Happy Colors Red & Pink! 冬のアゲアゲ色！

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Look at these pink and red plants! Such bright and lively colors in winter makes me happy! 

Ornamental cabbage or "leaf peony" in Japanese in Ueno peony garden

Pagoda Surviving Anti-Buddhist Persecution - Ueno Toshogu Shrine 廃仏毀釈を生き延びた上野東照宮の五重塔

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is Ueno Toshogu Shrine, Tokyo. The gate is a karamon gate, i.e., a Chinese style gate, and the lanterns are made of bronze. 

Karamon gate of Ueno Toshogu shrine

Karamon - Chinese style gate

Bronze lanterns

Near the gate is a five-story pagoda (in the picture below). However, that's not shrine's but is owned by the Tokyo local government. The shrine, which was established as part of Kaneiji temple in the 17th century, gave this pagoda to that temple under the government's order issued in 1868 to separate Shinto from Buddhism to make Japan more united under Shinto.

Five story pagoda surviving anti-Buddhist movement
Owner changed from Ueno Toshogu shrine → Kaneiji temple → Tokyo

The order triggered anti-Buddhist persecution across Japan, resulting in the destruction of many Buddhist temples and statues. Kofukuji temple in Nara prefecture even auctioned its five-story pagoda (in the picture below) for then 25 yen or currently 100,000 yen (or 930 US dollars) to survive the anti-Buddhism movement.

If You Wanna Be Rich.... 十両、百両、千両、万両ほしい？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think this red thing is?

This brings you wealth!

This is a red fruit of Christmas berry (ardisia crenata or "manryo" in Japanese) I saw in the peony garden within the Ueno Park. "Man" of manryo means 10,000 and "ryo" a unit of weight or currency which was used by Japan and several other Asian countries. According to Bank of Japan, based on the value of rice, one ryo valued 900 dollars in the 17th century, 450 dollars in 18th and early 19th century, and 60 dollars in late 19th century.

Manryo (10,000 ryo; 万両) or Christmas berry

The thing is that Japan has not only 10,000 ryo, but also 1,000 ryo (senryo), 100 ryo (hyakuryo) and 10 ryo (juryo).

Senryo (1,000 ryo; 千両) or sarcandra glabra or nine-knotted flower

Hyakuryo (100 ryo; 百両) or ardisia crispa

Juryo (10 ryo; 十両) or ardisia japonica or marlberry

Honestly, I can't tell the differences.... Can you? These trees are all said to bring wealth.

上野ぼたん苑で見つけた、万両、千両、百両、十両です。牡丹の陰にひっそりと寄せ植えされていました。

万両と千両は知っていましたが、百両と十両もあったんですね。知りませんでした。しかも万両って Christmas berry て言うんですね。万両とクリスマスベリー、イメージが全然違います。でも確かに緑と赤、クリスマスの色です！

Yellow in Winter! - Wintersweet in Ueno Park 上野ぼたん苑の蝋梅

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Wintersweet or Japanese allspice

Chimonanthus praecox

"The brightness and warmth of yellow attracts people's eyes."

This is a description of yellow by Sachio Yoshioka, a late Japanese master dyer and textile historian who reproduced colors of Japan's natural surroundings and seasonal changes without using synthetic dyes. He wrote a book, "Dictionary of colors in Japan (Nihon [or Nippon] no iro jiten)," listing shades of colors according to Japanese color classification.

Yoshioka lists more than 20 varieties of yellow, and although it may sound strange, to me, the yellow of the wintersweet in the above photos seems closest to mimosa yellow.

I found the wintersweet (or chimonanthus praecox or Japanese allspice botanically and "robai" in Japanese) in the "peony" garden within the Ueno Park" in Tokyo, but the garden has many other beautiful plants and flowers, including the wintersweet and the miniature daffodils in the pictures below whose yellow seems lemon yellow according to Yoshioka's classification.

Miniature daffodils

Miniature daffodils

The cream yellow peony below is "Okan (meaning yellow crown)" or "High noon," one of the "27 Types of Winter Peonies" I enjoyed in the garden. This smelled so good, sweet and lemon scented, making this flower, combined with its yellow color, which, according to The Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists, attracts bugs for pollination, invincible in the world of survival of the fittest.  

Peony named "Okan" or "High noon"

Last but not least, the flower in the picture below was in full bloom in my neighborhood, but I could not find its name....

Flower whose name I don't know

Sachio Yoshioka passed away late last year. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family. His daughter, Sarasa, has taken over the dyeing workshop, which has lasted for more than 200 years in Kyoto.

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先日、上野のぼたん苑について書いたのですが（"27 Types of Winter Peonies in Tokyo 冬の上野ぼたん苑"）、実は牡丹以外にもたくさんかわいいお花がありました。というわけで、今日はぼたん苑や家の近くで最近目にした「黄色」の花についてです。

上から、上野ぼたん苑の「蝋梅」と「ミニ水仙」と「黄冠（ぼたん）」、そして近所の名前の分からないお花です。染色家の吉岡幸男先生によると、黄色は「明るくあたたかい光を放って人間の目が強く引きつけられる色」とのこと。私の目も引きつけられました。園芸王子こと三上真史氏によると、冬に黄色の花が多いのは虫を引きつけて受粉させるためとのこと。植物も適者生存です｡｡｡

ちなみに吉岡先生の書かれた「日本の色辞典」によると、蝋梅は「ミモザイエロー」、ミニ水仙は「レモンイエロー」、黄冠（牡丹）は「クリームイエロー」に見えます。同じ黄色でもいろいろあるということがこの辞典を見るとよくわかります。

先日、吉岡先生が去年なくなられていたことを知りました。ご冥福を心よりお祈り申し上げます。

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27 Types of Winter Peonies in Tokyo 冬の上野ぼたん苑

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

At the peony garden within the Ueno Park in Ueno Tokyo, I found the 27 types of peonies listed in the table below.

Seidai 聖代	Kao 花王	Gyoku tenshu 玉天集
Renkaku 連鶴	Shimadaijin 島大臣	Shimanishiki 島錦
Jitsugetsu nishiki 日月錦	Renown	Shima no fuji 島の藤
Yachiyo tsubaki 八千代椿	Kamata fuji 鎌田藤	Fuji no kaori 藤の香
Okan (黄冠) or High noon	Higurashi 日暮	Daikikou 大喜紅
Yukigasane 雪重	Taiyo 太陽	Muramatsu no yuki 村松の雪
Muramatsu zakura 村松桜	Kinkaku 金閣	Mikuni no akebono 御国の曙
Mikuni no hata 御国の旗	Shikoden 柴紅殿	Hoki 芳紀
Kokuryu nishiki 黒龍錦	Kinkaden 金華殿	Gekkeikan 月桂冠

Seidai 聖代

Kao 花王

Japan is Diverse! - An Analysis from Seven Lucky Gods Perspective 七福神からの考察 - 日本は単一民族ではありません｡｡｡

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A signature board of stamps of seven lucky Japanese gods

This is a signature board (daigofu) with the name of seven lucky gods (shichifukujin) stamped in red and with these names and also the name of each temple where the seven gods are enshrined written in calligraphy on it.

These seven temples are all in Kyoto and I visited there to collect their stamps and calligraphy while on a "seven lucky gods pilgrimage." The characteristics of these gods (actually one is a goddess!) are outlined below.

God/goddess	Home country	Temple	Description
1. Benzaiten 弁財天 (only goddess)	India	Rokuhara Mitsuji temple	Benzaiten (弁才天 or 弁財天) has her origin in Hinduism. She is the only goddess, representing financial fortune, talent, beauty and music, and the patron of artists, writers, dancers, and geisha.
2. Daikokuten 大黒天	India	Matsugasaki Daikokuten temple	Daikokuten (大黒天) is the god of commerce and prosperity and the patron of cooks, farmers, bankers, and the protector of crops. He is also considered a demon hunter.
3. Ebisu ゑびす	Japan	Ebisu jinja shrine	Ebisu (恵比寿), the only god who originates in Japan, is the god of prosperity and wealth in business, and of plenitude and abundance in crops, cereals and food.
4. Bishamonten 毘沙門天	India	Toji temple	Bishamonten (毘沙門天) whose origin is traced back to Hinduism, is the god of fortune in war and battles and the protector of those who follow the rules and behave appropriately.
5. Hotei 布袋	China	Manpukuji temple	Hotei (布袋) is the god of fortune, the guardian of children, and the patron of diviners and barmen. He is also the god of popularity and often depicted as a fat, smiling, bald man with a curly mustache.
6. Jurojin 寿老神	China	Kodo temple	Jurojin (寿老人) is the god of the elderly and longevity in Japanese Buddhist mythology, based on a real person who lived in ancient times and was about six feet tall with a very long head and a long white beard.
7. Fukurokuju 福禄寿	China	Sekizan Zenin temple	Fukurokuju (福禄寿) has his origin in China. He is the god of wisdom, luck, longevity, wealth and happiness and characterized by the size of his head almost as large as the size of his whole body.

Source: Wikipedia

Kawaii Daruma Held by Kawaii Kyoto Doll 京人形とちっちゃいものクラブ

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think this is?

Kawaii Japanese doll

It's a Daruma doll. A Daruma doll is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. The eyes of Daruma are generally blank when sold so that the recipient of the doll fills in one eye upon setting a goal, then the other upon fulfilling it. Japanese politicians often get such dolls during the election time. However, this doll is not such a usual Daruma doll. It is held by a Kyoto doll like in the photo below!

Kyoto doll holding Daruma dolls

Kawaii Kyoto doll trio 

Kyoto doll holding chimaki amulet

Kyoto doll holding fortune cat

I am not usually interested in any type of dolls, but finding them at Kogatanaya, a traditional doll store in Kyoto, I just could not leave the shop without taking one of them home, and that has happened three times so far...

Of the three, the left one holds a Daruma doll in each hand, while the center one chimaki or an evil-warding charm made of bamboo leaves and the right one holding a "fortune cat (maneki neko)." A Daruma doll, a chimaki, and a fortune cat are all amulets which are said to bring good luck and loved by Japanese people.

They were so tiny and cute, aren't they?! The Kyoto doll store has hundreds of such and a little bigger kawaii Japanese dolls.

By the way, chimaki, which is held by the doll in the center, is an amulet and is not edible, but Japan has edible chimaki, too, or zongzi. Zongzi is a traditional Chinese rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It is cooked by steaming or boiling and also known as a rice dumpling or sticky rice dumpling. For more, see this Wikipedia page!

Kogatanaya (which has no English website) is in front of Meijiya Store Kyoto Sanjo across the street and very close to Starbucks Kyoto Sanjo.

私の京人形コレクションです。人形にはほとんど興味ないのですが、京都の小刀屋忠兵衛で見つけてあまりの可愛さについ手が伸びて｡｡｡ 以来、京都に行くたびに一つずつ買っています。

人形そのものもかわいいのですが、ダルマと粽と招き猫が可愛いでしょ！おじゃる丸のちっちゃいものクラブを思い出しました。

小刀屋忠兵衛は、京都三条のスタバのすぐ近く、明治屋京都三条店の向かいです。

Japanese Taj Mahal? 本願寺は父子戦争の結果

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Japanese Taj Mahal? タージマハル？

Qing Dynasty Glasses 清朝の乾隆ガラス

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These are glass products all made in China during the Qing dynasty period currently on show at Tokyo National Museum.

Jar
Opaque red glass on yellow glass

Candlesticks
Colored glass

Lobed bowl
Opaque blue glass

Vase with long neck
Transparent blue glass

Vase with long neck
Blue green glass

Vase with long neck
Milky white glass

  

Vase
Opaque yellow glass

I first thought that they were made in the Middle East as they are so colorful, so I was surprised that China had produced glasses of such bright colors in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are called Qianlong glasses, named after the Qianlong Emperor, the 6th emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Japan's traditional colors are more subtle or sober (like kimono) and I preferred them to lively ones. Sachio Yoshioka, a Japanese master dyer and textile historian, reproduced a variety of colors that reflect the natural surroundings and seasonal changes in Japan without using synthetic dyes and wrote several books about these colors. I often read one such book when I want to see inside of me in solitude.

But I have realized recently that bright colors, like those of Qianlong glasses, also make me happy in a different way, helping me look outward and setting me free. Now I appreciate both sober and bright colors.

If you are interested in sculptures produced under the Qing dynasty, read this.

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東京国立博物館に展示されていた清朝のガラスです。上から

黄地赤色ガラス壺
色ガラス燭台
青色ガラス木瓜型鉢
青色透明ガラス長頸瓶
青緑色ガラス長頸瓶
乳白色ガラス長頸瓶
黄色ガラス瓶

です。

こういう鮮やかな色って昔は苦手でした。日本の古代色の方が好きでした。自分と向き合えるからです。染色家の吉岡幸雄氏の書いた本を読んでいると心が洗われます。

でも最近、鮮やかな色やその力にも惹かれるようになりました。地味だけど奥深い日本の古代色は内面と向き合いたい時、清朝のガラスのような明るい色は意識を外に広げたい時、私を助けてくれます！

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Qing Dynasty Sculptures 清朝の俏色工芸

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These four Chinese sculptures below were all carved in the Qing dynasty period, from stones while maximizing their original colors. They are called "俏色 (shoshoku) sculptures" in Japan.

The one in the first photo is an incense burner in the 19th century, carved from jade.

Incense burner in 19th century, jade, Qing dynasty 翡翠香炉

Rikyu, Kawabata and Shibaki Loved Celadon 青磁に魅せられた人々－利休、川端、芝木

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These are celadon potteries which used to be owned by Yasunari Kawabata, a Nobel prize winning Japanese author, but were donated to, and therefore are currently on show at, Tokyo National Museum.

Dish, celadon glaze, in 11th to 12th century
Northern Song dynasty

Bowl, celadon glaze, in 12th to 13th century
Southern Song dynasty

The dish (first photo) is Ru ware in the 11th to 12th century, made in the village of Qingliangsi, Baofeng County, Henan in the central part of China.

The bowl (second photo) is Longquan ware in the 12th to 13th century, made in Lishui prefecture in southwestern Zhejiang Province in the south of China. This is also called "kinuta celadon (砧青磁)" in Japan.

The best quality celadon produced in Zhejiang Province during the Southern Song period is called "kinuta celadon" in Japan, named after a celadon flower vase "Kinuta" also made in Zhejiang Province and owned by Sen no Rikyu (千利休), one of the most influential Japanese tea masters. The term "kinuta" originally means a wooden roller which was used in China, Korea, and Japan to press out the wrinkles of laundered clothes and soften them. Two women, facing each other across a smoothing stone and kneeling on the floor, beat out a rhythm on the cloth. The tea master is said to have compared crazing (hairline cracks) on the celadon vase to the sound made when "kinuta" or the wooden roller hits the cloth on the stone.

A Japanese TV show referred to celadon pottery as jewellery. Akutagawa prize-winning (i.e., Japan's most prestigious literary award) author Yoshiko Shibaki wrote a novel titled "Celadon Kinuta (青磁砧)" depicting a father and his daughter, both of whom are obsessed with celadon. I feel now I am getting closer to their world.

For more on celadon, read my another post "Celadon in 16 Forms"!

東京国立博物館に並んで陳列されていた青磁。両方とも川端康成旧蔵品です。上が北宋時代、下が南宋時代の青磁です。

下の方は「砧青磁」とも呼ばれているとのこと。以前から「砧青磁」て何かなと思っていたので調べたところ、千利休が持っていた南宋時代の花入れが「砧」と呼ばれていたので、南宋時代の品質の高い青磁を「砧」と言うようになったとのこと。ちなみに「砧」は洗濯物の皺を伸ばす木の棒のことだったんですね。全く知りませんでした。

NHKの「美の壺」では青磁を宝石に例えていました。そして日本の女流作家で私の一番好きな芝木好子は青磁に魅せられた父と娘を描いた「青磁砧」という作品を書いています。以前は、青磁にそこまで没頭する心情が理解できませんでしたが、今は共感を覚えるようになりました。

16個の青磁について書いた「いろんな青磁」も是非お読みください。

Hiroshi's Tragedy ひろし君の悲劇

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Warning: this post contains content some readers may find disturbing

This is a real story.

One day when I was a second grader, the homeroom teacher rushed into the room and shouted, "Hiroshi!" Hiroshi was a popular boy for running fast and being mischievous.

Looking around and finding him surrounded by several boys and girls and talking with them, the female teacher approached him without saying a word, grabbed his neck, and took him out of the classroom. The entire classroom got quiet, staring at each other. It was the following day we learned what had happened.

Several weeks earlier, we had submitted tapes to the school. The tapes were for the test to examine the presence of threadworms. Primary schools in Japan conducted such tape tests until 2015. The test was non-invasive and easy, just having children press the adhesive side of a piece of transparent tape to the skin around the anus as soon as they woke up to identify the worms or eggs on the tape. On the morning of that day, every second grader at the school did so, submitted small envelops containing their tapes, and forgot about it.

A few weeks later (i.e., the day the teacher took Hiroshi somewhere), the hospital examining these tapes called the school to ask Hiroshi and his mother to come to the hospital. They suspected that Hiroshi had a serious disease because his tape had many pinworm eggs very unusual for humans on it. A doctor had asked him questions, such as what Hiroshi had had for dinner on the day before the test, until he confessed that, on the morning of the test he had forgotten doing it, so pressed the tape to his dog's skin around its anus... 

I moved to another school a couple of months later, so I have not seen him since then. I don’t know why but recalled this incident a few days ago when seeing a dog pooping on the street...  

警告：以下の話には、読者が不快に感じる可能性がある内容が含まれています。

小学生だった頃の実話です。

ある日、担任の先生が「ひろし君（仮名）！」と叫びながら教室に飛びこんできました。ひろし君はいたずらっ子でクラスの人気者。ひろし君を見つけた先生は彼を連れてどこかに行ってしまいました。みんなポカン？？ 何があったのか知ったのは翌日のことです。

その数週間前、ぎょう中検査があり、ひろし君のセロファンに人間だったらありえないぎょう虫が付いていたのです。驚いた病院はひろし君と母親に連絡。医師と母親に事情を聞かれたひろし君、こう白状したそうです。「検査のこと忘れてしまってたんで、犬のお尻にセロファンを当ててそれを提出しました」と。実話です。先生からクラスのみんなに絶対そんなことをしないようにというきついご指導があったことは言うまでもありません。数か月後私は転校しました。それ以来、ひろし君には会っていません｡｡｡

先日道端でしゃがみこんでいる犬を見てなぜか思い出しました｡｡｡

Kawaii Netsuke Jedi カワイイ根付ジェダイ

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Ta ta ta taa taa ta ta ta taa ta♬ ta ta ta taa ta ta ta ta taaa♬

Netsuke "Ancestor Fukurokuju" Is he a Jedi?

I heard this Star Wars' theme tune when seeing this netsuke sculpture at Tokyo National Museum. According to Oxford's Lexico, a netsuke is a small carved ornament, especially of ivory or wood, worn as part of Japanese traditional dress as a toggle by which an article may be attached to the sash of a kimono.

The netsuke in the above picture is "Ancestor Fukurokuju" carved by Michael Birch, an American netsuke sculptor. Fukurokuju (福禄寿) is one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology. "Fuku (福)" means happiness, "roku (禄)" wealth, and "ju (寿)" longevity.

Mr. Birch's netsuke sculptures are so funny and kawaii that I had written about his another item "Lovelorn ghost" before.

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東京国立博物館で見つけました。Michael Birchというアメリカ人根付作家の「Ancestor Fukurokuju」という作品です。福禄寿は七福神の一人ですが、私にはどうしてもジェダイに見えてしまいました。

今回初めて知ったのですが、私はMichael Birch氏の作品が好きなようで以前「Lovelorn ghost」という作品についても書いたことがあります。「Lovelorn ghost」、カワイイし、笑えます。是非ご覧ください！

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My New Year's Resolution 一年の計は「タグ」にあり

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Happy new year! And here are my first questions this year.

1. What's in the picture below?
2. What is my new year's resolution?

Do you know what "タタミ" means?

The answer to the question 1 is a dry cleaning tag attached to my sweater. No. 255 means some kind of reference number. The term "タタミ (tatami)" means not "tatami mat" but "folded," that is, the sweater was folded when returned.

And the answer to the question 2 is: REMOVE DRY CLEANING TAGS FROM CLOTHES BEFORE WEARING THEM.

I forgot doing so last year no less than three times (but no more than ten times), and in December (the last two times) was finally told gently by a coworker of mine and a male store staff, "A dry cleaning tag is still attached to the sweater. Shall I remove it?"

I appreciate their kindness not to ignore but gently indicate my so embarrassing mistakes!....

「着る前に必ずクリーニングのタグを外します」

今年の抱負です。去年、何度も付けっぱなしにしました。12月は何と二度も。二度とも「タグ付いてますよ。外しましょうか？」と言われました。

私のおバカな間違いを優しく指摘くれた同僚の男性そして百貨店の男性スタッフ、本当にありがとうございました！！ 皆さん、今年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします🙇