to child size. They come in two basic colors — red and black. A good guess as to why goes back to the original occupation of the first producer. Being primarily a lacquer artisan, his trade typically used these two colors almost exclusively. A nice holdover from the past.
| 3 | IWATE |
| ONI-ARARE-GAMA | |
Iwate-ken is part of what is logically called “snow country.” Straddling lattitude 40 N, Iwate includes Honshu’s furthest east cape. It is also the home for Nambu tetsubin, iron kettles that are but one of several regional folk art specialities to derive their name from the feudal clan that maintained a castle in Morioka when the prefecture was known as the Nambu district. Iron ware is made in several localities about Japan but Iwate’s are the most renowned.
Iron wares have a relatively short life in comparison to many other metals but the availability of iron ore and an abundant supply of fuel made it a natural material for folk art craftsmen. Forging and casting are the two main modes of ironware production with casting used for Nambu tetsubin. This involves making a sand mold into which will ultimately flow the liquid metal. Creating this mold is time-consuming and an art in itself, the quality of the finished product dependent on the quality of the mold. Fineness of finish is determined by the inner surface of the sand mold.
Using dampened sand, the ironworker creates a negative of what he hopes to cast. Often a wooden copy of the pot to be made is forced into the prepared sand and carefully removed. The portion of the cast that creates the inner body is made in a similar but reverse manner. After it has been dried the sand mold attains a remarkable stability despite its fragile component. When the two parts are fitted together, the space between echoes the pot to be cast. To be filled with molten iron and then cooled, the completed mold is halfway to a completed vessel.
Everything from bulky hibachi to fist-size teapots are made of iron. The ONI-ARARE-GAMA shown, literally meaning “hail-stone,” is used to heat water and gains its name from the bumpy knobs all over its outer surface. Patterns vary from pictorial scenes to simple but effectively pleasing decorations that barely suggest tuffs of grasses along a meandering stream.
Iwate is one place to find tetsubin in abundance and Morioka, the prefectural seat, is where one can find the widest selection of traditionally made wares. Although anonymity of the maker is a passing feature of this craft, the mingei flavor of testsubin is indelible and will last as long as Nambu wares are made.
| 4 | AKITA |
| IWAI-GERA | |
Among the many Tohoku folk crafts are a number of items using natural fibers. Everything from snow boots and bundling baskets to winnows and rain-capes are created from a variety of native flora. Most common are straw creations because this plant fiber is abundantly found as a byproduct of two staple Japanese crops: barley/wheat and rice.
Raincapes, MINO in Japanese, are found in almost every prefecture, although no two areas seem to share the same style or production techniques. Differences range from material variety through embellishment patterning to outright function. Assorted flora: rice and barley straw, sedge or water reed, join the coarse but durable crisscross hempen palm fiber as mino making materials. Bark of the Japanese lime (bodaiju) and cypress (itohiba) trees are also used but mention of flora was not meant to be misleading. Perhaps the term stretches enough to fit the tough, black-green seaweed (nori) often used in decorative tandem with one of the lighter hued grasses or barks.
Akita-ken is one of the northern areas where a peculiarly beautful and unusual raincape is still made and used. One finds that deep in the rural regions, customs are both respected and practiced. Mino were and are used as gifts of felicitation between men and women, marks of affection if you will. When so used, they’re called IWAI-GERA. They can also be referred to as DATE-GERA or showy mino. Being attractive apparel, the iwai-gera of Akita-ken are in a class apart. A neckband of three of four colors in a pattern maintains the yoke shape of the flowing mino. The dark strands are meter lengths of sun-cured seaweed that shed water most effectively while remaining supple and useful for years. These same nori strands are used sparsely in mino from several other districts purely as decoration. The normal design has several stripes of softened lime bark used decoratively against a sold background of cured nori. Each spaghetti-thin strand is attached to a netting of the same material to form a backing for the rainwear.
Needless to say, these mino are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. Nothing can be done to alter this trend because the making of such mino from collecting necessary materials right through finishing, requires time, talent and considerable cost. That they survive to this day and age is testimony to die-hard, age-old customs and the support of contemporary folk art collectors. May both endure for the generations to come. Two photos appear on page 134.
| 5 | YAMAGATA |
| ITTO-BORI | |
Yamagata-ken is an area rich with historical traditions. In the south of this Tohoku prefecture is a mountain called Sasano-yama or bamboo mountain. When Japan was first becoming a complete nation in terms of territory, Sasano—yama was an important frontier landmark. It was there, on the outskirts of presentday Yone-zawa-shi, that settling Japanese faced the Ainu.
Divided by the mountain, the two groups lived uneasily for only a short time. About 800 A.D. Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro was dispatched by the emperor to quell the Ainu. At Sasano-yama he prayed to Senshu Kannon, the 1,000-handed diety, for success against the Ainu and used as symbols for his plea the ITTO-BORI peculiar to this region.
Itto-bori (literally one-knife carvings) were long used to felicitate the Japanese pantheon of gods in this part of Tohoku. An indigenous shrub, aburanko, is used. The technique of carving was borrowed from the Ainu who used similarly shaved work (inau) in their rituals.
The Ainu campaign was highly successful and the emperor’s military emissary eventually drove the Ainu completely from Honshu. They remained semi-isolated only in Hokkaido where today they are prominent minority.
It is not known what form the carvings he presented to Senshu Kannon took but an educated guess is they were probably a hawk with all its war-like and virile symbolism.
The traditions of itto-bori continue with what is popularly known as Sasano-bori. Soft, white aburanko is cut and well seasoned before being laid to the knife. Two special knives are used to shave single posts and achieve the feathered finish. See photos on page 128.
The assortment of birds carved these days ranges from the simple to the rather exotic — the onagadori or longtailed rooster is a fine example of this extreme.
Careful slivering of the carving block creates an array of characteristic birds enhanced by simple surface color. Note the easily recognized line of the sekirei or wag-tail whose bobbing tail feathers can be seen at almost any summer stream.
Sasano-bori can be a perfect gift if characteristics each bird is noted for are matched to the receiver (i.e., roosters for early risers, peacocks for showy people, wag-tails for fertility, etc.) but be careful or you may lose a friend or two!
| 6 | MIYAGI |
| KOKESHI | |
KOKESHI are probably the only mingei-hin known throughout the world. Surprising as it may seem, kokeshi have a relatively recent history. They date from the late Edo period when
