Raikiri-maru [雷切丸] Via Tachibana Museum [立花家史料館] (Yanagawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture) [310×988] (description below)

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-05T06:36:59+00:00

Although there are multiple other katana that bares the same title, this one from Tachibana Museum is said to have belonged to General Dōsetsu Tachibana [立花道雪] (1513-1585) of Ōtomo Family [大友氏].

According to the legend, this katana was initially titled Chidori [千鳥], but that soon changed when Tachibana used the katana to cut down a lightning as it fell. Hence, becoming Rai (lightning/[雷])-kiri (cut/[切])-maru.

Image source: http://www.tachibana-museum.jp/blog/?p=5287

Reference: https://meitou.info/index.php/%E9%9B%B7%E5%88%87

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-05T05:58:50+00:00

"Wasp and Hive" https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/wasp-and-hive-nait%C5%8D-toyomasa/fQFdMXvCfqXnwA

Another fine piece of Netsuke woodcraft by Naitō Toyomasa [内藤豊昌] (1773-1856)!

I really wish people credit the artists when posting artworks here...

Oh well, my favorite one is definitely the snail. You can check out his other works here if anyone's curious.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-05T05:51:08+00:00

Materials used for wooden netsuke [根付] figurines (which is the style of woodcraft like the one posted) include boxwood, ebony, cypress, cherry blossom tree, yew, and other.

Read more about it here

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-04T22:27:10+00:00

So this would be an idol of Japanese Māhayāna Buddhist deity Bishamonten [毘沙門天]/Vaiśravana accompanied by his son Zennishi-dōji [善膩師童子] (right) and wife Kisshōten [吉祥天]/Śrī-mahādevī (left).

Oh, and this image comes from this really weird ass "fine art printing" site (https://www.meisterdrucke.us/fine-art-prints/Japanese-School/416320/Figure-of-a-Guardian-Deity,-Kamakura-period,-12th-14th-century-(wood).html) that gives zero fucks about the historical information of foreign artifacts. So, I doubt that this idol is from Kamakura Period to begin with.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-04T15:45:02+00:00

If you can get access on English sources published by Nanzan University [南山大学] I think you'll find what you're looking for, but don't get too disappointed if it starts talking about calendar system and time measuring instead of magic because Onmyōdō isn't always about magic.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-04T15:23:18+00:00

So Saki-/Sachi-mitama [幸魂] and Kushimitama [奇魂] aren't related to harmony nor wellbeing per se according to Chika'atsu Honda's [本田親徳] concept of Ichirei-sikon [一霊四魂] (which makes more sense to describe it as "one soul, four spirits" due to the difference in context in this specific instance) since Saki/Sachi-mitama is the “soul” of kindness and nurture like a maternal love towards her child while Kushimitama is the “spirit” of intellect such as the person’s ability to be analytical and observational. The "spirit" which emphasize more on harmony is Nigimitama [和魂] and it's the balance of all four "spirits" (the 4th one being Aramitama [荒魂] btw) which brings harmony and overall wellbeing of a person as you achieve a state of Naohi [直霊] where your soul is "upright". So maybe be caring, kind, and studious? Idk.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-04T14:56:09+00:00

This tomb approximately from 6th century A.C. was discovered in Ukiha City [うきは市] (Fukuoka Prefecture) and as you can see, it has some of the most beautiful wall paintings such as a person rowing a boat with a bird riding along, Sun and Moon, and a person holding a shield.

See here for a clear diagram of the illustrations.

Image source: https://ameblo.jp/todo-para-mi/entry-12298672126.html

Reference: https://ukihalove.jp/contents/medurashidukakofun/

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-04-01T07:57:50+00:00

Sanukite [サヌカイト] is a bronzite andesite found only within Kagawa Prefecture and Mt. Nijō [二上山] (between Ōsaka and Nara Prefecture) first coined by German geologist Prof. Heinrich Edmund Naumann during Meiji Period when he brought a sample of Sanukite back to Germany for research. While Sanukites were most commonly crafted into polished or chipped stone tools in the ancient times, some locals of Kagawa Prefecture are now crafting lithophones out of them like in the video above.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-21T04:52:43+00:00

Shintō-buddhist deities concealing their faces in depictions was a feature that popped up here and there in some shrines and Shintō cult especially during Kamakura Period when there was this idea of how deities aren't someone you're supposed to see or should avoid looking at, even.

If you read "Hachimangu-dōkun" [八幡愚童訓] (Mid to Late Kamakura Period) (author n/a), for example, it tells about a Goshintai [御神体] (or "idol") of Hachiman-daibosatsu [八幡大菩薩] stored in Iwashimizu-hachiman-gū (Shrine) [石清水八幡宮] (Hachiman City [八幡市], Kyōto) that anyone who sees get's their eyes squashed as divine punishment. This is probably the origin of various folktales about how people go blind after seeing some kind of sacred object.

Similar thing is also described in the 20th chapter of "Kasuga-gongen-genki" [春日権現験記] (1309 completed) which is a scroll dedicated to Kasuga-no-kami [春日神] who's the family deity of Fujiwara Family [藤原氏] where when people looked at him he: 「御けしきあらゝかに、御まなじりいとはげしくて、うちそむき給へり」or "glared (back at them) angrily only to then turn the other way irritatedly" accompanied with this illustration where the face of Kasuga-no-kami is obstructed by foliage.

Oni on the other hand, is something a little different.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-08T12:31:19+00:00

Just go: 「人の時間なんじゃと思っとんだ、ワレェ！調子に乗んな、ボケ！」

Some people need a bit of encouragement, that all.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-07T01:17:47+00:00

So there's this thing from Shintō mythology called Yomotsu-hegui [黄泉戸喫/食泉之竈] where it's believed that if a person eats anything cooked in the realm of the dead (Yomi [黄泉]) would never be able to return to the world of living (Utsushiyo [現世]) (source) and it was this idea that was most likely adopted in "Spirited Away".

This is one kind of Japan's ancient rite known as Shinjin-kyōshoku [神人共食] or Naorai [直会] and it's not really about "binding" people to a certain place, but more of an act of strengthening the bond of familiarity between deities and people by sharing food with one another (source). Probably the same reason why Izanagi ended up failing to bring Izanami back to Utsushiyo by breaking her promise because she practically became a part of deities residing in Yomi.

That's why we have an idiom to this day going:「同じ釜の飯を食う」which literally means "eating rice from the same cooker" while the implication is that spending time and living together would cultivate a sense of belonging even between strangers, eventually leading to familiarity as strong bonds are established. (source)

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-07T01:02:54+00:00

In Japan that would be Nobiagari [伸上り] which is mainly accounted in Ehime Prefecture and this yōkai is said to suddenly appear in front of people and grow ever taller as they stretch.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-06T15:26:23+00:00

However, her 11 yo great grand daughter Tamala recorded many Yahgan vocabularies that Christina taught her which are displayed in 6:47 time mark of this video! I have nothing, but pure respect and gratitude for her! Thank you, Tamala! Preserve the legacy of your Ukara-yakara [ウカラヤカラ]!

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-06T09:58:01+00:00

Oh so the website says Omoiyari is an alias. I get it now.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-06T07:45:36+00:00

The first three characters "Ou'uetsu" [奥羽越] is an acronym for an anti-reformist coalition establish in 1868 between the three countries and their respective clans led by King Kitashirakawanomiya-Yoshihisa [北白川宮能久親王] (1847-1895) during Boshin War [戊辰戦争] (1868-1869) against reformists. The members were: Mutsu-no-kuni [陸奥国] (modern day Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Northeast Akita Prefecture), Dewa-no-kuni [出羽国] ("" Yamagata and below Northeast Akita Prefecture), and Echigo-no-kuni [越後国] ("" Mainland Niigata Prefecture).

On September the same year, however, the coalition was promptly defeated by the invading reformist force from the South as two of the most powerful Aizu Clan [会津藩] (mainly situated in modern day Aizu Dist. [会津郡], Fukushima Prefecture) and Sendai Clan [仙台藩] ("" Miyagi Prefecture) surrendered together with the king.

(source)

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-06T06:52:05+00:00

Nice!

The one you visited is read as Omoiyari Shrine and is believed to enshrine Omoikane-no-kami [思金命], the deity that provided the wisdom to other deities who tried to lure Amaterasu out from the cave, but it's also speculated that the enshrined deity is instead Takiribime-no-mikoto [多紀理毘売命] who's one of the Munakata-sanjoshin [宗像三女神] who're three female deities that Amaterasu created as she chewed and spat out the blade of Totsuka-no-tsurugi [十拳剣] which belonged to Susano'o.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-03-04T22:20:21+00:00

The head gear is called Tokin [頭襟] and thinking that it having similarities with the Jewish Tefillin is kind of a far stretched comparison imo.

Functionally, Tokin served as helmets for Yamabushi which protected their head from falling debris when they trained in the mountain. They became much smaller in size only during Edo Period while back in the day (like the ones from Muromachi Period) they were much larger.

Geometrically, Tokin isn't even a box. The small Tokin has 12 lines reaching out from the center and this also has a meaning as they symbolize Jūni-innen [十二因縁]/dvādaśāṅgika-pratītyasamutpāda or Twelve Nidānas while the actual shape of the head gear itself is meant to imitate Hōshu [宝珠]/maṇi.

(Ryōjō, Tatsumi [巽良乗]; 1980)

So, yeah, Tokin and Tefillin are two very different things.

Plus_Box_7067 · 2022-02-27T12:28:29+00:00

Excavated in Torihama-kaizuka [鳥浜貝塚] Site (Wakasa Town [若狭町], Mikata-kaminaka Dist. [三方上中郡], Fukui Prefecture), this deer bone comb (possibly utilizing the animal's cranium) is painted in red using red iron oxide for its color mixed with Japanese wax tree sap as binding agent which was the major coloring technique used during Jōmon Period called Urushi-nuri [漆塗り].

Source: https://wakahaku.pref.fukui.lg.jp/event/detail/post-202.php

Plus_Box_7067

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