JAPANESE PRINTS
A MILLION QUESTIONS
TWO MILLION MYSTERIES
Ukiyo-e Prints浮世絵版画 |
|
Port Townsend, Washington |
|
A CLICKABLE INDEX/GLOSSARY (Hopefully this will be an ever changing and growing list.)
Hotoke thru I |
|
|
The painting of the hallucinogenic fly argaric mushroom by Heiko Sievers is being used to mark additions made in May and June 2010. The negative image of the iris posted at commons.wikimedia.com by D. L. Lindwall was used in March and April. |
|
|
|
TERMS FOUND ON THIS PAGE:
Hotoke, Hyōshigi, Hyōtan, I, Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, Ichikawa Ebizō V, Ichikawa Kodanji IV, Ichikawa Monnosuke III, Ichikawa Omezō I,
Ichinotani futaba gunki, Ichirō, Ichirō Gafu, Ichō, Ikari, Ikkyū, Inazuma, Ine, Inro, Iori, Irohabiki monchō, Irezumi, Ishi, Ita-bokashi, Ita-mokuhan, Itomaki, Iwai Hanshiro, Iwai Kumesaburō II and Iwai Kumesaburō III
仏, 拍子木, 瓢箪, 井, 市川団十郎, 八世代市川団十郎, 九世代市川団十郎, 市川海老蔵(5代目),
市川小団次, 市川門之助, 市川男女蔵,
市松, 市村羽左衛門十七代目, 一谷嫩軍記, 一老, 一老画譜, 銀杏, 銀杏紋, 錨, 一休, 稲妻, 稲, 印相, 庵, 刺青 いろは, 石, 石摺絵, (Ita) 暈, 板目木版, 糸巻, 岩井半四郎 and 岩井久米三郎
ほとけ, ひょうしぎ, ひょうたん, い, いちかわ.だんじゅうろう, ばちせだ.いちかわ.だんじゅうろう, いちかわ.えびぞう, いちかわ.こだんじ, いちかわもんのすけ,
いちかわ.おめぞう,
いちむら.うざえもん.じゅうしちだいめ, いちたに.ふたばぐんき, いちろう, いちろうがふ, いちょう, いちょう.もん, いかり, いっきゅう, いなずま, いね, いんろう, いんぞう, いおり, いろはびき.もんちょう, いれずみ, いし, いしずりえ, ぼかし, いためもくはん, いとまき, いわい.はんしろう and いわい.くめさぶろう
|
|
|
|
One more note about this page and all of the others on this site: If two or more sources are cited they may be completely contradictory. I have made no attempt to referee these differences, but have simply repeated them for your edification or use. Quote anything you find here at your own risk and with a whole lot of salt. |
|
|
TERM/NAME |
KANJI/KANA |
DESCRIPTION/ DEFINITION/ CATEGORY Click on the yellow numbers to go to linked pages. |
|||
|
|
|||||
|
Hotoke |
仏
ほとけ |
Buddha (or the dead): When I set out to add an entry for the Japanese name for a buddha - there are a myriad of buddhas - I started with the image to the left. Little did I know what I would find: hotoke also means 'the dead.' I am laying bare my ignorance of Japanese culture here for all to see, but I don't care because I love the adventure this project has opened before me. That said, now on to the word itself.
"During the Tokugawa period, many people knew what hotoke meant. After receiving a posthumous Buddhist name and after one's funeral was performed, it was believed that a deceased person was transformed into a deity. In addition, many people started calling the dead hotoke which is still heard in horror movies or TV detective stories in Japan nowadays. The religious feelings once found in this word have now completely disappeared. ¶ As long as Buddhist funeral and memorial services were properly held, anyone could become a hotoke after death; in this way, it was unnecessary for people to seek spiritual peace through religion."
Quoted from: Why are the Japanese Non-religious?: Japanese Spirituality : Being Non-religious in a Religious Culture, by Toshimaro Ama, published by the University Press of America, 2004, p. 23.
The image to the left is a detail from a print by Toyohiro. Clearly the large central figure is the Buddha surrounded in his halo by smaller figures of buddhas. Initially I thought these smaller images were bosatsu (菩薩 or ぼさつ) or bodhisattvas, but on closer observation I think I was wrong. Also, ignore the fighting figure below. |
|||
|
Toshimaro Ama, quoted above, notes that the Chinese used the character 仏 for Buddha. Butsu is the native Japanese pronunciation, but hotoke is based on an approximation of the Chinese one which sounds like 'hoto'. "Since ke means figure, hotoke means figure of the Buddha though this theory has yet to be confirmed. According to Yanagita, hotoke means 'an enshrined spirit,' in front of which an offering of food was placed in a container called hotoki." (Ibid., pp. 22-3) Aruga Kizaemon (有賀喜左衛門 or あるが.きざえもん) disagreed with Yanagita's interpretation "...since the word hotoke was found in the Nihonshoki [日本書紀 or にほんしょき], which was compiled in the early eighth century, it was already widely used in society. According to Aruga, hotoke came from the word futoki, meaning 'the branch used in the ceremony to worship ancestors to bring their spirits back,' and that when Buddhist rituals were adopted, the name continued to be used." (Ibid., p. 23)
I was led on this quest because of the odd nature of the use of such a sacred word like hotoke for such disparate meanings. However, it wasn't hotoke used for Buddha and dead people that got me going, but rather the use of hotoke for the name of a courtesan in the Heike monogatari (平家物語 or へいけものがたり) first recounted in the early 14th century. In the 12th century shirabyōshi (白拍子 or しらびょうし) dancing became popular. It got its name from the long white overshirt worn during their performances. While both men and women participated they all wore men's clothes. Oh, and don't forget, the women also frequently acted as prostitutes. ¶ At the time when Taira no Kiyomori (1118-81: 平清盛 or たいらのきよもり) ruled his actions were both extravagant and capricious. He lavished gifts on one family of shirabyoshi dancers and one, Giō (祇王 or ぎお), in particular. She had his attention for three years and much envied by her peers. That is until one day when a sixteen year old beauty named Hotoke arrived from Kaga Province. "High and low in the city praised her to the skies. 'There have been many shirabyōshi from the old days on, but never have we witnessed such dancing,' the people said." Frustrated by not being invited to perform before Kiyomori she presented herself at his residence. " 'What is this? Entertainers like her are not supposed to present themselves without being summoned. What makes her think she can simply show up like this? Besides, god or Buddha, she has no business coming to a place where Giō is staying. Throw her out at once,' Kiyomori said." AT this point Giō argued that the girl was young and inexperienced and that the shogun should at least listen to her sing. So, Kiyomori relented an asked her to sing him an imayō (今様 or いまよう), a modern song. Hotoke sang beautifully so a drummer was called and she was to dance too. "Kiyomori was dazzled and swept off his feet by the brilliance of her performance, which revealed a skill quite beyond imagination." Ostensibly embarrassed, Hotoke asked to be allowed to leave when she found out that Giō had requested the performance. She stated this several times [The lady doth protest too much, methinks.], but by now Kiyomori had decided to make Hotoke his mistress and ordered that Giō be expelled. All of the gifts of rice and money which Kiyomori had given to Giō and her family were now transferred to Hotoke. Insult to injury, but it didn't stop there. ¶ Sometime later Kiyomori basically ordered Giō to come back to court to perform for Hotoke because she seemed bored. Giō didn't want to go, but her mother pointed out the hardship which would befall the family if she didn't. So... with great reluctance Giō returned to court. However, when she did perform it was an imayō which she sang through her tears:
In days of old, the Buddha was but a mortal; in the end we ourselves will be Buddhas, too. How grievous that distinctions must separate those who are alike in sharing the Buddha nature.
While others were moved Kiyomori's reaction was to order Giō to return often to entertain his new lover. On the verge of suicide Giō's mother argued against it. Instead the mother and her two daughters shaved their heads becoming Buddhist nuns, went to live in humble seclusion in the Saga mountains and prayed for salvation murmuring Buddha-invocations. At least a year later someone knocked at their door startling them. Even more startling was who the visitor was. It was Hotoke who - in her own way - begged their forgiveness. She cried "A woman is a poor, weak thing, incapable of controlling her destiny." The message of Giō's performance had touched her and she asked Kiyomori to let her go, but he refused. Hotoke had come to realize that all was illusion and that temporal joys were completely transitory. She knew that at some point Kiyomori would replace her with a younger beauty like he had her predecessor. She also felt that she was encumbering her soul to such a degree that it would be eons after her death before she would ever be saved from the torments of hell. Then she removed her hood for her hosts to see that she too had shaved her head and become a nun. Then Hotoke pled: "...please forgive my past offenses... I want to recite Buddha-invocations with you and be reborn on the same lotus petal."
Source and quotes from: The Tale of the Heike, by Helen Craig McCullough, published by Stanford University Press, 1988, pp. 31-7.
[Note: Fritz von Papen urged Hindenburg to name Hitler as Chancellor of Germany assuring the aged President that he could control the Nazi leader and we all know how that came out. But that is history while in a cinematic vein there is always the story of Margo Channing, a woman at the top of her game, who lets young, sycophantic Eve Harrington into her life only to loose her men, his theatrical roles and her pride. That was in "All About Eve". The pattern repeats itself.]
In Ancestor Worship in Japan by Robert John Smith (published by Stanford University Press, 1975, p. 50) the author states: "When the Japanese speak of the individual or collective dead, they most commonly use the word hotoke (buddha). The source of this uniquely Japanese notion that all men become buddhas merely by dying is by no means clear. Certainly nothing in orthodox Buddhism suggests such a happy automatic fate, nor does the idea square with the concept of rebirth. Even the wandering spirits are a kind of hotoke. It may well be that the explanation lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of the idea of nirvana (Japanese nehan [涅槃 or ねはん]) dating from a very early period of Japanese history..." Smith continues: "In some senses, then, hotoke has come to mean simply the spirit of the dead, and to say that a man has become a buddha is only to day that he has died. The household altar quite commonly contains no representation of a buddha, but only the memorial tablets for the dead of the house." (Ibid., p. 52) Ronald P. Dore took a survey of some of the Japanese citizens of one district in Tokyo. He asked them if hotoke and Hotoke were the same thing. 51% said they are different. (City Life in Japan: A Study of a Tokyo Ward, published by the University of California Press, 1958,) |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Hyōshigi |
拍子木
ひょうしぎ |
Wooden clappers used in kabuki theater "...for sound effects such as running feet and clashing swords."
Quoted from: The Actor's Image: Print Makers of the Katsukawa School, Timothy Clark, Osamu Ueda and Donald Jenkins, Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 264.
"Another characteristic kabuki sound that may be classified with ceremonial music is the wooden clappers known as hyōshigi (or simply as ki). These not only mark the beginning of a play, but at times - as wehn they are beaten while the curtain is being drawn - become almost an integral part of the production... [or]...to point up the moment when an actor strikes a mie."
Quote from: Kabuki, by Masakatsu Gunji, published by Kodansha International, 1985, p. 51.
"Wooden clappers (hyōshigi) are one of the things peculiar to Kabuki. It is simply a matter of banging together two sticks of white oak, but one side of each is carved so that it has a convex shape. These two sides are banged together, and the accepted view is that the best sound is only produced if they are cut back form the same piece of wood."
Quote from: Japan on Stage: Japanese Concepts of Beauty as Shown in the Traditional Theatre, by Kawatake Toshio, published by 3A Corporation, Tokyo, 1990, p. 115.
The image to the left of the fan is a detail from a print by Kunisada from ca. 1826. |
|||
|
Hyōtan |
瓢箪
ひょうたん |
Gourd: Dower tell us that no family adopted the gourd as a crest because it of its baseness since it was often used to carry saké and saké led to licentiousness. (Source: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, pp. 54-5)
Despite what Dower says about the humble gourd Hideyoshi took it as one of his signifying crests. Of lowly birth his family was well below the level of families which would use a crest or mon. "...when, in 1575, [Hideyoshi]... obtained a command, he adopted a water gourd as his emblem, and added another one for every victory he gained, until the number grew into a large bunch, and he was called The Lord of the Golden Water Gourds."
Quoted from: The Story of Japan, by R. Van Bergen, published by American Book Company, 1897, p. 74.
Nikolai Gogol tells us in "The Diary of a Madman" that "There are plenty of instances in history when somebody quite ordinary, not necessarily an aristocrat, some middle-class person or even a peasant, suddenly turns out to be a public figure and perhaps even the ruler of a country." So the story of the peasant Hideyoshi rising to top and unifying Japan on the way is not absolutely unique. The first Han emperor was said to have been born a peasant. And while Napoleon wasn't born of common stock he wasn't in line to rule an empire until he crowned himself. Since then many madmen have thought they were Napoleons or at least the movies would make us believe so. Gogol's madman was a lowly clerk but he believed himself to be the King of Spain. Perhaps that is why we could say he was out of his gourd. (The madman also thought dogs could talk and that he read their written correspondences.)
To the left is a beautiful photograph of a gourd taken by Pixeltoo. This person was placed in the public domain at http://commons.wikimedia.org/.
|
|||
|
Timothy Clark tells us that Kuniyoshi used the gourd as a hidden, veiled reference to Hideyoshi. It was illegal to portray Hideyoshi directly so the gourd acted as a symbolic substitute which Kuniyoshi's contemporaries would recognize.
The above image is a detail from a Kuniyoshi fan print design. Notice the head, arms, legs, torso and gourd are all created from gourds. Pretty darned amazing. Even the gourd man's member is the top of a gourd inverted. Makes me laugh.
Not only was the figure on the fan print created wholly out of gourds, but Kuniyoshi placed his signature within this device -seen in red cartouche shown above - while the publisher, Iba-ya Senzaburō, and date seal appear in the yellow gourd almost as though it were conspiratorial. Maybe it was simply an agreement made by like minds.
Other publishers in both Osaka and Edo also used the gourd to frame their logos. |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
I (pronounced ē) |
井
い
|
A well motif used in fabric designs and family crests or mons. This pattern is also referred to as an igeta (井桁 or いげた) or well-curb, i.e., the border around the mouth of a well. John W. Dower also notes that it can be called an izutsu (井筒 of いづつ). He added: "The well crib was one of the most popular motifs in Japanese heraldry and stands as an excellent example of the virtuosity of Japanese artists in elaborating upon a simple basic theme. Unlike many other motifs, it does not appear to have conveyed several layers of meaning, but was selected primarily for its simple beauty, and for denotative purposes. The latter function derived from the fact that a great variety of Japanese surnames contain the ideograph for i..."
Quoted from: The Elements of Japanese Design p. 128.
|
|||
| Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (cf. Ichikawa Ebizō V) |
市川団十郎
いちかわ.だんじゅうろう |
||||
|
Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII |
八世代市川団十郎
ばちせだ.いちかわ.だんじゅうろう |
Popular Kabuki actor (1823-54) who committed suicide at the height of his popularity. The son of Danjūrō VII. 1, 2
This portrait was created a number of years after Danjūrō VIII had died. To see why this seems credible please click on the image above. |
|||
|
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX |
九世代市川団十郎
いちかわ.だんじゅうろう |
Actor 1839-1903: One of the greatest actors of the Meiji period (1868-1912). The fifth son of Danjūrō VIII and one of his concubines. "He was soon adopted by actor manager Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI and raised by him. His upbringing was then extraordinary, Gonnosuke's wife, determined that the boy should become important, made him train intensively in acting and dancing, as well as in classical Japanese art and learning, including the tea ceremony, Chinese literature , painting and calligraphy."
The image of Danjūrō tweezing in a mirror shown to the left is by Kunichika and dates from 1871. To see the full print click on the image.
For his connection with the dramatist Mokuami and for a discussion of the actor's influence on the theater click on the #1.
|
|||
|
Some time back we received an email from Dan in Nebraska asking about a postcard he had just acquired. This led to a short correspondence and an wonderful series of discoveries - due mainly to the diligent research of Dan. What he found was remarkable. (Below is the image of the card itself.) ¶ In A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to Videos and DVDs by Donald Ritchie and Paul Schrader (published by Kodansha in 2001, p. 18) it states clearly that Danjūrō took a dim view of the new field of cinematography. "Originally the leading kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro IX was against the idea of motion pictures, dismissing them as (apparently unlike kabuki) merely vulgar amusement. In fact, kabuki actors - thought not Danjuro himself - had already appeared before the Lumičre cameramen when they visited Japan, but this apparent contradiction was acceptable since those performances were for export. However, Danjuro was eventually won over by the argument that his appearance would be a gift for posterity." ¶ In 1899 Shibata Tsunekichi "...decided to shoot in a small outdoor stage reserved for tea parties behind the Kabuki-za, but that morning there was a strong wind. Stagehands had to hold the backdrop, and the winds carried away one of the fans Danjuro was tossing..." ¶ The theatrical setting was for Maple Viewing or Momiji-gari. Here Danjūrō IX, on the right, is paired with Onoe Kikugorō V. Sure the card shown below is a product of this session - this historically fascinating session.
We want to thank Dan of Nebraska for bringing this card to our attention and for letting us post it. He has said that he is interested in selling this card. If anyone wants to purchase this postcard they should contact us at jv@printsofjapan.com and we will put you in touch with Dan directly. |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Ichikawa Ebizō V |
市川海老蔵(五代目)
いちかわ.えびぞう |
Actor 1791-1859. He also performed under the name Danjūrō VII. The father of Danjūrō VIII - see above. |
|||
|
Ichikawa Kodanji IV |
市川小団次
いちかわ.こだんじ |
Kabuki actor 1812-66. 1 |
|||
|
Ichikawa Monnosuke III |
市川門之助
いちかわもんのすけ |
Kabuki actor 1794-1824. |
|||
|
Ichikawa Omezō I |
市川男女蔵
いちかわ.おめぞう |
Kabuki actor 1781-1833. 1 |
|||
|
|
一枚絵 いちまいえ |
A single, stand-alone, woodblock print. (See also nimaitsuzuki and sanmaitsuzuki.) |
|||
|
Ichimatsu |
市松
いちまつ |
A checkered pattern. Also referred to as ishi-datami (石畳 or いしだたみ) which literally means 'paving stones'.
There are other words which mean plaid: benkeijima (弁慶縞 or べんけいじま) is one of them and could be translated somewhat like 'strong man's stripe'; and benkeigoushi (弁慶格子 or べんけいごうし) which would substitute 'grid' or 'lattice work' at the end. I have no idea about the origin of this phrase, but will let you know if I find out.
One English-Japanese dictionary from 1876 states that benkeijima is composed of 3 shades while ichimatsu is made up of only two. I have no way of confirming this, but it seems reasonable. (Source: An English-Japanese Dictionary of the Spoken Language, by E.M. Satow and Ishibashi Masakata, Trübner & Co. and Lane, Crawford & Co., p. 229) |
|||
|
Ichimura Uzaemon XVII |
十七代目市村羽左衛門 いちむら.うざえもん じゅうしちだいめ |
Actor - Born 1916 1 |
|||
|
Ichinotani futaba gunki |
一谷嫩軍記 いちたに.ふたばぐんき |
Kabuki play: "Chronicle of the battle of Ichinotani" 1 |
|||
|
Ichirō |
一老 いちろう |
One of Gakutei's art names |
|||
|
Ichirō Gafu |
一老画譜 いちろうがふ |
"Ichiro's Picture Album" (see listing above) |
|||
|
Ichō |
銀杏
いちょう |
Ginko: The leaf of this tree is often related to female fertility. It's "...golden colour brings good fortune, and... is therefore kept in a woman's chest of drawers."
But the most remarkable feature of the gingko tree and hence its association with female fecundity is due to a rather strange aspect of its growth. "Trunk and branches produce queer pendent overgrowths which look like woman's breasts; it is, therefore, a 'milk-tree', a tree of progeny."
Quotes from: U. A. Casal, "Lore of the Japanese Fan", Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 16, no. 1/2, 1960, pp. 84-85.
The images shown to the left and below are used courtesy of Shu Suehiro at http://www.botanic.jp/index.htm.
|
|||
|
Ichō mon |
銀杏紋
いちょう.もん |
Ginko crest: Often used as a decorative motif. Brought to Japan from China this tree dates back several hundred million years. For whatever reasons, symbolic or because of its beauty and uniqueness, it can frequently be found at temples and shrines and was selected to border the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Long before there was that famous Superman question - you know, the one about a bird or a plane - there was the ginko/bird. The crest shown to the left at the top of this section is a wonderful example of Japanese creativity. Someone, i.e., a Japanese 'designer' must have watched a ginko leaf falling and thought - in Japanese of course - "That looks a lot like a swooping bird." Ergo this particular crest.
|
|||
|
Ikari |
錨
いかり |
An anchor. There are multiple variations on the anchor for different family crests or mons. The image to the left below is a detail from a Yoshiiku triptych showing one small area of a robe of a courtesan decorated with an anchor.
|
|||
|
Ikkyū |
一休
いっきゅう |
Zen priest - poet
and thinker 1394-1481:
|
|||
|
As the story goes Ikkyū was born the son of an emperor on New Year's Day in 1394. This may or may not be true, but "But there is evidence in [his] poetry that he believed himself to be of imperial stock, and he often visited the palace to see the emperor. When Go-Komatsu was dying in 1433, Ikkyū was summoned to his bedside." However, he was not raised as a prince because he mother had been banished from the court before his birth. Yet, before she died she wrote to him and extolled him to be such a great priest that even the Buddha and his minions would look up to him. (Ibid., p. 19) ¶ At 5 he was sent to study for the priesthood. Clearly he was precocious and extremely pious. He accomplished things in his youth expected only of the most scholarly and adept adult priests. When his teacher Ken'ō (謙翁 or けんおう) died in 1414 Ikkyū was despondent and "...spent a week in meditation by the shores of Lake Biwa before finally deciding to commit suicide by throwing himself into the lake. He was saved by a man sent by his mother who, knowing of his despondency, had feared he might turn to self-destruction." (Ibid.) ¶ After he gave up suicide as a viable option he went to see if he could become a pupil of the stern disciplinarian Zen master, Kasō Sōdon (華叟宗曇 or かそうそうどん: 1351-1428). Kasō refused to see him but Ikkyū persisted. One day when the master was going out he saw Ikkyū standing by the gate. Kasō ordered his assistant to throw water on him. When he returned Ikkyū was still waiting so Kasō accepted him as a pupil. In 1418 Kasō gave Ikkyū his name which means 'a pause'.
At the age of 26 he attained enlightenment. Sitting in a boat on Lake Biwa while meditating he heard a crow's cry and "...he cried out in wonder. He felt that all his uncertainties had been purged away. When he told Kasō what had happened, the latter said merely, 'You have attained the status of an arhat. You are still not a man of supreme accomplishment.' Ikkyū replies, 'If that is the case, I am delighted to be an arhat and have no desire to be a man of supreme accomplishment.' Kasō responded, 'You are truly a man of supreme accomplishment.' " ¶ In 1422 at a ceremony at the Daitoku-ji everyone all of the priests showed up wearing fine robes - except Ikkyū who was dressed very shabbily. When asked why he chided the other monks as being false and said "I alone ornament this assembly." Afterwards Kasō was asked if he had selected his successor and he said he had: "Ikkyū, though at times he acts like a madman." (Ibid., p. 21)
To lie with a beautiful woman - what a deep river of love! Upstairs in the brothel a whore and an old Zen priest are singing. I derive such pleasure from her embraces and kisses I've never once thought of renouncing the flames of passion.
Ikkyū seems to have saved his most severe attacks for those on the 39th abbot of the Daitoku-ji, Yōsō (1376-1458). The temple had burned down and Yōsō had set about rebuilding it. He got lots of financial support from well-to-do laymen. However, Ikkyū thought that money was also raised from others by offering salvation and so he called Yōsō "...a poisonous snake, a seducer and a leper..." which he was in fact. [Here Ikkyū plays a role similar to that of Luther and other protestants who were enraged by the sale of indulgences by the Catholic church in Europe in the 16th century.] After Yōsō died Ikkyū was hardly less sparing of his successor, Shumpo (1410-96). These "...attacks so enraged Shumpo's followers that in 1457 an attempt was made on his life." Keene says: "Ikkyū's attacks on Yōsō were intemperate and probably unfair, but they reveal his uncompromising insistence on maintaining the spirit of Zen." However, Ikkyū was equally harsh on himself and said that his sins would "...fill the universe" and that also he "may... serve in perpetuity as a master of hell." (Ibid. p. 23) ¶ At 76 he fell in love with a blind woman named Mori. "Despite his love for Mori and other women (and also boys), Ikkyū remained convinced that human beings were no more than skeletons clothed in flesh. His curious work Gaikotsu (Skeletons), written in 1457, described under the guise of a dream about skeletons his belief that the beauty and glory of this world are illusions." ¶ In Skeletons Ikkyū describes a scene of skeleton pall-bearer carrying the skeleton of another one in a funeral procession. Draped over the corpse is an elaborate robe. Nearby in the original volume is a poem questioning such lavish behavior when in the end all comes to naught anyway. Below is an illustration of that scene with my coloring and sans text:
In 1886 Yoshitoshi published a diptych of an encounter between Ikkyū and the Hell Maiden. That is a skull the priest is carrying atop the end of a pole. It seems to mock the umbrella carried by one of her attendants. "The subject derives from a story associated with the medieval-era Rinzai Zen priest Ikkyū, who was legendary for his fondness for engaging both Buddhist devotees and cynics, including a courtesan nicknamed Jigoku Dayu, in lively dialogues on Buddhist philosophy." (Quoted from: Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005 by Patricia Graham, p. 211)
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Inazuma |
稲妻
いなずま |
A flash of lightning. Often used as a mon or crest in any one of a number of diverse variations. The kanji can also be vocalized as 'inaduma' or いなづま. 1 |
|||
|
Ine |
稲
いね |
A rice plant motif. There is hardly anything which could have a greater significance to the Japanese. Staff of life, the measure of one's wealth, religious emblem - it covered it all in the most positive ways. The importance of the rice farmer in Japan even today should give one an indication of the overriding esteem in which the plant is held. |
|||
|
Inrō |
印籠
いんろう |
Inrō: Literally seal + basket. Isn't it odd that in the whole world of ukiyo prints inrō are hardly ever shown. In fact, the large image to the left from a book illustration by Toyokuni I dating from the early 19th century is the only one I can think of. Perhaps they show up in certain surimono, but in general they are almost non-existent. Of course, this is not the case in the real world. Inrō have been a hot-market item for the last fifty years or so. Anyone familiar with Japanese objets d'art knows what these are. ¶ Kimonos didn't have pockets and people needed a way to carry their medicines, inks for writing or cosmetics for beautification. There were pouches which could be carried, but the inrō were far less intrusive. ¶ However, originally they served a different function: As the kanji suggests they were used to carry one's personal seal and seal-paste so that their mark could be affixed to documents. "Their decoration encompasses in miniature virtually the entire range of lacquering styles and techniques current during the period. The rich variety of themes and styles among inrō reflects their importance as an emblem of the taste, status, and wealth of the owner. ¶ Inrō may have one or more compartments surmounted by a lid. The usual shape has a rectangular face and a flattened, elliptical cross-section, which hangs conveniently close to the body when suspended from the obi. Cord-channels run vertically through all the sections of an inrō, so that the sections are held in place by a silk cord threaded through all the sections. The ends of the cord are passed through a bead, then secured to a toggle, usually a miniature carving, known as a netsuke."
Quote from: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan entry by Ann Yonemura (vol. 3, p. 313) |
|||
|
Inzō |
印相
いんぞう |
The Buddhist mudra or sign made by the position of the hand or hands. "In Buddhist iconography every buddha is depicted with a characteristic gesture of the hands. Such gestures correspond to natural gestures (of teaching, protecting, and so on) and also to certain aspects of the Buddhist teaching or of the particular buddha depicted."
Quoted from: The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, p. 148.
The examples to the left were provided by our generous contributor E. Thanks E!
The top example represents the abhaya mudra which is a gesture of fearlessness and granting protection. The bottom one is the varada mudra which stands for the granting of wishes.
There are several other mudras not shown here. For those of you who are interested I would suggest a search on Google or whatever else serves as your favorite search engine.
|
|||
|
Iori |
庵
いおり |
A shelter or hermitage which often used as a stylized family mon or crest. Although this example includes a floral motif under the roof and between the beams of the shelter there are many other variations on this form. The floral motif need not be there. Nor does the shelter have to look exactly like this one. |
|||
|
Irohabiki monchō |
いろはびき.もんちょう |
"Book of crests in the order of the iroha alphabet": Edited by Tanaka Kikuo, published by Matsuzaki Hanzō, Tokyo, 1881. Copper plate illustrations. 2 1/4" x 6 3/8". "These crests are arranged in the order of the Japanese kana syllabary, or alphabet, known as the 'iroha.'"
Source and quote from: Rain and Snow: The Umbrella in Japanese Art, by Julia Meech, published by Japan Society Inc., 1993, p. 119.
These crests were originally used by certain families, but "By the Edo period, however, even commoners, although they had no surnames, adopted emblems for their fancy clothing. Tradesmen took crests for trademarks and used them to decorate everything from toys to umbrellas. Kabuki actors and courtesans also aped the elite and often took more than one crest." Later Meech added: "There are between 4,000 and 5,000 design variations. During the the [sic] Edo and Meiji periods they were published in designers' catalogues know as monchō, usually in black and white." (Ibid.)
The Irohabiki monchō in the show at the Japan Society is from the collection of the Newark Public Library. |
|||
|
Irezumi |
刺青 いろは
いれずみ
|
A term for tattoo which is also called horimono. To the left (top) is a detail from a print by Tadamasa of Danshichi Kurobei from 1950. Below that is a larger detail showing Fudō Myōō.
|
|||
|
Ishi |
石
いし |
Ishi is the Japanese word for stone. The image to the left is just one of many different variations on a popular choice of family crests. John Dower identifies these as paving stones. "Among the rigidly prescribed court costumes of prefeudal Japan, the check pattern was so esteemed that its use was restricted to courtiers who ranked higher than the third rank. The 'paving stone' motif reflects this esteem, rather than any particular significance attached to such stones themselves."
Quoted from: The Elements of Japanese Design p. 142. |
|||
|
Ishizuri-e |
石摺絵
いしずりえ |
'Stone-printed picture(s)': Made in imitation of the ancient Chinese art of stone rubbings. "...in Japan, it was normally wood that was engraved and the more correct Japanese term is takuhon - a 'book of rubbings'."
Quote from: The Art of the Japanese Book, by Jack Hillier, published by Sotheby's, vol. 1, 1987, p. 311.
To read more about 'stone-printed pictures' click on the image to the left. |
|||
|
(Ita)暈
(Ita)ぼかし
|
Ita-bokashi is a printing technique for creating soft edged, lineless gradations within an image. The block is chamfered by sanding down or cutting away the edge. Rebecca Salter notes that this method was often used for the folds of garments. This is commonly the case with shini-e or memorial prints among others, but clearly was also used for subtle gradations in areas other than that of fabrics. See the images to the left.
The image on top to the left is a Kuniyoshi chuban print - one of a triptych. It shows a woman holding a child standing in the snow while dogs frolic behind her. A close inspection of this print offers three distinct areas of ita-bokashi: the warehouses in the background; the reddish fur on the dogs; and the shading in the snow caused by the human and animal traffic.
This image was sent to us by my friend M. Thanks M!
Rebecca Salter in her Japanese Woodblock Printing (University of Hawai'i Press, 2001, p. 120) stated that ita-bokasi is "....gradation through chamfering the edge of the block. Often used to show folds in garments."
In Japanese Woodblock Printing by Hiroshi Yoshida (1939, p.4) lays out what he believed to be the salient features of color prints. In point 4 of 9 the author states: "Clarity is the life of wood-block printing. To be sure, there are methods known as ita-bokashi (where the block is cut down gradually in order to produce a soft edge in printing), in which clearness is sacrificed. This method is called into aid only when absolutely necessary, yet it still remains true that block printing is by nature essentially based on clear-cut blocks and clean printing." |
||||
|
Ita-mokuhan |
板目木版
いためもくはん |
The printing of a wood grain within a print. A wood plank is soaked in water to open up the grain and is then inked and printed to intentionally reproduce the nature of the wood itself.
The images to the left are both details from a Toyokuni III print sent to us by our great contributor Eikei (英渓).
|
|||
|
Itomaki |
糸巻
いとまき |
A card of thread motif from the late feudal era. Similar, but more elaborate designs shows spools of thread with each length indicated. However, here this motif is simplified to it barest minimum. In fact, it is so simple that if you didn't know what you were looking at you probably would not have a clue as to its true meaning.
|
|||
|
Iwai Hanshirō |
岩井半四郎 いわい.はんしろう |
Kabuki actor 1 |
|||
|
Iwai Kumesaburō II |
岩井久米三郎
いわい.くめさぶろう |
Kabuki actor 1799-1836 1 |
|||
|
Iwai Kumesaburō III |
岩井久米三郎
いわい.くめさぶろう |
Kabuki actor 1829-82. He also performed under the name of Iwai Hanshiro VIII. 1 |
|||
|
LINKS TO OUR OTHER INDEX/GLOSSARY PAGES Click on any of the pages listed below!
|
||
|
|
|
|
