Netsuke in Shape of a Heart-Polishing Figure 心磨牙彫根付

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think they're doing? Are they wiping the floor with a cloth? NOOOO! They're polishing their HEARTS! This is a 3 cm tall sculpture, or "netsuke in the shape of a heart-polishing figure," on display at the Tokyo National Museum. It's carved from ivory by Tomochika. 

But to me, they look like they're mopping the floor. And speaking of cleaning floors, my paternal granddad often did that. It was natural for him to share household chores with my grandma. They ran a family business, and Grandma worked standard hours while raising three children and managing the housework. Because of this, he happened to be cleaning the floor when my mom visited his house for the very first time. The thing was, because my mom had lost her dad as a teenager, had only sisters, and went to all-girls schools and a women's college, just talking to a man made her nervous—so seeing a man wiping the floor absolutely shocked her!😲

So, it's understandable that right after they got married, she didn't hesitate to tell my dad, 'Household chores aren't a man's responsibility.' Haha!😆

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 (Source: Lexico). If you love netsuke, read this post to see dozens of them!

Netsuke in shape of a heart-polishing figure 心磨牙彫根付

He's polishing his heart😁 心磨いてます！

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東京国立博物館に展示されていた「心磨牙彫根付」です。友親作です。ふ～ん、床じゃなくて心を磨いてるんですね｡｡｡😆

床磨きと言えば、父方の祖父は廊下をよく雑巾がけしてました。商売をやっていて祖母も働いていたので普通に家事を分担していたようです。母が初めて父の実家に遊びに行った時も雑巾がけしていて母はびっくり😲

というわけで当然その息子である私の父も新婚当時は部屋の掃除などを普通にやっていたのに母が言いました。「家事は男性のやることではない」😆

というわけで父は今、全く家事をしません。それでいっつも揉めています。しない父が悪いのか、そういう風に「しつけ」た母が悪いのか。ハハハな問題です。

根付にご興味ある方はこちらのリストもどうぞ。いろんな根付を掲載しています！

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