Brain storm

[Bugyotsuji]

Here is a one-handed object that has been around the house for about fifteen years. Gradually I have built up a background to it in my mind.

Some of the possibilities are interesting. What do the honorable members think?(I may have shown this before, many years ago, but it’s had time to mature.)

Information.

Iron, with a wooden handle. Disc 8.7 cm (wangata) has a fine clear ‘ring/ting…’ when struck. 12 iron rings which rattle.

 

Dialog(ue) now open. Take it away!

 

[ChrisW]

Some kind of Buddhist ritual implement would be my guess? Reminds me of a Buddhist monk's staff a lot.

[Bugyotsuji]

21 minutes ago, ChrisW said:

Some kind of Buddhist ritual implement would be my guess? Reminds me of a Buddhist monk's staff a lot.

Yes, Chris, I agree. Iron usage is rather unusual though, and there are some other aspects which set this one apart.

 

錫杖 Shakujō

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=錫杖&client=safari&hl=ja-jp&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALiCzsY1XdIPAEoV3BkCzyqjQFv98Mhs0A:1654392087079&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1mK3lkpX4AhUAwTgGHegJDRAQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=414&bih=715&dpr=2

 

Short handled Te-shakujō

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=手錫杖&client=safari&hl=ja-jp&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALiCzsagf2vkRfFDPGKBDm2AlJ4m3nDWMA:1654392720028&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjxupWTlZX4AhWP8HMBHfbhC6AQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=414&bih=715&dpr=2

[ChrisW]

It could have been made by a country smith or perhaps it is more musical in nature than a shakujo? You said the iron plate resonates, yes?

[Bugyotsuji]

The iron plate does resonate nicely, yes.

To keep the ball rolling, take a look at some of the detail in the photo, and feel free to question. 

[mecox]

Difference to shakujo looks to be yours has 3 coils (joined at top?) each with 4 rings (total 12) and a "dish" which appears to be loose.  Wooden handle fixed by a mekugi?

To make noise for a reason?  Would not work for counting??

I have no idea. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, two doors you are knocking at there, Mail.

[mecox]

Well maybe not a Buddhist item.  I thought of the yamabushi, mostly 2 coils with 3 rings each (=6).  and there are other ones for deeper reflection with 4 coils of 3 rings (=12).  But no dish.

Yours looks very rural and blacksmith made.  I thought of a sort of rattle, like a cow bell.    but still no idea.

[John A Stuart]

I;d use it to beat game or rustle out varmints. It could even scare marten out of eaves. John

[Bugyotsuji]

John, thanks, I have been putting it to good use since yesterday!

 

They were Buddhist symbolic purifying weapons against evil, but also as you say to warn animals of the approach of pilgrims, Yamabushi etc. They were also used by certain schools of martial arts as physical weapons. They nearly always have a pointed pagoda or stupa at the top which could be painful if driven into certain spots on a person’s body.

 

The ones I have seen are generally set onto the shaft like a fukuro-yari. 
 

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=shakujo+weapon&client=safari&hl=ja-jp&biw=414&bih=715&sxsrf=ALiCzsaCrG7dffXqa2MlunfsYuu24fz0hw%3A1654423630038&ei=ToCcYojyAe2xmAXJg6EI&oq=shakujo+weapon&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBQgAEMsBMgUIIRCgAToHCCMQsAMQJzoHCAAQRxCwAzoECCMQJzoJCAAQgAQQBBAlOgUIABCABDoKCAAQgAQQsQMQFzoHCAAQgAQQFzoECAAQQzoHCCMQ6gIQJzoGCCMQJxATOgcIABCABBAEOg0IABCABBCxAxCDARAEOgoIABCABBCxAxAEOgYIABAEEAM6BwghEAoQoAFKBAhBGABQsgxYzVtggGBoA3AAeACAAYQCiAGlFpIBBjEuMTQuNJgBAKABAbABD8gBCcABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

 

Good article here:

https://www.eastlondonkempo.co.uk/blog/the-staff-of-the-mountain-monk-history-and-meaning-of-the-shakujo

[Bugyotsuji]

So what do the mekugi and reversed point and disc suggest?

[mecox]

Well the style / design doesnt look at all like the various pics of shakujo.  If it is that type of item, perhaps it could be for training as a weapon.... blunt end,   lots of noise,   dish as offensive protection,  and could be used in the hand or with a shaft.   Or maybe by the mobile tofu-man (tofu-uri) with his cart to attract customers!

[Bugyotsuji]

Managed to remove the mekugi for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

To summarize, the essential metalwork is all of one strand, (rings apart) with a flattened tang at one end, finished with yasurimé and one mekugi ana. The other end has been split into three strands which splay out and pull round to form an inner pagoda, cleverly sealed to show no seams.

 

The inward point seems to emphasize that this is a purely defensive object. There are no sharp edges. The 8.7 cm wide ‘Tsuba’ is loose and rings brightly, but I liked the thought that the defensive role of a tsuba-like disc is emphasized, and being made of iron, in the right hands could ward off an attacking blade. 

 

The construction could well be by a country blacksmith, as Mail says above, but it does show overt elements of bugu weaponry transcending agricultural implements or typical Buddhist shakujō bronze work.

 

If the finely-shaped concave disc was made by a Tōsho swordsmith, then maybe here indeed is an element of consciousness from the past that tsuba did once have a defensive role to perform.

[Bugyotsuji]

Quote mecox/Mal: “and could be used in the hand or with a shaft.”

Yes, this is a valid point and one I had not considered.

[Fuuten]

Apologies if mentioned above, I skimmed through. I have a post for an item that was shaped like monk Jizu in which the shakujo is briefly mentioned. Regarding the sound the staff makes.

 

Quote

Jizō is often portrayed as a monk with an open, compassionate expression ready to hear the call of the suffering. In his hand is a traveler’s staff and sometimes a priest’s staff called ‘shakujo’ that has a total of six rings on it as a symbol of the extent of his mercy through all realms of being, and its clinking sound a signal of his foot’s fall lest he harm even the smallest creature.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Different sects had different numbers of rings apparently.

Yes, I was reading about the etymology of the word shakujō, but the prevailing theory is that it reflects the sound *shaku-shaku. ("Tin-tip staff", though is the literal meaning of the Kanji, so it could be one of these happy all-rounders.)

 

Interestingly the ramrod of a J matchlock, more often called a ‘Karuka’ (from the Portuguese), was also sometimes referred to as a Shakujō, i.e. a tamper staff.

 

(*Strangely like the English word shake shake?!?!)