A Daimyo or lesser lord that studied ice crystal formation

[Fuuten]

Hi everyone,

 

For the life of me, I'm sure i once read a story somewhere about a Japanese lord or Daimyo that was obsessed with the formation of ice crystals and had some sort of microscope to see them close up. Maybe it was on Markus Sesko's website but I couldn't find it..

 

Someone know what story I'm getting at? Could one of you nice gentle ladies or gentleman help me out? Not being able to verify the story or locate the source has been nagging in the back of my head for a while now.

 

Thank you,

[ROKUJURO]

MASARU EMOTO?

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Axel & Jean, Masaru Emoto is 20th / 21st Century.

 

The popular reference may come from a late Edo period publication called  "Hokuetsu Seppu" Snow Stories of North Etsu Province, a kind of Encyclopaedia compiled  by a merchant called Suzuki Bokushi in 1837.

 

Hokuetsu Seppu contains studies into Snow crystals by Doi Toshitsura, Daimyo of Koga.

 

He wrote a book called Sekka Zusetsu (A Study of Snowflakes) in 1832.

 

How apt a title for today........🤪

 

https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2536974

 

 

[Fuuten]

Thank you kind gentlemen.

 

I'm still thinking of an older period, where a microscope was really modern equipment. Perhaps I'm entangling multiple stories. Thank you both👍

[Baka Gaijin]

Thank You Axel, 

 

I've drawn a blank with earlier studies in Japan, however, I did find out that even by  1810, microscopes were still comparatively rare items in Japan, and Doi Toshitsura, as Daimyo of Koga would have had to go through an application process through the Bakufu, to obtain the microscope from the VOC at Dejima.

 

Sekka Zusetsu (Pub 1832) was the result of over 20 years of study by the Daimyo.

 

Rangaku ( Dutch Studies ) had been popular with the upper levels of Society, and both Dutch Books and Translations of them into Japanese were available.

 

Perhaps contacting the curators at one of these links may shed some light:

 

 https://www.hetscheepvaartmuseum.com/voc

 

https://www.westfriesmuseum.info/category/east-india-company/

[DKR]

If  the weather condition are good you need no Mikroskop to study snow crystals. 

[vajo]

Incredible the fascination for geometry in the Japanese culture. One of the most straight sense for life i ever met.

[Baka Gaijin]

Just for fun,

 

I was researching the impact that Doi Toshitsura's images had upon Japanese design, following the publication of his studies.

 

It was an unleashing of new patterns on Kimono textiles, and the late Edo fashion world embraced it with fervour.

 

Woodblock print by Keisai Eisen c.1840

Edo no Matsu Meiboku Zukushi Oshiage Myoken no Matsu

("Pines at Oshiage Myoken - From the series "Old trees of historical interest in Edo")

Property of Koga History Museum

 

 

 

Woodblock Print by Utagawa Kunisada c.1844

Poem by KouKou Tennou

No 15 from the series

Hyakunin Isshu Eshou (A Pictorial Commentary on One Hundred Poets)

 

[Fuuten]

Yeah very cool patterns. I have some tea utensils with similar abstractions from crystals.

 

I'm still trying to identify the story I opened with, or exactly where the idea came from. these kind of 'argh I can't remember' can bug me to no end.

 

Part of the story I'm relatively sure about is the part about the subject having bargained a microscope from somewhere and also that the only way during that time to study the formations happening was to be outside in the cold. So in the story it mentions the subject being outside (I think it was said to mainly take place during nights and on the castle grounds, so subject had to be wealthy and of some power), during the night for 9 or 10 hours at a time, this is what I think I have read at some time or another. This thread might just be complete nonsense as having no one else recognizing it makes me doubt my memories even more😒 heh

[Fuuten]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:08 AM, Baka Gaijin said:

I've drawn a blank with earlier studies in Japan, however, I did find out that even by 1810, microscopes were still comparatively rare items in Japan, and Doi Toshitsura, as Daimyo of Koga would have had to go through an application process through the Bakufu, to obtain the microscope from the VOC at Dejima.

 

Sekka Zusetsu (Pub 1832) was the result of over 20 years of study by the Daimyo.

&

On 10/31/2020 at 7:18 AM, Baka Gaijin said:

Hokuetsu Seppu contains studies into Snow crystals by Doi Toshitsura, Daimyo of Koga.

 

He wrote a book called Sekka Zusetsu (A Study of Snowflakes) in 1832.

 

 

 

Daaamn I think this is it. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekka_Zusetsu

 

Apologies as it took me a while to go through all information shared above - it's not exactly the tale I remember but I'm fairly certain this is the subject from the information that does match. This will surely help narrowing the search for the story.

 

Thank you both so much! 🥳

[Baka Gaijin]

It was a pleasure Axel, I learned a lot as a result of it.

 

Particularly about a Shoami Tsuba which I have, which depicts stylised snowflakes.

 

Prior to Sekka Zusetsu, their common depiction looked more like Covid 19:

[Baka Gaijin]

Here it is:

[Ken-Hawaii]

Scary!

[Hoshi]

I see a coronavirus Tsuba.

 

I see interesting similarities between snowflakes and family Mon.