Ikari thru Iwai

JAPANESE PRINTS

A MILLION QUESTIONS

TWO MILLION MYSTERIES

Ukiyo-e Prints

浮世絵版画

Port Townsend, Washington

INDEX/GLOSSARY

Ikari thru Iwai

The white lilies are being used to mark addition
made in July and August 2010.

The painting of the hallucinogenic

fly argaric mushroom by Heiko Sievers

was used to mark additions made

in May and June 2010.

The negative image of the iris posted at

commons.wikimedia.org by D. L. Lindwall

was used in March and April.

TERMS FOUND ON THIS PAGE:

Ikari, Ikkyū, Inazuma, Ine,

Inro, Iori, Irohabiki monchō, Irezumi, Ishi, Ita-bokashi,

Ita-mokuhan, Itomaki, Iwai Hanshiro,

Iwai Kumesaburō II and Iwai Kumesaburō III

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

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.

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.

John W. Dower said that the anchor stood for "steadfastness and staying power". Maude Rex Allen in 1917 said it was safety and hope. A publication from 1894 gave ikari as safety only.

The ikari-sō (錨草 or いかりそう) or Epimedium grandiflorum var. thunbergianum got its name because it looked so much like the traditional Japanese anchor. The sō (草) part means 'grass', but not in the way we refer to grass. We do not know how long this plant has had this particular name. The image below is shown courtesy of Shu Suehiro at http://www.botanic.jp/plants-aa/ikaris.htm. It is listed in Chado, The Way of Tea: A Japanese Tea Master's Almanac by Sasaki Sanmi as one of the flower/plants which can accompany the tea ceremony.

The ikari is one of the 20 precious items associated with the 7 Propitious Gods. See our entry on the takaramono to see the other 19.

Lafcadio Hearn in his Romance of the Milky Way and Other Studies and Stories from 1905 quotes a poem about the "ship-following ghost": "That Shape, carrying that anchor on its back, and following after the ship - now at the bow and now at the stern - ah, the ghost of Tomomori."

Louis Frédéric in the Japan Encyclopedia (p. 375) writes: "Ikari kazuki. Title of a Noh play: an old boatman and the spirit of Tomomori tells a wandering Buddhist monk about the deaths of the child-emperor Antoku and the warrior Tomomori, who drowned himself during the Dan no Ura by holding an anchor in his arms."

"The Heike's account of the death agonies of the Taira at Dannoura is one of the most poignant and tragic scenes in Japanese literature. Kiyomori's widow, embracing her grandson, the child emperor Antoku, and carrying also the jewels and sword of the sacred regalia leaps into the sea (the jewels are retrieved, but the sword is lost); Lady Kenreimon'in, Antoku's mother, also plunges into the sea, but is fished out by the Minamoto. Many Taira warriors, including Tomomori, commit suicide by drowning. Donning additional armor and holding or shouldering anchors to ensure that they sink to the bottom, they leap into the sea one after another. In several cases, they go to their deaths holding hands. Thus Tomomori and his foster brother Ienaga, having earlier vowed to die together, plunge hand-in-hand into the waves." (Quote from: Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales by Paul Varley, pp. 145-6)

Above is an image by Kuniyoshi of the

ghost of the drowned Tomomori with his ikari.

Looking for physical evidence of the attempted Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274: "In 1994 archeologists discovered three wood and stone anchors at Kozaki harbor, a small cove on the southern coast of the island of Takashima. The largest anchor was still stuck into the seabed with its rope cable stretching toward the shore, and providing a tantalizing clue that a wreck lay nearby." (Source and quote from: The Samurai Swordsman: Master of War by Stephen Turnbull, p. 39)

"Forced by the Japanese raids to stay in their ships, and unable to drop anchor in protected harbor waters, the Mongol fleet was obliterated." (Ibid., p. 41)

Ikkyū

一休

いっきゅう

Zen priest - poet and thinker 1394-1481: one of the noted abbots of Daitoku-ji. 1

"Growing up in Ankoku-ji, one of the ten secondary temples (Jissatsu) of the Five Mountains (Gozan) Zen monasteries, Ikkyū earned renown for both his talents in composing kanshi (poems written in Chinese) and his serious pursuit of the truth of Zen when he was still a teenager. Increasingly dissatisfied with the corruption of the Gozan monasteries, Ikkyū fled Ankoku-ji to study under Ken'ō, an eccentric monk who had refused his own seal of transmission, the document certifying a Buddhist priest's enlightenment. From the time when he was a young disciple of Ken'ō until he died as the abbot of Daitoku-ji temple in 1481, Ikkyū was an extremely serious priest who fiercely attacked anyone who was lacking in sincere Zen spirit. At the same time, he was also an eccentric monk who frequented brothels and bars, an unusual kanshi poet whose versus juxtaposed transcendental Zen experience with explicit descriptions of sexual love." (Quoted from: Basho And The Dao: The Zhuangzi And The Transformation Of Haikai, by Peipei Qui, pp. 102-3)

Donald Keene makes the point in his Some Japanese Portraits that the first person in all of Japanese history of whom a true biographical sketch can be written in a Western sense is Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉 or まつおばしょう: 1644-94). One of the reasons is the material he left behind plus that written about him by students and friends. Other than that most biographical material lacked substance partially because "...individuality was not a quality emphasized by the Japanese of feudal times. Even in portraiture it is almost impossible between faces..." (Keene, p. 17-18) Sometimes differences in gender are difficult to make out. See, for example, the works of Harunobu where you can't always tell if it is a young man or young woman you are looking at. Even Utamaro makes it difficult at times. ¶ "Something resembling individuality did, however, exist in Japan, the tradition of eccentricity. In a feudal society where conformity was demanded of its members, people tended to behave in a manner appropriate to their age, occupation, and status in society without much display of strong individuality.... But the eighteenth century was also a golden age for eccentric, and their antics were indulgently observed and reported by chroniclers." Note the image to the left which ostensibly shows Ikkyū passing gas in the most glaring way as though he was a modern American teenage boy or frat member.

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)

"Ikkyū's 'madness' was the expression of unending rage over the stupidity and corruption of the priesthood. He took for his sobriquet the name Kyōun, 'crazy cloud,' and the character kyō, 'crazy,' is sprinkled throughout his poetry. In his revolt against the hypocrisy of other priests, who pretended to lead the lives of saints, he went to the opposite extreme." (Ibid.) He rejected the idea that a Buddhist priest should not eat fish, drink saké or indulge in sexual intercourse. He even wrote a poem called The Brothel quoted by Keene on page 22:

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.)

Years ago I bought a copy of this book, not because I knew exactly what it was, but because it was truly interesting. It is this book which has provided me, i.e., us, with all of the crests we have posted so far and there is more to come.

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-bokashi

(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