So far I’ve talked about writing boxes (suzuri bako) and portable writing sets (yatate), but I have yet really begun to talk about the implements that were necessary for calligraphy.  Now I’ve always known about the inkstone (suzuri), ink stick (sumi), and the brushes (fude), and understood the general technique for making the ink into a liquid; put some water on the stone, grind the stick on said stone, and the ink would pool up in the little well at the bottom.  The one necessary thing I never thought of was how to get the water to the stone; but now I know, and so shall you, a simple device called a suiteki.

The concept is very simple, a vessel with two holes, one for airflow and one for the water.  The water hole is sized to allow just a few drops of water out at a time.  I won’t go into too much specific detail more than that at this time, we’ll save that for later posts on the subject.  I do want to describe this piece a bit.

Dated to around 1880’s, made out of bronze, and very small, 2-1/4″ long by 1-1/4″ wide by 5/8″ high.  It has a beautiful patina as well as a very cool old fashioned sake gourd design raised in the upper corner.  Click on the image to go to the original source for more info and pictures.  Off topic, I’m a big fan of sake, especially a nice junmai daiginjo.  Kampai.

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As of yet, I have neglected writing about tansu that contain a specific traditional feature, the Bo (locking bar). This has not been due to my lack of interest in this particular feature, more just waiting for a piece that contains multiple aspects that I find worthy of discussing. Well, I finally found one with this stacking clothes chest.  Traditionally, brides took their personal tansu to the new husband’s family home, and I think that’s what we are looking at here.

The bo dansu is one of the oldest styles of tansu, probably due to the fact that it required the least amount of kanagu (hardware) to secure everything. Now in my uneducated opinion, I believe the seller of this piece is right in stating that it is from Yamagata Prefecture. One telltale feature is the warabite handles and the keyaki (zelkova) drawer fronts. I think this would be from around the mid to late Meiji era, because in earlier pieces, the handles were set against single small zagane (escutcheons) rather than full toshi-zagane (backplates) which this piece has. Furthermore, I think we can pinpoint the region of manufacture to the Shonai plain due to the style of the obikanagu (sash hardware) that are on the bo. Obikanagu were more than just decoration, they also added strength to the locking bar as well as help keep the wood from warping. Cool, huh? Well I could go on forever about hardware or how maybe thats bengara stain under the laquer on the sash hardware etc… Let’s just look at the pretty pictures instead.

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In case you never noticed, space has always been a premium in Japan. Over the years, starting in the Edo era, that space was created by either combining items for multi-purposes, or they became more mobile and specialized.  The zeni-bako is one example of this progression.

The merchant class was growing and they needed to be able to have a tool that combined a writing box (kakesuzuri) and a money storage chest, so that they could take in the kane (money) and also be able to take notes on the transactions, hence the zeni-bako, which combined both.  This was greatly helpful to the thriving merchant who couldn’t trouble himself with smaller transactions, or ones that might have been conducted with a lower status client.  He could send his help out on the show floor with one of these boxes to conduct business, while he sat at the back in front of his zeni-todana (more on that in a later post) with the upper echelons.

The basic design of a zeni-bako consists of a stoutly made box, usually zelkova or chestnut, and a removable half lid with a locking plate of some sort on the front face.  Also, they often had a drawer for the necessary writing accoutrement’s.

This piece has an interesting way of hiding the drawer.  I’m not sure if you can consider this to be a true kendon-buta (drop-fit door), but i think it’s cool nonetheless.  The only thing this piece is missing one tell tale design aspect, the masu, which is a coin shaped slot.  That may indicate that this piece was not used in a typical merchant shop, maybe a public bath, temple or shrine.  In any case, I think it’s a nice example of a zeni-bako.

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I recently had the opportunity to go to Maui and hang out in Lahaina to check out all the historical points of interests.  The one I want to share today is the Lahaina Jodo Mission.  While again, this is not exactly an antique,  it does have historical meaning.

The main attraction has got to be the large Amida Buddha statue which was cast in Kyoto during 1967-68.  The statue is made of copper and bronze and weighs around 3 1/2 tons.  It was brought to Hawai’i to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to the island.  The statue was once purportedly the largest cast Buddha outside of Japan.

The grounds also house a three tiered pagoda, a traditionally built temple with beautiful paintings by Hajin Iwasaki, and the largest ceremonial bell in Hawai’i.  Unfortunately my photographs of the temple and bell structures didn’t turn out, but I do have a nice one of the pagoda.  If you’re ever in Lahaina, I highly recommend giving the Mission a visit, and remember to recite the Nembutsu, “Namu Amida Butsu”, if you ever expect to enter the Pure Land.

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