A Timely Kozuka

[Ford Hallam]

This is a Kono school kozuka that was evidently made to celebrate the New Year.

 

The artist is Akichika, he was a direct student of the celebrated Kono Haruaki Hogen.

 

This is pretty decent work so the question is can you identify all of the elements of the design that allude to the new Year celebration? Some are obvious, other perhaps less so.

 

Double click the images to see larger versions.

 

 

And a very happy new year to you all. 

[b.hennick]

Have a great 2018 Ford! Thank you for sharing this piece. I look forward to 2018 to be the year the book came out and changes how many of us look at fittings. 

[Jean]

Best wishes for 2018 Ford

[zanilu]

Best wishes to all of you!

[Brian]

Everyone is too busy with NYE preparations to look for the New Year symbols
Will try and give it a go tomorrow. Right now, I'm in the process of curling up foetal position in the corner and rocking slowly while chanting "where did my holiday go...where did me holiday go...."

[Tanto54]

Dear Ford,

 

Nice New Year's challenge.  I'll try for one of the less obvious elements and leave some of the fun for others (e.g., look for Tsuru, Matsu & Minogame).  On the Ura (backside), the far right element appears to be the Yuzuri plant, the leaves of which are used in New Year's decorations to symbolize longevity of the Father (a Yuzuri leaf does not fall until its replacement has grown - meaning the New Year's wish that the Father won't die until the Son is full grown).

[Tanto54]

Ok - one more. Just rung in the New Year by taking an ice cold shower to purify myself for the New Year - another Japanese New Year tradition (depicted by the water well and bucket on the back of the Kozuka).

[Brian]

Appears to be a crane depicted. The tsuru (crane) is a Japanese symbol for longevity and good luck. I think there is also a small turtle depicted there...minogame represents longevity and wisdom.

[Henry Wilson]

On the reverse I see "kadomstsu" on a water well.

A “ kadomatsu,” or “gate pine,” is a traditional Japanese New Year’s decoration. They are placed in pairs in front of homes in order to welcome ancestral spirits or gods of the harvest. Kadomatsu are considered temporary housing for these spirits and are typically made of pine and bamboo sprigs.

 

The object on the front is not so obvious to me. Could it be an "omamori", an amulet for protection picked up during "hatsumode"?

[Bugyotsuji]

The three traditional elements of Pine/Bamboo/Plum (=Japanese apricot), ie Sho-Chiku-Bai are on the front. 松竹梅. Cannot figure out what the long cannon/seal/hat object with the cords is supposed to be though.

[John A Stuart]

Perhaps a tsukumogami of a chaire, like Matsunaga Hisahide had.. John

[JohnTo]

Hi Ford,

I believe that the depiction of a well head represents the ceremony of wakamizu, the drawing if the first water from a well on New Year's Day.  I have a tsuba that shows this, hence the garlands around the tree.

 

Best regards, John

[Bugyotsuji]

Ford, how'd we do?

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Piers,

 

pretty good on all the lesser details but the main decorative objects seems to have been a little obscure.

 

This from Wikipedia, 

  Quote

The buriburi and gitcho were Japanese children's toys, traditionally given together as a New Year's gift. The buriburi was a gourd-shaped roller, with or without wheels, which was rolled along the ground or pulled with a string; the gitcho was a short mallet or bat.^[1]Their origin is obscure, but it is believed that they originated from China,^[2] and that they were used in a game of the same name.^[3] Both the implements and the game were closely associated with the New Year Festival in Heian-era Japan.^[4] After the festival, the playing implements were sometimes ceremonially burned in a ceremony known as sagitcho.^[5] Transactions and proceedings of the Japan Society, London. 35-37. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. 1938. p. 23.

  Quote

 

Kubo Shunman 19th cent. Hama-yumi (the bow) and Buriburi-Gitcho, Boy's toys for the New year celebration.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Haha, interesting. We live and learn. I found some photos here:

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=ブリブリ毬杖&client=safari&hl=en-jp&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi09pX4m9DYAhXENpQKHbRFDA0Q_AUIESgB&biw=414&bih=622

[Brian]

Thanks Ford, that was interesting.

[John A Stuart]

I never would have suspected a toy. That is very interesting. John

[Henry Wilson]

Interesting.  I was going to say a kite (alluding to tako-age; New Year kite flying) because I thought it was something like a toy, even though it doesn't look like a kite.  You live and learn.  Many thanks Ford.

[Ford Hallam]

I please everyone enjoyed this little investigation and came away entertained and a little wiser

 

What I find interesting is that this piece was evidently made specifically for the new year's festivities and as such would probably only have been worn on that day. It was probably not a cheap piece to commission so it was intended to make quite the status statement. It would then have been unlikely to have been worn after that day (until the next year perhaps) because that would have suggested that the wearer couldn't afford a more appropriately themed piece and made him look very unfashionable and inelegant.