Bugyotsuji

That’s now as clear as mud. These links seem to be mixing the big and little dippers, but mariners use the handle of the little one for pointing out Myōken the North or Pole Star. Right? 七曜印 Anyway he’s my new friend as his familiar is Genbu, the great tortoise with ears, and we’re old pals already.

Don’t you have anything a little more comprehensive, our man Malcolm?

Well I answered that question already on the first page. Remember that some (combinations of) numbers were auspicious, particularly seven, the number of stars in the Little Dipper. Also nine, as in the nine-star Kuyōmon, which actually represents seven visible stars plus two ‘dark’ stars, the existence of which astrologers and thus everyone believed in. Stars were represented like that with brass, yes, and on a Kurogane background it does increase such a perception. If it is the Little Dipper, it seems that one rice shaped opening is in the wrong place…(?)

Today very sluggish, taking minutes to load each page. I go off to visit other sites while I’m waiting.

Just for reference here is a Netsuke made from baleen. Backside with a Southern Cross? Front with a dipper? But everything changes when

Sadly yes there was a continuation which I do not like to contemplate. Suffice it to say that I have lived here more half a century, and when I go back to my old village everything has changed, I recognize no one, and no one knows who the old man is. Is this really a children’s story?

A clamshell with Ryūgū Jō inside. Back Front Hoping this has linked your stories together, Jake!

Tamatebako 玉手箱　literally Jewel Hand case (vanity case). Posted on this site before, right down page 4.

PS This story of Urashima Taro continues to fascinate me and over the years I have collected objects that reflect it. Tamatebako Reverse Shinkiro

Jake, apologies for the lack of a reply. Every day I think about replying and then wonder where to start. There are two, possibly three stories which have blended over the centuries. You call it Shinkiro which is correct; 蜃気楼 (the word literally means ‘clam spirit towers’). The word must have come from the seller. And we can see the whole scene emanating as a breath or spirit or dream from the clam on both sides of your lovely Kozuka. So you could ask where the story of Urashima Taro started, or you could ask where does the kingdom of the Ryugujo Castle exist? You could say it is an unattainable paradise which can occasionally be seen over the horizon, a mirage or the dream of a giant clam. And then there is the food element in the story, a palace with gorgeous seafood (clams) and the sexual element as the clam representing female genitalia, the delicate Shunga element hovers in the background. So in the children’s story, as a reward for saving the turtle’s life, Taro the young male is taken to the towered palace of the sea princess and entertained variously and endlessly until he becomes homesick. 箱 = Hako or box, case. The 手箱 tebako vanity box or treasure/jewel box 玉手箱 tamatebako is given him as an amulet on condition he never opens it. And the rest is history. But mirages continued to appear, especially along the Japan Sea coast of Japan, with Korean or Chinese towers, and the legend of the shimmering towers in the spirit of the giant clam would reappear everytime someone used the old word Shinkiro to describe it, and children would wonder anew. So we see Netsuke clams with a palace carved inside them, or Kozuka like yours, for that is where the Ryugu Jo where Urashima Taro once visited continues to exist.

Same here the 6th yesterday, no access Japan time for about half a day.

Yes Calabrese, it’s probably shinchū brass or 黄銅 Ōdō.

Lovely! The story is of course Urashima Tarō, and the word Shinkiro literally means ‘spirit (dream) of the giant clam’, which is what people thought they saw when observing a mirage over the sea. In this case the dream is the towers of Ryugu Jo Castle under the sea where he was entertained by the Sea Princess. I have some Netsuke and Ukiyoe on this same story.

My guess is red rust which has been removed before stabilizing. Open to better ideas! When you say 'opinion on this Mei', Myochin Munekatsu, are you asking if it's legit? PS I like the sukashi.

For reference re Somada: https://collections.lacma.org/object/85065