Floating Along in the World of Japanese Prints

We're Having a Ball

 

Calendar print for 1910, by Hashimoto Chikanobu (1838–1912), originally published in 1897 as part of the series entitled True Beauties (Shin bijin).

If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you'll probably know that I have a thing for advertising ephemera from the 19th to the early 20th century. I am always on the lookout for Japanese prints that were issued to advertise a product, and I recently came across the one above, which was taken from a woodblock printed calendar published for the Kawamata Silk Refining Company of Yokohama in 1910. According to the text beneath the young woman, Kawamata pure silk:

Surpasses all others in its refining method.
Shows excellent lustre, when dyed or printed.
Suffers no change, no matter how long it may be kept.

Not only is the young woman wearing pure silk, she's holding a ball decorated with silk thread - an itomari (thread ball), also called a temari (hand ball). Young women and children are often shown playing with these thread balls in Japanese prints, especially in ones showing scenes from the New Year.

Temari, from the series Thirty-Six Images of Beauty (Sanjūrokkasen), by Mizuno Toshikata (1866 - 1908), 1893.

The print above shows three young women playing with a temari that is almost hidden in the pattern of the dress of the young girl standing behind it. They most likely had a bit of a sing-song whilst playing with it, as rhymes and ditties were popular accompaniments to ball games. One such rhyme goes:

Ten ten ten Tenjin-sama no omatsuri ni
Ten ten temari o kai mashita
Ten ten temari wa doko de tsuku
Ume no o-hana no shita de tsuku.

On the festival of Ten ten ten, Tenjin-sama,
I bought a ten ten temari.
Where am I to bounce the ten ten temari?
I am to bounce it under the blooming plum tree.*

Puppy playing with a temari. Surimono by Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787 - 1832), 1826.

Temari were made by wrapping cotton threads around a core of tightly rolled material scraps or paper to form a ball shape, to which was then added a decorative geometrical pattern in silk thread. Smaller ones were used in throwing games; the larger ones were usually made professionally and were bought for display in a household’s tokonoma during festive occasions.**

Another form of decorative ball that you might come across is that made using the kimekomi method. The image below shows one I prepared earlier (and when I say prepared, I mean bought online - it's vintage).  Kimekomi means 'tuck in' in Japanese, and this gives you a clue as to the method of this ball's manufacture. The core of the ball is made from wood or compressed sawdust, with the design being carved into it to allow the fabric pieces to be tucked in to form the desired pattern.

* Taken from 'Two Ball-Bouncing Rhymes from Japan', by Gwladys Hughes, in The Journal of American Folklore (April to June 1950). The Tenjin-sama of the rhyme refers to Sugaware no Michizane, a Heian period politician and scholar. A shrine was erected to his memory following his death and deification, and parents wishing their children to grow up to be scholars prayed to his spirit. The 'ten ten' of the rhyme is added for rhythmical effect.*
** The tokonoma is a raised platform within an alcove, used for the display of flowers, paintings, ceramics, etc.

Traditional Games: Hanetsuki

 

It's time for another post in the traditional Japanese games series, this time about hanetsuki. Originating in China, hanetsuki originally served as a rite during exorcisms, becoming a game for girls during the Muromachi period (1333-1568). It was often played at the New Year, using a hagoita (decorated wooden battledore) and a brightly-coloured hane (a shuttlecock made from a hard soapberry and a few feathers) and could be played by one or more players. It was similar to badminton, but without the use of a net, and playing it was said to protect against mosquitos. The aim of the game was to bat the hane back and forth between the players as many times as possible without it touching the ground, or for the single player to keep the hane aloft all by herself, with the amount of protection received for the coming year increasing the longer the hane remained in the air. The player who dropped the hane received a daub of black ink to her face. 

Young women playing hanetsuki, hand-coloured albumen photo by Kusakabe Kimbei, c. 1880s.

Children playing hanetsuki from the album Kodomo-asobi gajo (Children's Games), by Kobayashi Eitaku, published 1888.

Young woman playing hanetsuki, from the series Bijin jūni-sugata (Twelve Images of Beauty), by Migita Toshihide (1863-1925), 1901.

Oibane, from the series Gendai Bijin Fūzoku Gotai (Five Figures of Beauties), by Shimura Tatsumi (1907-80), 1953.

Traditional Games: Kazu-ken

  

For the second in the traditional Japanese games series we have kazu-ken (‘ken of numbers’). Kazu-ken, which originated in China, is thought to be the oldest version of the various ken games. During the game, both players made a hand gesture with their right hand which represented a number from zero to five, and as they did so they called out the number likely to result when the number they had made was added to that of their opponent. The correct number, which could be anywhere between zero and ten, had to be called out in a specially invented language which sounded similar to Chinese, and the loser was forced to drink a cup of sake... the consequence of losing most Japanese party games. The left hand was used to keep a record of the player's number of wins.

The image above is from the series A Mirror of Flirting Lovers: Cloud Clusters across the Moon (Chiwa kagami tsuki no murakumo), by Kitagawa Utamaro, published c. 1798-1800 by Enshūya Matabei. The characters depicted are from the play Sukeroku: The Flowers of Edo (Sukeroku yukari no Edo-zakura), which tells the story of  the love affair between the courtesan Agemaki and the dashing dandy Sukeroku. Here, Sukeroku, on the right, is engaged in a game of kazu-ken with his rival, Ikkyū, whilst Agemaki stands behind the two men and observes.

This type of numbers game played with the hands is not unique to China and Japan. In Italy, the most popular version of a game called morra, which dates back to ancient Roman times, is almost identical to kazu-ken. The Romans called it micatio and were introduced to the game by the Greeks, who held a rod in their left hand whilst playing; the position of the hand along the rod indicating the number of games the player had won. The Greek game was an adaptation of one played in ancient Egypt. Illustrations of men and women engaged in playing atep, as the Egyptians called the various versions of the game, are illustrated on the wall of tomb no. 9 at Beni Hassan. This sort of game seems to have had universal appeal, and also appears to be timeless as it is still played today.