Shinkirō Kozuka (Hamano Noriyuki II)

[Jake6500]

Hi NMB,

 

I've been away from the board for a bit due to work but figured it was time to share my latest Hamano school acquisition. I picked this kozuka up direct from a Japanese dealer (shoutout Touken Matsumoto!) for what I think was a great price overall.

 

This is a Tokubetsu Hozon papered kozuka by Hamano Noriyuki II, signed with his youthful gō prior to assuming his position as a master of the Hamano school (Norimasu). The piece features some beautiful takabori and the theme is Shinkiro (sea mirage) featuring shells which is a motif Noriyuki is famous for.

 

The timing of this piece as it fits into Noriyuki's early career also makes for an interesting point of reference or study!

I will keep looking to expand my collection of Hamano school fittings so that this piece has friends...

 

 

[buchtas]

congratulations on getting this one, I have seen it too and was thinking if I should buy it. It looks amazing.

[Bugyotsuji]

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.

[Jake6500]

21 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

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.

 

Urashima Taro came to mind but I wasn't actually sure... Doesn't he open a box in the story as opposed to a clam?

 

I remember the story from primary school 20+ years ago now so it has been a while...

Edited Sunday at 02:01 PM by Jake6500

[Bugyotsuji]

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.

[Bugyotsuji]

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

Tamatebako

Reverse

Shinkiro

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Tamatebako 玉手箱　literally Jewel Hand case (vanity case).

 

Posted on this site before, scroll down page 4.

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

A clamshell with Ryūgū Jō inside.

Back

 

Front

 

Hoping this has linked your stories together, Jake!

[Jake6500]

2 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

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.

 

Thank you Piers, that response helped me piece the story back together in my mind!

 

If I remember correctly, there was also a punishment for opening the box right? I remember a temporal theme where time passes differently in the ocean v.s. on land and Taro ages dramatically as a consequence of disobeying the instruction. At least, this is the version I was taught in school about 20-25 years ago... 

 

Those netsuke examples are beautiful Piers! The small, painstaking wood carving in particular looks meticulous!

[Bugyotsuji]

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?