HIKESHI

HIKESHI

 

Fires in Edo were fires which occurred in Edo , now Tokyo, of Japan during the Edo period. The city of Edo was characterized by frequent great fires as the saying

 "Fires and quarrels are the flowers of Edo" goes.

 Even in the modern days, the old Edo was still remembered as the "City of Fires" 

 The city was something of a rarity in the world,

 as vast urban areas of Edo were repeatedly leveled by fire.
 The great fires of Edo were compared to the Chinese gods of fire Shukuyū  and Kairoku ),

and also humorously described as "autumn leaves".

Banchō Sarayashiki

Banchō Sarayashiki

Banchō Sarayashiki or Bancho Sarayashiis a Japanese ghost story of love separated by social class, broken trust and broken promises, leading to a dismal fate.

The story of Okiku and the Nine Plates is one of the most famous in Japanese folklore, and continues to resonate with audiences today.

The story of Okiku is an old one, whose true origins are unknown; however, it first appeared under the title Bancho Sarayashiki in July 1741 at the Toyotakeza theater. The familiar ghost legend had been adapted into a ningyō jōruri production by Asada Iccho and Tamenaga Tarobei I. Like many successful puppet shows, a Kabuki version followed and in September 1824, Banchō Sarayashiki was staged at the Naka no Shibai theater starring Otani Tomoemon II and Arashi Koroku IV in the roles of Aoyama Daihachi and Okiku.

A one-act Kabuki version was created in 1850 by Segawa Joko III, under the title Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki, which debuted at the Nakamura-za theater and starred Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII and Ichikawa Kodanji IV in the roles of Tetsuzan and Okiku. This one-act adaptation was not popular, and quickly folded, until it was revived in June 1971 at the Shimbashi Embujō theater, starring the popular combination of Kataoka Takao and Bando Tamasaburō V in the roles of Tetsuzan and Okiku.

The most familiar and popular adaptation of Banchō Sarayashiki, written by Okamoto Kido, debuted in February 1916 at the Hongō-za theater, starring Ichikawa Sadanji II and Ichikawa Shōchō II in the roles of Lord Harima and Okiku. It was a modern version of the classic ghost story in which the horror tale was replaced by a deep psychological study of the two characters' motivations.

Japanese Ghost Stories

http://gominekobooks.com/books.html

Size: 8 ” x 11.5” 

Pages: 124 

Published: 2009

Price: $48

Binding:  Softcover

WE MADE 300 LIMITED EDITION S/N HARDBACK EDITIONS AS GIFTS TO THE ARTISTS. 

THE REMAINDER ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE WEBSITE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

Japanese Ghost Stories is the end result of a year long art project. It includes illustrations based on four different Japanese ghost stories, submitted by 62 unique international artists, including Jack “Horimouja” Mosher, Horimasa, Ade, Cody Meyer, Tim Kern, Horizaru, Horigyn, Hougen and more. The project was created to explore how Westerners approach old Japanese myths and legends, most of which are quite culturally diverse and unique. The artists were asked to adhere to certain elements of the story but ultimately were given creative license. The artwork submitted for the project was incredibly varied in terms of style and approach, making this a compelling collection of illustrations and an interesting look into how the western mind, as well as that of present day Japan, approach these antiquated tales.

Bake-danuki

Bake-danuki

Bake-danuki (化け狸) are a kind of tanuki yōkai (ghost) found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan.

Although the tanuki is an real, extant animal, the bake-danuki that appears in literature has always been depicted as a strange, even supernatural animal. The earliest appearance of the bake-danuki in literature, in the Nihon Shoki written by the Empress Suiko during the Nara period, consists of such passages as "in two months of spring, there are mujina in the country of Mutsu , they turn into humans and sing songs. Bake-danuki subsequently appear in such classics as the Nihon Ryōikiand the Uji Shūi Monogatari. In some regions of Japan, bake-danuki are reputed to have abilities similar to those attributed to kitsune (foxes): they can shapeshift into other things,shapeshift people, and possess human beings.

There are many legends of tanukis in the Sado Islands of Niigata Prefecture and in Shikoku, and among them, like the danzaburou-danuki of Sado, the awa-tanuki-gassen of Awa Province (Tokushima Prefecture), and the yasima-no-hage-danuki of Kagawa Prefecture, the tanuki who possessed special abilities were given names, and even became the subject of rituals. Apart from these places, there are few cases where tanuki are treated with special regard.

The character 狸, pronounced lí in modern Mandarin, was originally a collective name for medium-sized mammals resembling cats in China, with the leopard cat as its nucleus. When this character was brought to Japan, there were no animals to which it could be suitably applied. Japanese intellectuals used the character to signify tanuki, stray cats, wild boars, Eurasian badgers, weasels, and Japanese giant flying squirrels.

The tanuki of Japan from time immemorial were deified as governing all things in nature, but after the arrival of Buddhism, animals other than envoys of the gods (foxes, snakes, etc.) lost their divinity. Since all that remained was the image of possessing special powers, they were seen as evil or as yōkai, with tanuki being a representative type. Some also take the viewpoint that the image of the tanuki has overlapped with that of the mysterious and fearful 狸 of China (leopard cat).However, since the tanuki of Japan do not have the fearsome image that the leopard-cats of China do, unlike in China their image took the form of a more humorous kind of monster,[8] and even in folktales like Kachi-kachi Yama, and Bunbuku Chagama, they often played the part of foolish animals.

Compared with kitsune (foxes), which are the epitome of shape-changing animals, there is the saying that "the fox has seven disguises, the tanuki has eight (狐七化け、狸八化け)". The tanuki is thus superior to the fox in its disguises, but unlike the fox, which changes its form for the sake of tempting people, tanuki do so to fool people and make them seem stupid. There is also the theory that they simply like to change their form.

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival

The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival (隅田川花火大会, Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai) is an annual fireworks festival held on the last Saturday in July, over the Sumidagawa near Asakusa. Unlike fireworks displays in other parts of the world, the Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai follows the Japanese tradition of being an intense competition between rival pyrotechnic groups. Each group tries to out-do the last, and the result is an incredible variety of fireworks, not just in different colors and patterns, but forming shapes as complicated as Doraemon, Pikachu, or kanji.

It is a revival of celebrations held in the Edo period, and annually attracts close to a million celebrants. Similar events are held at the same time of year at many other sites throughout Japan.