BLOG 5.  “Appearing of the karakuri chariots - Part 2 A”

Three photos here are taken of a karakuri chariot named “Fukurokuju-sha (Fukurokuju chariot)” placed at Wakamiya-jinja shrine in Nagoya City, Aichi prefecture. (Ref: JAK p.16)

(1) Fukurokuju is one of Seven Gods of Good Fortune, and you can see the god is behind two dolls on the second floor of the chariot. The doll stands on the right side of the base will perform dancing there first, then do the handstand by his left hand on the base and strike the small gong attached the base by his right hand.
(2) Accompanists for dolls’ performance are in the first floor of the chariot.
(3) Fukurokuju-sha chariot on the street.

 

 

BLOG 4.  “Appearing of the karakuri chariots - Part 1”

Since in the early 15th century Japan, chariots dedicated to Shinto festivals and often became to have dolls where gods dwell. And in Edo period, those dolls became to have motions manipulated by people hiding in the chariots. Elaborate karakuri chariots gradually appeared.

The three photos here were taken of the karakuri chariots of Takayama Festival:
(1) Takayama Spring Festival at Takayama city, Gifu prefecture.
(2) Manipulating exercises of a karakuri doll named “Sanbaso”.
(3) Actual performance of Sanbaso.

The doll is performed on the horizontal pillar protruding from the chariot. It is said that Sanbaso karakuri on the chariot appeared in the end of 18^th century. Three karakuri chariots including Sanbaso are performed on the Spring Festival, and also one karakuri chariot is performed on the Autumn Festival now.

 

 

BLOG 3.  “Japanese innovated the clock showing the irregular time system.”

Karakuri Zui explains how to make various karakuri. Here are two pictures of my book JAK. The left page of the first picture is the drawing of the original first page of Karakuri Zui to make the Japanese pillar clock, and the left page of the second picture is the original first page to make the tea serving automaton. The red lines and alphabets of the original drawings were attached by me.

In the original book, the author Hosokawa Hanzo Yorinao (c.1749-96) explains about three kinds of Japanese clocks and nine kinds of automatic mechanical toys. In the end of the part of the clocks of the book, Hosokawa points out that the clock is the essence of karakuri.

Japanese innovated the mechanical clock showing the irregular time system which was improved from the Western mechanical clock. When you want to know the mechanism of such Japanese clocks, please read my book Japanese Automata Karakuri Zui.

 

BLOG 2.  “The Western mechanical clock was useless in Samurai age.”

The photo here is the statue of Jesuit Priest Francisco Xavier (1506-52) standing beside a well to preach. (St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church in Yamaguchi city, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan).

The survived oldest record that Japanese people had to know the Western mechanical time piece is in the biography of a feudal lord Ouchi Yoshitaka (1507-51) written by one of his vassals. The record reported that Xavier presented a clock to Ouchi to get the permission for missionary work in his territory in 1551 (ref: JAK p.13).

When Xavier showed the clock to him and his vassals, it made them amaze at the machine that automatically told time with the sound of a bell, but they also learned that it was useless for daily life, because Japan at that time had adopted the “irregular time system” divided the daytime into six equal parts and nighttime into six equal parts.

INTORODUCTION
Karakuri Zui was written by Hosokawa Hanzo Yorinao (c.1749-96) and published in 1796. It offers extraordinarily detailed information about the automatic mechanical devices known as “karakuri” which were manufactured in Edo period (1603-1867). The book consists with three volumes and has so many diagrams that precisely depict the process of their manufacture. Thanks to the survival of this book, readers of today are able not only to understand the mechanical devices of Edo period but can even attempt to reconstruct them. I translated and annotated the whole contents of this original book into English, on top of the overview of the karakuri culture of Edo period, and published as the book Japanese Automata Karakuri Zui (JAK).

I am in stock of JAK and selling them now. I will continue blogging until this inventory runs out and I wish I will write the blog once a week. In this blog, I would like to write not only matters related contents of JAK but matters that I am learning and thinking since the publication of it.
So, here is the first blog. Please attention to the above picture. 

<Unauthorized reproduction of this blog is prohibited. ©Murakami Kazuo>
 

BLOG 1.   "Japanese showmen strike a Dutchman."

Showmen in Edo period were considered lower class people. However, some of them exited enthusiasm not only in public but in the upper-class people, and even Imperial Court gave them admiring and the honorable titles of the local government officers. Thanks to such honorable titles, showmen were permitted to have their theaters in cities by the local samurai governments. 

The illustration here is the Takeda Karakuri theater located at Douton-bori street, Osaka. This illustration and its story are inserted in the sightseeing guide book Settsu Meisho Zue published in the end of 18 century. In the right page of the illustration, a Dutchman, who was attended by many samurai, stands with his mouth opening wide. Takeda Karakuri was got the honorable title of Oumi-no-Jou (officer of Oumi province government) from Imperial Court in the year 1662. Oumi is Shiga prefecture next to Kyoto prefecture now. “Takeda Karakuri” was the most famous name in Edo period as the mechanical puppets show with their clockwork skills (ref: JAK p.17).