To atone for his mistake, he resolved to throw himself into the Sumida River from Ryogoku-bashi. As he rested against the bridge railing summoning up the courage who happens along but his vainly loved lady. He reproached her for bringing him to this situation. On hearing the full tale, she resolved to join him in shinju (double suicide) and join her lover on his journey into the other world. Over the bridge they went and the ensuing sensation caused by their dramatic deaths brought much fame to the shop of the golden cat and in turn economic ruin to its rival neighbor.
The fortune “beckoning” abilities of the cat were soon picked up on by local hucksters apparently in collusion with temple authorities. It quickly became important to buy a small copy of this cat on the first dragon day of each month. A set of 48 collected over a four-year period was required for future financial success. The hitch in this scheme (and scheme it was indeed) was that if any misfortune such as a death occurred, the collected cats must be disposed of and a new collection begun. Ever try to go through even a single year without some mishap that could well be construed as “misfortune”?
The golden coloring together with multiple collecting have been dropped in favor of single images in more natural shades — primarily a black spotted white. Next you see one of these come hither felines, reflect on why after nearly 200 years it’s still drawing crowds and you just may unlock the economic secret of this fascinating land.
| 12 | CHIBA |
| UCHIWA | |
Southeast of Tokyo proper is the Boso Peninsula (Boso Hanto), one of two seaward stretched arms that enfold Tokyo Bay. The whole of the peninsula belongs to Chiba-ken and is a popular vacation spot, especially along the Pacific coastline which is a quasi-national park. The nearly year-round fair weather of the area makes it a natural truck farm arena, sometimes humorously referred to as the “kitchen of Tokyo” because it is from there that most fresh vegetables reach the populous consumer market of the nation’s capital. It is also due to the exceptionally mild weather in Boso that bamboo proliferates in many varieties, from tall, thick stemmed “moso” to a slender leafy type generally used for ground cover.
Why is bamboo so important? Without the light and easy formed structure of a bamboo stalk, fans would undoubtedly look quite different. UCHIWA is the Japanese term given one variety of fan found throughout the country. Round and flat, it cannot be folded like its relative, the SENSU. Tateyama-shi, located almost at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, is where the best uchiwa are made.
Production of this handpowered cooler takes an exceptionally steady hand. The selected piece of bamboo stem will be divided neatly into carefully cut long fingers. Each is skived to brittle thinness. When these segments are spread, the basic fan shape evolves. Two sheets of durable handmade washi are prepared and it is between these two layers of paper that the spread ribs of the uchiwa are bonded in place. Paper used for Tateyama uchiwa is called tejika washi — especially strong paper that will allow long life for the finished product. A rim strip of semiprotective bamboo is sometimes slipped over the unspread ribs. This is attached to the outer edge of the paper/rib/paper bonding to give added strength and durability. A photo of production is included on page 135.
With simple stenciled patterns in one, two or three tones, uchiwa are just right for hot summer days. When summer ends they can be used to winnow rice or direct local sumo. End of fall, no trouble! Winter fires usually need some gentle fanning to help them get started, and before you know it, spring will have arrived when an uchiwa is a perfect but coy serving tray. Anyway, anytime of the year, a first class uchiwa can come in handy.
| 13 | GUMMA |
| DARUMA | |
Gumma-ken is probably best known for its DARUMA. Sankaku-daruma, conical pairs made in neighboring Niigata, covered fairly well the historical background of just whom daruma dolls are though to represent. Made of papier-mache (hariko in the vernacular), strips of paste-impregnated paper are laid one on another till the basic desired shape is formed. Set aside to dry thoroughly, decorative enameling is added to create the familiar rotund, armless and legless doll. Legless he is indeed, having supposedly lost the use of them through nine intensive years of meditation but armless? Not quite! His arms are tucked conveniently out of sight in the folds of his brilliant red dhoti (Indian style robe) so he only appears to be minus both.
Gumma-daruma have blank eyes. This isn’t strange at all when the whole truth is known. New daruma are always sold with both eyes white blanks as the purchaser usually wants to make a special invocation for help to the gods. When that wish is made known, one eye is painted in. This is usually done with some festivity. Many a huge daruma receive just one eye in hopes of success but, one wonders what you do with a one-eye daruma when your wish is denied?
Fulfillment of the wish creates another happy situation where amid further festivities, the second eye is ceremoniously painted in place and the daruma is whole again. His fearful countenance and whiskered face just doesn’t come off with whitened sockets blankly staring. Painted in place, the doll finds its rightful place in the Japanese pantheon of gods.
One more aspect to daruma that bears mentioning is weighting at the base so that however much it veers to one side or the other, it always rights itself. Daruma of this type are also called okiagari koboshi, which literally means the bonze (monk) who gets up easily. The saying “nana-korobi-yaoki,” or seven falls and eight rises stands for the try, try again spirit synonymous with the undaunted daruma.
Size depends on your pocketbook as they range from intermediate sizes to a gigantic 90 em tall. You can get one at a Daruma-ichi (market) like the one pictured on page 131.
| 14 | SAITAMA |
| FUNADO-HARIKO | |
Saitama-ken borders the Tokyo metropolis and is in many respects wedded to the city. Commuters by the hundreds of thousands stream from and to abodes in Saitama daily to and from stations of work somewhere in the sprawling maze of Tokyo’s streets. Being so close by doesn’t especially invite the continued production of true folk art but still there survives in this prefecture a perfectly charming toy with a long history.
FUNADO-HARIKO is the vernacular name of these papier-mache dolls with bobbing heads. The variety of personages made in this type doll is quite numerous. Hari-ko is the Japanese term for papier-mache whatever the form. Strips of paper soaked in a rice paste solution are laid atop one another to fashion simple dolls, an exotic range of beasts and of course daruma in sizes ranging from tiny to gigantic.
Some hariko use moulds into which are pressured paste-dampened paper strips but most are freely built. A practised hand knows just how much and where to put each ready strip of moistened paper. Pinched into shape by agile fingers, the damp form is sun-dried before decorative painting is done. Simple forms take on added dimensions when the lines of a kimono are added and even the simple white band indicting a fundoshi (loincloth) helps to make the doll more real.
What really gives each doll “life” is the bobbing head which has been fashioned separately and is attached to the main body via a single string. In mobile style, heads bob and twist with the slightest stir of air currents. A perfectly stationary doll that suddenly moves must activate the awe of any child even in these days of battery-run toys. But then, these simple dolls hark back to a time when there were no batteries and even the simple clock spring key-wound toy of the late 19th century had yet to be invented.
These engaging “live” dolls are not the rough and tumble type today’s youngsters are used to, but then not everything has to be handled to be appreciated. Funado is the Saitama suburb where they first