7 Nov 2015

EDO - seihonshi book binder

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. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
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seihonshi 製本師 bookbinder - Buchbinder
seihonya 製本屋 - seihon gyoosha 製本業者

seihon ginooshi 製本技能士



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

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- - - - - some keywords

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



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


detchō, dechoosoo 粘葉装 paste-leaf book
(see kochōsō butterfly binding below)


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

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


hanshitagaki 版下書き copyist


. horishi 彫り師 block carver .


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

kikai-zuri 機械刷り machine printing


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

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


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


. surishi 摺り師 printer .


techōsō (see Yamato toji)



wasoobon 和装本 Japanese book making


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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

- snip -
- source : bookbindersmuseum.org -


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

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

heating -
the sweet smell of glue
at the bookbindery


高井北杜 Takai Hokuto

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

this lamp
like a tree - spring
at the bookbindery


. Miyasaka Shizuo 宮坂静生 .



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. 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 .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .

. densetsu 伝説 Japanese Legends - Introduction .


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Posted By Gabi Greve to Edo - the EDOPEDIA - on 11/02/2015 10:12:00 a.m.

1 Nov 2015

KAPPA - Jozankei Hokkaido


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- KAPPA - 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - ABC-Index -
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- Jozankei Hokkaido 定山渓 北海道 -

This onsen hot spring resort is now having Kappa everywhere. The most important one is the

Kappa Dai-O, Daio 河童大王/ かっぱ大王 Great King Kappa



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The town has a map with 24 Kappa figures to find while taking a walk.

- quote
There is a "legend of Kappa" in Jozankei hot springs.
And Kappa is a mascot of Jozankei. "Kappa road" was named for "Kappa" and also there is a "Kappa" designed drinking fountain. Do you know there is a openwork "Kappa" on handrail of Tsukimi-bridge over Toyohira River?
Fairy tale kappa statues which are seen everywhere in the hotspring town are based on ideas given by residents of Sapporo, and made by sculptors from both inside and outside of Hokkaido .
Enjoy walking, guessing what kind of "kappa" you will run into...



Until the Choshiguchi hydroelectric power plant was built in 1908, the water flow of the Toyohira River was big enough to wash out logs (for straight-grained boards) of the interior of the mountain down the river. There were also many big river fishes inhabited everywhere in the deep channels. Around that time, there was a young boy, named a Mr. Seyama, who was working for road works. When he was fishing by one of the deep pools of the river, all of sudden he was sucked down into the bottom of the river, even though he did not miss his footing. Villagers who were working to wash out the logs down the river saw the boy being sucked into the river, and immediately jumped into the river to try to rescue him.

But the river was so deep that they could not rescue him, and at the end the days passed without being able to find the boy. A year later, on the night of the first memorial service for the boy, the young boy appeared in his father's dream and said, "I am living happily with a water goblin wife and a child." The most handsome boy in the village was probably charmed by the goblin wife living in the river. Since then, the area has been called as the goblin's pool, and there has been no one who goes missing.



- - - - - Check out the 24 Kappa statues here :
- source : jozankei.jp/en/about/kappa




かっぱ太郎 Kappa Taro
near the hot foot bath 足のふれあい太郎の湯


定山渓温泉街の二見公園にある像。
昭和40年(1965年)に始まったかっぱ祭りの主体となるものをと、おおば比呂司のアイディアとデザインにより作成したもの。昭和41年(1966年)第2回かっぱ祭りの際に設置。
かっぱ大王像
かっぱ妹子(いもこ) Kappa Imoko
カッパーマン Kappaaman
city.sapporo.jp/minami

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Kappa Ema 定山渓河童絵馬 votive tablet



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- quote
Some say the Kappa is of Ainu origin, . . .
The Ainu, Japan's earliest inhabitants, live primarily in Hokkaido, the northernmost island, and their folklore is rich in imagery and monsters. Near Sapporo, the main city in Hokkaido, is an area called Jozankei, home to the "Great Kappa King" and the "Kappa Buchi Legend." However, the Jozankei legends are probably not of Ainu origin.
According to the Angelfire web site:
The Ainu believe in a magical connection between trees and humans. For example, when a certain tree is cut down a girl will die. They feel that willows are like living humans and make miniature sacrificial willows from willow peelings (see also Willoughby-Meade, Chinese Ghouls and Goblins for more). The Ainu are also known for their Shamanistic beliefs and practices (perhaps of Siberian origin).
... Ainu tales ... One story in the collection is called The Old Man of the Sea (Atui Koro Ekashi). It describes an ocean monster able to swallow ships and whales.

The symbol of Jozankei Valley is the Kappa, the water sprite.
Jozankei (valley) 定山渓温泉 is a hot spring area and spa near Toyohiragawa River in southwest Sapporo (Hokkaido). Called "Sapporo's Back Parlor," the spa is surrounded by mountains, and was discovered by a monk called Jozan, and named after this monk for the efforts he made to develop it. The Kappa is the guardian spirit of the area. Local legend tells of a young boy who fell into a deep pool, where he was taken to the land of the Kappa, and lived happily thereafter. Approximately 23 Kappa stand in various poses around the spa town, including the Great Kappa King. There is also a Kappa Pool, which becomes very lively during the Kappa Festival that takes place in early August.

Kappa-Buchi (Kappa Pool) Legend in Jozankei 定山渓
According to local folklore, a young man was fishing in a deep pool in Jozankei, but fell in and never surfaced. Months later he appeared in his father's dreams to say he was living happily with the Kappa, and his Kappa wife and child. The pool is named "Kappa-buchi," or kappa pool, in light of this legend.
- source : Mark Schumacher

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Kappon かっぽん 定山渓温泉 Jozankei hot spring

. Kappon かっぽん - 定山渓 Kappa Mascot .

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Jozankei Kappa Festival 定山渓河童まつり / かっぱ祭り / 定山渓カッパまつり

The annual"Kappa Week" in early August
Various events and "Kappa food" at many places.





定山渓かっぱのやわらかたまごサブレ Tamago Sabure bisquits




「キュウリエキス配合」の「定山渓温泉カッパの湯」
hot spring extract with cucumber

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At Jozankei, they run a Momiji Kappa Bus during the autumn season.
momiji kappa basu 「紅葉かっぱバス」
. momiji kappa basu 「紅葉かっぱバス」in Jozankei .

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定山渓雪の階下り湯のホテル
Jozankei yuki no kai kudari yu no hoteru

Jozankei -
down to the Snow Floor
at the Hot Spring Hotel


Watanabe Shiori 渡辺しおり

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- reference -


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. Kappa densetsu 河童伝説, Kappa minwa 河童民話 - Legends - Introduction .

. - yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters - .


. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .

. Mingei 民芸 Regional Folk Art from Japan .

- #jozankei #josankei -
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Posted By Gabi Greve to Kappa - The Kappapedia on 10/30/2015 12:53:00 p.m.

29 Oct 2015

EDO MINGEI - shokunin - craftsmen



[http://darumasan.blogspot.jp/]
[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. Traditional Crafts of Edo - Tokyo .
. - - - - - ABC List of Edo craftsmen 江戸の職人 - - - - - .
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shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker
takumi 匠 master craftsman
watari shokunin 渡り職人 wandering craftsman

. - - - - - ABC List of Edo craftsmen 江戸の職人 - - - - - .
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shinookooshoo 士農工商 Shinokosho - the four social classes of
warriors, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants

. mibun seido 身分制度 status system, Klassensystem .


Edo shokunin zushoo 江戸職人図聚 by 三谷一馬


After Tokugawa Ieyasu established his capital in Edo, he invited many skillful craftsmen to come here, build the castle, temples, shrines and mansions of the daimyo Lords in an act to fulfill their "duty to the country" (kuniyaku, kokuyaku 国役). Many official construction works were kuniyaku-bushin 国役普請, many of them comprising flood control works.
After the great fires which often hit the growing town, rebuilding was done by the carpenters and craftsmen.
One of the major center of craftsmen established by Ieyasu was Kanda 神田, where some street names remain to our day.
The craftsmen of Kanda had one passion - the annual Kanda festival.
The important supervisors of a guild, tooryoo 棟梁 Toryo had to organize the craftsmen in their districts and report to the Bakufu government.

. Kanda matsuri 神田祭 Kanda Festival - Introduction .
at the shrine 神田明神 Kanda Myojin

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One of the great customers of skillful craftsmen were the more than 1000 women living in Ooku 大奥, Oku, the Harem of the Shogun. They bought only the best of everything available.
The leader of a group of craftsmen working for the Bakufu government was called
goyootashi 御用達, castle-town merchants.
Craftsmen who did not want to be bound too much by the rules of government eventually moved out to other parts of Edo and worked on their own for the neighbourhood.

The leader of a group of craftsmen was generally called
oyakata 親方 boss, foreman, master craftsman leader
- - - - - not to mix with
. oyabun 親分 boss, gang leader, godfather .

A boy of about 10 years entered the workshop of an Oyakata to learn the craft, for more than 10 years (dechibooko 丁稚奉公 - a kind of apprenticeship) before he was given work to do by himself. He lived in the house of the Oyakata and took part is the "family life" of the group of workers. He got no money, just free food and lodging at the house.
When he had learned all the tricks of the trade and was ready to establish himself, he had to work another one year for free "to show his gratitude" (御礼奉公), before the Oyakata set him free.

Before doing some work the craftsman had to haggle about the price for a bit of work with his client,
temadori 手間取.
Despite working hard, most craftsmen earned just enough to get by day by day. The only wealthy ones were the Oyakata.
But since there were many fires in Edo, the craftsmen were always necessary to produce new things for the homes and had work enough to live by. They preferred to spend their daily earnings soon in the evening and not put much savings on the side.
yoigoshi no zeni wa mottainai 宵越しの銭は持たない
small change should not be kept over night

"An Edoite will not keep his earnings overnight"

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source and more : ameblo.jp/edo-sanpo

Craftsmen working at home were called ijoku, ishoku 居職.
They mostly made the items people used in daily life. They made things when they got an order from a family and made some extra things to sell on the spot or engage a peddler selling them. He could take a price he saw fit for his work, hoping the client would pay, otherwise haggle for a bit.

Craftsmen going out to work were called dejoku, deshoku 出職.
They went to the home of a client to work. The three most important deshoku for construction works 普請三職 were
daiku 大工 carpenter, shakan 左官 wall plasterer and tobi 鳶 construction workers.

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

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Edo no waza to takumi 江戸の技と匠 The skilled craftsmen of Edo

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shokuninmachi 職人町 district with craftsmen, a part of Edo
. EDO - machi, choo  町 town and village   .

Various "villages" for the craftsmen of the same type. Some names still exist in Tokyo,
others have disappeared from the modern map.
(choo 町 can also be read machi)


konyachoo 紺屋町 dyeing cloth
nabechoo 鍋町 making pots and pans
norimonochoo 乗物町 making kago and mikoshi palanquins
..... kitanorimonochoo 北乗物町
renjakuchoo 連雀町 making backpack luggage carriers  (renjaku is a waxwing bird)
roosokuchoo 蠟燭町  wax candle makers
nushichoo 塗師町 laquer workers
sudachoo 須田町 making fruit sweets
shinkokuchoo 新石町 stone masons
shirakabechoo 白壁町 "making white walls" plasterers
Shiroganecho, (ginchoo 銀町/ shinshiroganechoo 新銀町 making silver craft items


. Kajichoo, Kajimachi 千代田区 鍛冶町 "Blacksmith district" in Chiyoda
Kajiyachoo, Kajiyamachi 神田 鍛冶屋町 in Kanda (Chiyoda) .


. Kanda daikuchoo 神田 大工町 carpenter district in Kanda .

. Kijichoo 雉子町 "pheasant district", wood-craft artisans .

. Konyachoo, Konyachō 神田紺屋町 Kanda Konya-Cho
Konyamachi, district for indigo cloth dyers .

- 土屋五郎右衛門 Tsuchiya Goroemon


駅名で読む江戸・東京 / 大石学

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo .


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お江戸の職人(エリート)素朴な大疑問 / 中江克己 Nakae Katsumi

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Kyoobashi 京橋 Kyobashi Bridge "Kyoto Bridge"

- quote -
Kyobashi - Home of Edo's Craftsmen
The Tokaido is the main highway between Edo and Western Japan. Here in the downtown area of the city, though, it looks like just one more busy city street. As we get closer to the center of town, the streets which cross the Tokaido become broader and the buildings that line the streets become larger and more imposing. Most of the buildings on the main roads are large stores or the homes some of the city's more prosperous merchants. Kyobashi is the general name given to a large area of low-lying land that makes up one of the key commercial districts of Edo. The district occupies the flat land immediately to the West of Edo castle, and is an important center of the city's economy.
- snip -
However, the reason why Kyobashi is such an important part of Edo's economy is that many communities of craftsmen and artisans live in the area. The people who practice each type of craft tend to gather together in certain neighborhoods, and for this reason, many neighborhoods in the Kyobashi area are named after the type of craftsmen who live there.
A few examples are:

Tatami-machi -- Mat-maker's village
Oke-machi -- Bucket-maker's village
Minami Daiku-machi -- South carpenter's village
Minami Kaji-machi -- South blacksmith's village
Teppo-machi -- Gunsmith's village


Probably the most famous of these areas is "Ginza", the location of the Shogun's mint. Gin-za takes its name from the silver mints located in a cluster of buildings just to the southeast of the Shogun's castle. The artisans who work in these silver shops belong to one of just three authorized silver mints in the country -- one in Edo, one in Sakai (Osaka) and one on Sado island -- home of the country's most productive gold and silver mines. The area also contains many smaller shops manned by artisans from the same silver guild, who turn out silver jewelry and decorative items. A few minutes walk to the north, also bordering the grounds of Edo castle, is the gold mint or Kin-za, and further away, near the shores of Edo bay, is the Zeni-za, or copper mint. Like the Gin-za, the gold and copper mints are strictly licensed by the Shogun, and only a few exist nationwide.



- snip -
... the Kyobashi district is the most "middle class" area of the city.
While many parts of Edo are either dominated by huge manors of the upper classes or filled with tiny "row houses" of low-skilled workers, Kyobashi is mainly inhabited by small merchants and craftsmen. As you pass from neighborhood to neighborhood, you notice that all the stores facing the street in a given district sell the same type of products: Dyed cloth is sold on one block, iron tools on the next, pots and pans on this street and bookstores on the next.

The layout of the city streets is quite complicated. Although the main avenues are fairly broad and straight, in each "block", there are dozens of little alleyways that lead between the major buildings and into courtyards behind the stores. These alleyways are lined by workshops and homes where the craftsmen live. For example, between two of the shops that that sell iron tools is an alleyway, and if you listen carefully, you can hear the clanging of a blacksmith's hammer coming from the courtyard. This neighborhood is home to people who specialise in iron work.

On the next block are stores selling oke (wooden buckets and tubs). In the alleyways and courtyards behind these shops, you can see men carving the wooden frames of large tubs, and securing them with strong strips of twine. This is the neighborhood where the okeya (bucketmakers) live.

Over here are a group of shops that sell cloth and simple cotton kimono. Let's go down this alleyway and see the neighborhood where the dyers and weavers live.
The alley leads into a wide square. This central square is the heart of the weavers' neighborhood. Apart from a few tiny shops selling vegetables, rice and other necessities, most of the buildings that face this central square have workshops on the ground floor and apartments upstairs where the craftsmen and their families live. The entire community is busy at some sort of work related to the district's trade -- dyeing cloth.

The central square in the dyer's district is a very colorful place. Some of the older men shout instructions to their apprentices, who are learning how to prepare the cloth and dyes in just the right way, to ensure that the color is vivid and even, yet does not fade too much when washed. All around the area, brightly colored strips of fabric flutter in the light breeze as the cloth is dried and the dyes set. The cloth produced in these workshops around the central square are then sold in the large stores that face the street, or they may be sold to large wholesalers (tonya) and sold in other markets around the region.

In some buildings, people are weaving the cloth using large looms. Elsewhere, workers are dyeing the cloth in large wooden vats. Everyone in the neighborhood, men women and children, take part in the work. Before the Tokugawa Shoguns set up their capital in Edo, the only people in the area were farmers and warriors. Most of the best craftsmen in Japan are from the area around Kyoto and Osaka, rather than from Edo. For that reason, people from the western part of Japan still look down on "Easterners" as slightly uneducated and not very good at business or crafts. However, the shogun has managed to convince many people to move from their homes in the western part of Japan to these neighborhoods in Edo. Even the artisans who were born in Edo usually have parents or grandparents who came from the West.
- source : edomatsu/kyobashi -

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kajibashi 鍛冶橋 Kajibashi Bridge

- quote -
The Crafts Guilds of Edo
The craftsmen who live in the Kyobashi area are fairly well off. Officially, craftsmen have about the same status as merchants -- that is to say, they rank lower than either samurai or farmers. However, in practice, skilled craftsman are not only relatively well respected; they can usually make a pretty good living too. This is particularly true of craftsmen who live in large cities like Edo, where the demand for their services is very strong. If you want to visit some of the neighborhoods where the craftsmen work, we will have to leave the main highway for a while. Most of the workshops are in neighborhoods behind the main shopfronts. To get to these neighborhoods, we have to leave the main road and pass down the narrow sidestreets, through large and solid-looking gates.

There are gates like these on almost all of the side streets and alleyways in the city. They are part of the security system that people use to guard their neighborhoods at night. Edo has a relatively low crime rate, but in a huge city of over 1 million people there are bound to be some bad characters around. Particularly troublesome are bands of unemployed samurai who dress up in wild outfits and roam the streets at night, brawling with other gangs and accosting merchants or craftsmen who are out late at night.

To help keep these troublemakers out of their neighborhoods, most of the city districts are arranged in a similar pattern. The main streets and canals divide the city into large blocks (neighborhoods), known as machi, or cho. To enter one of these neighborhoods, you have to leave the main street and go down one of the side streets or alleys. All of the side streets leading into the neighborhood are guarded by gates, which can be closed at night. This is an effective way to keep out most criminals, drunks and other disreputable characters who might be wandering about late at night.

Groups of guards, known as yoriki and ban-nin (sort of like police officers) patrol the main streets at night, making sure that the gates are closed and keeping a lookout for troublemakers. Anyone who is out on the main streets late at night is likely to be stopped and questioned. A person needs to have to have a good reason for being out late at night, and if they act suspicious, the yoriki may take them in for questioning.



Meanwhile, in each neighborhood, the citizens take turns working as night watchmen in a sort of "neighborhood watch". The job of the person on duty is to close the gates late at night, and walk around the neighborhood making sure that all is quiet. If someone comes home late at night, they have to knock on the gates and convince the person on guard duty to let them in. Naturally, the guard will only open up if he recognises the person who knocks at the gate.

The neighborhood we are entering now is home to a community of potters, and the shops on the main street have row after row of porcelain and pottery lined up on the shelves and tables. Each store offers a range of different types of plates, saucers, mugs, bowls and vases.

Pottery is a highly developed craft in Edo, though the best products still come from the far western provinces of Suo, Aki and Nagato. A wide range of different styles of pottery are available, from inexpensive dishes used by average townspeople to the works of master craftsmen, which can fetch extremely high prices from rich daimyo, merchants or members of the Emperor's court.

Everyone is intent on what they are doing, and take their work seriously -- even the youngsters and women who prepare the clay for use in making the pottery. Like many of Edo's crafts, there is a close connection between the business of making pottery and the expression of fine art. Apprentices may produce large amounts of simple pottery for daily use while they are learning their craft, but their goal is always to develop their skill to a fine level and to create true works of art.

The center of the potter's district is almost uncomfortably warm. You can feel the heat from the kilns as soon as you enter the square. The huge ovens used to bake the porcelain are set up in the center of the district, and they are tended carefully to ensure that the temperature is kept at just the right level. Around the square, individual craftsmen are shaping clay into different types of products. Every few minutes, someone will carry another large rack of molded pottery over to the kilns to be baked. This neighborhood can be unbearably hot in the summer time, since potters have to work all year round. On the other hand, it isnt such a bad place to visit in the winter. Each of the crafts districts is entirely devoted to producing their specialty products, and each member of the community has a part to play. Most of the people are closely bound together by ties of kinship and community, and all work together to help the entire neighborhood become prosperous.

Craftsmen in Japan have to spend ten years working as an apprentice for a "master craftsman" before they can start to work on their own. While they are an apprentice, they will spend the entire day working with their master, watching every move that he makes, and attempting to imitate his skills. Although the crafts tend to hereditary professions, with people passing on their trade from father to son, it is not that uncommon for people to switch to a different craft while they are still very young.

In order to take up a different craft, the youngster has to be accepted as an apprentice by one of the "masters" in another craft, but if their parents pull a few strings, this is not too hard to arrange. In addition, some low-ranking samurai give up their status as samurai in order to become craftsmen. While this may be a step down in social rank, for the lowest-rank samurai it can often mean a big improvement in wages. All the same, every apprentice starts out at the same level, as a raw student, regardless of their family background, past experience or "connections".

People who are extremely talented at a craft -- whether it be pottery, weaving, wood-carving or bucket-making -- can become quite famous. For this reason all of the best young students will compete to try to become the apprentice of a master craftsmen. Master craftsmen only pass on their best techniques to the top apprentices, so when the apprentices get older they often boast about being the "former student" of some famous craftsman. "Officially", craftsmen belong to a lower class than farmers or samurai, and only a shade above merchants. However, the best craftsmen are often granted honorary ranks of nobility, including the right to wear a sword and take a surname. Originally, only samurai and nobles from the Imperial court had two names, but nowadays, many of the leading craftsmen and merchant families also have been granted "honorary" second names as a reward for some service to the Shogun or some other high-ranking official.

This next neighborhood is home to the blacksmiths. Different crafts have higher or lower status, depending on the importance of the work. Potters and weavers tend to be ranked in about the middle. People who make sandals, floor mats (tatami) or other goods made of straw tend to have a lower status. The crafts with the highest status are carpenters and smiths, since their skills are the most valuable to the Shogun. Blacksmiths make all sorts of useful items from steel, but the most important, of course, are the swords that they produce for the samurai.

Those men over there are smelting steel in a large, open-air furnace. Production of a high-quality steel product, such as a sword, is a very painstaking job. First, the steel ingot must be produced by smelting iron. The iron is collected in large ingots, and stored in a warehouse until it is needed.

When the time comes to produce a sword, the smith heats the ingot and breaks off a piece of the proper size. This is then heated repeatedly and beaten into shape using heavy hammers. The job often requires two people -- one to heat and hold the steel, and the other to swing the heavy hammer to beat it into shape. It takes a great deal of practice and skill to shape the sword just right. Finally, the blade is covered with a layer of clay to control the rate of cooling -- fast at the edge that will be used for cutting, and slower at the back of the shaft. Finally, the blade is plunged into cold water to cool it. Another group of craftsmen will fashion the decorated wooden handle and the scabbard. The result is one of the most beautiful and deadly of weapons -- a katana (long sword).
- source : edomatsu/kajibashi -


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. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .

................................................................................. Hyogo 兵庫県
神戸市 Kobe

obake ningyoo お化人形 monster dolls
A craftsman of papermachee dolls had moved from Takamatsu. To please the many foreigners in Kobe he started making monster-like dolls which moved, rolled the eyes, cut watermelons and more.

. Koobe ningyoo, Kobe Ningyo 神戸人形 mechanical dolls from Kobe .


................................................................................. Miyagi 宮城県
本吉町 Motoyoshi

kitsune 狐 Fox
壁塗りの職人が農仕事を手伝っての帰り、蛸と鰯をもらって炭俵やフクベに入れて帰り、開けてみたらなくなっていた。狐の巣の近くに蛸と鰯の食べかすが散らかっていた。狐に騙された。

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shokunin 職人 (21) (00)
匠 takumi (12) (00)
- source : yokai database nichibun -

- #shokunin #edoshokunin #craftsmen #takumi -
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- - - - - reference - - - - -

Old placenames of Edo
- source : トキオ・カフェのブログ -


日本橋 神田 上野 浅草 向島 両国 深川 佃 芝 品川 目黒 赤坂 日比谷 新宿 高田馬場 板橋 王子 千住 葛西 国府
- source : 江戸開府400年 -

- reference - 職人町 -


職人町の形成と解体 - 6 pages with info 江戸の職人発展史
- source : token.or.jp/magazine -


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- - - - - H A I K U - - - - -

一生を渡り職人春の雁
isshoo o watari shokunin haru no gan

his whole life
a wandering craftsman -
geese in spring

Tr. Gabi Greve

Andoo Rinchuu 安藤林虫 Ando Rinchu

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職人に口出し無用寒の梅
shokunin ni kuchidashi muyoo kan no ume

you should not interfere
with a craftsman at work -
plum blossoms in the cold


平野道子 Hino Michiko

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タオル職人めじろ鳴かしているばかり 山内崇弘
初染めや藍職人の爪の藍 近藤陽子
寒糊を煮終へ職人一家なり 池上不二子
小雪や桶職人の長寿眉 玉木郁子
打水や通称日光職人町 西本一都 景色
春時雨ペンキ職人軒を借り 勝連一鉄
朝の職人きびきびうごき百日草 植村通草
牡丹職人失踪届二三枚 仁平勝 花盗人
瓦職人仲秋の空一人で占め 福岡浪子
畳職人雨に目を遣り秋燕 高澤良一 素抱
目標は大工職人みあげる眼 須崎美穂子

職人といはれ六十花山葵 井ノ口昭市
職人に口出し無用寒の梅 平野道子
職人の二人しぐるゝ畳針 川崎展宏
職人の休憩の輪へ大西瓜 水口泰子
職人の座布団薄し鳥の恋 大木あまり 火球
職人の早仕舞せし冬至かな 山崎一角
職人の衣更へたる一座かな 露月句集 石井露月
職人の親子が帰る十三夜 佐久間久子
職人の誇大事に初仕事 池上不二子

花の頃扇さいたり諸職人 上島鬼貫
葺替職人上と下とで押し問答 高澤良一 寒暑
青木の実錺職人路地に住み 栗山よし子
- source : HAIKUreikuDB


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. - - - - - ABC List of Edo craftsmen 江戸の職人 - - - - - .

. Construction work for a Japanese Home .

. Japanese Architecture - cultural keywords used in haiku .

. Traditional Crafts of Edo - Tokyo .


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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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--
Posted By Gabi Greve to Edo - the EDOPEDIA - on 12/13/2013 09:47:00 a.m.

MINGEI - aizome indigo dyeing

http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.jp/2010/06/indigo-ai.html

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. Edo shokunin 江戸職人 craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .



初染めや藍職人の爪の藍
hatsuzome ya ai-shokunin no tsume no ai

first dyeing -
the blue nails
of an indigo dyer


Kondoo Yooko 近藤陽子 Kondo Yoko




konya 紺屋 artisan making "blue" things, cloth dyers
- aizomeya 藍染め屋 dyeing with indigo

aizome shokunin 染物職人 / konzome 紺染
Indigo-Färber

In Edo they were often called kooya 紺屋(こうや)Koya.

The dyers needed large aigame 藍甕 pots for the liquid. Usually four pots in the ground were one unit, the temperature kept by a hibachi 火鉢 "fire pot" in the middle.
Sometimes they dyes just the threads for weaving, sometimes they dyed the finished pieces of cloth.



After dyeing the bundles of thread were opened and dried,
cloth was fixed with shinshi しんし / 伸子 bamboo poles to spread and dry.

...................................



by 一ノ瀬芳翠

konya no asatte 紺屋の明後日 "the day after tomorrow of an indigo dyer".
Because they were habitually delaying and could often not keep their promises.
jam tomorrow and never jam today
Das Übermorgen des Färbers.
Die Färber stehen ganz besonders im Rufe der Unpünktichkeit.

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Kanda konyachoo, Konyachō 神田紺屋町 Konya-Cho
Konyamachi, district for cloth dyers


- quote -
Kon'ya-cho
This was a town ruled by the dyer 土屋五郎右衛門 Tsuchiya Goroemon who was allowed by Tokugawa Ieyasu to purchase Japanese indigo plants from the Kanto Region and Izu from the Keicho Era (1596-1615), where many indigo dyers lived together.
The river (channel) that flowed nearby was called the Aizome-gawa River 藍染川 (indigo dyed river). The ruins of the small shrine called Otama Inari  お玉稲荷 and the ruins of the Otamagaike お玉ヶ池 reservoir are located in the north of the town and it is associated with the following legend.
During the middle ages, this area was along the highway to Oshu, and there was a beautiful woman named Tama who served tea to travelers near the reservoir. 2 men proposed marriage to Tama, however she could not decide between them and drowned herself in the reservoir. It is said the village people dedicated the small shrine to Tama's spirit.
- source : National Diet Library -

Tsuchiya Goroemon extended the trade from one district to three more in the North, South and West, 北紺屋町, 南紺屋町, 西紺屋町.
When Tsuchiya got an order from a Bakufu government official, he would pass the un-dyed cloth to a craftsman in Konya-Cho. After the dyeing was done, the craftsman brings it back to Tsuchiya, who then forwards it to the government official.
Since all the cloth was washed in a river North of the district, this river was often colored and thus named "Indigo-dyed River" 藍染川.

The print of Hiroshige shows the dyed cloth hanging down to dry from the high eaves of special buildings for this purpose.


. 歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige .

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初雷やはたと風なき紺屋町
hatsurai ya hatato kaze naki konyachoo

first thunder -
the wind suddenly stopped
in Konya-Cho


安斎桜[カイ]子 / 安斎桜磈子 Anzai Okaishi (1886 - 1953)

- - - - -

紺屋町藍の匂ひの溝浚ふ
konyashoo ai no nioi no mizo sarau

at Konya-Cho
cleaning the ditches
smelling of indigo


下里美恵子 Shimosato Mieko

- - - - -

撒水車去りしんかんと紺屋町
正木ゆう子

紺屋町八十八夜の水流す
朝倉和江

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. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .

- - - - - Two legends about Konya-Cho,
involving a tanuki 狸 badger.


. "O-Tanuki Sama" おたぬき様 .
oyako tanuki 親子狸 parent and child badger


source : tokyochiyoda.blog.shinobi
柳森神社 Yanagimori Jinja

.......................................................................
兵庫県 Hyogo, 洲本市 Sumoto

The 蜂須賀 Hachisuka clan lived for many generations in Sumoto,
The daughter of one of it's retainers who lived in Konya-Cho 洲本町の紺屋町 fell ill and died. The family was very upset but one evening, when the parents were sitting at the veranda they suddenly saw the daughter dancing in the garden, waving a red hand towel.
The mother was overjoyed, but the father knew this must be a ghost-monster, and shot it with his bow and arrow.
When he hit the figure, it suddenly became invisible, but there was a trace of blood, leading to a hole. Inside was a huge bleeding dead Tanuki.
The eldest son of the family was very upset about this event, became a heavy drinker and lost all his senses.


- - - - - Two legends about a
konya (kooya) 紺屋(こうや) indigo cloth dyer


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岡山県 Okayama, 大原町 Ohara

yamabushi 山伏 mountain priest
In the early Edo period there lived an indigo cloth dyer 紺屋 in Midoro 美土路.
Once the cloth dyer wanted to visit his family and on his way, near Hanaoka, he met a strange mountain priest. He soon realized that this was not an ordinary priest and invited him to his home. When the priest left, the wife of the cloth dyer went to the well to get some water, where she suddenly heard the sound of large wings.
The Yamabushi had left, leaving back three volumes of books for the artisan. After that, the craft of the indigo dyer improved even more

. Legends about Japanese Saints - yamabushi .

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兵庫県 Hyogo 加西郡 Kasai

neko no tani 猫の谷 valley of cats
This valley is haunted and people here the calls of cats all the time. Once an express message carrier 飛脚 hit this monster with a metal pot on his head and wounded it with his sword.
It cried out "Go call the old hag at the indigo cloth dyer 紺屋".
紺屋の婆さんを呼んで来い.
So the messenger went to the Konya and wanted to meet the old woman, but she was ill in bed with a wound on her head. The messenger thought that the cat had eaten the old woman and then taken her form, so he exterminated her to bring peace to the valley.

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愛知県 Aichi 南知多町 Minami Chita

arakuma no ookami 荒熊の大神 The Deity Arakuma
Once the dyer 大西 Onishi tried many times to make some 藍染 indigo dye but just did not hit it right. So he prayed to the deity 荒熊大神 for help. And indeed, the deity let him know how to prepare just the right indigo color. He could now make wonderful Yukata cloth and his reputation grew far and wide.

Arakuma Shrine in Chita 荒熊神社
- source : japannavi.co.jp/chita-


. Arakuma Jinja 荒熊神社 and Kobo Daishi .

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- source : nichibun yokai database -

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28 Oct 2015

TEMPLE- Eifuku-Ji Shikoku 57


[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
. Shikoku Henro Temple List .
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Eifjkuji 栄福寺 Eifuku-Ji

. 四国お遍路さん Henro Pilgrims in Shikoku . - General Information -


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Nr. 57 - 府頭山 Sareizan 無量寿院 Muryoju-In  栄福寺 Eifuku-Ji
愛媛県今治市玉川町八幡甲200 / Imabara

- quote
The Temple of Good Luck
The temple was founded by Kōbō Daishi on the orders of Emperor Saga. The complex started off as a Shrine, but when Kōbō Daishi prayed here for safety at sea and stopped a storm with his prayers, Amida Nyorai appeared to him. Kōbō Daishi then converted it to a temple, carved the honzon of Amida, and enshrined it here.

In 861 Emperor Saga frequently sent Gyōkō (a priest from Daianji in Nara) to Usa in Kyūshū to receive an oracle from the God Hachiman. On one trip, his ship was wrecked in the area of this temple. Since the area around this temple resembles the area around Usa in Kyūshū, he simply climbed up to this temple and received the oracle from Hachiman here. Gyōkō believed that Hachiman was a manifestation of Amida Nyorai. The temple is now often called Katsuoka Hachiman by the locals.

The temple has been destroyed by fire several times and was deserted for almost a century, but has always remained as a favorite location for people offering prayers for safety at sea, as is Konpira Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture.

- source : www.shikokuhenrotrail.com


- Chant of the temple
この世には弓矢を守る八幡なり 
来世は人を救う弥陀仏
Kono yo ni wa yumiya o mamoru yahata nari raise wa hito o sukufumida butsu






- Homepage of the temple
- source : 88shikokuhenro.jp


. Gyoki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 (668 - 749) Saint Gyōki .

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source : Jake Ojisan

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. - Photo Album from my visit - .


. Fudō Myō-ō, Fudoo Myoo-Oo 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O
Acala Vidyârâja - Vidyaraja – Fudo Myoo .



. . Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Introduction - .


The Five Great Wisdom Kings, Godai Myo-O - 五大明王
. The Five Great Elements of the Universe - 地水火風空の五大 .

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- Two short Haiku Henro Trips, Summer 2005


. 四国お遍路さん Pilgrims in Shikoku . - General Information

Koya San in Wakayama

Kobo Daishi Kukai 弘法大師 空海
(Kooboo Daishi, Kuukai )

Haiku and Henro:
.... . The Haiku Henro Pilgrimage  

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. Jizoo Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 Jizo Bosatsu - Kshitigarbha .
- Introduction -


. Japan - Shrines and Temples - ABC .


[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM . TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ] - - - - - #eifukuji - - - - -
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Posted By Gabi Greve to Gokuraku - Jigoku on 10/28/2015 09:48:00 a.m.

26 Oct 2015

MINGEI - Kanagawa kites

http://omamorifromjapan.blogspot.jp/2011/08/kanagawa-folk-toys.html

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. tako 凧 Kites of Japan - Introduction .

- - - - - Two kites from from Isehara 伊勢原



abudako, abu tako あぶ凧 / 虻凧 kite like a gadfly
A well-loved souvenir from the pilgrimage to Oyama. Local people held kite competitions for the Boy's festival in May 端午の節句. The painting is simple and the colors strong.
It flies well, even with little wind.
Other kites with insects from Japan are semidako 蝉凧 cicada、chodako 蝶凧 butterfly , hachidako 蜂凧 bee and others.




semidako, semi tako 蝉凧 cicada kite
From the temple treasures of 大宝寺 Taiho-Ji. The temple members made it in the Meiji period to earn some extra money. They used bamboo from the forest in the back of the temple and imitated the cicadas, which were quite noisy in the temple compound. After WW II the production almost stopped.

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from Hatano - Hadano 秦野

. Darumadako, Daruma tako だるま凧 Daruma kite .

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shoogidako, shoogi tako 将棋凧 Japanese Shogi chess kite
from Chigasaki茅ヶ崎



It has a long tail made by rope and is made to withstand strong wind. It has a small hummer on top of the kite (yumi unari 弓うなり), which makes the sound of "ビーン" biiiin .
Made first in the early Meiji time by 服部定右衛門 Hattori Sadaemon to celebrate the birthday of a child. Later other villagers followed suit.
Later the tradition was revived by 浅岡正幸 Asaoka Masayuki .

. shoogi shōgi - 将棋 Shogi, generals' chess. .

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Hakone region 箱根

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Odawara town 小田原


. Odawara choochin 小田原堤灯 lanterns from Odawara .


. kyoogibune, kyoogi no fune 経木舟
kyogibune, boats from paper-thin sheets of wood .

kyoogi, kyōgi 経木 "lit. sutra tree" - paper-thin sheets of wood





taisoo ningyoo 体操人形 dolls doing gymnastics

Made from bamboo and wood, but the last maker died a few years ago.
Similar dolls are made in other parts of Japan.

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