Akita-ken is one of the northern areas where a peculiarly beautful and unusual raincape is still made and used. One finds that deep in the rural regions, customs are both respected and practiced. Mino were and are used as gifts of felicitation between men and women, marks of affection if you will. When so used, they’re called IWAI-GERA. They can also be referred to as DATE-GERA or showy mino. Being attractive apparel, the iwai-gera of Akita-ken are in a class apart. A neckband of three of four colors in a pattern maintains the yoke shape of the flowing mino. The dark strands are meter lengths of sun-cured seaweed that shed water most effectively while remaining supple and useful for years. These same nori strands are used sparsely in mino from several other districts purely as decoration. The normal design has several stripes of softened lime bark used decoratively against a sold background of cured nori. Each spaghetti-thin strand is attached to a netting of the same material to form a backing for the rainwear.
Needless to say, these mino are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. Nothing can be done to alter this trend because the making of such mino from collecting necessary materials right through finishing, requires time, talent and considerable cost. That they survive to this day and age is testimony to die-hard, age-old customs and the support of contemporary folk art collectors. May both endure for the generations to come. Two photos appear on page 134.
| 5 | YAMAGATA |
| ITTO-BORI | |
Yamagata-ken is an area rich with historical traditions. In the south of this Tohoku prefecture is a mountain called Sasano-yama or bamboo mountain. When Japan was first becoming a complete nation in terms of territory, Sasano—yama was an important frontier landmark. It was there, on the outskirts of presentday Yone-zawa-shi, that settling Japanese faced the Ainu.
Divided by the mountain, the two groups lived uneasily for only a short time. About 800 A.D. Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro was dispatched by the emperor to quell the Ainu. At Sasano-yama he prayed to Senshu Kannon, the 1,000-handed diety, for success against the Ainu and used as symbols for his plea the ITTO-BORI peculiar to this region.
Itto-bori (literally one-knife carvings) were long used to felicitate the Japanese pantheon of gods in this part of Tohoku. An indigenous shrub, aburanko, is used. The technique of carving was borrowed from the Ainu who used similarly shaved work (inau) in their rituals.
The Ainu campaign was highly successful and the emperor’s military emissary eventually drove the Ainu completely from Honshu. They remained semi-isolated only in Hokkaido where today they are prominent minority.
It is not known what form the carvings he presented to Senshu Kannon took but an educated guess is they were probably a hawk with all its war-like and virile symbolism.
The traditions of itto-bori continue with what is popularly known as Sasano-bori. Soft, white aburanko is cut and well seasoned before being laid to the knife. Two special knives are used to shave single posts and achieve the feathered finish. See photos on page 128.
The assortment of birds carved these days ranges from the simple to the rather exotic — the onagadori or longtailed rooster is a fine example of this extreme.
Careful slivering of the carving block creates an array of characteristic birds enhanced by simple surface color. Note the easily recognized line of the sekirei or wag-tail whose bobbing tail feathers can be seen at almost any summer stream.
Sasano-bori can be a perfect gift if characteristics each bird is noted for are matched to the receiver (i.e., roosters for early risers, peacocks for showy people, wag-tails for fertility, etc.) but be careful or you may lose a friend or two!
| 6 | MIYAGI |
| KOKESHI | |
KOKESHI are probably the only mingei-hin known throughout the world. Surprising as it may seem, kokeshi have a relatively recent history. They date from the late Edo period when both leisure time and affluence in farming communities became not just a sought-after dream. Essentially a doll, the kokeshi are believed to have their origins in the practice of spiritualist religion. Dolls fashioned of most any material, including paper and clay, were thought to contain the spiritual essence of the dead and as such were often created for honorary remembrance.
Sumptuary laws surely had a creative hand in the first kokeshi’s form taking. Probably it was a roughly human form turned on a handpowered wood lathe. Without decoration or face, the early kokeshi no doubt looked much like the tumbler-style wooden clothespins my mother used years ago in hanging out the laundry. The addition of decorative clothing a la simple rings of color and the expressive, even suggestive, faces that so many kokeshi wear, turned them from simple children’s toys into works of collectible folk art.
Slight variations in floral and banded patterns occur with sizes ranging from 10 cm to well over 40 cm in height. Each is made from a single piece of finely turned and finished hardwood. Wood varies widely but the most generally used type is the native dogwood which is both fine-grained and light in tone as well as easily available and durable.
Probably the most well-known, Naruko-no-kokeshi come from a small community located in the northwest of the prefecture and is one of the main entry points for the Kurikoma National Park. An abundance of hot springs makes kokeshi turning all the more lucrative a winter pastime, although widespread popularity of this particular kokeshi surely demands year-around manufacture.
Early kokeshi were turned out on foot- or hand-powered lathes. Some still are, but most have turned to automation in some form for easier production. The form being so standard, lathe powering is hardly as important as the overall design and hand-decorated face and apparel.
The visitor to other regions of these isles will often find local varieties quite distinctly original from their far northern cousins. The appealing manner of these simple wooden dolls make them a favorite with all ages, hence, their strength as an enduring folk art of Japan.
| 7 | FUKUSHIMA |
| NISHIN-BACHI | |
Of course, it isn’t necessary to have such a rectangular ceramic dish to make your pickled herring in, but when the dish is almost as famous as the inner concoction, one adds to the other in the way that a well-seasoned frying pan seems to impart special flavor.
Nishin or herring come in several sizes and, accordingly, so do the Aizu-Hongo nishin-bachi from Fukushima-ken. The Aizu part of the area’s name refers to its historical district name, while Hongo derives from a prominent local mountain. It is from this mountainside that the Aizu-Hongo clays are collected and the same is true for glazes used to seal the porous suyaki. Aizu-Hongo-yaki is made at only one kiln — the Munakata-gama, a 150-meter long noborigama (hill-climbing kiln) fired thrice yearly using only seasoned pine fuel. A true mingei kiln, Munakata-gama has a one-family history dating back nearly 300 years and covering nine generations.
While the kiln is well-known for these deep-sided and thick-walled storing bowls for salted or pickled herring, it produces a rather wide range of “kitchen wares.” In the mingei tradition, Munakata-gama output is oriented toward functional everyday ceramics. Their sturdy appearance testifies to their endurance, while outer surface-glazing decoration is truly minimal, generally a solid shade over which may be laid some casual strokes of simply applied contrasting glazes. Typically the tone is deep brown with off-white contrasts but a creamy background is sometimes created with contrasting splashes of apple green. Everything from the massive (and weighty) nishin-bachi or wheel-thrown hibachi right down to the smallest sake-choko are given almost casual glazes which fire to multihues with smokey visual effects.
Nishin-bachi are slab-built from thick plates of clay expertly sized and fitted together. Inside comers are reinforced with additional clay