.”




The cultural reference points are used in a range of posters, including one asking commuters to be thoughtful of fellow travelers by depicting an anthropomorphic frog and monkey talking loudly as passengers cover their ears in protest.

The posters were an immediate hit when they were first put up at Seibu train stations, with some passengers asking for the images to be printed on merchandise.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum began exhibiting the posters in March, noting the interesting amalgamation of tradition and modernity.

“The posters illustrate the bustle and thrill of city life in modern Japan. Humor tempers the message about how to be a well-behaved commuter,” it says on its website introducing the pieces.

A company running cram schools in Taiwan also included the images in their Japanese textbooks.

“We wanted to attract interest from the growing number of overseas visitors,” said Seibu Railway customer service official Konomi Yamamoto, who originally proposed the idea.

“We were able to depart from stereotypical posters by making (the ukiyo-e) appealing. I’m surprised by the overwhelming international response,” she said.
- source : Japan Times












Seibu Railways (西武鉄道)


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

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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- - - - - #seibutrain #ukiyoeposters #posters #manners - - - -
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muken no kane bell

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. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .
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Muken no Kane 無間の鐘 "Unlimited Bell", "Soundless Bell", "the Bell of Muken"
mugen no kane 無限の鐘 - "The Bell of Hell"
mugen jigoku / muken jigoku 無間地獄 Hell of Avici.
Buddhist Hell of "Uninterrupted, Eternal Torment"

. kane　鐘 bell, temple bell - Introduction .

There are various temples in Japan who claim this bell.

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- quote -
Keisei Dôjôji - Mugen no Kane Shindôjôji 無間鐘新道成寺
"Keisei Dôjôji"
is a variation of the famous dance "Musume Dôjôji" (created in 1753) about a young girl who is rejected by a priest. He flees from her and hides under the bell at Dôjôji Temple. She pursues him and in her rage transforms into a serpent, which wraps itself around the bell. The bell is destroyed and the priest is fried to a crisp!


In "Keisei Dôjôji",
the girl did not transform herself into a serpent, but rather appeared as Katsuragi, a beautiful, high-ranking courtesan, thereby reflecting the close relationship between Kabuki and the pleasure quarters at the beginning of the 18th century when "Keisei Dôjôji" was created.
The story included a parallel tradition that the person who strikes the bell during life will be visited with unlimited wealth, but on death they will suffer unlimited torment in hell.
The courtesan describes her life and emotions in the pleasure quarters, which was like being lost in dark clouds of passion, as well as her punishment in hell, which she says is a forest of tightly packed swords through which souls are relentlessly pursued and their flesh cut to shreds. She has now come to pray to the bell that has caused her so much trouble. Hoping that her prayers will clear away her burden of sin, the spirit of the courtesan disappears.
- Courtesy of Jean Wilson (1999)
- reference source : kabuki21.com... -

. Anchin and Kiyohime 安珍・清姫 - 道成寺 Dojo-Ji .

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Hirakana Seisuiki "The Soundless Bell"


The story of the lovers 梅枝　Umegae and Genta.

Mugen no Kane 無限の鐘 The legendary Bell of Hell.
The person who strikes this bell becomes immensely rich in this world but will go directly to hell after his/her death to suffer eternally.
In Kabuki, many dances were created based on this legend and in association with the world of courtesans, always desperately helping their lover in need of money and ready to sacrifice themselves by striking the Bell of Hell. Nowadays, the only surviving mugen no kane scene is part of one act of the epic drama "Hirakana Seisuiki", commonly called "Mugen no Kane" or "Kanzaki Ageya".
- source : kabuki21.com...-


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Umegae muken no mane 梅が枝無間の真似
Parody of Umegae Striking the Bell of Limitless Hell
歌川国義 Utagawa Kuniyoshi


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. ume ga e utau 梅が枝うたう Umegae, Poetry for plum branches .
kigo for the New Year

- quote -
Umegae　梅枝
A pictorial subject based on "A Branch of Plum" Umegae, Chapter 32 of
GENJI MONOGATARI 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji).


In the chapter,
Genji's household is preparing for the coming of age ceremony of the princess who will become the Akashi Empress (明石). On the tenth day of the Second Month Genji holds a competition to determine the incense she will use at court. He gathers scents from several people and calls on Prince Hotaru (Hotaru Hyoubunokyou 蛍兵部卿) to judge them. The scene most frequently chosen for illustration shows Genji and Prince Hotaru looking at two jars sent by Princess Asagao (朝顔), one indigo with a pine branch, one white with a plum branch from which most of the blossoms have fallen, and to which she has attached a poem. The Crown Prince also has his coming of age ceremony in this chapter.
In the Third Month the third daughter of the Minister of the Left (the third in rank of the three main ministers of state, below the Minister of the Right and the Prime Minister) is presented at court, while the Akashi Princess is presented in the Fourth Month.
At this time Tou no Chuujou 頭中将 (To no Chujo, here called the "Palace Minister", or Naidaijin 内大臣) begins to reconcile himself to the love between Yuugiri 夕霧, Genji's son, and his daughter Kumoi no kari 雲井雁.
- source : JAANUS -


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source : mfa.org/collections...Denman Waldo Ross Collection..

Ukiyo tokei Muken no kane 浮世とけいむけんのかね
A Floating World Clock as the Bell of Muken
Gakô Senkadô 西村重長　Nishimura Shigenaga (1697 - 1756)


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source : mfa.org/collections... William Sturgis Bigelow Collection...

Mitate Muken no kane zu 見立無間鐘図　Parody of Muken no Kane
川又常行　Kawamata Tsuneyuki (1677 - ?)

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- - - - - Once upon a time


- reference source : ochakaido.com/rekisi/mukashi... -

At the time of 聖武天皇 Emperor Shomu Tenno (around 730)
there lived an Immortal, 仙人, in the village of 菊川村 Kikugawa in Shizuoka.
He prayed every day to 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O and then went to the village for alms. After this, he rang the bell at the top of 粟ヶ岳 Mount Awagatake 淡ヶ嶽.
This bell could be heard all over the 遠州 Enshu region (now Shizuoka). Each ring had a special prayer wish:

一つつけば、事故や災難をまぬがれ、one - prevent accidents and disasters
二つつけば、病気にならず、- two - do not become ill
三つつけば、家内安全、- three - peace and well-being at home
四つつけば、運が開けて出世する、- four - find good luck for your business life
五つつけば、子宝に恵まれ、- five - be blessed with children
六つつけば、幸運がつづき、- six - may good luck continue
七つつけば、大金持ちになる、- seven - may you become rich

and so on for each ring.
The villagers climbed up to the temple to participate from these good prayers.
But the path to the temple was steep and narrow, and in their hurry they pushed and some fell into the ravine, some even died.
When the head priest saw all this, he decided to exclude the villagers from the prayers of the Immortal and threw the bell into the deep well.
This became known to our day as
"mugen no ido" 無間の井戸 "the endless well", "eternal well" at the top of Mount Awagatake.




Muken no Kane is 遠州七不思議 one of the seven wonders of Enshu. at 無間山観音寺 Mukenzan Kannon Temple.

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Daimugenzan 大無間山 is a mountain in Shizuoka.



- Read a long legend here:
. The perpetual life-giving wine and sennin heavenly immortals of Mt. Daimugenzan .
- - - - - excerpted from ANCIENT TALES AND FOLK-LORE OF JAPAN by Richard Gordon Smith [1918]


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at 瀬戸内海 - 塩飽本島 Setonaikai Shiwaki Honjima Island
極楽寺 Temple Gokuraku-Ji, at the 観音堂 Kannon-Do hall

The temple has the family graves of the 丸尾家 Maruo Clan.
The temple bell relates to the story of 丸尾五左衛門 Maruo Gozaemon, a former Samurai turned very rich merchant of the Edo period.


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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


. abi jigoku 阿鼻地獄 / 無間地獄 Avīci, Buddhist Hell of Avici .
is called 無間地獄 "Mugen Jigoku".
... the hell of "Uninterrupted Torment" (Avici), where big dogs, pythons and monsters with many heads vomit volumes of flame to burn the sinners.
Avīci hell is also known as the "Mugen-Do, non-stop way" (無間道).


.................................................................................　Nagano 長野県
佐久市 Saku city 野沢町 Nozawa

Near Nozawa town there lived a 長者 very rich man. Once he was involved in a law suit and wanted to win it. So he pledged to go to 高野山 Mount Koyasan to ring the bell Muken no Kane, if he won. He won the law suit, but after that misfortune continued, he lost more and more money and after his sudden death nobody of the family wanted to live in his mansion.


.................................................................................　Niigata 新潟県
佐渡市 Sado city 相川町 Aikawa

hiru 蛭 leech
Around 1610 a person born in Tajima (Now Northern Hyogo) came to Aikawa and made a fortune in the gold mines of Sado. But he became very stingy and on the last day of the year went to the gold mine and slept there. His wife was at home preparing New Year food and wondered what to do about him. Then she remembered the lore about Muken no Kane. She pretended the grounding mortar was a bell and banged it with the pestle. From that day on the family became even richer and more gold was found in the mines.
Legend says that one can hit this bell only once in a lifetime for a positive wish. On the grave of such a person will be leeches for the next seven generations. And indeed, when her husband died, leeches showed up on his grave stone.


.................................................................................　Shizuoka 静岡県
周智郡 Shuchi district 水窪町 Misakubo

hebi 蛇 serpent
Once a person went to a special riverside, オトボウ淵, to make a wish and then rung Muken no Kane. He soon became a very rich man. But after his death a serpent showed up at the riverside. If anyone wanted to approach the riverside, he had to hang some smartweed (Persicaria）around his hips for protection.


.................................................................................　Wakayama 和歌山県
有田郡 Arida district 清水村 Shimizu

hiru 蛭 leech
Once a man rung the Muken no Kane and then became very rich.
But since then the soy been rice gruel the family eat on the fifth day of the New Year suddenly turned into very large leeches.

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日高郡 Hidaka district みなべ町 Minabe

To make a Muken no Kane people need a special clay and water, and then put inside it the statues of Ebisu and Daikoku when firing the pottery.
If during this process there was a huge sound, the wish was granted and the person became rich. But in reverse he had to promise to refrain from something he liked, for example not making special New Year food. One man even promised he would offer his body after this death to be eaten by the wolves.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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Muken-no-kane
Fuga hibachi muken no kane uki-e kongen - The Elegant Brazier,
Sato nomi sao muken no kane goto
- reference : "muken no kane" kabuki -




source : traveljapanblog.com/wordpress...
muken jigoku 無間地獄 Hell of Incessant Suffering


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. Edo Culture via Ukiyo-E on Facebook .

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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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- - - - - #mukennokane #umegae #genta #abijigoku - - - -
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Yarai district

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
for Kagurazaka, see below
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Yaraichoo 矢来町　Yarai-Cho "Palisade quarter"
Ushigome Yaraicho 牛込矢来町
Now in Shinjuku ward.
For a definition of YARAI, see below.

Located on a plain up the slope of Kagurazaka. There are many publishing companies in the district.



In the Edo period, the estate of the lord Sakai Tadakatsu was located here.
Tadakatsu did not put a wall around his estate, since that was below his dignity and status, and just had a
take yarai 竹矢来 bamboo fence erected.
The Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu 将軍家光 often came to visit him.
During the 寛永16年8月11日 Great Fire of Edo in August 1639 Iemitsu fled to this estate too. To protect the Shogun, Tadakatsu now had a wall erected and soldiers with spears were placed around the bamboo fence.
This fence later became a proud part of his estate and was not pulled down after the Shogun left...
And the region around that estate became known as Yarai shita　矢来下 "below the palisade".
In 1915 part of his large estate was abolished to make room for the main street of
牛込中央通り Ushigome Chuodori.

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- quote -
Sakai Tadakatsu 酒井忠勝 (1587 - 1662)
also known as Sanuki-no-kami, was tairō, rōjū, master of Wakasa-Obama castle (若狭国小浜城) and daimyo of Obama Domain in Wakasa Province in the mid-17th century.



As tairō, he was one of the two highest ranking bakufu officials in Tokugawa Japan from his elevation on November 7, 1638, through May 26, 1656.
- The "Nambu incident" and the the Dutch Ship Breskens
- Nihon Ōdai Ichiran is first published in Kyoto under the patronage of the tairō Sakai Tadakatsu in 1652.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


小浜藩酒井大老登城行列 Procession in honor of Sakai Tadakatsu


- source : wako226.exblog.jp

Shogun Iemitsu, Sakai Tadakatsu and more that 30 people clad as samurai walk up the
神楽坂 Kagurazaka slope "to Edo Castle".

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. Doctor Sugita Genpaku 杉田玄白 （1733―1817） .
He was born in Yarai in 1733 in the 牛込矢来屋敷 Yashiki of the Sakai Clan.



His memorial stone is in the park Yarai Koen 矢来公園.

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The Rakugo teller 古今亭志ん朝 Kokontei Shincho (1938 - 2001)
lived in this district and sometimes called himself Shinchō, 矢来町の旦那 The Patron of Yaraicho.

. Rakugo 落語 Comic Story Telling .



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yarai 矢来 palisade, fence
The old Chinese character was 遣(や)らい. 矢来 is a phonetically suited writing (ateji 当て字).
Tush a fence is not much higher than two meters.
maruta yarai 丸太矢来 were made from round wooden poles.
They were often installed for a temporary purpose and thus easy to remove.




ootsugaki 大津垣 Otsugaki, Lit. Ootsu fence　// yaraigaki矢来垣,

- quote -
chousengaki 朝鮮垣, and chousen yarai 朝鮮矢来 (chosen yarai, Korean fence).
A type of simple bamboo fence. In 1711 a Korean mission traveling from Ootsu 大津 to Edo attracted so much attention that the government ordered people to erect fences along the road on which the Koreans passed. These fences were made with pieces of uncut bamboo tied on intersecting diagonals between two or three cross bars of split bamboo. Often the projecting bamboo at the top is cut to create a sharp edge.
- source : JAANUS -

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Kagurazaka - Kagurasaka 神楽坂 "Slope of the Music of the Gods"
Ushigome Kagurazaka 牛込神楽坂

. Ritual Kagura Dance 神楽 - Introduction.


牛込神楽坂 Ushigome Kagurazaka
Utagawa Hiroshige, 1840.

- quote -
... near Iidabashi Station. It has a shopping street at its center, lined by numerous cafés and restaurants.
The main road of Kagurazaka was once at the outer edge of Edo Castle, opposite the Ushigome bridge over the castle moat, and has always been busy because of this privileged location. In the early 20th century, the area was renowned for its numerous geisha houses, of which several remain today. Currently, Kagurazaka is experiencing a popularity boom due to its traditional atmosphere on the edge of modern Shinjuku ward, the existence of the original campus of Tokyo University of Science and its proximity to Waseda University. The area is also home to a number of publishing houses.
Kagurazaka
is also widely regarded as an important center of Japanese cuisine within the Kanto region. Several old and famous ryōtei are to be found in the winding back streets, often accessible only by foot. These provide expensive kaiseki cuisine, generally regarded as the pinnacle of Japanese food. They also allow diners to invite geisha to provide entertainment during the evening. Many shops in the area cater to this culture, especially selling kimono, Japanese sweets, and tea.

The Kagurazaka Awa Odori (阿波踊り) festival (originating in Tokushima) is held the fourth Friday and Saturday each July. The Kagurazaka connection to the dance goes back to the Edo era, when the Tokugawa daimyo donated the Ushigome Mitsuke. This is the fortified gate at the bottom of the Kagurazaka hill, on the opposite side of the canal. Today, only its foundations remain, just to the south of JR Iidabashi station.

Akagi Shrine (Akagi Jinja 赤城神社) was formerly at the top end of Kagurazaka. It was redeveloped with a new shrine and apartment complex, designed by Kengo Kuma and opened to the public in September 2010.
- source : wikipedia -



source : wako226.exblog.jp/15588590
江戸名所百人美女・神楽坂 Beauties of Edo / 歌川国貞 Utagawa Kunisada

- quote -
Kagurazaka has a long history.
In the middle of 16th century the Ogo clan who had ruled the southern foot of Mt. Akagi in Gunma prefecture moved to Kagurazaka and built the Ushigome Castle near the present-day Koshoji Temple. At that time Akagi shrine was transferred from Mt. Akagi. When Ieyasu TOKUGAWA moved to Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1590, Ushigome clan (renamed from Ogo clan) served Tokugawa family and the Ushigome Castle was demolished.
After Tadakatsu SAKAI who became Tairo (chief minister) later built his residence in 1628 of the Edo period (1603 - 1868), lines of samurai residences stood along Kagurazaka Street.
Bishamonten Zenkokuji Temple 毘沙門天 善國寺 moved there in 1791 and after that an entertainment district was formed, which led to regional development as Hanamachi (Geisha district).
In the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) samurai residences were demolished and Kagurazaka developed as a commercial district. It came to flourish as one of the most bustling shopping and entertainment districts in Tokyo after Kobu Railway Ushigome station (present-day JR Sobu line Iidabashi station) was established in 1895. It was referred to as Yamanote Ginza and developed further because it avoided damages by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.
Unfortunately the entire town was destroyed by the air raid in 1945 during the World War II but it was restored after the war and achieved the height of prosperity as Hanamachi in the 1950s. After that the number of Ryotei and Geisha decreased and it retains the traces of Hanamachi in a part of the town. Also it lost its position as an entertainment district to terminal stations such as Shinjuku and Shibuya. However it attracts people’s attention in recent years for example it was used as a location site for a drama in 2007, so it is crowded with many people as a sightseeing spot.
- source : ambassadors-japan.com/en-


source : wako226.exblog.jp/15588590
神楽坂毘沙門 Kagurazaka Bishamon - 歌川国貞 Utagawa Kunisada

. Bishamon-Ten . 毘沙門天 Vaishravana .

. Temple Anyoji 安養寺 Anyo-Ji, An’yō-ji - Kagurazaka .

. Ushigome 牛込 - Introduction .


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

雪ばんば縋る白洲の竹矢来
yukibanba sugaru shirasu no takeyarai

cotton flies
cling to the bamboo fence
around the white gavel court . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

町田しげき　Machida Shigeki

. yuki banba 雪婆（ゆきばんば) cotton fly .
- kigo for early winter -




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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

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

. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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- - - - - #yaraicho #yarai #kagurazaka #anyoji - - - -
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Aoyanagi Restaurant

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. ryoorijaya 料理茶屋 Chaya tea stall serving food .
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Aoyanagi 青柳 Restaurant

A famous tea stall serving food.

- quote


東両国の駒留橋 at Komatodomebashi, Eastern Ryogoku
広重 Hiroshige
- source : ndl.go.jp/landmarks


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Aoyanagi Ryogoku Haru-no-suke 青柳両国春之助
Toto ryuko sanjuroku kaiseki 東都流行三十六會席
(Thirty-Six Fashionable Restaurants in Edo)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Nakamura Fukusuke as Higuchi (Jirô) Kanemitsu disguised as the boatman Matsuemon


Thirty-six Fashionable Restaurants of the Eastern Capital
(Tôto ryûkô san-jû-rokkaiseki, 東都流行三十六會席 / 東都流行三十六会席 )
This series shows bust portraits of kabuki actors in character with restaurants in the background.
Dogu-ya Restaurant at Mukôjima Jubei 道具屋向島甚三 Jinzo
Suzaki Restaurant 洲嵜
Ôji Restaurant
Yagenaki Restaurant
Nanakusa no kwan Restaurant at Yushima 湯嶌
Yagenori Restaurant
Konpa-ro (Kinparo) (Golden Wave) Restaurant in Imado
Sobai Restaurant at Mukôjima 向島葱賣
Mukôjima Restaurant
Okina-an, meaning “cottage of the old man”
Sanya Restaurant 山谷
Ôdo Terasaki (or Ooto-kichi)
Yanagibashi Restaurant in Baisen

- source : kuniyoshiproject.com -


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- More famous restaurants in Edo

大七 Daishichi （向島）serving river fish and lending Yukata
平岩 Hiraiwa （向島）famous for its koi 鯉料理
万八 Manpachi（柳橋）visited by many bunjin 文人墨客 literati
田川屋Tagawaya （大音寺前）on the way home from Yoshiwara, with a bathing facility

植木屋 Uekiya（木母寺）Since the time of Tokugawa Iemitsu 掛茶屋
- also called 植半 Uehan (Uekiya Hanemon)
植木屋半兵衛 The cook was Uekiya Hanbei

- source : ndl.go.jp/landmarks

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Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868
Matsunosuke Nishiyama, Gerald Groemer



Other restaurants:
Massaki, Shikian, Kinparo, Musashiya, Ogura-An, Sakuragawa, Manpachi and Tagawa
Almost all these restaurants lay along the boat route of the Sumida River.
Yaozen and Hirasei
tsuukaku "men of taste"
- source : books.google.co.jp -

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Scene in a Yoshiwara Kitchen
In the kitchen you can see the preparation for fish and octopus.
Hishikawa Moronobu　菱川師宣　(1618 - 1694)

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. WKD : ao yanagi, aoyanagi 青柳 green willows .
- - kigo for late spring - -


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. ryoorijaya 料理茶屋 Chaya tea stall serving food .


. yaozen 八百善 Yaozen restaurant .


. 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 .


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geta wooden clogs

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. Edo shokunin　江戸の職人 Craftsmen of Edo .
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geta 下駄　ashida 足駄 Geta wooden clogs

. Geta 下駄 Wooden Sandals, Clogs .
- Introduction and Haiku -
Geta with only one "tooth" to balance on 一本歯の下駄
Often worn by Tengu 天狗.



Utagawa Toyokuni III (Kunisada)

- quote
Geta (下駄) are a form of traditional Chinese-Japanese footwear that resemble both clogs and flip-flops. Geta were invented by the Chinese and then introduced to Japan from China. They are a kind of sandal with an elevated wooden base held onto the foot with a fabric thong to keep the foot well above the ground. . . . . .
According to Japanese superstition, breaking the thong on one's geta is considered very unlucky.
- source : wikipedia

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yukigeta, yuki geta 雪下駄 Geta for snow




source : xadachi-hanga.com/ukiyo-e

蒲原 Kanbara juku (Tokaido) 夜之雪 Night with snow
歌川広重 Hiroshige

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Look at the toes holding these high Geta!



- Look at more photos of feet on Ukiyo-E here:
- source : みさと接骨院 -

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下駄　浮世絵 Geta with Ukiyo-E patterns are also popular !
Click on the photo for more samples !



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getaya 下駄屋 craftsman making Geta

Since the middle of the Edo period, Geta had made their way into the city not only as an item of every-day use but also an item of fashion.
The much cheaper straw sandals were used for every-day walking, especially by the 長屋　Nagaya population living in cheap quarters.


source : blog.goo.ne.jp/yousan02 - 『七十一番職人歌合』
A craftsman is just about to put a whole into the wood for the Hanao.
First the hole is made with a drill, and the wood standing up is then burned down with metal chopsticks
that can be heated in fire.

Geta New Road 下駄新道 Geta Shinmichi
Situated around what is now JR Kanda Railway Station, during Edo times
there were many manufacturers of wooden clogs ("geta" in Japanese) along the back alleys
at the western end of Kaji-chō 2-chōme.
This led to the area being known as Geta Shinmichi (literally "Geta New Road").
- source - Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -


komageta 駒下駄 Komageta, the wooden parts are made of one piece.

- quote -
Geta are made of one piece of solid wood forming the sole and two wooden blocks underneath. These blocks may have a metal plate on the section that touches the ground in order to lengthen the life span of the Geta. A V-shaped thong of cloth forms the upper part of the sandal.
The dai (台, stand)
may vary in shape: oval ("more feminine") to rectangular ("more masculine") and color (natural, lacquered, or stained). The ha (歯, teeth) may also vary in style; for example, tengu-geta have only a single centered "tooth". There are also less common geta with three teeth. Merchants use(d) very high geta (two long teeth) to keep the feet well above the seafood scraps on the floor. The teeth are usually not separate, instead, the geta is carved from one block of wood. The tengu tooth is, however, strengthened by a special attachment. The teeth of any geta may have harder wood drilled into the bottom to avoid splitting, and the soles of the teeth may have rubber soles glued onto them.
The hanao 鼻緒, cloth thong)
can be wide and padded, or narrow and hard, and it can be made with many sorts of fabric. Printed cotton with traditional Japanese motifs is popular, but there are also geta with vinyl and leather hanao. Inside the hanao is a cord (recently synthetic, but traditionally hemp) that is knotted in a special way to the three holes of the dai. In the wide hanao there is some padding as well. The hanao are replaceable. It sits between the two first toes because having the thong of rectangular geta anywhere but the middle would result in the inner back corners of the geta colliding when walking.
- source : wikipedia -

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目のゆがみたるから、心地あしや








using extra high Geta for the toilet

- Look at more illustrations here:
source : miyuki-honpo/getanorekisi


- - - Different kinds of Geta


- reference : miyuki-honpo/getanosyurui -

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両国に古りし下駄屋や冬の雨
ryoogoku ni furishi getaya ya fuyu no ame

at Ryogoku
there is an old Geta shop -
rain in winter

Katsumata Itto 勝又一透 (1907 - 1999)

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source : blog.goo.ne.jp/aboo-kai/e

getaya no teishu 下駄屋の亭主 Getaya the Husband

女房逃げ亭主呆けて春の雨

his wife left him -
the husband is at a loss
in the spring rain

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夫婦喧嘩下駄を履くまで終わらない
fuufugenka geta o haku made owaranai

a fighting couple
will not give up
until one slips into the Geta

One partner is at the entrance hall and all ready to leave the home now in anger . . . but well, the good couple comes back to its sense and all is well again.

- reference : senryu about geta -

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geta no haire, geta ha-ire 下駄歯入れ repairing wooden geta clogs


geta haireya　下駄歯入れ屋 Geta repairman

This was a job for a repairman walking along the streets of Edo.

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source : blog.goo.ne.jp/s10683726/e ...
getaya no kanban 下駄屋の看板 shop sign of a Geta store


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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.................................................................................　Miyagi 宮城県
蔵王町 Zao

furugeta no urami 古下駄の怨 the grudge of the old Geta
In the early Meiji period the region of 自由ヶ丘公園 Jiyugaoka Park was still a quiet Pine grove. The decided to build a 寺子屋 Terakoya school there. During the construction someone threw an old pair of geta in the fundament without much thought. Eventually the building was finished, but every night there was the sound of wooden Geta walking around and a hig-pitched whailing and crying: "This heavy stone is hurting by broken back!"
When they opened the fundament to have a look, they found the pair of Geta and took it out. Now all was quiet.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -
117 to explore (01)

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Nozarashi Gosuke 野晒五助

Gosuke wears a robe with a skull pattern. From the sword on his back hangs a Geta with marks in the form of a skull too.
He is the henchman for the robber chief 日本駄右衛門 Nippon Daemon. He is known as a street knight (otokodate). They lived by a strict code of honor which dictated that they always have to assist people in need. It is also the theme of a popular kabuki play.





Kuniyoshi moyo shofuda tsuketari genkin otoko 国芳もよう正札附現金男
(Men of Ready Money with True Labels Attached, Kuniyoshi Style)
source and reference

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source : edokurashi.hatenablog.com/entry - 渡辺京二

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. 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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