The Kiseru and Tobacco in Japanese History

Dear All,

I should like to take this opportunity to introduce our membership to yet another Japanese art form. Although politically un-popular today ( more to do with special interest groups than actual health hazards ) the use of tobacco products was at one time so wide spread as to be virtually a universal part of life. When I was a young man almost EVERYONE partook of the habit, males far more so than women of course. This does not mean ( although I am a heavy smoker ) that I condone or would in any way consul anyone to begin smoking. I do find it interesting that people are so gullible as to believe all the negative propaganda surrounding smoking, ... probably the biggest fallacy .... that smoking causes lung cancer ( the truth being that smoking will certainly hasten the onset of lung cancer provided you are genetically susceptible to lung cancer, ... but as a definitive CAUSE ... sorry the answer is NO. It is the leading cause however of Emphysema, and certain other respiratory ailments in VERY HEAVY smokers, ... much like the abuse of Alcohol is a concern for Cirrhosis of the liver in VERY HEAVY drinkers. Actually smoking has certain benefits your brain washed physician will rarely tell you about such as Heavy Smokers RARELY catch the Common Cold or Influenza, nor that a cigarrette instead of a valium is a great stress reliever. That is a fact JACK ! The general population also are un-aware of the fact that the various Cancer Societies around the world are BIG BUSINESS with up to 65% of your donations going to ADMINISTRATION and bugger all to research or aid to victims. It may also be of interest that Japan has one of the highest life expectancies in the world in spite of the fact that 40% of males smoke tobacco.

Now on with the show for those with an interest. Tobacco was introduced into Japan sometime after 1543 when a Portuguese ship arrived at Tanegashima Island. The earliest recorded use of tobacco was during the reign of the second Shogun Hidetada. It has been recorded that the people of Kyoto planted tobacco seeds and that the inhalation of smoke from the leaves of said plants by the people of Kyoto became popular. At one point smoking was banned by the Shogunate but so wide spread was it's use that the edicts were largely ignored.

The first inhalation of tobacco smoke came about as a form of a tiny cigar with the tobacco wrapped in a non related plant husk and a little later paper replacing the husk. It was probably from seeing true clay tobacco pipes as being used by the Portuguese that the first Kiseru ( Japanese Pipe ) was devised. These pipes are noted for their tiny bowls ... allowing for only a couple of puffs before empty ... but more on this later. As smoking became more and more prevalent artisans specializing in the manufacture of Kiseru emerged.

During the Edo period Kiseru made entirely of metal were the most prevalent, with bronze, iron, silver, copper, shakudo, and even gold being employed. They were often decorated with incised lines, patterns, progressing to relief carving and inlaid designs. Once the Tokugawa Shogunate brought peace to Japan, and the demand for sword furniture diminished, many of the sword furniture artisans took up the vocation of producing Kiseru, ... and as an added bonus the production of the tobacco pouch ( tabako-ire ) clasps ( kanagu ). In addition to the manufacture of the mentioned articles, a great upsurge in the production of Netsuke took place. Some of the finest netsuke ever carved are a direct result of the introduction of tobacco to Japan.

In the late Edo period, due partially to the edicts against the use of precious metals, a newer pipe was developed. This style of pipe had as before a metal bowl ( gankubi ), ... a metal mouth piece ( suikushi ), ... but separating the two was a hollow bamboo stem called the rao. This style of pipe although it did not completely replace the all metal kiseru definitely became the majority type and carried on right through the Meiji period and indeed post WWII. At this time ... late Edo and Meiji periods, many of the most luxuriously decorated pipes, and tobacco cases and pipe cases ( zutsu ) were produced for the wealthy merchant class. Although technically the Samurai were not allowed to use tobacco, ... many did.

In Smoke: A Global History of Smoking by Sander L. Gilman and Xun Zhou ( 2004, p.78 ) Barnabas Tatsuya tells us that the Japanese were already using the Kiseru when the Dutch arrived in 1609 and by 1634 the Japanese were exporting tobacco to other countries. They also tell us that the tiny bowl of the Kiseru began as a cost saving measure being that tobacco in the early years was prohibitively expensive. Even more accurate ( I think ) is the statement that the Japanese display a supreme refinement in their smoking. They are content with the tiny pipe and may load the pipe only once or twice and then contently put it aside, ... and are quite appalled at the Western practice of smoking large quantities at one sitting.

I hope in this short essay on the Kiseru and tobacco use in Japan that along with the photographs of a few pipes and accessories from my modest collection I will have kindled the reader to explore this beautiful art form. As always any errors are mine alone.

... Ron Watson

More...

... Ron Watson

an interesting read.

from my collection the leavings of a tabakoire, a manju netsuke from narwal tooth and the appendant kanagu as also a tabakobon.

a luxurious tabakobon just now at auction at Zeller, Lindau a.B., BRD, starting price

€ 1,800

Utamaro ukiyo-e

Eric

hello all,

i bought a poor example pouch and pipe some years ago ,compared to the few posted,

but the unusual thing is, i think, it still had tobacco in the pouch, any information on age would be great,

many thanks,

PETER

A nice gentle thread, Ron. Some lovely examples of smoking accoutrements.

Pete, that is Kizami-tabako, or finely sliced tobacco. It was still available in Japan until not too long ago, but some of these old tabako-ire do indeed have remains of kizami tabako from Edo times.

My best tabako-ire is made from a single large section of bamboo, lacquered and deeply carved showing a ship on stormy waters. It has a sticker on it from the now-defunct Pitt-Rivers museum in Devon, with spidery Victorian writing suggesting a date of 1700.

Eric, your manju does not appear to be Narwhal, which usually exhibits the twist of the Narwhal spear.

Here's an odd little smokers friend.

Roy

Dear Pete,

I would have to agree with Piers regarding the ivory NOT being Narwhale. Nor is it Elephant from what I see in the grain, ... I should think Hippopotumus ivory which is a lot denser than Elephant, ... and has the same grain as your netsuke exibits.

... Ron Watson

PS. I should have mentioned the carving is very well done in my opinion.

Eric, your manju does not appear to be Narwhal, which usually exhibits the twist of the Narwhal spear.

Actually Narwhal tusk is different from other kinds of ivory... screw like twisted. The grain is easily to see on the backside. This netsuke shows traces of abrasion along the border. It was believed that in its powdered form it would reduce fever.

Eric

The strongest candidate so far for the word Kiseru comes from Cambodian 'khsier' (pipe) apparently, but no-one can be absolutely sure.

「管」を意味するカンボジア語「khsier」からで、「煙管」と書くのは当て字。

http://gogen-allguide.com/ki/kiseru.html

This tabako-bon set is quite simple. The little drawer with the slide contains sharpened handmade... pipecleaners (?).

BRD

Well, the use of BRD is per se not wrong but the correct mailing address is DE- (for Germany)

Seit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts und mit der deutschen Wiedervereinigung hat die Diskussion um die Abkürzung BRD ihre Brisanz verloren. So setzt der Duden seit den 1990er-Jahren „BRD“ mit „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“ gleich, während er zu Zeiten des Kalten Krieges noch darauf bestand, dass es sich um eine „nichtamtliche Abkürzung“ handelte. Seitdem verwendet zuweilen auch die dem Bundesinnenministerium unterstellte Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung auf ihren Webseiten und bei der Veröffentlichung wissenschaftlicher Publikationen die nicht unumstrittene Abkürzung BRD. Teilweise wird die Abkürzung auch in den Medien verwendet, z. B. in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung,[19] in der Süddeutschen Zeitung[20] oder in der Welt,[21] auch wenn sie sich inzwischen auf das vereinte Deutschland bezieht.

Eric

Just kidding, Eric ! However, the English Wikipedia entry sums up nicely the general line of thought when I grew up:

BRD was an unofficial Cold War-era abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland). It is now uncommon, but was used consistently by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) between 1968 and 1990 to refer to what was generally known in English as West Germany. Unlike the English counterpart FRG, which used as an IOC country code and a FIFA trigramme, the use of BRD was discouraged by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany itself, because it was considered to be derogatory communist jargon. The term was not banned by law, but its use was discouraged or forbidden in schools.

When this came tied to a very tatty Tachi, the pouch was half full of what looked and smelt like the real old shag. So dug out my old pipe and had a go..... dont do it but the old set seems to be Meiji'ish??.

Dear Roy,

I rather like that, ... especially the ojime. I take it the Kiseru was missing from the set ?? The Tabako-ire is a bit too busy for my taste, and I too would date it to the Meiji period. Personal tastes aside, ... I would not turn it down ( depending on price ) were it for sale.

... Ron Watson

I like this tabakoire with its kiseruzutsu... of special interest is the tooled or stamped leather with adornment of colored lacquer I believe...amusing ojime.

The tabakobon at Zeller auction has been sold for € 2,000 hammer price.

Eric

Dear Eric,

The selling price of the Tabakobon selling for 2000.00 Euro does not surprise me. It was obviously owned by a very wealthy merchant at some point, ... and the quality of work is most impressive. Something I have noted in Auctions over the past couple or three years is the fairly LOW prices of decent swords, ... and yet the escalating prices of other forms of Japanese Art. Has anyone else noted the same trends ??

... Ron Watson

Dear Roy,

I rather like that, ... especially the ojime. I take it the Kiseru was missing from the set ?? The Tabako-ire is a bit too busy for my taste, and I too would date it to the Meiji period. Personal tastes aside, ... I would not turn it down ( depending on price ) were it for sale.

 

... Ron Watson

Morning Ron

Yes it is on my site,had forgotten about the piece untill this thread started. It came with a pipe {See below} which I would think is a later addition, the price I have on it is....

CAD 788,US774,Euro 630,GBP 500

If this is too cheap please let me know as the car needs taxing soon

Roy

Back to an earlier post while I am on the subject. This ugly beast also had some weed in it, never seen anything similar???, the body seems to be some form of root while the hinged face is hard wood with inlayed eye{one missing}.

Probably a cheap tourist item from the early pre WW1 period??

I have two that I enjoy very much, although I have no idea on age...The Ryu is my favorite and probably oldes,

Curtis

Dear Curtis,

I am pleased to see the interest this thread has generated, ... it is great fun to see other's treasures. Although I like the Ryu, ... I also really like Hotei's treasure bag. I take it the treasure bag clasp ( kanagu ) is quite small ?

... Ron Watson

Hi Ron,

Yes, I like them as well...the Hotei's bag is about 1.5 inches across is all...quite small but neat I enjoy it!

Curtis

These mae-kanagu are lovely. I always feel uneasy when I see them separated from from their original function. Are they Menuki or Mae-kanagu for tabako-ire? I know they were probably made by the same craftsmen, but I need a rule-of-thumb for deciding which is which; I suspect it has something to do with the vestiges on the reverse of how they were orginally fixed. Can anyone shed light on this?

Dear Piers,

ALL Kanagu for Tabako-ire that I have seen are fitted with TWO pins for attachment to the tabako-ire which protrude beyond the back of the kanagu. One does not find this on Menuki. I almost suspect you are setting a bait here and will shoot me down with an exception ! Further most/but not all are either far too large to be menuki, or conversely too small to be used as menuki. I have ONE example which would be suitable as a menuki, ... but the two pins protruding from the back identify it as a kanagu. Having said that there is always the possibilty of an EXCEPTION which would be the menuki found on the type of tsuka that has no silk wrapping but just " same ". Perhaps these are fitted with two pins, ... I wouldn't know for certain as I've never attempted to remove them from the one example I own.

... Ron Watson

Ron, I would never set a trap for you (well, there might be an exception!) and your detailed and fearless answer is good for me to go on. I will go back home and double check the few bits that I have and maybe post them here. I suppose a Menuki could be fitted with a double pin jobbie for a further lifetime as a tobacco pouch clasp, though... (?)

ALL Kanagu for Tabako-ire that I have seen are fitted with TWO pins for attachment to the tabako-ire which protrude beyond the back of the kanagu

Reverse side of my kanagu...these kanagus are worked in uchidashi technique.

Eric

and a beautiful example...

Here are some pouches and their clasps, this being a good opportunity to try and take some close-ups.

Some more for the picture library.

Close-ups of the feast... lid & body, bamboo, base persimmon wood. Ojime Carnelian. Scene signed 山月　刀

Silver lady's kisseru has the owner's name サダコ　inscribed.

Since Ron pointed out yet another chink in my armor/armour, I have spent the intervening time chatting with collectors and dealers about the difference between Menuki and Mae-Kanagu. It is now clear in my own mind.

In celebration and in thanks to the dealer today who despite the searing heat had patiently pointed out the arcane detail, I sifted through a couple of trays and bought two, one of each.

A wonderful Sambaso dancer caught my eye for many a long moment, but there is often sadly a limit to one's budget. There was also a lovely pairing of a lion and tiger in copper & shakudo with delicate silver claws, and on the back were both the original block for Menuki fitment, and the two pins for Mae-Kanagu. The dealer said that it had probably started life as a Menuki, had at some point been adapted for use on a purse, and finally been released to walk alone in the world. Perhaps I should have bought this one to show the membership here, but it was a toss-up between myself and my wallet, and the felines lost out.