hikyaku fox legends

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. kitsune densetsu 狐　伝説 fox legends .
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Hikyakugitsune 飛脚狐 伝説　legends about fast fox messengers
狐飛脚 Kitsune Hikyaku

. hikyaku 飛脚 courier, messenger "flying legs" .
- Introduction -

Hikyaku were couriers or messengers, who transported currency, letters, packages, and the like. In the Edo period, the network of Hikyaku messengers expanded dramatically, and also became more organized and systematized.


source : fullusedbook.blog119.fc2.com

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. Inaba gogitsune 因幡五狐 / / 因幡の五狐 five foxes from Inaba, Tottori .

- - - - - The most famous of them is

Kyoozooboo 経蔵坊 The Fox Kyozobo
The fox is also called
Keizooboo 桂蔵坊 The Fox Keizobo
Hikyakugitsune, hikyaku kitsune 飛脚狐 the Fox messenger "with flying legs"


- source : blog.canpan.info/minnwa_tottori -

Kyozobo / Keizobo was an old fox that lived close to the Tottori castle. He could run to Edo and back in just two days and was famous for his speed. The Lord Ikeda 池田 of the Castle was very fond of him.
One day Keizobo was sent on a secret mission to Edo and passing 播磨国 Harima no Kuni (Hyogo), he passed a trap of a farmer, who had placed a delicious-smelling fried rat. Since he was on an urgent mission, he passed on. On his way back from Edo he was hungry and wanted to get the rat, but in turn got caught in the trap himself and was killed.
Lord Ikeda grieved about his friend and had the shrine 中坂神社 Nakazaka Jinja built in his honor.



He is venerated at the shrine 桂蔵坊を奉る中坂神社
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Now popular papermachee toys of Kyozobo of the fox are also made.




草枯れて狐の飛脚通りけり
kusa karete kitsune no hikyaku tori keri

withered plants -
the "fox with flying legs"
is passing by


source : seien0808 - 清苑


- quote -
THE FOX BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Withered grasses;
A fox messenger
hurries by.

That makes no sense in a Western context. To us — at least traditionally — a fox is a rather sly and clever animal. In traditional Japan, however, a fox (kitsune) is a creature that lives between two worlds — ours and the “spirit” world. In Japan, foxes were believed to be able to take on human form, and woe to the young man who happened to become infatuated with a fox spirit! He would just fade and waste away like a shoot of grass withering, and would eventually die.

Buson has reflected this notion in the withered grasses of the autumn fields in his hokku. He sees the fox hurrying past not as just an ordinary animal, but rather as a courier passing swiftly with a message to deliver, involved in his task and giving no attention to the human. Buson regards the foxes as living their own lives in their own eerie society, separate from that of humans, but occasionally coming in contact with them.

This verse has a feeling that we in the West would associate with Halloween. It is far from the best kind of hokku, but it did exist, and it does have its effect.
- source : Hokku David -


Withered grasses
where a fox messenger on flying legs
passed through.
Tr. Yuki Sawa & Edith Marcombe Shiffert


In withered grass
a fox carrying messages
passes by
Tr. Allan Persinger


. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 and Fox Haiku .

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :


.................................................................. Akita 秋田県 ....................................................................
秋田市 Akita town


source : 二〇世紀ひみつ基地


Yojiroo 與治郎狐 / 与次郎狐 The Fox Yojiro


source : xxx

与次郎稲荷神社 Shrine Yojiro Inari Jinja



- quote -
Yojiro, the fox in a Harrinets shirt and Yojiro-Inari-Jinja Shrine



... a manga-like concrete statue of a grinning fox that someone had clad in a red t-shirt of the local basketball team, called the Harrinets. The story behind the fox statue is a sad one. The story goes that 佐竹義宜 Lord Satake Yoshinobu, who built Akita Castle, constructed it on land that was the home of foxes. Yojiro, a three-hundred-year-old fox, approached the lord and asked that some land be left for the foxes. The lord agreed. In gratitude, Yojiro offered to serve as a messenger. He carried messages across the country much faster than any of the lord's human messengers, who later killed the fox out of jealousy.

It is said that the body of Yojiro is enshrined in the Yojiro-Inari-Jinja Shrine, which was later built on the castle grounds. This small shrine is one of the most attractive fox-related shrines in Japan. Inari is one of Shinto's eight million gods, and Inari sometimes took the form of a fox. Pairs of male and female fox statues line the walkway to the shrine. Visitors will walk beneath red Japanese gates while passing under the stares of the foxes who make sure that they behave respectfully. Unique to this particular shrine, some of the vixen statues come with kits, or baby foxes. The shrine is within Senshu Park.
- source : japanvisitor.com/ -

Yojiro has become one mascot of Akita.
There is now also a store that sells stamps with this manga-like figure.


source : nakedpou.blog17.fc2.com/category48
与次郎バーガーの消しゴムハンコ

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湯沢市 Yuzawa

The owner of a tea stall in 雄勝町 Ogatsu was suspicious about the two fast messengers from Lord Satake, おさいんぱたのよじゅうろう Osainbata no Yojuro and さかえのよじ兵衛 Sakae no Yojihei. He put out some poisoned Abura-age Tofu, and when the two passed by and ate them, they became ill and died. When they dropped dead, the human bodies of the messengers turned into foxes.


.................................................................. Nara　奈良県 ....................................................................
大和国宇多郡 / 宇陀郡 Yamano no Kuni, Udagun


source : youkaitama.seesaa.net/article

Gengoroogitsune 源五郎狐 The Fox Gengoro
and his wife Kojoroogitsune 小女郎狐 Kojorogitsune

He was as strong as three people and worked hard, helping the farmers. They all relied on him, but nobody knew where he had come from.
He could run as a messenger to Edo and back in just seven or eight days, a trip that took a human messenger 10 days just to go there.
One day he was asked to run as a messenger, took the box with letters and run off. But near 小夜中山 Nakayama he was killed by a dog. From the box hanging around his neck people found out who he was and delivered the message.
In 伊賀国上野 Igaland, at the temple 広禅寺 in Ueno there lives his wife, Kojorogitsune, who worked as a helper in the temple since she was about 12 years old. She helped with cleaning and sometimes went to the village to buy vegetables and Toku. The children in the village knew her well and often yelled after her - こじょろ、こじょろ little whore, little whore.
But after the death of Gengoro, she soon also disappeared from the temple.

. Nakayama 佐夜の中山 Sayo no Nakayama .
A dangerous pass of the Tokaido Road in Shizuoka.

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生駒郡 Ikoma district

When the modern postal service started in the early Meiji period, people called it the
"fox messenger with flying legs" お狐さんの飛脚の仕業.

At the temple 洞泉寺 Tosen-Ji (Dosen-Ji) there is a small shrine called 源九郎稲荷社 Genkuro Inari Jinja
for the fox messenger 源九郎狐 Genkurogitsune.
The fox who bought a padded hood is also told here.
The famous children's song about
Yamato no Genkuro san やまとの源九郎さん comes from this fox.
The shrine is very small, but counted as one of the three most famous Inari shrines in Japan 日本三大稲荷.

白狐源九郎 The White Fox Genkuro

The shrine is named after Genkuro Minamoto Yoshitsune, one of the most popular persons in Japanese history.
This fox is also appearing in the story of 義経千本桜 Yoshitsune Senbon Sakura.

- quote -
..... Long ago in the Yamato area there lived a pair of old foxes that had lived there for a thousand years. One summer, to the consternation of all the farmers, there was a terrible drought throughout the district. They decided to capture the two foxes, and with the skins they made a drum which successfully brought them the much needed rain.
Ever since that time the drum has been preserved and treasured. The Tadanobu-fox explains that he is, in fact, a son of the foxes from whose skins the drum was made, the drum of which Shizuka now has possession. Immediately upon finishing his story, he changes from Tadanobu back into his true fox form. He tells her that because of his love for his parents, he has followed the drum everywhere.
Yoshitsune, who has been eavesdropping on the talk from behind a bamboo blind in the next room, is deeply moved by the fox's human-like devotion to and affection for his parents. .....
Sato Tadanobu (1161-1186)
- reference source : -



源九郎稲荷社 Genkuro Inari Jinja
On the first Sunday in April there is a festival where children in a procession wear the masks of a white fox.
- - - - - 忠臣狐伝説 - 佐藤忠信 Sato Tadanobu (1161-1186)
- - - - - 妖刀子狐丸 - legend about a serpent and a sword called 小狐丸 Kogitsunemaru.
- - - - - 元和の鎮火伝説 : 元和元年（1615年）、豊臣方大野治房による郡山城攻撃が行われた際城下も焼け、その中心へと火が迫ってきたのを見た洞泉寺住職天誉和尚が、源九郎狐に祈願をしたところ、突然大雨が降り大火を免れた。
- - - - - 綿帽子を買った狐伝説 - The fox who bought a padded hood

奈良県大和郡山市洞泉寺町15 / 15 Tōsenjichō, Yamatokōriyama-shi
- reference : wikipedia -

. Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源の義経 (1159 - 1189) .


.................................................................. Shimane 島根県 ....................................................................
簸川郡 Hikawa district

shirogitsune 白狐 white fox
There came a messenger from Edo, but he did not return.
The next day farmers found a white fox in a trap and soon knew this was the messenger.


.................................................................. Tokyo 東京都 ....................................................................

In the compound of 浅草観音　Asakusa Kannon there is a shrine for Yasuzaemon

Yasuzaemon Inari 弥惣左ヱ門稲荷.
A fox named 熊谷弥惣左ヱ門 Kumagaya Yasuzaemon got caught here in a trap and died. The shrine was erected in his honor.
also called
Kumagaya Inari 熊谷稲荷
There is a story about a samurai named 熊谷弥惣左ヱ門 / 熊谷安左衛門 from Kanazawa who once helped a fox, got fired for it from his Lord and became a Ronin, later turning up in Asakusa.

熊谷稲荷について The Story about Kumagaya Inari Shrine
この稲荷は、江戸中期に熊谷安左衛門が勧請した稲荷で、数ある稲荷とちがって、白狐を祀った稲荷で、江戸浅草の熊谷安左衛門の墓所のある本法寺と、青森弘前の津軽藩公が祀った二ヶ所だけの、極めて珍しい稲荷です。

もう一ヶ所の津軽の熊谷稲荷は、藩公が江戸へ参勤交代のさい、白狐があらわれて、不思議な霊験があったことで知られています。. . .
..... 本法寺と熊谷稲荷の由縁について
熊谷安左衛門稲荷は、当初安左衛門が居住していた、日本橋大伝馬町片町にあった屋敷神として崇めていたが、或る夜白狐が姿をあらわして、「この稲荷の御利益を世に広めたいので、どうか浅草寺院内に小祠を建てて欲しい」と云って白狐が姿を消したと云われています。安左衛門は白狐のお告げを諒とし、寛文５年７月２４日、浅草寺の子院である法智院から智楽院に請願し、浅草寺裏門に一小祠を建立することができました。
このときはじめて熊谷安左衛門稲荷と称して、立願する人が多くなったと世に伝えられています。熊谷安左衛門は宝永４年９月死去し、その菩提寺は、浅草八軒寺町の長瀧山本法寺にあり、その墓所もあることから、享保年間の頃、当長瀧山本法寺に勧請し、ますます霊験あらたかな御利益のある稲荷として、世間に知れわたり、今日に至っています。 .....
東京都台東区寿町 本法寺 Honpoji Homepage
- reference : honpoji.web -

There is also a shrine in his honor in Aomori, Hirosaki 青森弘前.


- There is also a shrine with the same name in Yamagata, but no fox related to it.
- reference : kankou.yamagata -



.................................................................. Yamagata 山形県 .............................................................
天童市 Tendo town

Kitaroogitsune きたろう狐 / キタロウギツネ Kitaro the Fox
Once upon a time, there lived a fox called Kitaro in Tendo.
He shape-shifted into a human and became the messenger of the Lord of Yamagata.
Once he had to bring a letter to the Lord of Akita and run away almost in flight. On the way he passed a shop of Abura-age Tofu, where he stopped to eat some. The blacksmith of the village got suspicious and thought it might be a fox. So he fried a dead rat in oil and hooked it with a sharp nail. And indeed, the next morning he found the fox hooked to the bait and killed it.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -



狐猿随筆

This book contains stories about the fox messengers
kitsune hikyaku no hanashi 狐飛脚の話. / キツネの飛脚
. Yanagita Kunio 柳田國男 .

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

. kitsune densetsu 狐　伝説 fox legends .

. Hikyaku 飛脚　伝説　legends about fast messengers .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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神の留守狐の飛脚戻りけり
kami no rusu kitsune no hikyaku modorikeri

the gods are absent
and the fox messenger
comes back . . .

. Ochi Etsujin 越智越人 （1655 - 1739) .

. kami no rusu 神の留守 the Gods are absent .
- kigo for early winter -



source : 二〇世紀ひみつ基地

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- #foxhikyakulegends #hikyakugitsune -
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hikyaku legends

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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Hikyaku 飛脚　伝説　legends about fast messengers

. hikyaku 飛脚 courier, messenger "flying legs" .
- Introduction -

Hikyaku were couriers or messengers, who transported currency, letters, packages, and the like. In the Edo period, the network of Hikyaku messengers expanded dramatically, and also became more organized and systematized.



. Hikyakugitsune 飛脚狐 伝説　legends about fast fox messengers .
Akita, Kochi, Shimane, Tokyo, Tottori, Yamagata.

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nen 念
大塚理左衛門の息子常八が江戸で勤務していた。ある時小濱足軽が江戸に飛脚することになって、箱根の賽の河原にさしかかったところ、常八が乗掛馬に乗って帰るに行き会わせた。小濱に帰ったのだと思い、後日江戸の家を訪ねて行くと常八は死んだという。念が残っているのだろう。


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shiryoo 死霊 soul of a dead person
飛脚が道中道連れになった女を殺し金を奪った。江戸からの帰り道、現場を通った時に悔恨して近所の寺へ奪った金を弔い料として預けた。しかし国へ帰ると飛脚は乱心し、女を殺したことなどを叫びながら舌を噛み切り死んだ。


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.................................................................. Aichi 愛知県 ....................................................................
南設楽郡

yume 夢 dream
ある女が20歳のときの話（20年前）である。姉の病気が重くなり見舞に行こうと思っていた晩のこと、誰かが戸を叩くので声を掛けると、それは患っているはずの姉であった。中に招き入れたが、姉は黙って土間に立っているだけであった。そのとき、戸を激しく叩く音が聞こえたが、気づくと自分は床に寝ていた。しかし、まだ戸が叩かれているので戸を開けると、飛脚が姉の訃報を知らせにきたのだった。


.................................................................. Aomori 青森県 ....................................................................
三戸郡 Sannohe district

medochi メドチ Kappa
九戸政実の飛脚に侍が書状を頼んだ。読んでみるとサンナイ岳のメドチにあてて「この男は紫けつだ」と書いてあったので、「この男に百両わたせ」と書き変えた。飛脚はメドチから百両騙し取った。


.................................................................. Ehime 愛媛県 ....................................................................
南宇和郡

nureonago, nure onago ヌレオナゴ
越の尻の山沿いの道で、長洲村の庄屋佐藤家へ行く飛脚がヌレオナゴに出合った。赤ん坊を抱かされたがその赤ん坊が石に変じ、捨てて逃げた為に追いかけられた。ヌレオナゴの髪は釣針のようになっており、飛脚が飛び込んだ佐藤家の板戸には、その髪の毛でひっかいた跡がついていた。
.
昔、飛脚がヌレオナゴに出会い、赤ん坊を抱かされたが、石に変じたので投げ捨てて逃げた。追いかけてくるオナゴの髪の毛の先は釣り針のようになっており、飛脚が飛び込んだ佐藤家の板戸には髪の毛でひっかいた跡があったという。

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伊予郡 Iyo district

yamainu 山犬 mountain dog
大洲・松山間の飛脚、畑左衛門が深夜犬寄峠にさしかかり一匹の山犬を殺したところ、他の山犬が集まってきた。左衛門は松の木に登ったが山犬は互いに肩車で乗り継ぎよじ登ってきた。左衛門は自分の刀の目抜きに鶏の名作があり、血潮の温みを得る時は精を得て歌うということを思い出し、刀に祈ると刀の先から鶏の鳴き声がした。山犬は夜明けと勘違いして帰っていった。

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大洲市 Ozu town

yamaneko yamainu 山猫，山犬 Mountain Cat, Mountain Dog
銃の名手左衛門が、山猫の住む「入らずの森」を開拓した。山猫は手出しができずにいたが、ある日娘が一夜の宿を求めて来て、左衛門は共に暮らした。ある日山犬に襲われた飛脚が「山猫の棟梁が左衛門のところに行っていなければ」と言うのを聞く。それが左衛門の耳にも入り、ついには正体を現した古猫をしとめる。


.................................................................. Hyogo 兵庫県 ....................................................................
加西郡 Kasai district

neko no tani 猫の谷 Cat Valley
猫の谷は猫の声が聞こえると化け物が出るといわれていた。ある飛脚が頭に鍋を被った化け物に襲われ、刀で切りつけた。「紺屋の婆さんを呼んで来い」といわれたのを不思議に思った飛脚が紺屋の婆さんを尋ねると頭に傷をして寝ているという。猫が婆さんを食って化けていると思った飛脚は逃げていくのを追いかけて退治したといわれている。



.................................................................. Ibaraki Ibaragi 茨城県 ...............................................
水戸市 Mito

Seiemu don せいえむどん a cat
飛脚が木の上にいると、獣が集まり飛脚を倒す話を始めた。せいえむどんを呼ぼうという事になったが飛脚のほうが強かった。飛脚は村でせいえむどんを探すと、老婆の夫であった。正体は猫だと伝えると、老婆は怒ったが爺さんは以前にせいえむどんに食われていたのだ。


.................................................................. Ishikawa 石川県 ....................................................................

ookami 狼 wolf
用事があるので食べるのは後にしてくれと、狼と約束した飛脚であったが、約束通り往路では何も起こらず、復路で狼に食い殺された。
.
ある飛脚は御仏供様を食べたおかげで、狼に食べられず無事に帰宅できた。



.................................................................. Kagawa 香川県 .............................................................

Awaji アワジ Awaji pass
昔、阿波から来た爺が死んだとことにちなむアワジという名の峠がある。そこを飛脚が通りかかった際に、アワジなどどこにもいない、と口に出すとガサガサと音がして、「ここにおるぞー」と言ってアワジが出て来た。


.................................................................. Kagoshima 鹿児島県 .............................................................

Kappa 河童
ある青年がヒョイヒョイという河童の声を追いかけ、翌朝その付近を見ると道にたくさんの足型がついていた。また昔飛脚が走っているとヒョイヒョイと河童の声が聞こえ、幾百もの者が追いかけてきて、飛脚はほとんど失神状態になった。



.................................................................. Kanagawa 神奈川県 .............................................................
川崎市 Kawasaki town

mae o aruku dare ka 前を歩く誰か someone walking in front
川崎市の堰と久地との中間にオイリという山の根の川があり、飛脚がオイリ沿いの道を歩いていると、前に誰かが歩いていたが、曲がり道に来るとボチャンと飛び込んでしまい、飛脚はきゃあと言ってしまったという。


.................................................................. Kyoto 京都府 ....................................................................
南丹市

anajizoo, and Jizoo 穴地蔵 Jizo in a hole
穴地蔵は足痛に霊験があるといわれ、飛脚がこの前を通るときには必ず線香を供えた。また、小児の瘡にも効験があるお言われる。


.................................................................. Nara 奈良県 ....................................................................
大和郡山市

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
茶屋のこまのという娘が飛脚に恋をし、忍んで行った。飛脚は親の治病の願掛で女断していたので逃げ、淵の脇の松に登った。娘は水に映った姿を見て飛び込み、大蛇となった。以来、飛脚を他人に取られるのを恐れ、女と見れば殺していた。あるとき駕籠に乗った花嫁が通ったら急に雨になった。駕籠かきが雨具を借りに行っている間に、花嫁は消えていた。以来その橋を嫁取り橋といい、嫁入道中に通ってはいけないとしている。

.......................................................................
大和国宇多

Gengoroogitsune 源五郎狐，kojoroogitsune 小女郎狐 The Fox Gengoro
大和国宇多に人の手助けをする源五郎狐がいた。あるとき飛脚に頼まれ文箱を運んでいるとき山中で犬に殺された。伊賀国上野の広禅寺にその妻だと言われる小女郎狐というものがおり、寺の手伝いをしていた。延宝のころのことだがいつの間にかいなくなった。


.......................................................................
生駒郡

kitsune 狐 the Fox
明治初年に郵便がはじめて行われたとき、お狐さんの飛脚の仕業だといっていたという。この地にある洞泉寺境内にある源九郎稲荷社は人々の信仰があつかった。


.................................................................. Shizuoka ....................................................................

Akibayama no sanshakuboo 秋葉山の三尺坊
飛脚が三河岡崎あたりで大きな僧に白雲神社に届けるようにと額をあずかった。非凡な手蹟が胡麻火の灰でかかれ、裏には秋葉大権現の護符が貼ってあった。秋葉山の三尺坊様の仕業であるという。


.................................................................. Tochigi 栃木県 ....................................................................

nenriki 念力
成瀬隼人正は尾張で病気となり、一族の者に是非とも日光山に参詣したいと言ったが、重病故に許されなかった。しかし成瀬は忌日を待って身体を清め、一族に暇乞いして息絶えた。その頃日光山にいた南光坊は、東照宮の廟前に成瀬が参詣に現れて、いまから世を去ると伝えたのに感動し、江戸に飛脚を建たて一族の者に悔やみを言ったという。


.................................................................. Yamagata 山形県 .............................................................
天童市 Tendo town

kitaroogitsune きたろう狐 Kitaro the Fox
昔天童にきたろうという名の狐がいた。人に化けて山形の殿様に飛脚として仕え、秋田の殿様に手紙を運んだ。飛ぶように速かった。途中にあぶらげを売る店があり、必ずそこに寄ってあぶらげを食べた。その様子から狐ではないかと怪しんだ農鍛冶屋が、ねずみを油で揚げて鉤に引っかけておくと翌朝きたろう狐が引っかかっていた。


.................................................................. Yamanashi 山梨県 .............................................................
西八代郡

kasha 火車 fire chariot in 上九一色村
精進に寺がない時には竜華院まで坊様を頼みに行っていたが、その近くに火車という化物が住んでいた。葬式が出るたびに死体を食おうと狙っていた。ある時村に葬式が出ると火車は飛脚に化けて竜華院にたのみに行ったが、坊様は見破り、施主に葬式を2回出し、最初の棺には石を入れておくよう指示した。最初の棺が出ると空に黒雲が沸いて雲の中から火車が飛んできて棺をさらっていった。その隙に施主の家では2回目の葬式を出して骨を無事に寺に納めた。火車は「竜げん坊主にだまされた」と叫んだという。

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
33 to explore (29)

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

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

- #hikyakulegends -
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Haniwa figures backup

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. ABC List of Heian Contents .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

the original is here

. haniwa　埴輪 / はにわ terracotta clay figures .

February 2016











haniwa　埴輪 / はにわ terracotta clay figures
and the clan Hajibe, Haji-Be 土師部 / 土部



The Haniwa (埴輪) are terracotta clay figures which were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th century AD) of the history of Japan.
Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer.
The Haniwa were made with water-based clay and dried into a coarse and absorbent material that stood the test of time. Their name means “circle of clay” referring to how they were arranged in a circle above the tomb. The protruding parts of the figures were made separately and then attached, while a few things were carved into them. They were smoothed out by a wooden paddle. Earth terraces were arranged to place them with a cylindrical base into the ground, where the earth would hold them in place.
- MORE in the WIKIPEDIA !


. doguu, Dogū 土偶 clay figure, clay figurine .
small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000 BC to 400 BC) of prehistoric Japan

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

haniwa はにわ【埴輪】“clay cylinder” or “circle of clay”
clay image at ancient burial mounds
discussion on Japanese haniwa (埴輪) and the kofun (古墳) period.
..... haniwa were meant to be seen.
That is, instead of being buried deep underground with the deceased, haniwa occupied and marked the open surfaces of the colossal tombs. However, it is unlikely that they were readily visible to any person who happened to pass by since the tombs were sacred, ritualized spaces that were usually surrounded by one or more moats. As a result, close visual contact with haniwa would not have been easy for unauthorized visitors. .....
Monumental tombs and early Japan
Three periods in tomb-building practices
Evolution and placement of haniwa
Haniwa in the form of animals, people and buildings
What role did haniwa play?
Style
Closeup of the Warrior Haniwa
- source : Dr. Yoko Hsueh Shirai -

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

- quote -
Haji ware (土師器 Hajiki)
is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found in Japanese tombs, where they form part of the basis of dating archaeological sites.
- History -
Haji ware evolved in the 4th century AD (during the Tumulus period) from the Yayoi ware of the preceding period. The ornate decorations of Yayoi pottery were replaced by a plain, undecorated style, and the shapes began to become standardized. Great amounts of this pottery were produced by dedicated craft workshops in what later became the provinces of Yamato and Kawachi, and spread from there throughout western Japan, eventually reaching the eastern provinces. Some Haji ware pottery has been found in the enormous tombs of the Japanese emperors. By the end of the 5th century, Haji pottery was imitating Sue ware forms.
In the Nara period,
Haji ware was often burnished and smoke-blackened by being fired in an oxygen-reduction atmosphere but at low temperatures. This sub-style is known as kokushoku-doki.
Haji ware came to an end with the development of glazes and ceramics in the late Heian period.
During a 2007 underwater archaeology survey on Ojikajima by the Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology, examples of Chinese ceramics and Haji ware was recovered.



- Characteristics -
Haji ware is typically a rust-red pottery, made of clay that was built up in rings or coils, rather than being thrown on a potters wheel. The exterior and usually the interior surfaces were finished by scraping smooth with a piece of wood. It was fired at temperatures below 1000 deg C in surface fires or oxidizing fires rather than kilns.
Most of Haji ware
is undecorated and has wide rims. However, ritual and funerary objects were also made in the form of houses, boats, animals, women, hunters, musicians, and warriors, which were often placed inside tombs On occasion, these objects were placed outside the tomb to guard it. One pot that was found at an archaeological site in Hachiōji, Tokyo has a globular body, averted mouth, rounded base, solid triangular handle, painted in dark grey pigment on one side with a human face painted on the front.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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

- quote -
Hajibe 土師部 / 土師氏 / 土部とも書く。
土師連(むらじ)を伴造(とものみやつこ)とし、朝廷に埴輪(はにわ haniwa)・土師器(はじき hajiki)を貢進し、葬礼をも担当したトモまたはその部民。『日本書紀』垂仁(すいにん Suinin)天皇32年条に、土部連の始祖
野見宿禰(のみのすくね Nomi no Sukune)が出雲(いずも Izumo)国（島根県）土部100人を率い殉人(じゅんにん)の代用として埴輪をつくった説話がみえる。
土師部は出雲をはじめ山城(やましろ)、摂津(せっつ)、河内(かわち)、和泉(いずみ)、遠江(とおとうみ)、武蔵(むさし)、下総(しもうさ)、常陸(ひたち)、美濃(みの)、若狭(わかさ)、丹後(たんご)、但馬(たじま)、因幡(いなば)、石見(いわみ)に設定された。雄略(ゆうりゃく)天皇17年条に贄土師部(にえのはじべ Nie no Hajibe)の貢進がみえ、のち諸陵司の伴部となった。
［前川明久］
- source : kotobank.jp -


. Hajidera 土師寺 and 道明寺天満宮 / Osaka .
Domyoji Tenmangu Shrine originates in Haji Shrine that Haji Tribe built in 3 A.D. to enshrine their ancestor Amenohohi no mikoto (the son of Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun).

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


- quote -
Kofun (300 – 710 AD)
From the late 4th century AD, the dead start to get gifts in their tombs such as iron weapons and armour. These, and tomb paintings, are clear signs of contact with Korea and immigration of Korean artisans. So, next to the Suebe clay work that we have seen already in the Joumon period, these immigrants started making Hajibe clay work (darker, reddish). They made Haniwa out of this, which are little clay figures or cylindrical shapes, put on top of tomb hills. Also, there is evidence of some Japanese state being politically and militaristically involved on the Korean peninsula.
- source : ansui.wordpress.com/ -


Hajibe : Families or clans of potters (some from Korea) who, from about the fourth ... Yayoi pottery, mainly for the Yamato court; they probably also made haniwa.

- reference : haniwa hajibe clan -

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


野見宿禰と大和出雲 / 池田 雅雄

. Nomi no Sukune 野見宿禰 .
and the Sumo Jinja 相撲神社
The 菅原氏 Sugawara clan is said to be descended from 天穂日命 Ameno Hohino Mikoto and the Haji clan, one of whose ancestors was Nomi no Sukune, famous as the pioneer of Sumo.

Nomi no Sukune is mythically credited with contriving the haniwa, the terracotta figurines, which were used doing the Kofun period ...
Making the first haniwa under Nomi no Sukune's supervision ...

A potter from Izumo named Nomi no Sukune declared:
"It is not good to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. ... Let it be the law for future ages to substitute things of clay for living men and set them up at tumuli." ...

- reference : haniwa nomi no sukune -

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mogari もがり【殯】 funeral rites

- quote -
THE MOGARI RITE THROUGH THE HISTORY OF JAPANESE CULTURE
..... The supposed etymology is as following. Mogari - from mo (mourning) + agari (ascend to heaven, /soul/ is flying away). Araki - /temporary/mausoleum (tomb) of newly dead \whose spirit is not appeased yet/, comp.; aramitatama - "spirit unappeased", arabotoke - newly dead /before first obon/, arakuchi - first after someone's death shaman's interrogation with his spirit; kijo:shiro - castle, palace, iwaki - "rock/cave tomb", ishiki - stone tomb, okutsuki - deep tomb, imaki - new tomb.
.....
Asobi-be
In- & outside the hinkyu (esp. of a dead sovereign) mogari-no matsuri (funeral festival) took place; its purpose was to call back the soul and bring the dead back to life, to pacify his potentially dangerous spirit in order to pass it to the successor or to send it off to nether world; thus the deification of the dead began. It included mogari-no asobi (funeral "play/game") with various dancing and singing. Beside relatives and officials there were two groups of funeral ritualists called Haji-be and Asobi-be.
Haji-be were constructing hinkyu, tombs, making haniwa. Asobi-be danced chinkon/tamafuri-no mai (dances to appease the souls of the dead) and sang shokonka/chinkonka (songs to call back and pacify the souls).
Asobi-be represented the occupational group of traditional Japanese shamans who were involved not only in funeral rituals, but also in the seasonal erotic festivities kagai\utagaki, other festivals and ceremonies (including Daijosai). Ecstatic dances of Asobi-be (from Hijiki-wake clan) lately developed in nembutsu-odori performed in Buddhist sect Ji-shu: (or Yugyo-ha - School of Wanderers, "yu/asobi"); thus sect Ji-shu: derived from exorcist rituals of asobi-be. Particularly, among its followers were Nogaku actors.
- - - - - read the essay here
- source : ru-jp.org/yaponovedy_baksheev -

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細長いだるまのような踊る埴輪です
A long dancing Haniwa, like Daruma



Look at many more new-type Haniwa items - 2015 - Let's make Haniwa!
- source : kumagaya-bunkazai.jp/museum -


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures


............................................................................. Kyoto　京都　

. Fukakusa-yaki 深草焼 Clay Dolls from Fukakusa .
Clay Dolls from Fushimi - 伏見土人形

Fushimi Doll is a clay doll whose originator is said to be Hajibe who settled in Fukakusa
before the Nara era. 土師部　Hajibe is a tribe who was notable for their skills in making Haniwa (a clay image placed in ancient burial mounds) and earthenware.
The doll was made of clay from Mt. Inari, and was distributed widely, not only in old capital provinces but to Shikoku and Kyushu. The doll became the precursor of clay dolls that number approximately 90 types nationwide, such as Hakata Doll, Tsutsumi Doll of Sendai and Nakano Doll of Shinshu.
- source : ndl.go.jp/scenery/kansai -



............................................................................. Miyazaki 愛媛県



. haniwa ningyoo はにわ人形 Haniwa dolls .



............................................................................. Niigata　新潟県　

Kappa-type Dogu from Niigata, Itoigawa region
新潟土偶（カッパ型）from 新潟県糸魚川市長者


source : haniwadokoro.cart.fc2.com


. 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - Kappa, the Water Goblin of Japan! .




............................................................................. Osaka　大阪　


埴輪馬 haniwa horse

. Osaka, Sakai town 堺市 .
住吉大社の諸玩具 Clay Dolls and Toys from shrine Sumiyoshi Taisha


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- Reference in Japanese 埴輪 -
- Reference in English -

. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


haniwa gangu　埴輪玩具 Haniwa toys


CLICK for more photos !

. gangu 玩具伝説, omochcha おもちゃ toy, toys .

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source : 白馬の少年

春愁や遠きいくさの埴輪武士
shunshuu ya tooki ikusa no haniwa bushi

spring melancholy -
this Haniwa soldier
of long times past

高知城 seen at the castle in Kochi

河野南畦 Kano Nankei (1913 - 1995)

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


冬の日に埴輪掘りたる人死ぬか
とろ～と冬日が溶ける埴輪かな

萩原麦草

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


時雨るるや手あげて埴輪夫を恋ふ
野見山朱鳥


太刀佩ける埴輪をのこに梅咲けり
福田蓼汀

愛する時獣皮のような苔の埴輪
赤尾兜子


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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

- #haniwafigures #haniwadolls -
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. Yakimono 焼物　/ Setomono 瀬戸物 pottery, crockery .
- Introduction -

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Haniwa figures

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. ABC List of Heian Contents .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

haniwa　埴輪 / はにわ terracotta clay figures
and the clan Hajibe, Haji-Be 土師部 / 土部



The Haniwa (埴輪) are terracotta clay figures which were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th century AD) of the history of Japan.
Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer.
The Haniwa were made with water-based clay and dried into a coarse and absorbent material that stood the test of time. Their name means “circle of clay” referring to how they were arranged in a circle above the tomb. The protruding parts of the figures were made separately and then attached, while a few things were carved into them. They were smoothed out by a wooden paddle. Earth terraces were arranged to place them with a cylindrical base into the ground, where the earth would hold them in place.
- MORE in the WIKIPEDIA !


. doguu, Dogū 土偶 clay figure, clay figurine .
small humanoid and animal figurines made during the late Jōmon period (14,000 BC to 400 BC) of prehistoric Japan

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

haniwa はにわ【埴輪】“clay cylinder” or “circle of clay”
clay image at ancient burial mounds
discussion on Japanese haniwa (埴輪) and the kofun (古墳) period.
..... haniwa were meant to be seen.
That is, instead of being buried deep underground with the deceased, haniwa occupied and marked the open surfaces of the colossal tombs. However, it is unlikely that they were readily visible to any person who happened to pass by since the tombs were sacred, ritualized spaces that were usually surrounded by one or more moats. As a result, close visual contact with haniwa would not have been easy for unauthorized visitors. .....
Monumental tombs and early Japan
Three periods in tomb-building practices
Evolution and placement of haniwa
Haniwa in the form of animals, people and buildings
What role did haniwa play?
Style
Closeup of the Warrior Haniwa
- source : Dr. Yoko Hsueh Shirai -

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

- quote -
Haji ware (土師器 Hajiki)
is a type of plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery or earthenware that was produced during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes, and many examples have been found in Japanese tombs, where they form part of the basis of dating archaeological sites.
- History -
Haji ware evolved in the 4th century AD (during the Tumulus period) from the Yayoi ware of the preceding period. The ornate decorations of Yayoi pottery were replaced by a plain, undecorated style, and the shapes began to become standardized. Great amounts of this pottery were produced by dedicated craft workshops in what later became the provinces of Yamato and Kawachi, and spread from there throughout western Japan, eventually reaching the eastern provinces. Some Haji ware pottery has been found in the enormous tombs of the Japanese emperors. By the end of the 5th century, Haji pottery was imitating Sue ware forms.
In the Nara period,
Haji ware was often burnished and smoke-blackened by being fired in an oxygen-reduction atmosphere but at low temperatures. This sub-style is known as kokushoku-doki.
Haji ware came to an end with the development of glazes and ceramics in the late Heian period.
During a 2007 underwater archaeology survey on Ojikajima by the Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology, examples of Chinese ceramics and Haji ware was recovered.



- Characteristics -
Haji ware is typically a rust-red pottery, made of clay that was built up in rings or coils, rather than being thrown on a potters wheel. The exterior and usually the interior surfaces were finished by scraping smooth with a piece of wood. It was fired at temperatures below 1000 deg C in surface fires or oxidizing fires rather than kilns.
Most of Haji ware
is undecorated and has wide rims. However, ritual and funerary objects were also made in the form of houses, boats, animals, women, hunters, musicians, and warriors, which were often placed inside tombs On occasion, these objects were placed outside the tomb to guard it. One pot that was found at an archaeological site in Hachiōji, Tokyo has a globular body, averted mouth, rounded base, solid triangular handle, painted in dark grey pigment on one side with a human face painted on the front.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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

- quote -
Hajibe 土師部 / 土師氏 / 土部とも書く。
土師連(むらじ)を伴造(とものみやつこ)とし、朝廷に埴輪(はにわ haniwa)・土師器(はじき hajiki)を貢進し、葬礼をも担当したトモまたはその部民。『日本書紀』垂仁(すいにん Suinin)天皇32年条に、土部連の始祖
野見宿禰(のみのすくね Nomi no Sukune)が出雲(いずも Izumo)国（島根県）土部100人を率い殉人(じゅんにん)の代用として埴輪をつくった説話がみえる。
土師部は出雲をはじめ山城(やましろ)、摂津(せっつ)、河内(かわち)、和泉(いずみ)、遠江(とおとうみ)、武蔵(むさし)、下総(しもうさ)、常陸(ひたち)、美濃(みの)、若狭(わかさ)、丹後(たんご)、但馬(たじま)、因幡(いなば)、石見(いわみ)に設定された。雄略(ゆうりゃく)天皇17年条に贄土師部(にえのはじべ Nie no Hajibe)の貢進がみえ、のち諸陵司の伴部となった。
［前川明久］
- source : kotobank.jp -


. Hajidera 土師寺 and 道明寺天満宮 / Osaka .
Domyoji Tenmangu Shrine originates in Haji Shrine that Haji Tribe built in 3 A.D. to enshrine their ancestor Amenohohi no mikoto (the son of Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun).

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


- quote -
Kofun (300 – 710 AD)
From the late 4th century AD, the dead start to get gifts in their tombs such as iron weapons and armour. These, and tomb paintings, are clear signs of contact with Korea and immigration of Korean artisans. So, next to the Suebe clay work that we have seen already in the Joumon period, these immigrants started making Hajibe clay work (darker, reddish). They made Haniwa out of this, which are little clay figures or cylindrical shapes, put on top of tomb hills. Also, there is evidence of some Japanese state being politically and militaristically involved on the Korean peninsula.
- source : ansui.wordpress.com/ -


Hajibe : Families or clans of potters (some from Korea) who, from about the fourth ... Yayoi pottery, mainly for the Yamato court; they probably also made haniwa.

- reference : haniwa hajibe clan -

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


野見宿禰と大和出雲 / 池田 雅雄

. Nomi no Sukune 野見宿禰 .
and the Sumo Jinja 相撲神社
The 菅原氏 Sugawara clan is said to be descended from 天穂日命 Ameno Hohino Mikoto and the Haji clan, one of whose ancestors was Nomi no Sukune, famous as the pioneer of Sumo.

Nomi no Sukune is mythically credited with contriving the haniwa, the terracotta figurines, which were used doing the Kofun period ...
Making the first haniwa under Nomi no Sukune's supervision ...

A potter from Izumo named Nomi no Sukune declared:
"It is not good to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. ... Let it be the law for future ages to substitute things of clay for living men and set them up at tumuli." ...

- reference : haniwa nomi no sukune -

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mogari もがり【殯】 funeral rites

- quote -
THE MOGARI RITE THROUGH THE HISTORY OF JAPANESE CULTURE
..... The supposed etymology is as following. Mogari - from mo (mourning) + agari (ascend to heaven, /soul/ is flying away). Araki - /temporary/mausoleum (tomb) of newly dead \whose spirit is not appeased yet/, comp.; aramitatama - "spirit unappeased", arabotoke - newly dead /before first obon/, arakuchi - first after someone's death shaman's interrogation with his spirit; kijo:shiro - castle, palace, iwaki - "rock/cave tomb", ishiki - stone tomb, okutsuki - deep tomb, imaki - new tomb.
.....
Asobi-be
In- & outside the hinkyu (esp. of a dead sovereign) mogari-no matsuri (funeral festival) took place; its purpose was to call back the soul and bring the dead back to life, to pacify his potentially dangerous spirit in order to pass it to the successor or to send it off to nether world; thus the deification of the dead began. It included mogari-no asobi (funeral "play/game") with various dancing and singing. Beside relatives and officials there were two groups of funeral ritualists called Haji-be and Asobi-be.
Haji-be were constructing hinkyu, tombs, making haniwa. Asobi-be danced chinkon/tamafuri-no mai (dances to appease the souls of the dead) and sang shokonka/chinkonka (songs to call back and pacify the souls).
Asobi-be represented the occupational group of traditional Japanese shamans who were involved not only in funeral rituals, but also in the seasonal erotic festivities kagai\utagaki, other festivals and ceremonies (including Daijosai). Ecstatic dances of Asobi-be (from Hijiki-wake clan) lately developed in nembutsu-odori performed in Buddhist sect Ji-shu: (or Yugyo-ha - School of Wanderers, "yu/asobi"); thus sect Ji-shu: derived from exorcist rituals of asobi-be. Particularly, among its followers were Nogaku actors.
- - - - - read the essay here
- source : ru-jp.org/yaponovedy_baksheev -

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細長いだるまのような踊る埴輪です
A long dancing Haniwa, like Daruma



Look at many more new-type Haniwa items - 2015 - Let's make Haniwa!
- source : kumagaya-bunkazai.jp/museum -


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures


............................................................................. Kyoto　京都　

. Fukakusa-yaki 深草焼 Clay Dolls from Fukakusa .
Clay Dolls from Fushimi - 伏見土人形

Fushimi Doll is a clay doll whose originator is said to be Hajibe who settled in Fukakusa
before the Nara era. 土師部　Hajibe is a tribe who was notable for their skills in making Haniwa (a clay image placed in ancient burial mounds) and earthenware.
The doll was made of clay from Mt. Inari, and was distributed widely, not only in old capital provinces but to Shikoku and Kyushu. The doll became the precursor of clay dolls that number approximately 90 types nationwide, such as Hakata Doll, Tsutsumi Doll of Sendai and Nakano Doll of Shinshu.
- source : ndl.go.jp/scenery/kansai -



............................................................................. Miyazaki 愛媛県



. haniwa ningyoo はにわ人形 Haniwa dolls .



............................................................................. Niigata　新潟県　

Kappa-type Dogu from Niigata, Itoigawa region
新潟土偶（カッパ型）from 新潟県糸魚川市長者


source : haniwadokoro.cart.fc2.com


. 河童 / かっぱ / カッパ - Kappa, the Water Goblin of Japan! .




............................................................................. Osaka　大阪　


埴輪馬 haniwa horse

. Osaka, Sakai town 堺市 .
住吉大社の諸玩具 Clay Dolls and Toys from shrine Sumiyoshi Taisha


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- Reference in Japanese 埴輪 -
- Reference in English -

. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

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haniwa gangu　埴輪玩具 Haniwa toys


CLICK for more photos !

. gangu 玩具伝説, omochcha おもちゃ toy, toys .

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source : 白馬の少年

春愁や遠きいくさの埴輪武士
shunshuu ya tooki ikusa no haniwa bushi

spring melancholy -
this Haniwa soldier
of long times past

高知城 seen at the castle in Kochi

河野南畦 Kano Nankei (1913 - 1995)

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冬の日に埴輪掘りたる人死ぬか
とろ～と冬日が溶ける埴輪かな

萩原麦草

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時雨るるや手あげて埴輪夫を恋ふ
野見山朱鳥


太刀佩ける埴輪をのこに梅咲けり
福田蓼汀

愛する時獣皮のような苔の埴輪
赤尾兜子


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. Yakimono 焼物　/ Setomono 瀬戸物 pottery, crockery .
- Introduction -

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]

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Kamakura Gongoro

- BACK to the Daruma Museum -
. Legends - Heian Period (794 to 1185) - Introduction .
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Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa 鎌倉権五郎景政 Legends
(born 1069)
鎌倉景正 Kamakura Kagemasa / 平景正 Taira no Kagemasa / Kagemasa 景政



- quote -
Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa 鎌倉権五郎景政 (born 1069)
a samurai descended from the Taira clan, who fought for the Minamoto clan in the Gosannen War of Japan's Heian period. He is famous for having continued to fight after losing an eye in battle during that war. This was in 1085, when Kagemasa was sixteen years of age.

The progenitor of the Nagae and Kagawa clans, Kagemasa is also claimed as an ancestor by Oba Kagechika, a famous figure of the Genpei War (1180–1185). The family name "Kamakura" comes from his family's residence in the city of Kamakura (in today's Kanagawa prefecture), where his father was a powerful official. The exact identity of his father is unclear, but most scholars cite either 平景成 Taira no Kagenari or 平景通 Taira no Kagetōri as likely names.

Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa is the hero of the kabuki play Shibaraku, one of the most widely-recognized of all kabuki roles and one most associated with the form among those with only a cursory knowledge of the form. Kagemasa is represented in the play with bold red and white face makeup, and a massive costume with huge sleeves, often bearing the crest of the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Gosannen no Eki 後三年の役 （1083年 - 1087年）



- quote -
The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, gosannen kassen), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū.
The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power within the warrior clans of the time.
The Gosannen kassen
arose because of a series of quarrels within the Kiyohara clan (sometimes referred to as "Kiyowara"). The long-standing disturbances were intractable. When Minamoto no Yoshiie, who became Governor of Mutsu province in 1083, tried to calm the fighting which continued between Kiyohara no Masahira, Iehira, and Narihira.
Negotiations were not successful; and so Yoshiie used his own forces to stop the fighting. He was helped by Fujiwara no Kiyohira. In the end, Iehira and Narihira were killed.
During the Siege of Kanezawa,
1086-1089, Yoshiie avoided an ambush by noticing a flock of birds take flight from a forest.
Much of the war is depicted in an e-maki narrative handscroll, the 後三年合戦　絵巻　Gosannen Kassen E-maki, which was created in 1171. The artwork is owned today by the Watanabe Museum in Tottori city, Japan.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote -
Shibaraku (暫 / しばらく) "Stop a Moment!"
is among the most popular pieces in the Kabuki repertoire, and one of the celebrated Kabuki Jūhachiban (Eighteen Great Plays)



The plot centers around the figure of Kamakura Gongorō Kagemasa, who has become the stereotypical bombastic hero of the kabuki stage, with red-and-white striped makeup and strong, energetic movement. The historical Kamakura Kagemasa is famous for his bravery for having continued to fight after losing an eye in battle in the Gosannen War (1083-1087).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- quote -
"Shibaraku"
Kiyohara Takehira has ordered his retainers to kill people who will not obey his orders. Kamakura Gongoro appears with the shout "Shibaraku" (Wait a minute!) and rescues these people.
In Edo Kabuki, actors made annual contracts with theaters. The performance in November, celebrating the opening of the new contract year, was called Kaomise (face-showing) and was the most important annual event. It introduced the actors who were members of the company. For the Kaomise, it was customary to create a scene such as this in which all major actors were on stage together, and to include a character with a strong sense of justice who appeared on stage after shouting, "Shibaraku" and saved innocent people who were in imminent danger of being killed by evil men.

Among various works performed for Kaomise, this scene was performed many times, and was gradually refined until fixed dramatic techniques were established. In the Meiji period, this "Shibaraku" scene began to be performed as an independent act, as it is today. "Shibaraku" allows audiences to enjoy stylized dramatic techniques rather than the story of a play.
The hero of this play performs in the Aragoto style, the specialty of each Ichikawa Danjuro generation. Therefore, "Shibaraku" is included as one of the Kabuki-juhachiban (18 best plays), the collection of plays established as "Ie no gei" (specially chosen repertoire for the actor's family) of the Danjuro family.


Kamakura Gongoro wears the type of wig called Kurumabin to which Chikara-gami ornaments made of washi (Japanese paper) are attached, with the type of Kumadori makeup called "Sujiguma" and a costume called suo with enormous sleeves showing the mimasu [3 nested square rice measures], the Ichikawa Danjuro family crest. These are all designed to make Gongoro appear large and strong.
Tsurane
The long speech spoken without a break by Gongoro on the Hanamichi is called Tsurane. This allows the audience to hear the actor's elocution, one of the arts of Aragoto. Basically, the content of this speech, in which many puns are included, is changed for each production.
Keshogoe
When Gongoro has moved from the Hanamichi to the Hombutai (main stage) and is removing the top layer of his costume, voices on stage shout "A-rya, ko-rya" repeatedly, and other voices shout "Dekkee" synchronized with Gongoro's Mie (poses). These voices, called Keshogoe, are praising the Aragoto actors. Keshogoe shouts also praise Soga Goro in "Kotobuki soga no taimen."
- source : ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki -


. Kabuki and Narita San Ichikawa Danjūrō .

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Takizawa Bakin 滝沢馬琴 七不思議，妖怪

nana fushigi 七不思議 seven wonders of Edo
from the year 1789 - 寛政11年 夏江戸の七不思議。
雷獣を捕えた。女が卵を生んだ。子児が桶で水死した。和睦の後に刀傷におよんだ。三日月井戸の争論が３日に和睦した。匹の牝犬に２匹の牡犬が交尾していた。

鎌倉権五郎景政を祭った社に参詣したら目がつぶれた。
If someone visited a shrine dedicated to Kamakura Gongoro, his one eye would be lost.
(Maybe this is the Shrine in Kamakura.)

. Edo Nana Fushigi 江戸七不思議 The Seven Wonders of Edo　 .


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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.................................................................. Akita　秋田　 ....................................................................
Yokote 横手市 金澤町

ugui 石斑魚 Japanese dace
At the shrine 金澤八幡神社 Kanezawa Hachimangu in Yawata-119 Yawata, Yokote, Akita
there were 土鈴 clay bells with a Japanese dace with only one eye and 土偶 small clay statues of Kamakura Gongoro.
Gongoro lost his right eye by a hit with an arrow during the siege and 後三年の役 "Later three year's war" of Kanezawa (around 1086 - 89). Gongoro was just 16 years at that time.
He pulled out the arrow at the river 厨川 Kuriyagawa and washed his wound there, thus polluting the river. Now the fish in the river have only one eye.
The clay figures and bells depict him and 石斑魚の土鈴 the Ugui river fish with only one eye.
(It may have been a kajika 鰍 bullhead fish, fam Psychrolutidae.)

. ugui 石斑魚 Japanese dace .

Fish in the rivers coming from 鳥海山 Mount Chokai-San all have only one eye (sugameuo 眇魚) .
Here again is the legend of Kamakura Gongoro having washed his eye after being shot.



............................................................. Fukushima 福島県　 ...............................................................
南矢野目 Minami Yanome

mekko shimizu 半盲清水 clear well with one-eyed fish
Because Gongoro washed his wounded eye here in the "clear water".
- reference and photos : MASAの道中日記 -


.................................................................. Ibaragi 茨城県　 ....................................................................
牛久町 Ushiku machi

Gongoro no Onnen 鎌倉権五郎の怨念
奥州征伐に向かった鎌倉権五郎が、非業の最期を遂げた場所だとされている。この地に果てた権五郎の怨念で、附近の土地を作ると目患をする。病人が出ると言って恐れられていた。


.................................................................. Iwate 岩手県　 ....................................................................
Morioka, 厨川 Kuriyagawa

katame no sakana 片目の魚，メッコ鰍 fish with one eye
The kajika 鰍 bullhead fish in the river Kuriyagawa have only one eye.
This is because Gongoro washed his wounded eye in the river.


.................................................................. Mie 三重県　 ....................................................................
鈴鹿市 and 津市 Suzuka and Tsu

mearai ike, me-arai ike 眼洗池 pond where he washed his eye
The turtles and fish in this pond have all only one eye.
Gongoro had a stronghold there and washed his wounded eye in the pond.


.................................................................. Miyagi 宮城県　 ....................................................................
亘理町 Watari

kataha no ashi, kataba no ashi 片葉の芦 One-sided Reed
Kamakura Kagemasa was had a wounded eye by an arrow and wanted to wash in a pond. When some reeds disturbed him, he cut them down and they turned to become one-sided reeds.
This legend is told in many other ponds of Japan:

宮城郡利府町神谷沢 鏡ヶ池 Miyagi, Rifu, Kamiyazawa
仙台市南町裏の池、仙台市片平丁西側牢屋敷隣りの池、白石市柳町角田街道沿道田の中の池、白石市越河亀井清水、多賀城市市川鴻ノ池、黒川郡富谷町志戸田行 神社御手洗池、石巻市真野萱原長谷寺の池、栗原郡金成町姉歯赤坂岩蔵寺堤、白石市葭ヶ池、柴田郡柴田町船迫清水、栗原郡高清水町勾当山。

katame no buna 片目の鮒 crucian carp with one eye
In the river Nikkawagawa 新川川 Gongoro washed his wounded eye.


. buna densetsu 鮒 伝説　crucian carp - kigo and legends .


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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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. Persons of the Heian Period (794 to 1185) 平安時代 .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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景政が片目をひろふ田螺かな
Kagemasa ga katame o hirou tanishi kana

Kagemasa
picks up a mud snail
with one eye . . .

. Kikaku Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角 .
榎本其角 Enomoto Kikaku (1661-1707)

Goryoo Jinja 御霊神社 Goryo Jinja
3-17 Sakanoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa
Kagemasa is the deity in residence.

- quote -
The Shrine is dedicated to the soul of an extraordinarily brave samurai with great physical strength who had lived here before the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). His name is Kagemasa (Gongoro) Kamakura (1069-?), thereby local people call the Shrine " Gongoro-san". .

At the age of 16, he joined a battle at a southern part of Akita Prefecture as a retainer of Yoshiie Minamoto (1039-1106, great-grandfather of Yoritomo Minamoto, the founder of Kamakura Shogunate). During the bitter battle, his left eye was shot by an enemy's arrow. Undaunted, he bravely continued fighting. When he came back to the camp, the arrow was still in his eye. His colleague tried to help remove it putting his foot on Kagemasa's forehead. Kagemasa got furious and accused the colleague of his rude manner. Samurai were full of pride and self-respect those days, and the face being stepped on by foot meant to break the samurai code and was never bearable for Kagemasa. The colleague apologized for his rudeness and the arrow was eventually pulled out in proper manner. To commemorate this episode, a pair of fletchings were employed as the crest of the Shrine and they appear on the tiles of roof. Kagemasa's prowess and manner were highly praised as a role model of Kanto samurai. Hence the Shrine is credited by the locals with its power of healing eye diseases. Also to praise his braveness, a Jizo statue named Yagara (arrow) was made and had been enshrined at Engakuji. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by the 1923 earthquake. Today, a stone monument for this statue stands at Keisho-an of Engakuji and is listed 14th of the Kamakura Twenty-Four Jizo Pilgrimage.



In the Shrine's ground, there are a pair of round stones which are dubbed Tamoto-ishi or a "sleeve stone" and Tedama-ishi or a "stone in one's hand". Legend has it that the larger stone (left) weighing 105 kilograms was in Kagemasa's sleeve-pocket and the smaller one weighing 60 kilograms was in his palm as if they had been his toys. The stones are to show he was a man of muscle.

There are quite a few Jinja named Goryo in Japan. Go is a prefixal honorific and ryo means souls. According to Shinto dogma, those who died an unnatural death, died by violence or in a state of anger or resentment need to be buried with courtesy and reverence, and their souls should be enshrined. Otherwise, it is believed, people will incur divine wrath and punishment, or revenge will be exacted by the malevolent spirits of the dead. Goryo Jinja were thus erected throughout Japan to exorcise evil spirits, and special services are performed regularly to soothe the revengeful spirits. In the Shrine, wooden statues of Kagemasa and his wife are enthroned on the altar, but they are not visible. As usual in Shinto shrines, only a round mirror is placed in the center.
- source : kamakuratoday.com/e -


. tanishi 田螺 paddie snails, mud snails .


. 御霊神社 Goryo Jinja Shrines in Japan .

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source : kamakuratoday.com/suki/mochida


- - - - - There is a saying about Kagemasa

景政の目玉田螺も力餅
Kagemasa no medama tanishi mo chikaramochi

tanishi 田螺 / タニシ mud snails are said to be a medicine for eye disease. In their form they look almost like an eyeball.

There is alos a deity 片目の生砂神 for lost eyes.
- reference : www.geocities.jp/kasaamiryou/topix4/... pdf file -
(More to be explored.)




- quote -
You will find an old stone guidepost engraved　"Goryo Shrine Kamakura Gongoro Kagemasa" in front and "Road bound for Hasedera Temple" on the side. Actually, this place has been a very important cross roads from Enoshima and Hase since Kamakura era or maybe more ancient times.

Mochiya Kichibei, the founder of CHIKARAMOCHI YA, opened his store right behind the guidepost. It is a story of 300 years ago.

- - - - - Chikaramochi and Kamakura Samurai history
A Kamakura Samurai named Gongoro Kagemasa became famous for his brave actions and success in the battles of 1083-1087 at TOHOKU (the northern region of Japan). He was just 16 years old at that time but already very strong. When his troops returned in triumph they began the contest of strength using 60-kilo, 100-kilo stones here at Sakanoshita. They all admired Gongoro's strength.

Later who knows when, these stones were placed at Goryo shrine and the rice cakes were put on the stones for offering to Gongoro. Those cakes were also delivered to the worshipers and came to be called Gongoro's CHIKARAMOCHI.

Long later but still long time ago, our ancestor started making the house-brand cake named CHIKARAMOCHI so that people would keep in mind the brave samurai, Gongoro Kagemasa for the future. 　(Those stones are exhibited at Goryo shrine even now.)

Times had changed into the modern age and the MEIJI government regulated the license for handling the sweet products at stores. CHIKARAMOCHI YA took it in 1885. ......long time has passed...... Now we enjoy the local activities, for example, Goryo festival together with many people and shops such as Mitome store who is also a very long established store here.
18-18 Sakanoshita, Kamakura City,
- source : chikaramochi-ya-en.com -


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