10/21/2015

kajiya blacksmith

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. 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 .

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

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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10/20/2015

Takanawa district

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
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Takanawa district 高輪, Takanawadai 高輪台    


Takanawa Uchimachi 高輪牛町 Takanawa Ushicho

. machiwari, machi-wari 町割り 'division of towns and streets', districts .
Each machi 町 square was closed by a kido 木戸 wooden gate. The gates were open from 4 in the morning till about 10 in the evening.

高縄 "High rope", Takanawa is the original spelling of the name, 高縄手道 Takanawa Temichi.
The straight road looks like a rope spread out on the high ground (takadai 高台) and was the first view of visitors entering the town of Edo via the Tokaido road.

The district is divided in three parts, 高輪北町 North, 高輪中町 Central, and 高輪南町 South, which was close to Shinagawa.
Next to the Northern Takanawa district was 高輪車町 Takanawa Kurumacho with the Great Gate.
The sea front along Central Takanawa was called 袖ヶ浦 Sodegaura. It was connected to the river 深川 Fukagawa
via a canal.

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高輪之明月 Full Moon at Takanawa


Hiroshige 歌川広重 

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高輪二十六夜 Takanawa on the night of the 26th day


Utagawa Toyokuni III and Utagawa Hiroshige II 1864

Takanawa was famous for its full view of Edo Bay, especially for viewing the Nijūrokuyamachi moon.
"Nijūrokuyamachi" was a custom where people would wait for the late moon rising on the 26th day of the first and seventh month of the lunar calendar and many would gather on coasts and heights.
- source : library.metro.tokyo.jp/Portals -

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「江戸十二景 高輪」 Takanawa - from the series Twelve Views of Edo


Utagawa Hiroshige I
source : mfa.org/collections/object Boston

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Takanawa Ushimachi 高輪牛町 Takanawa "Ox Town"

- quote -
Oxen were used for overland transport of heavy cargo in Edo.
Ox carts came into use around 1630, and at one point Edo had 30 ox keepers with a total of 600 oxen, but this mode of transport declined as human-pulled daihachiguruma carts came into widespread use.
- source :web-japan.org/tokyo/know - Edo Transportation -


source : yogimessage.seesaa.net/article - Hasegawa Settan

- quote
Takanawa Okido 高輪 大木戸 The Gates of Edo - Takanawa
Edo is a huge, sprawling city with over one million inhabitants. When Tokugawa Ieyasu first started building the city, he could never have imagined that it would grow to such a size. Today, the suburbs of the city are expanding farther and farther, so that when many people speak of "Edo", they are talking about the towns and villages that stretch as far as the Tama river to the southwest and the Ara river to the north and east. However, there is a landmark on the Tokaido, on the southern edge of the city, which has long been considered the "official" gateway to the city. A broad, imposing stone wall, which crosses the main road, extends all the way to the shore of Edo bay, and the Tokaido passes through this wall at a huge gate, known as the Takanawa Okido (great wooden gate).

Today, the Okido at Takanawa, and a similar gate at Yotsuya, are little more than official boundary markers. However, when they were first built, these massive gates formed the first line in the military defenses that the Shoguns built to protect their capital. The Takanawa district also marks the start of the shitamachi, or "downtown" area of Edo, characterized by its tightly packed "row houses", stores, workshops and official buildings. Traditionally, the Okido is also the place where relatives and friends say their farewells to people travelling west from Edo.



The great gate and stone wall were originally built as defences to protect the city from attack. No one has ever attempted to attack Edo, and probably no one would ever dream of doing so today. In the late 1700s, Japan has enjoyed a period of peace and stability for well over 150 years! However, when Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun, began building his capital city here in 1590, the country was still in the final phases of a long era of almost continuous warfare, and Ieyasu spared no expense to build strong fortifications for his city.

The long period of civil war and internal strife was called the Sengoku Jidai (The age of warring states). It was an age of countless battles and skirmishes between powerful daimyo, and it lasted for more than a century. During this period, no part of the country could consider itself totally safe from attack, so all of the major daimyo built huge fortresses to protect their domains. Although Edo has now grown into a sprawling, peaceful metropolis, you can still see the remains of when it was a fortress city, controlled by the most powerful warlord in Japan. Massive ramparts, moats, and towering fortress walls can be seen almost everywhere you go in the city

Just outside the gate, in a wide and busy square, are many chaya (tea houses). The people of Edo eat many of their meals at tea shops or other "restaurants", rather than at home. This is partly because their houses tend to be quite small and cooking space is at a premium. Besides, it is almost as expensive to eat at home as it is to eat out, and it is definitely more work to cook. In the warm and humid climate that characterizes Edo for most of the year, food spoils quickly. Apart from pickled vegetables or dried basic foods like rice and noodles, it is difficult to store food items at home. Therefore, even when they make a home-cooked meal Edo citizens have to buy most of their food on the same day they eat it.

Because it is so difficult and time-consuming to eat at home, people in Edo (especially those from the middle and upper classes) have developed the habit of "eating out" often. Nearly every district of the city has clusters of chaya. Small restaurants and food stalls can be found on most main streets. There is a wide variety of different types of chaya in Edo. Some serve only tea, and often treat customers to a simplified version of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Others are more like restaurants, serving all sorts of food and snacks. Some chaya offer entertainment, such as singers, comedians or even amateur sumo wrestling.

The tea houses in the Okido district are all quite busy throughout the day, but interesting enough, the biggest crowds can be seen in the early morning. This is because large groups of people come to Takanawa to see off relatives or friends who are preparing to embark on journeys along the Tokaido. Takanawa Okido has traditionally been the spot where people say their farewells. In order to get a good start on the journey, most travellers leave early in the morning. That is why the shops and restaurants around the Okido are quite busy in the morning

Highway travel is extremely common in Edo Japan, perhaps more so than in any other nation of the world during the same period. The strong tradition of religions pilgrimages accounts for many of the travelers. In addition, merchants and entertainers are a common sight on the highways. However, the majority of the traffic up and down Japan's major roads is the result of the system of Sankin-kotai (alternate attendance) -- a custom that forces all of the major daimyo to spend at least four months out of every year living in Edo.

The first Shoguns instituted the custom of Sankin-kotai in order to keep an eye on their main military rivals. Japan was just emerging from the Sengoku Jidai, and the leaders were never sure how much they could trust their vassals. Tokugawa Ieyasu passed a law which forced major daimyo to build homes in Edo and to spend a part of every year living in Edo. This gives the Shogun a chance to keep an eye on them, and test their loyalty. For the other eight months of the year, they are allowed to go back to their homes in the provinces to look after their land and take care of local business. However, their wives and their eldest sons have to remain in Edo whenever they return home. If any daimyo decided to rebel against the Shogun, their wives and children could be used as hostages.

Thus, every daimyo in Japan makes an elaborate journey twice a year (one trip going to Edo and another going back to their home province). During the journey, the daimyo is accompanied by dozens, if not hundreds of assistants, retainers and family members. There is also a steady stream of lesser officials, who also travel with fairly large groups of servants and guards. These officials and advisors carry messages and information to and from the daimyo, allowing them to govern their provinces effectively even while they are in Edo.
- source : Edomatsu

Takanawa Ookido / Takanawa Ōkido 高輪 大木戸
The Ōkido of Takanawa was an entrance from the Tōkai Highway into the center of Edo.
In 1710 stone walls were built on the right and left sides of the street
and there was koosatsuba 高札場 a street bulletin board.
The sea can be seen behind the stone wall.
The place was always busy with people holding banquets here to see off those who were embarking on journeys westward.
伊能忠敬 Inō Tadataka made this place a starting point for his nationwide survey.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum

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. chaya, -jaya 茶屋 tea shop, tea stall - Introduction .

. sankin kootai 参勤交代 Sankin Kotai Daimyo attendance in Edo .




Takanawa Ushimachi 高輪うしまち / Hiroshige 歌川広重

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. 47浪人 / 忠臣蔵 47 Ronin and the Chushingura and Sengaku-Ji 泉岳寺 .
"In the midst of a nest of venerable trees in Takanawa, a suburb of Yedo, is hidden Sengakuji, or the Spring-hill Temple, renowned throughout the length and breadth of the land for its cemetery, which contains the graves of the Forty-seven Rônin, famous in Japanese history, heroes of Japanese drama, the tale of whose deed I am about to transcribe."
— Mitford, A. B.

- quote -
Sengaku-ji Temple
Sengaku-ji Temple was founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
It was destroyed by the great fire in 1641 (the eighteenth year of Kan'ei)
and relocated to Takanawa and it was five daimyo (Mori, Asano, Kutsuki, Niwa and Mizutani)
that worked hard for the relocation of the temple.
A stone pagoda was built there for Asano Takuminokami Naganori and his masterless, 47 ex-Akō retainers,
who was involved in the Ako Incident.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -

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. Gofunai 御府内八十八ヶ所霊場 88 Henro Temples in Edo .
高野山東京別院 Koyasan Tokyo Betsu-In - "Koyasan Tokyo Branch Temple"
港区高輪3-15-18 // Minato Ward, Takanawa

. 高輪銭洗不動 Takanawa Zeniarai Fudo. .
Fudo Temple to wash your money to make it multiply.
東京都港区高輪一丁目 - 黄梅院 Kobai-In

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. 道往寺 Doo-Ji Kannon temple - Takanawa .

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Toozenji, Tōzen-ji 東禅寺 Tōzen-ji
- quote -
a Rinzai Zen temple established in 1609.
The first British legation in Japan was placed in this temple in 1859, but it was assaulted twice soon after that by samurais who were opposed to its existence, which resulted in some dead or wounded, and the legation retreated to Yokohama following this event.
Its precincts are well-maintained, and there is a three-storied-pagoda.
Sanmon, the main gate of the temple, was erected in 1971.
Hondo was completed in 1933.
Sanju-no-to, or the three-story pagoda, was erected in 1992.
- source and photos : visiting-japan.com/en -

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- More Takanawa sites -
Shrine Maruyama Jinja / Hatakeyama Memorial Museum

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- quote -

The siege of Edo
In the 1524 Siege of Edo, also known as the Battle of Takanawahara (高輪原の戦い), the Hōjō, led by Hōjō Ujitsuna, besieged Edo castle, which was held by Uesugi Tomooki.
Though Edo has since become the Japanese metropolis of Tokyo, it was then a more or less insignificant fishing village in the Kantō region.
Eager to repel the attackers,
Uesugi Tomooki led his warriors out of the castle to meet the Hōjō in battle at the Takanawa river crossing. However, Ujitsuna led his men around the Uesugi force and attacked them from the rear. Retreating back to his castle, Tomooki found that the commander of his garrison, Ōta Suketaka, had betrayed him and opened the gates to the Hōjō.
This battle would mark the beginning of a seventeen-year struggle between the Hōjō clans and Uesugi clans for dominance of the Kantō.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. The Edo Clan of the Musashi Taira 武蔵江戸氏 Musashi Edo-Shi .

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

石蕗咲くや高輪木戸に馬の墓
tsuwa saku ya Takanawa kido ni uma no haka

rock butterburs are flowering -
graves of the horses
at Takanawa Great Gate

Tr. Gabi Greve

Itoo Hideji 伊東秀二 Ito Hideji

. WKD : tsuwa no hana 石蕗の花 rock butterbur flowers .
- - kigo for early winter - -

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. Minato ku 港区 Minato ward, "Harbour ward" .

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

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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- - - - - #takanawa #takanawaokido #takanawahara - - - -
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10/18/2015

Construction work

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. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
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Construction work for a Japanese Home

Introducing the most importand craftsmen and artisans involved in constructing buildings.

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- quote
There are several types of craftsmen involved in the construction of buildings, and they differ in status and importance, from the most skillful architects and wood-carvers to the lowest day laborers who do the dirty work to support the more skilled craftsmen. The first, and most highly respected group are the carpenters.
Most master carpenters are not only responsible for building the wooden frame of the building, but also for designing the structure and drawing up the blueprint. It takes highly-skilled craftsmen to design and construct some of the larger and more impressive buildings in Edo, and as a result, the carpenter/architects are the "top of the pyramid" in the construction industry.

Next come the stonemasons and the roofers -- who are ranked about equally in terms of prestige, though their work is quite different. To prevent termites from damaging the wooden structures, most buildings in Edo are built on foundations of stone. The shape, stability and placement of the foundations stones is very important, especially in the case of large buildings. A home with an unsteady foundation may eventually collapse, particularly considering how many earthquakes there are in Japan. The roofers are responsible for covering the building with shingles (on working-class homes and most public buildings) or ceramic tiles (in the case of upper-class residences or temples). This job can be very dangerous, since most buildings have fairly steep roofs. One slip and a worker could suffer a serious injury, or even be killed.

The lowest rank of craftsmen in the construction industry -- just a step above the day laborers and apprentices -- are the plasterers. The homes of blue-collar people, farmers and laborers are usually made of rough-finished boards, with no covering or paint. However, the homes of the samurai are usually coated with a layer of plaster,both for insulation and to provide an attractive exterior finish. In addition, the walls that surround their residences are made of a thick layer of mud and plaster covering a wooden or bamboo frame. Plastering is a rather dirty job, but it requires a certain amount of skill. Many day laborers try their best to win a full time job as a plasterer, since it will mean a step up in status and a better salary than just providing the heavy labor needed on the construction site.

There are two other crafts that are also closely related to the construction industry, though they usually have independent businesses and just sell their products to builders. These are the craftsmen who make shoji (sliding paper screens) and tatami (straw mats). Because of Japan's climate, with its hot and muggy summer weather, most buildings are built with designs that aid in ventilation and air circulation. Shoji are sliding paper screens found on almost all doors and windows. You can slide them open to let the breezes blow through the house, and in the summer time they can be removed entirely, leaving the house open to even the gentlest draft of air. In their place, curtains made of finely-split bamboo or straw are hung from the ceiling. These keep out prying eyes, but still allow the breezes to blow through the entire house.
- source : edomatsu -

The leader of a group of craftsmen was generally called
oyakata 親方 boss, foreman, master craftsman leader

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source : 刃物 フルカワ
職人絵図 江戸時代 大工 (釿・ノミ・鋸・下げ振りなどが見える)



. daiku 大工 carpenter . -
tooryoo 棟梁 Toryo, master carpenter
miyadaiku 宮大工 "shrine carpenter"

. Hida no Takumi 飛騨の匠 Master Builders from Hida .

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. idohori shi 井戸堀師 digging a well .


. ishi ku, ishiku, sekkoo 石工 stone mason .

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jigyooshi 地形師 "ground-preparing" worker, ground leveling worker
Hardening the ground before setting up a building.
jigyoo 地形 Jigyo, the part under the foundation of a building


source : www.bousaihaku.com

This work was helped by the tobishokunin construction workers.

A tower scaffold with three platforms was erected, in its middle a huge tree trunk was placed (jigyoobashira 地形柱). The workers pulled it up and down with the help of a rope over a kassha 滑車 pulley



江戸東京地形の謎 / 芳賀 ひらく

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. kamadoshi かまど 竈師 making the earthen hearth .
- - - - - kamabutashi kamabuta-shi 釜蓋師 making a lid for the iron pot
- - - - - Kamafuta Jinja 釜蓋神社 "Kamafuta Shrine", Kagoshima
daidokoro 台所 the Japanese kitchen


. kanbanya 看板屋 making the shop sign .
kanban 看板 Kamban, Shop Signs


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sashimonoya 指物屋 furniture maker


Edo Sashimono 江戸指物 - 町職人の粋と意気 by 関保雄

. Edo Sashimono 江戸指物 Wood Joinery .

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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

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

. tatamiya 畳屋 making Tatami floor mats .
tatami 畳 Japanese floor mats

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

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


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. uekiya 植木屋, niwashi 庭師 gardener .

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. yaneya 屋根屋 roof maker, roofer - kawaraya 瓦屋/ 瓦師 roof tile maker .

. hafu 破風 gables and roofs .

. kokerabukishi, kokerabuki-shi 柿葺師 craftsman roofing with wooden shingles .


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. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

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

. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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Shiba port district

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
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 Shiba 芝 / 柴村 Shiba mura / 芝町 Shiba machi  
Minato ward

芝 shiba -- grass/lawn
柴 shiba -- brushwood
斯波氏 -- the Shiba clan




- quote -
Shiba (芝) is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, located near Hamamatsucho and Tamachi Stations on the Yamanote Line and Mita Station on the Toei Mita Line.
Shiba was a ward of Tokyo City from 1878 to 1947, consisting of a number of districts including Hamamatsucho, Mita, Shiba, Shinbashi, Shirokane, Takanawa and Toranomon.
Shiba is the location of Zōjō-ji temple, the Great Main Temple of the Chinzai sect of Shingon Buddhism.
Shiba is also the location of the main Minato Ward office.
- source : wikipedia -

hon Shiba 本芝 "Main Shiba"
The beginning of the 東海道 Tokaido road was located at the beach of Shiba and 高輪 Takanawa.
Many fishermen lived in this district.
The beginning of the Tokaido road was later relocated to 日本橋 Nihonbashi.



The gate 芝口御門 Shibaguchi Gomon, an outpost of Edo castle, was erected in 1616, now the district South of 田町 Tamachi station.
This gate was jokingly called 日暮の門 Higurashi no mon, because people could sit there all day and enjoy the view over Edo bay to the distand mountains of Chiba. 
The gate was later relocated in 1710, as suggested by Arai Hakuseki, at the time of the 6th Shogun, 徳川家宣 Tokugawa Ienobu. It was built to show the grandeur and power of Japan to the frequent embassies from Korea. But the gate buildings burnt down 15 years later.

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The region to the south of Shiba is called

Shibaura 芝浦 Shiba-Ura ("under Shiba")


source and photos : ndl.go.jp/landmarks/sights
竹芝浦 (たけしばうら)Take-Shibaura
袖ヶ浦 (そでがうら) Sodegaura


In 1486, there is a reference to an area called 芝ノ浦 Shiba no ura. This place name uses the “grass/lawn” kanji and not the “brushwood” kanji.
The area is noted for salt production and shipping

Shiba ebi 芝海老 Shiba shrimp and fishing in
. Shibaura 芝浦 Shiba-Ura - Introduction .

The Shiba clan 斯波氏 Shiba-shi
The clan claimed descent from the Minamoto Yasuuji and the Seiwa-Genji.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. the Shibaura abattoir .
and the Eta, the untouchables of Edo

Railway Steam Engine at Shibaura
Utagawa HiroshigeⅢ

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- quote -
Why is Shiba called Shiba?
芝 Shiba (grass/lawn)
The first theory I came across was one that said that the grass in this part of the Musashi Plain was particularly lush. A quick search for old art depicting any areas of the vast Musashi Plain will yield pictures of tall grasses. Search for plants of the Musashi Plain and all that you’ll see are lush grasses. I don’t see how an area next to the sea would be particularly more luxurious than any other area.

The second theory is that the 斯波氏 Shiba clan had a residence in the area. During the Ashikaga shōgunate, the Shiba were one the families that could hold the position of 管領 kanrei deputy shōgun (literally controller). While the family line came to an end in the mid 1500’s, it’s not impossible to imagine that some member of the Shiba family had a residence here. However, there doesn’t seem to be any collaborating evidence for this theory.

Another theory is that in the early days, when there were many shallow inlets cutting in to what is now central Tōkyō (and this part of town was literally part of the bay, the area was characterized by brushwood used to grow and harvest 海苔 nori seaweed. The general word for brushwood is 柴 shiba*. As far back as the Sengoku Period, we know there to have been a 柴村 Shiba Mura Shiba Village in the area. In the early Edo Period, 柴町 Shiba Machi Shiba Town is attested. The name change reflects an area whose population had grown substantially.
In the early Edo Period we start to see an alternate writing as 芝町 Shiba Machi.
Over the course of the Edo Period, this new variation becomes the standard and the old variant dies out. Products developed in the area develop a widespread reputation as “Shiba Machi” products – like a brand name.

- read more on this link :
- source : japanthis.com/2013 -

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芝神明宮大鳥居 Torii Gate at Shiba Shinmei Shrine / Shiba Myojin Gu
Utagawa Hiroshige

- quote -
Shiba-myōjin Shrine Shōga-ichi 芝明神せうが市 Ginger Market
Shiba-daijingū at Shibadaimon, Minato Ward,
is a shrine that has been well-known as Shiba-shinmei since ancient times.
A festival held there in the nine month of the lunar calendar lasted as long as 11 days
and so it was mocked and called だらだら祭り "Daradara Matsuri (lazy festival)".
During the festival, ginger that is one of the specialties of Yanaka 谷中生姜
was sold everywhere on the temple grounds, lending the place another name, "Shōga-ichi(ginger market)."
-source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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Azuma Asobi 東遊 Leisurely visit to the eastern capital
Asakusa-An Ichindo, Shijin 浅草菴 市人 (1755 - 1820)
芝神明宮

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- quote
Shiba - A Port District
Edo is criscrossed by rivers, moats and canals, laid out in a regular grid. In fact, the network of canals is much more organized than the narrow and rambling streets. For this reason, the most efficient means of transportation within the city, especially for heavy goods, is by boat. All of the major rivers and canals are bustling with boat traffic, and some people -- particularly fishermen and people who own barges (takase-bune) -- practically live on their boats. In fact, many people have referred to Edo as the "Venice of the East".

Edo can generally be divided into two main areas, a hilly plateau to the north and west, and a low-lying area crisscrossed by rivers and canals. Most of the daimyo and other nobles or government officials live on large estates in the hilly part of the city. This area is called the Yama-no-te (mountain's fingers), referring to the many lines of hills that run towards the coast. This area could be considered the "suburbs" of Edo, although many of these suburbs are quite close to the center of town.

On the other hand, the waterfront area of the city is where most of the common people live. This part of town is called shita-machi, which means "the lower town" or "downtown". About two-thirds of the population of Edo lives and works in the shita-machi area. Much of the land in this area was reclaimed from the bay, and rivers and canals break the area up into hundreds of separate neighborhoods, or "towns" (machi).

Each of the towns is a largely self-contained community, with its own local government and local leaders. Each machi (town) is administered by a group of local leaders called the machi-toshiyori (town elders), who are selected by a democratic vote. Everyone who owns property in the district is allowed to vote. Although the lower-class people who rent their homes do not get a vote, this system provides a certain amount of democratic political power to the people of the city, at least those in the middle class.

Although the Kanto region is one of the most fertile areas in Japan, prior to 1600 it was only sparsely populated. The area where downtown Edo is now located was covered by tidal flats, marshes, and silty islands on the shores of Edo Bay. Apart from a few fishing villages along the shore, the land was not really suitable for habitation. However, when the first Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, established his capital here, one of the first things he did was to reclaim this broad area of marshes, to serve as the site of a new city.

An army of workers dug canals and moats, and leveled a few small hills, using the excavated earth to fill in these mudflats. The flat, hard-packed land was in an ideal location for a commercial district. It was at the head of the bay, and straddled a major river (the Sumida river), providing for good transportation both by sea and to inland areas further upriver. The many canals provided a convenient transportation network within the city, while the ports along the shore allowed the Shogun to ship in materials and goods into Edo from all over the country. Before long, the mud flats had disappeared completely and in their place was a busy, bustling town.

One of the first large-scale canals built by the Tokugawa Shoguns after they established their capital in Edo was the 道三堀 Dosan-bori (Dosan canal), which runs from Edo bay through the Shiba district, and up to the forecourt of the Shogun's palace. This broad waterway was used to carry all the huge stones and other materials that were used to build Edo Castle, and it continues to serve as a main route for transporting goods to the Shogun's court. For this reason, the Shiba district remains one of the three main port districts in Edo. Although Shiba is not quite as busy as nearby Tsukiji, or the major port of Minato, near Nihonbashi, it nevertheless handles a large volume of ships carrying many of Edo's most essential goods and foodstuffs from all over Japan.

Edo has been the largest city in Japan since the late 1600s. The population has soared since it became the Shogun's capital city. However, before the Tokugawa Shoguns moved to Edo, the two main cities were Kyoto and Osaka, in western Japan. Even today, most commerce, farming and manufacturing activity is concentrated in the area of western Japan, around Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. Therefore, most of the high-quality goods and a fairly large portion of the food consumed in Edo is shipped to the city from Western Japan. Because of the tremendous demand created by the one million people living in Edo, thousands of ships are needed to ship in all of the goods that the city consumes.

The traders and wholesalers of Sakai (Osaka), who control most of the shipping in Japan, have become extremely wealthy from this trade. Although merchants are considered the lowest of the social classes, the leading Osaka merchants rank among the richest families in the country. Their wealth has made many of these traders very important people. To meet the tremendous demand from people living in Edo. the ships owned by the Osaka merchants are constantly sailing into and out of the ports, bringing goods from all areas of the country. The barges and ships that fill the city's waterways are the lifeblood of commerce. Therefore, major port districts like Shiba, are crowded and bustling places.

In the dock area, workers rush to and fro unloading a multitude of different goods from the boats tied up at the docks. Purchasing agents from the wholesale "companies" negotiate with the ship owners as they watch the dock workers and unload their cargoes. They keep careful accounts of the cargo unloaded. In most cases, money does not change hands when ships are unloaded. Instead, the seller and the buyer exchange lists of the cargo delivered. These lists are stamped with the hanko (ink stamp) of both parties, and serve as a formal contract. The seller can collect payment later, by simply showing the stamped list of the cargo they delivered.

Usually, the cargo unloaded at a major port like Shiba is immediately shipped to other parts of the city by cart or barge. For example, that group of workers over there is unloading a boatfull of melons. The fruit will be taken by barge to one of the wholesale markets in Edo and sold to smaller fruit vendors. These vendors will then carry the fruit to their shops and sell it to consumers, or they may carry it through the streets selling it to passers-by.

In addition to the cargo ships tied up at the docks, there are also many watashi-bune (ferries) and pleasure boats sailing to and fro, offering travelers a ride through the city canals. Some of these boats even serve food to passengers, sort of like "floating restaurants". I have a friend who works as a ferry boat pilot in this district. If you are interested, we can hitch a ride with him to his home village, on a small island in Edo bay.
- source : Edomatsu


. hori 堀 moat and districts with this name .


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Zoojooji, Zōjō-Ji 増上寺 Zojo-Ji


増上寺朝霧 Zojo-Ji in Morning Mist
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige

- quote -
Zojoji was founded in 1393 as an orthodox and fundamental nembutsu seminary for Jodo shu in the Kanto (east Japan) region.
Zojoji was relocated to the present site in 1598 after Ieyasu Tokugawa, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, entered Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1590 to establish his provincial government. After the start of the Edo Period when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan, Zojoji became the family temple of the Tokugawa family and an unparalleled grand cathedral was built....
..... as the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end and the Meiji Era started, an anti-Buddhist movement got under way. The cathedral, temples and the mausoleum of the Tokugawa family were burned down by air raids during World War II. Thus, Zojoji was profoundly affected by political and social circumstances.


..... Daiden (Hondo), which forms the core of the Buddhist structures of Zojoji, was rebuilt in 1974 by combining the traditional Buddhist temple architecture with a cream of modern architecture.

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nishimuki Kannon bosatsu 西向聖観世音菩薩 Kannon facing West
When the temple Sojo-Ji was relocated here in 1598, this statue of Kannon, made in the Kamakura period, had already been here.


nishimuki Kannon / Nishi-Muki Kannon 西向観音 Kannon facing West
She had been on 観音山 Kannonyama facing West.
- HP of the temple :
4-7-35 Shibakoen Minato-ku, Tokyo
- source : zojoji.or.jp -

. Legends about Temple Zojo-Ji .

- Zojo-Ji - in the Darumapedia .

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Sub-districts of Shiba
Atago
Kaigan (1-chōme) // Kaigan (2, 3-chōme)
Kōnan
. Daiba 台場 Daiba district / Odaiba お台場 .
. Shiba 芝 / 柴村 Shiba mura / 芝町 Shiba machi district .
..... Shibakōen ..... Shibadaimon
. Shiodome 汐留 Shiodome district .
Toranomon
. Hamamatsuchō 浜松町 Hamamatsucho, Hamamatsu district .
. Mita 三田 / 御田 / 美田 "Three Rice Fields" .
. Mita Shikoku Machi 三田四国町 "Shikoku Town" in Mita .
- 港区 Minato 芝2-5丁目 Shiba second to fifth sub-district
. Shinbashi 新橋 .
- Nishi-Shinbashi West, Higashi-Shinbashi East

sub-districts of Shibaura-Kōnan Area
芝浦 Shiba-Ura ("under Shiba")  



View of Shibaura Inlet / View of Shiba coast
Utagawa Hiroshige



Kanasugibashi Shibaura 金杉橋芝浦 Kanasugibashi Bridge and Shibaura
Utagawa Hiroshige
The bridge is located at 2-chōme-3 Shiba, Minato City
It still exists today, over the river 古川 Furukawa(渋谷川 Shibuyagawa), along 芝1丁目 Shiba first sub-district and 浜松町2丁目 Hamanatsucho second sub-district.
The modern bridge is 19 m long and 42 m wide. Under the bridge is place for the Yakatabune 屋形船 pleasure boats.
In the Edo period, Kanasugi was a sub-district 芝金杉浦 Shiba-Kanasugi-ura(現在の芝 present-day Shiba)and a port at the estuart of the river.

The print by Hiroshige shows a group of pilgrims on their way home from the 池上本門寺 Ikegami Honmon-Ji of the Nichiren sect.

. Temple Ikegami Honmon-Ji 池上本門寺 .
..... erected where Nichiren is said to have died.


Furukawa River Story
A rarely known studied history of the small river and its neighborhood in Tokyo
The Furukawa, a small river that flows from Shibuya, Harajuku, and Omotesando into the Tokyo Bay, is one of the most important waters in Tokyo’s city center. Although a humble river, Furukawa has long been part of the local life in Minato Ward.
This book traces the history of the river and the unique role it played in the towns of Azabu-juban, Higashi-Azabu and Shirokane.
- source : mori-m-foundation.or.jp/wordpress... -

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- quote -
Hiroo Furukawa River 広尾ふる川
The Furukawa River changes its name from 渋谷川 the Shibuya River in its upper course
to 赤羽川 the Akabane River, 新堀川 Shinhori River and
金杉川Kanasugi River in its lower course, eventually flowing into Edo Bay.
There are four bridges from Ichi-no-hashi to Shi-no-hashi starting from the dock at Azabu Jūban.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Musaum -

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. Minato ku 港区 Minato ward, "Harbour ward" .

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

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - - - - #shibaport #shiba #zojoji #shibaura #nishimukikannon - - - -
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Law and Order

[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
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Law and Order  法律 - Pax Tokugawa

- quote
- Michael Hoffman wrote in the Japan Times:
“The lord of Iyo (in Shikoku) lost a favorite hawk,” writes a Nagoya samurai diarist in an entry dated 1692, “and he sought it throughout his domain. One day, a certain farmer went out to tend his fields, while his wife stayed home with her weaving. A hawk flew in and perched on the loom. The wife took her shuttle and struck the bird, which straightway died.”

What was the punishment for accidentally killing (the woman had not struck with murderous intent) a lord’s favorite hawk? Whatever, the lord said it was. That, in essence, was Japanese law during the Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1867) — whatever someone above in the rigid social hierarchy said it was to someone below. Enraged, the lord had the woman crucified. He pardoned her husband, who hadn’t been home at the time — but he didn’t have to. Had his rage been a little greater, the husband would have been similarly dealt with, without anyone crying injustice or rising up in protest.

This trivial episode tells us much about Tokugawa rule — its gross cruelty, its boundless arbitrariness, its utter blindness to any moral standard beyond absolute submission to absolute power. As historian Charles Dunn tells us, “(The) criminal code, such as it was, could be changed without warning. This was in keeping with the fundamental Tokugawa attitude, derived from Confucian precepts” — selectively interpreted — “that the people should not be instructed as to what the law might be, but should be content to do what they were told.”

Astonishingly, they more or less were. They were not always docile. Famine drove peasants to riot thousands of times in the course of the Tokugawa Period. Impoverished townsmen too erupted from time to time. But on popular demands for individual freedom, human rights, minimal human dignity, the rule of law, the contemporary literature is silent. The poet Matsuo Basho (1644-94), whose unfettered lifestyle and supposed enlightenment should perhaps have given freedom some value in his eyes, wrote instead, “The august light of Tokugawa rule illumines the whole firmament, and its beneficent rays reach into every corner of the land so that all the people may live in security and peace.”

Peace, unquestionably, was an asset. Pax Tokugawa had been preceded by two centuries of civil carnage. A people forged in such fires might well give peace priority over freedom. Besides, freedom has many meanings. There is political freedom, which Tokugawa Japan knew nothing of; there is social freedom, which to the extent that it means a poverty-stricken peasant child may by dint of ability and application rise beyond his station, was practically nonexistent; and there is individual freedom, which was restricted enough but did exist, here and there, in isolated corners of this grim prison-society.
- source : Japan Times


Pax Tokugawa lasted 265 years, from 1603 to 1868
- source : reference -


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Edo Period Japan: 250 Years of Peace
Legal Systems Very Different From Our Own
Meg vanSteenburgh / Spring 2006

Introduction
“Unreason is less than reason.
Reason is less than law.
Authority is greater than law,
but heaven is supreme.”

-Tokugawa saying

The hallmark of the Tokugawa dynasty (1603-1867) was a strong belief in the Neo-Confucian ideals of morals, education, and strict hierarchical class structure in both government and society. After hundreds of years of civil wars, the fifteen Tokugawa shoguns made their foremost goals political stability and complete isolationism. The rice-based economy of Tokugawa period Japan was a complex form of feudalism. It was a country symbolically ruled by the emperor in Kyoto, while in actuality ruled by his shogun, or chief military advisor, in Edo.
The shogun implemented an administrative system which effectively organized Edo period society into a strict hereditary caste system in descending order of Neo-Confucian merit: warrior, farmer, artisan, merchant.[i] The different classes were separated by bungen, or lines of demarcation, which were almost impossible to cross.

Below the merchants in the hierarchy were the eta, or untouchables, who were not actually considered people and were largely outside the purview of any governmental body. Another group, the buke, or clergy (both Shinto and Buddhist) existed outside of the regulation of the feudal government to a large extent. The buke were required to pay tribute to the feudal government but effectively regulated themselves and did not go to the shogunate for the settlement of disputes; which was one of the only ways that the peasant class ever interacted with the shogunal government. The Confucian system was based on the idea that superiors ruled by example; their subordinates had no rights, per se, but rulers had a moral duty to treat subordinates correctly. Theoretically, the law would only step in to punish a failure of this moral duty, not to vindicate the rights of the victims.[ii]

Shogunal power rested on three key strategies. The first was using divine power in the name of the emperor to maintain legitimate authority that was beyond question, though the emperor himself was little more than a puppet and was virtually imprisoned in the imperial palace in Kyoto. The second was complete control of the daimyo, or feudal lords, in order to prevent a repetition of the internal strife and intrigue that had plagued the country until its unification in by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603 after the battle of Sekigahara. And the third was isolation, or sakoku, from not only the West but also from the Chinese mainland to minimize the threat of foreign influence or inspired rebellion. In fact, by 1635 the Japanese people were forbidden to travel abroad and those who were already abroad were not permitted to come home.[iii] All foreign trade was suspended, except for trade with the Dutch[iv]. However, the entire Dutch trading mission was expelled to Dejima, an artificially made island in Nagasaki harbor.[v] When the Portuguese attempted to re-establish trade relations with the shogunal government their entire delegation was summarily executed upon arrival.[vi]

Another Western influence that the Tokugawa tried to eradicate was Christianity. In some village codes, which were largely a reflection of shogunal wishes, there appear articles like: “The peasants are investigated every month, and comings and goings are checked with the pertinent temple in each case to verify affiliation. Therefore, should there be a Christian in this village, not only his goningumi [village council] and the headman but the entire village will be punished.”[vii] Christianity was most likely viewed by the shogun as dangerous to the stability of the new nation because of its direct opposition to the Confucian ideal of maintaining the status quo that the shogun was attempting to instill in the people. Another problem with Christianity is that its influence had always been strongest in Kyushu and southern Honshu where the most powerful internal enemies of the shogun had their fiefs and the shogun did not want to allow those lords to gain the sympathy of and ally themselves with the Western powers in any way.[viii]

The stability gained by isolation and strict class control saw feudal Japan double its population from fifteen-million to thirty-million in the first half of the period as well as an increase in urbanization and the influence of the merchant class.[ix] Though Confucian ideals would rank merchants at the bottom of the class structure as economic parasites, since they did not actually produce anything, during Edo period Japan they became the creditors of overlords and samurai alike. While this did not officially increase their status in polite society, holding the purse strings of a powerful overlord could guarantee many perks in a society which continued to emphasize agrarian taxation and failed to tax the ever-expanding urban industries.[x]

Villages, which operated as largely autonomous units, were also expanding their industries with enterprises like silk production, textile weaving, and sake brewing.[xi] However, many of these entrepreneurial villagers failed at their endeavors, went into debt, and migrated into the cities to form the base of the unskilled labor force which fed the increasing urbanization.[xii] This growth and expansion peaked during the Genroku period[xiii] (1688-1704). Another interesting note is that between 1600 and 1720 the percentage of arable land in Japan nearly doubled.[xiv] This was most likely in part due to the fact that the lower classes could pursue their enterprises, be it sake brewing or irrigation projects, fairly single-mindedly since they were completely excluded from political activity outside the village unit.[xv] In fact the legal system of Tokugawa Japan had two very distinct jurisdictions which interacted very rarely: the shogunal government and the village government.

- - - - - Politics, Government and Social Structure
- - - - - Law and Punishment
snip
- - - - - Conclusion
Towards the end of the Tokugawa period the villages became less and less autonomous as the pressures of urbanization and the swollen bureaucracy of the bafuku closed in on them. The strict class structure gave way to the more modern entrepreneurial spirit of Japan that we see today, even though history and tradition still play a large part in Japanese family life. The Meiji restoration brought a still antiquated Japan into the glare of the modern world and old traditions like the samurai and eta faded away along with status restrictions and wars fought without guns. Isolationism may have been the best way to bring order to a country which had suffered from civil strife and turmoil for so long, but in the end the temptations of trade and modernity were too much for Japan to resist.
- - - Full text available here
- source : daviddfriedman.com -

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. Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 (1543 - 1616) .



- reference - pax tokuwawa -

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- quote -
Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan 1603-1853
By Haga Tōru (Japan Library, 2021) Transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter
Lightning -
girdled by waves
the islands of Japan

This haiku by Yosa Buson (1716-1784) captures a snapshot of Japan in the Tokugawa era: isolated, peaceful, self-contained.
The Tokugawa era (aka Edo period),
which stretched from 1603 until its fall in 1868, has generally been considered a dark, feudal age run by a draconian police state. To be sure, the samurai could come down hard on dissidents and were inveterate party poopers, but this period also witnessed the flourishing of practically every gentle art that Japan has become famous for: tea, horticulture and landscape gardens, kimono textile design, woodblock prints, haiku and its satirical cousin senryū, kabuki and the puppet theatre, and a few forms like kyōka (“mad poems”) and gesaku pop literature that would be less known to the layperson. In his book, Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan, 1603-1853, Haga Tōru covers all these, as well as the advances made chiefly in medicine and natural history by Japanese philosophers and scientists. This collection of Haga’s essays is elegantly translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter, capturing the voice of this engaging writer. ...
--- From the early 17th century—when Japan booted out Christians and most other Europeans except a few Dutch merchants—until Commodore Matthew C. Perry steamed into Edo Bay in 1853 (forcing the country to open to foreign trade), Japan had been a closed country, sakoku in Japanese. ...
- - - Review by Cody Poulton
- source : booksonasia.net/2021/06/24 ... -

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. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

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

. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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