Netsuke/Ojime - Wild Boar, Baby Boars 根付/緒締め - 猪, うりぼう

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is an ojime titled 'Wild Boar, Baby Boars.' It is carved from stag antler, boxwood, and buffalo horn by Nick Lamb.

Ojime are beads traditionally used to secure the inro, a small box worn at the waist for carrying personal belongings. 

Those mother (or father?) and baby boars at the Tokyo National Museum reminded me of my late grandma.

She was tall for a Japanese woman—over 5 feet 3 inches—and she ate well, laughed easily, and worked hard! She also walked a lot, commuting to her office and going to the grocery store on foot every day because she lived near the top of a hill in Hiroshima. In short, she was a physically and mentally strong, cheerful working woman. But once a year every spring, she would sigh and complain about baby wild piglets eating the bamboo shoots growing behind her house. She loved this local delicacy, but the piglets knew exactly where to find them and when to strike.

Baby wild piglets are called 'gourd boys' in Japanese because they have stripes like oriental melons, which are known as makuwa gourds in Japan. After finding bamboo shoots eaten up by baby boars, she would always say, 'Oh, the gourd boys again—but it can't be helped.' I don't know how she knew that the gourd boys were responsible for the vandalism.

I always remember her during Obon in mid-August. In Japan, it's said that the spirits of our ancestors return to this world during this time. According to the traditional Japanese calendar, autumn officially begins right after this period—but in reality, it is still scorching hot.

If you love netsuke, check out A List of Netsuke to see more than 40 pieces!

"Wild boar, baby boars" by Nick Lamb
「猪, うりぼう」ニック・ラム作

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東京国立博物館のニック・ラム氏作の緒締め「猪, うりぼう」です。緒締め、ご存じでしたか？ 私は知りませんでした。「袋・巾着などの口にまわした緒を束ねて締めるための具。多くは球形で、玉・石・角・練り物などで作る」だそうです。

うりぼうと聞いて亡き祖母を思い出しました。小さな山に住んでいたのですが、毎春、筍の季節になると裏山の筍を根こそぎ食べられ「瓜坊にやられた｡｡｡」とため息をついてました。どうして犯人が瓜坊と分かったのかは謎です。ちなみに瓜坊の瓜は甜瓜のことだそうです。

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