LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
F453JL
no. \-Z\
The person charging this material is re-
sponsible for its return to the library from
which it was withdrawn on or before the
Latest Date stamped below.
Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons
for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from
the University.
To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
DEC 1 8 19^6
DEC 1 8 'T
JU L 1 9 1988
M o 3 m
JUNO 1 1J92
ILLINOIS UBIURl
L161— O-1096
I
Japanese Temples and Houses
BY
HELEN C. GUNSAULUS
Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO
1924
IN i 1924 • • •
Field Museum of Natural History
Department of Anthropology
Chicago, 1924
Leaflet Number 14
Japanese Temples and Houses
A general idea of the architecture of Japan may
be gained from the study of a group of small prints
called surimono, which hang in Gunsaulus Hall each
year from October to January. The majority of
prints in this exhibition (Series IV) illustrates the ex-
teriors and interiors of dwellings in country and city;
some of the surimono picture inns and tea-houses,
and a few furnish glimpses of temples and shrines.
In the very early days of Japanese history, prior
to the introduction of Buddhism in the sixth century,
houses and temples were built after a common plan;
the word miya was used to designate both the Shinto
shrine and the palace of the ruler. According to Sir
Ernest Satow, the dwellings of the earliest Japanese
sovereigns were modest structures, wooden huts of
rectangular form, with pillars planted firmly in the
ground, and with a floor very close to the earth.
Possibly the floor originally was of mud with a
raised wooden portion built only around the sides of
the hut, and used for the sleeping quarters. The whole
framework of the hut, consisting of posts, beams,
rafters, door-posts, and window-frames, was tied
together with cords made of twisted fibrous stems of
climbing plants. The rafters projected beyond the
ridge-pole and crossed each other, thereby ornament-
ing both ends of the roof which was heavily thatched.
Two logs were laid along the ridge-pole and rested in
the forks formed by the crossed rafters. In order to
hold these logs in place, short logs at equal distances
[93]
2 Field Museum of Natural History
were fastened at right angles to the ridge by twisted
ropes which passed through the thatch and thus se-
cured the roof together. At each end of the gable there
was likely an opening through which the smoke was
allowed to escape. This feature is still a conspicuous
mark in almost every house; one very rarely sees a
chimney in Japan. The walls and doors were at first
made of rough matting and later of planking. The
outlines of these early buildings were all straight;
curves were not introduced until the Nara period
(a.d. 712-784). All of the building materials were
vegetable; tiles and metal trimmings were not em-
ployed until after the introduction of Buddhism.
Shinto worship, being primarily a nature cult,
was doubtless originally celebrated out-of-doors. The
first shrines were derived from the primeval hut and
from an early time were built with an elevation,
raised some feet above the ground, surrounded by a
balcony and reached by a simple staircase. Both
houses and temples were encompassed by fences. The
architecture of pure Shinto may be studied to-day at
Ise, where the main temple buildings are torn down
and reproduced exactly every twenty years, thereby
preserving the ancient form of shrine. Though there
are a few touches indicative of continental influence,
such as metal ornamentation, these buildings are ex-
cellent examples of early types of construction.
Prior to the introduction of Buddhism, Shinto
shrines were always made of unstained cryptomeria
wood; roofs were thatched, or covered with strips of
bark or shingles. Within the yard there was always
to be seen a gate-like structure known as torii ("bird
rest") made of two upright trunks on the tops of
which rested a long straight beam whose ends pro-
jected slightly. Beneath this was another horizontal
beam whose ends did not project. In early days the
[94]
THt LttfiAMl
OF THfc
ttimaumr bf humus
1
Japanese Temples and Houses 3
torii was always made of unpainted wood. It stood
near the temple, and is thought to have been origi-
nally used as a perch for fowls which were offered to
the temple, not as food, but as announcers of the break
of day.
After the ninth century when Buddhism gained
in influence and practically swallowed much of the
Shinto religion, many of the primitive features of
Shinto architecture were transformed into a new
beauty. Torii were then made of stone, copper, or of
wood lacquered red, and many lost their angular out-
line by the substitution of a curved beam on the top in
place of the straight beam of pure Shinto form. Hence-
forward they were placed in the front of a temple and
served as entrance gateways. In a surimono by
Hokkei (Fig. 1) we may study the temple of Benten
at Susaki, built in the late seventeenth century. In
the foreground of the picture is the torii standing
just outside the fence which has a roofed gateway for
an entrance. In earlier days these gateways were
thatched ; some of the latter type may be seen in other
prints in this exhibit. The Buddhists also changed
the severe outline of certain Shinto torii, by adding to
the crossbeams framed tablets ornamented with in-
scriptions. During the revival of Shinto in the nine-
teenth century, most of these Buddhist accretions were
removed. One may be seen on the torii at Ushigozen
shrine, pictured in a print by Hokkei.
It was customary for devotees and petitioners to
erect torii before the entrance to a temple in honor
of the deity who was worshipped therein. The num-
ber of such gifts was unlimited; in many places long
vistas were formed by rows and rows of these votive
offerings. In a long surimono, Hokusai has depicted
the picturesque approach to the temple of Inari, to
whom many torii have been dedicated. In certain of
[96]
4 Field Museum of Natural History
the prints a number of stone lanterns will be noticed ;
these were also a form of votive offering. Many of
them stand outside temples to-day; some are of con-
siderable age, others are recent gifts from devoted
followers.
Buddhism was brought to Japan from China by
way of Korea, and was first introduced in a.d. 552.
In the wake of the new faith, artists, sculptors, and
architects came to the country, bringing with them
the culture and arts of the continent, where Chinese
civilization had reached a very high mark. Only the
bare outlines of Buddhist temples are given in these
small prints. The shrine to Benten at Susaki (Fig. 1)
is one of the more modest of these edifices. This
particular temple, though built in the late seven-
teenth century, will serve to illustrate some of the
distinguishing characteristics of Buddhist architec-
ture. It will be noted that the temple is set upon a
rock foundation and that the lines of the roof are
curved. The walls of the early temples were con-
structed of latticework filled in with plastered clay;
the floors were at first of tile, later of wood ; and the
roofs were covered over with tiles which were gene-
rally ornamented on the ends. Pillars with brackets
supported the curved roof. At first, they were of
simple construction, and were decorated with cloud-
forms; later, the brackets became very complicated in
form. In the first few centuries after Buddhism was
introduced, everything in the temple architecture was
constructional, and ornament was applied only to con-
structional details. From the eleventh century on,
decoration came to be applied more and more.
The period between the twelfth and fourteenth
centuries is characterized by gorgeous decoration on
the inside of temples and palaces. By this time, the
dwellings of rulers had, through the influence of
Japanese Temples and Houses 5
Chinese palace architecture, become very costly and
elaborate structures. The famous Silver and Golden
Pavilions at Kyoto, of which only the latter is stand-
ing, must have been glories of splendor in the days of
their pristine beauty. The Golden Pavilion is square,
of three stories in height, and the roofs have the gentle
sweeping curve of many of the temple roofs. The
whole structure of the second story was covered with
gold leaf, and the first story was profusely orna-
mented with paintings, some of which still remain.
The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw the
beginnings of feudal architecture, and by the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries great strongholds belonging
to the feudal lords were to be found in all parts of
the country, particularly near Yedo (Tokyo), which
was the capital of the shogun. These castles, of which
a few remain, were usually square, of two or more
stories, and built on steep stone foundations. Bar-
racks, in which the retainers lived, surrounded the
central castle. The walls of the lord's dwelling were
covered with plaster or with tiles, windows were
heavily barred, and roofs were usually tiled. The
ends of the roof ridge were capped with copper ter-
minals in the shape of carp or dragons, or with large
tiles on which the owner's crest was blazoned.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, life
became very luxurious among the military classes in
Japan. Ornament was lavished upon everything con-
nected with home and temple. During this period the
temples at Nikko, shrines to the Tokugawa shoguns,
were built. One has only to glance at the tapestry
hanging on the north wall in Gunsaulus Hall to ap-
preciate the complicated structure of these shrines
which illustrate the extreme degree to which temple
architecture had developed in the seventeenth century.
There one may see the graceful, sweeping curves of
[97]
6 Field Museum of Natural History
the tiled roofs, the elaborate use of gold and red lac-
quer in the gateways and cloisters, the complicated
bracketing of the supports, the intricate openwork de-
signs chiselled in gateways and in the friezes of the
temples, and the carvings and paintings which adorn
the horizontal beams, the eaves and ceilings. This
temple, built under Buddhist influence, is a far cry
from the simple Shinto shrine of pure unstained wood,
with thatched roof. In order to appreciate the more
compelling beauty of the early Buddhist structures
one should study the series of plates published by the
Shimbi Shoin of Tokyo, under the title "Japanese
Temples and Their Art Treasures." This book may
be found in the Museum Library.
While temple architecture was developing new
characteristics, the common style of dwelling was also
passing through various changes. It is important to
note, however, that very little of the Chinese influence
is registered in the houses of the middle class.
Through all the centuries their dwellings were made
of wood, as were the Japanese temples. Stone was
only occasionally employed for the feudal mansions.
Storehouses, called kura, are sometimes of stone, but
usually are frame structures made strong and fire-
proof by an extremely thick coating of plaster. These
buildings generally stand quite detached from the
dwellings to which they belong.
To-day, in many houses in the larger cities, there
are evidences of European civilization, such as electric
light, plumbing, heating, and so forth. While adding
to the comfort of living, these appliances in almost
every case are found to be inharmonious with the
simplicity and charm of the purely native dwelling.
The descriptions which follow apply to houses seen
to-day in the interior, and deal with dwellings pictured
in this collection of prints, all of which antedate 1860.
[98]
THE LIBRARY
OF THE
UWEtiitt iPftJLWOB
$cr»^
Japanese Temples and Houses 7
The Japanese house gives the impression of being
a flimsy, insecure structure, for it practically consists
of several wooden beams, upright and horizontal, one
or two wooden walls, and three or more sliding walls,
which are covered with paper and which may be set
up or removed at pleasure. Many houses have
thatched roofs ; the majority of city houses have roofs
which are tiled. Through the recent disaster of the
earthquake and fire in September, 1923, the outside
world has been brought to realize that the Japanese
people have had to evolve a house structure which will
best respond to violent disturbance. They, therefore,
build their houses of light materials and place the
supporting beams on hollowed-out rocks which have
been driven into the ground. Thereon the house may
be free to sway with the earthquake tremors and not
offer the violent resistance which would result from a
structure built on a fixed stone foundation. While
the roof of tile is one precaution against fire, the
inevitable companion of earthquake, it is often the
cause of much damage, through its great weight, at
the time of violent disturbance when buildings sway,
fall, and are shattered. In case of fire alone, tiles may
be quickly removed from the roofs of adjoining build-
ings, board ceilings may be hastily packed up, and
screen partitions, mats, and furniture carried off,
thereby leaving only the skeleton framework as food
for the flames.
It may be recalled that the early Japanese hut had
its upright beams driven into the ground. These
wooden supports undoubtedly rotted and crumbled
within a few years after setting up. The stones on
which the house beams of to-day rest serve not only as
sockets in which the supports may oscillate, but also
are protective shields against the damp surrounding
earth. The typical house is of one story, built of
unpainted wood, and is of the simple construction
[99]
8 Field Museum of Natural History
outlined above — upright beams which run from the
ground to the transverse beams and inclines of the
roof. Whereas the beams and roof of the early hut
were tied together with ropes of vegetable fibre, the
framing of to-day's house is secured either by short
strips which are let in to appropriate notches in the
upright, or by longer strips of wood which pass
through mortises in the uprights, and are firmly
keyed or pinned in place. A Japanese house is a
marvel of joinery and presents a rigid unit against
lateral and diagonal shocks of earthquake and a solid
resistance against the strains of lifting winds.
The small inn at Kanazawa pictured by Hokkei
(Fig. 2) is built on the general plan of a private dwell-
ing. The house is elevated about a foot and a half
above the ground and reached by a simple step, in this
case constructed out of stone blocks; other prints in
this exhibition show steps made of wood or of stones
in their natural form. It will be noted that the space
beneath the building is open, unprotected from the
winds which would sweep beneath it. Larger houses
and inns, such as the row of two-storied buildings at
Shinegawa (Fig. 3), have this space boarded up or
latticed. This additional framework helps to secure
the uprights.
Across the front of most of the houses, and partly
surrounding them, is a veranda which is protected by
overhanging eaves and which serves as the threshold
to the living-room in the majority of dwellings. Here
all sandals or clogs are slipped off and left before
entering the house. At night and in stormy weather,
heavy wooden sliding doors called amado are slipped
into grooves which run along the edge of the veranda.
These protect the passage and also shelter from the
rain the shoji or movable walls which enclose at least
two sides of the dwelling.
[100]
Japanese Temples and Houses 9
Shdji are semi-transparent, sliding screens made
of a light framework entirely or partially covered with
thin paper through which the light and sun niters.
In cool bright weather, they serve as the outside walls,
when the amado are removed and stored in a closet for
the day. In summer, shdji are often entirely removed,
and a large part of the house is thrown open to the
fresh air and sunshine. Since much of the necessary
lighting comes from the large shdji, windows are not
essentially practical in their form, but are often purely
ornamental. All sorts of shapes have been used for
these openings called mado. Their enclosures like-
wise run in grooves, are paper-covered, and called
shdji. Many charming designs for windows may be
studied in Edward S. Morse's book "Japanese Homes,"
a work of extreme value both on account of its detailed
subject-matter and its numerous illustrations.
While the street front of a house may be plain and
sombre, the back, where the best rooms are located, is
usually made beautiful and inviting by a garden which
is often a miniature landscape with evergreens, small
brook, foot-bridge, rocks of picturesque forms, and a
stone lantern. Many of these garden accompaniments
are pictured in these small prints; several stone
lanterns of different shapes may be singled out.
Fences are also of interesting and odd forms;
three rather common ones are here illustrated," one is
of bamboo, another of brushwood, and a third of reeds
or rushes bound together in bundles. (See bamboo
and brushwood fence in Department of Botany,
Hall 27.) A peculiar form of fence, pictured several
times, is that known as "sleeve-fence" (sodegaki).
This is usually four or five feet long, strictly orna-
mental and always built out from the side of the
house or from a permanent wall. It often serves as a
screen for concealing the entrance to the toilet-room
[101]
10 Field Museum of Natural History
which is built at one end of the veranda. Nearby in
the garden will be found the chodzu-bachi, a recep-
tacle used for holding water to pour over and wash
the hands. There are many attractive types of
chodzu-bachi, some are of bronze, others are made of
stone or of pottery. The simpler form is a wooden
bucket and a dipper suspended from the eaves by a
bamboo stick. The one in Fig. 7, at the right of the
picture, is a tall cylinder of stone with a depression
in the top ; a small dipper is resting upon it.
For many centuries the Japanese have been
devoted to the drinking of tea. In many of the older
gardens there are small tea-rooms, buildings quite dis-
tinct from the popular rustic summer-house wherein
these nature-loving people like to retire to admire a
pleasing view or listen to the singing insects at dusk.
The tea-room became a very important adjunct to
the Japanese house in the fifteenth century when tea-
drinking developed into an elaborate ceremony with
certain rules of procedure rigidly outlined. The cere-
mony goes by the name of cha-no-yu. Tea drinking
was at first enjoyed only by the priests, and was
especially practised by followers of the Zen sect of
Buddhism, who spent much of their time in the quiet
contemplation of nature. The priests undoubtedly
held their early meetings in the temple groves. The
keynote of the tea-ceremony has always been the love
of nature and simplicity. When the custom was gene-
rally adopted, tea-rooms were built adjoining the
private dwellings. They were of a severe style, with
rough plaster walls, plain white paper on the shoji,
and with woodwork generally left in its natural rugged
state. The entrance was made low, so that it was
necessary for one entering to prostrate himself and
crawl in on his hands and knees in the attitude of
[102]
Japanese Temples and Houses 11
humility. Within, the plan was similar to the guest-
room of the house, which will be described in the
following pages.
The street entrance to a house is pictured in
another surimono by Hokkei (Fig. 4). At the right
is a shed-like structure used for storing household
supplies such as bales of rice. A servant holding a
paper lantern stoops in front of two women and
adjusts the shoes as they step down from the veranda.
At the extreme right, one may see two little jars of
bottle-form standing on a shelf. This is the kamidana
or "god-shelf," whereon is placed a miniature shrine
of unstained cypress wood, of Shinto form, containing
written charms and wooden tablets bearing the names
of different Shinto deities. Before the shrine there is
usually placed a small pottery lamp with a wick float-
ing in rape-seed oil, a pair of vases containing sprays
of the sacred sakaki (Cleryera japonica), and two
bottle-shaped jars holding wine for the gods. The
ancestral tablets are worshipped in another room of
the house, or are placed in the miniature Buddhist
shrine which is of more elaborate form.
In the centre of the picture (Fig. 4) one may see
a hanging curtain slashed into three panels and deco-
rated along the bottom with a swastika border. Such
curtains are often used at shop entrances or at kitchen
doors or to screen closet-like recesses within the house.
In pictures of noblemen's dwellings there are often to
be seen hanging curtains suspended from a lacquered
stand that consists of a square base supporting two
upright rods upon which is fashioned a long trans-
verse bar. On the west wall Keisai has pictured such
a curtain in a courtier's home.
As one enters a house, he notices many forms of
screens used as protections and as partitions. When
[103]
12 Field Museum of Natural History
the outside walls are removed in warm weather, bam-
boo curtains, many of them with delicate designs
traced upon them, are hung up just within the lintel
of the room, affording shade and free passage of air.
It is customary to place across the space opposite the
entrance, a standing screen of one leaf, usually of
wood, with a solid frame supported by two transverse
feet. These single-leafed screens are called tsui-tate.
Three appear in this selection of pictures; two are
ornamented with pictorial designs, the other (at right
in Fig. 5) is decorated with caligraphy. Screens of
two panels known as furosaki bydbu ("screen to pro-
tect the fire-vessel") are low affairs sometimes folding
and sometimes in the rigid form of two wooden panels
set at right angles. Large folding screens (bydbu) are
of two, four, or six panels, and are often of great value,
especially when covered with paintings by one of the
great masters. Some of the rarest of these screens
come in pairs, the designs of which are complementary
one to the other. A folding screen ornamented by an
unknown artist of the Tosa school is installed in
Gunsaulus Hall.
Most of the partitions in a Japanese house are
movable, and are in the form of sliding screens which
run in grooves above and below. The upper grooves
are set in the lintel or beam which is at a height of
six feet from the floor and which runs the full length
of the room. There is naturally a space left between
this beam and the ceiling; it is either closed by a
plastered partition or filled in with two or more orna-
mental panels of woodwork known as ramma. Upon
these fields many beautiful designs are carved in open-
work or in low relief, or one may see examples of light
trellis-work done in bamboo filling in this open space.
The partition screens are called fusuma and,
unlike the outside movable walls or shoji whose slight
[104]
Japanese Temples and Houses 13
framework is covered with paper which is translucent,
these screens are covered on both sides with thick
paper, and give the appearance of solid walls. In less
pretentious houses they are undecorated, except by
an ornamental quality of paper. In other dwellings
and especially in homes belonging to the nobility, these
sliding panels bear upon them paintings of extreme
beauty and value. Some of them represent a long
panorama which stretches across the whole length of
the room.
When light is required in an inner room, a shoji
panel is often substituted for the central fusuma panel.
In summer, light reed screens sometimes replace the
fusuma. These are known as yoshido from the name
of a slender rush (yoshi) of which they are made.
Through this close grating the air and some light may
enter. Partitions of yoshido are set up in a room
pictured in a long surimono by Hokusai. On one side
of the screens a dancer performs in a room lighted
by candles, on the other side, half-hidden from view,
one may distinguish the audience and the musicians.
Partitions are often entirely removed, thereby throw-
ing all rooms together into one large hall.
The size of a Japanese room is never reckoned in
feet, but rather by the number of mats, for all floor
spaces, bounded by the grooves for the sliding parti-
tions, are covered over with heavy mats (tatami) of a
uniform size, three by six feet. These are made of sev-
eral thicknesses of straw, matted and sewed together
with string, and bound on the edges with a strip of
black cloth. When laid on the floor, they are so placed
that the corners of four mats never come together;
the corners of two mats abut against a third. The
common sizes for rooms are six and eight mats. All
rooms are rectangular with the exception of the guest-
room, in which there is an alcove with two bays. One
[106]
14 Field Museum of Natural History
of these is a clear recess with a slightly raised floor;
it is called the tokonoma. The other consists of a small
closet with sliding doors usually built in connection
with a shelf of two levels, which is known as "different
shelf" (chigaidana) . The tokonoma is clearly visible
in Fig. 5, at the back on the right side. Within it stands
a bronze vase holding a flower-arrangement. On the
wall at the back is a hanging picture (kakemono) deco-
rated with writing ; fine caligraphy is as much admired
in Japan as is skillful painting.
The word tokonoma literally means "bed-place."
Some authorities trace the origin of this raised recess
to the ancient raised sleeping place, others describe
it as the place of honor awaiting the not impossible
visit of the emperor. Some, particularly Captain
Brinkley, tell us that the tokonoma was an adoption
from the Zen monasteries, wherein the tea-ceremony
mentioned above was first practised. In the monastery
alcoves, there might have been hung a sacred picture ;
or there probably stood a Buddhist statue which served
to abstract the thought of the monk, as he sat before
it in contemplation. The house tokonoma to-day serves
as the platform, whereon is placed a rare treasure of
art. Only one object and one painting or series of
paintings are shown at a time; and these latter are
changed with the seasons. The rest of the household
treasures are kept either in the closet connected with
the chigaidana, or in the fireproof storehouse built
near the dwelling.
Restraint and simplicity are notable features
throughout the Japanese house. All of the woodwork
is left unstained, the grains, the colors, and natural
textures are greatly admired. What we might con-
sider blemishes, such as knots and twists, are marks
of beauty to Japanese. Particular care is evidenced
in choosing the wood for the post (toko-bashira)
[106]
Z 3
CJ <
C >■
CC CD
2 _•
O uj
O K
the umm
OF THE
^nefULiois
Japanese Temples and Houses 15
which heads the partition between the tokonoma and
the chigaidana. In Fig. 5 a rough bark-covered pillar
may be seen in the centre of the picture, immediately
behind the central figure. Several characteristic
forms of toko-bashira are on exhibition in the Depart-
ment of Botany in Hall 27. The gnarled and rugged
trunks which are there displayed are among the most
desirable types.
There is a marked lack of furniture. No chairs
are seen, since it is the custom of the country to sit
on the floor on one's heels. Cushions and mats are
sometimes used as seats. There is no such thing as a
bedstead, for the Japanese also sleep on the floor,
lying on and under thick quilted comforters called
futon. No sheets are used, and it is a simple matter
to fold up the futon and store them away in a cup-
board and relieve the room of any appearance of a
sleeping chamber. Pillows are of various forms.
Before the reformation in 1868, when many men wore
their hair long and arranged in a stiff, elaborate
fashion, they, as well as women, when sleeping sup-
ported their necks upon the wooden pillow of box-form
(makura) , which is capped by a cushion covered over
with a folded sheet of crepe paper. Occasionally one
finds in these wooden pillow-bases a small drawer
wherein a folding lantern, matches, or toilet articles
could be stored. Some pillows used in former times
were of porcelain. To-day the majority of men rest
with their heads upon a small hard pillow of bolster
form. A surimono by Kuniyasu, hanging on the west
wall, pictures a bed made of several futon with the
pillows of box-form lacquered black.
Low tables are used as writing-desks, and are of
various styles. Plain, unstained wood, red and gold
lacquer, and wood with pearl inlay are all represented
as materials employed in the construction of writing-
[107]
16 Field Museum of Xatceal History
tables pictured in these prints. In Fig. 6 a poet sits
within the writing space near an open shoji y which
half discloses a garden at the back of the house. On
the low table are some books and an ink-stone upon
which the cake of ink is rubbed after being slightly
moistened. The man holds in one hand a writing-
brush; in the other, a long strip of decorated paper
called tamzakm, a form used for the inditing of short
poems.
There is usually no distinct dining-room in a
Japanese house. Food is brought into the guest-room
on individual tables or trays which are set down on
the floor before the guests. It may be unnecessary to
mention the charming bowls and cups of porcelain
and lacquer in which the food is served; however, a
dose scrutiny of these prints reveals a variety of dishes
which are worth studying.
Flower-pots of diverse forms and sizes are also
well represented in this collection. Many of them are
of blue and white porcelain (Fig. 7) ; others are of
pottery glazed in soft shades of blue, gray, or brown,
and some are of bronze with ornamentation embossed
or inlaid. Every home, however modest, has a potted
plant on the window-sill, porch, or floor, and its flower-
arrangement in the tokonoma. like a knowledge of
the tea-ceremony, the art of flower-arrangement is
thought to be a necessary accomplishment for the cul-
tured person. Flowers are very carefully placed so as
to represent the three entities of heaven, man, and
earth. They are never crowded haphazard into a con-
tainer, but are studied and grouped so as to give the
effect of a growing plant. Tubes of bamboo and rough
pottery partially glazed are often preferred as vases
on account of their rugged simplicity which contrasts
with the exquisite beauty of a living blossom.
Japanese Temples and Houses 17
The Japanese are very fond of picnic parties, and
for such occasions use special cabinets known as bento-
bake. Two made of gold lacquer are pictured on the
north wall. Bento-bake are fitted with food boxes,
deep and shallow trays, which fit one on top of another,
and with wine bottles generally made of porcelain
or silver.
One print by Gakutei illustrates an antique form
of book-cart, a box-like contrivance fitted with wheels
and called fuguruma. A companion picture shows a
young lady seated within an enclosure of golden
screens, holding in her hand a lacquered box used for
the despatching of letters; such boxes are known as
fubako.
Two more pieces of furniture may be studied in
Fig. 7. One is a low chest of drawers, a sort of bureau
(tansu) made of lacquer and used for holding toilet-
articles such as combs, hair-ornaments, rouge for the
lips, and paint for whitening the face. The other is
a lacquer stand of easel-form, on which is set a metal
mirror partially covered with a silken cloth. A mir-
ror-stand is often combined with the chest of drawers,
being smaller than the one illustrated and set into the
top of the bureau.
In addition to the kakemono displayed in the
tokonoma, one often sees a decorative panel, called
"post hide" (Jiashira kakushi), hung on one of the
upright beams which comes in the middle of a parti-
tion between two corners of a room. The best of these
panels are of dark cedar decorated on both sides,
which are exposed alternately as fancy directs. In
Fig. 5 at the left there is a wooden calendar hung on
a post. This panel is divided longitudinally, and the
long and short months are listed in two columns.
Heating arrangements in native houses are very
simple. An open fireplace with a chimney is entirely
[109]
18 Field Museum of Natural History
foreign to the Japanese home. In place of this one
finds either a fireplace (furo) sunk in the floor in the
tea-room and kitchen, or a portable brazier called
hibachi. In each of these there is a bed of fine ashes
in which a few pieces of burning charcoal glow.
Hibachi are of many forms. The simplest and most
common are wooden boxes, either copper lined or
containing an earthen vessel for the fire-pot. Some
hibachi are objects of great beauty, displaying the art
of the metal-worker, the potter, and the lacquerer.
Three types of braziers are illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.
In the first picture the large one in the centre is of
bronze. Behind it a woman sits holding in her right
hand the tongs used for stirring the coals. A man
seated at the left is being entertained by a girl who
plays a tune upon a row of differently sized cups. He
rests his hand upon a large earthen brazier which has
a cover upon it. Nearby is another brazier, tall and
cylindrical, used for the heating of the water pot; a
fan with which to blow the coals lies on the floor. In
many of the prints one may study a special form of
small brazier which goes by the name of tabako-bon,
because it is a convenience used for smokers of tobacco.
It consists of a box, either plain or lacquered, with
or without handle, and fitted with two receptacles, —
an earthen vessel for hot coals and a bamboo tube or
segment used as a hand cuspidor. Some of the tabako-
bon here illustrated are fine examples of the lacquerer's
art, and one is fitted with receptacles of silver.
In severe weather the family crowds around a
sunken hearth or fireplace covered with a latticed
frame (kotatsu), over which a quilt can be thrown.
Beneath this cover several people can conveniently
slip their knees and heat the lower part of their bodies.
Robes are warmed in much the same way, as may be
seen in Fig. 8, where a kimono lies upon a bamboo
[no]
og
Q Z
LU HI
s o
z *
Hi 3
m <
*tv;
z =
< I
I- </>
z to
<
O
THE IBM!
Japanese Temples and Houses 19
rack beneath which burns a small fire. In the back-
ground a sash hangs over a screen of the form called
iko, used especially as a rack on which to hang clothes.
Stone garden lanterns and stone temple lanterns
have already been mentioned. Street lights were for-
merly somewhat similar to the temple lanterns or
consisted of a wooden post to which a folding paper
lantern was held in a fixed position by a tight string
and protected from the rain by a small curving roof.
Before the introduction of kerosene and electricity, all
house lighting was effected by the use of candles and
vegetable-oil or wax lamps. Candles in Japan are not
fitted into sockets, but are fixed on prickets, and hence
are made hollow in the centre. The wick is a roll of
paper similar to a paper taper. Candlesticks are of
many forms and materials. Iron, brass, pottery, por-
celain, and lacquered wood, all are used in the making
of them. Tall standing sticks with plate-like bases are
illustrated in certain long prints in this exhibition.
Another type appears in prints by Shinsai and
Hokusai. It is of metal, has three small legs and a
long handle, and is fitted with an hexagonal shade
covered with paper. Such lamps are convenient for
carrying or for resting on the floor. A common form
of lamp is the andon. It is a square frame of wood
with open top, the sides of which are covered with
paper. One side is in the form of a movable lid, or
two sides are hinged so as to form doors. Within this
frame a small triangular shelf is fastened, on which
is set the small pottery lamp with wax and wick. The
paper-covered frame is raised and secured to two
uprights which are fixed in a square base with a small
drawer convenient for extra wicks and saucers of oil.
The picturesque custom of carrying a lantern when
going out at night has fortunately not entirely disap-
peared. For this purpose the paper lantern, either of
[ml
20 Field Museum of Natural History
the folding or the stiff variety, is used. These
travelling lanterns are almost always decorated with
the crest of a family or the name of an inn or some
quaint attractive design. Several appear in these
prints, the one in Fig. 4 being a typical form.
Helen C. Gunsaulus.
[112]
uNivERsrrr of illmok-urbana
3 0112 055386194
