. Gunma Folk Toys

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Gunma Folk Art - 群馬県
(Gumma)

The capital is Maebashi 前橋市.
former province of Kozuke　こうずけ【上野】Koozuke.
Kami-kenu 毛野（けの/けぬ）and Shimo-kenu 下毛野　were referred to as Jomo (Joomoo 上毛).


under construction
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Gunma is Silk Country !

Tomioka Silk Mill　富岡製糸場
This is the symbol of "Silk Country" Gunma. It was the first model factory in Japan built by the Meiji government in 1872 to modernize raw silk production.
... And in June 2014, Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites were added to World Heritage List.
- source : visitgunma.jp/en -

Motohiko Katori 楫取素彦　(1829 - 1912)
governor of Gunma Prefecture, promoting the silk production of the prefecture.

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Azuma region 吾妻地方


mini noogu ミニ農具 miniature farmer's tools

They were put on the family altar during the New Year celebrations around January 15, to express the feeling of greatfullness of the farmers and pray for a good harvest in the coming year.
They were made of bamboo and straw, usually by each family in their own way.

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. Joomoo Karuta 上毛かるた Jomo Card Game

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Kiryu　桐生

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kiryu ori 桐生織　woven textiles



Thin fibers spun together form thread. It is then separated into woof (horizontal) and warp (vertical) strands, which when woven together on a loom become fabric. The weaving technique employed to produce Kiryu Ori (Kiryu textiles) has been designated a Traditional Industrial Art.

While textiles are commonly used to make kimonos or western style clothing, they can also be used in a variety of ways for interior decorating.
There are various methods for weaving, however, the basic techniques are plain weave, twill weave, satin weave, and gauze weave.
Plain weave is characteristic of such fabrics as pongee (silk having a knotty textile), crepe, shirt fabrics, handkerchief material, etc. Having the same texture on both sides, this fabric is very strong.

Twill weave fabrics are characteristically used for brocade obi (kimono sashes), gold brocade, cotton denim, wool fabrics, and other close-weave fabrics which are strong but soft.

Satin weave fabrics are characterized by satin and other high luster, glossy textiles.
Gauze weave fabrics are characterized by various types of sheer, light silk gauzes and other various Jacquard weaves and layer-woven textiles.
..... Kiryu's fiber industry is a traditional local industry.
..... From the Edo Period, merchants from Sakai, Kyo, Omi, Nagoya, Edo and other cities came to Kiryu contributing to the development of the city as a textile center. Artisans from Kanto, Tohoku, Koshinetsu, Noto and other districts were attracted to Kiryu by its developing industry, further contributing to the formation of Kiryu's local culture.

Kiryu Sayaichi Silk Market
It is not known exactly when textiles first began to be produced in Kiryu. However, there is evidence that in the year 714 of the Christian era silk was woven in Kozuke no Kuni (present day Gunma Prefecture) and sent to the Imperial Court.

In the year 905 a silk tax was levied on the area (in most areas the tax took the form of a rice tax instead). It is, therefore, possible to affirm that silk was manufactured locally from antiquity. Between 1384 and 1392 there is mention in various records of locally produced silk, known as Nittayama Silk, which was transported to other parts of the country.

Before this time it is said that the soldiers of the local Lord, Yoshisada Nitta, while carrying banners made from Nittayama Silk, conquered the Kamakura Shogunate in a battle at Ikushina Forest, an event of great significance.

From the end of the Onin War (1467 - 1477) there ensued a time of change during which the silk industry underwent a decline. Around 1600, however, it resurged and when in October of that year Lord Tokugawa stood to fight Lord Ishida at Sekigahara, his soldiers carried silk banners produced in Kiryu into the battle. It is said that on one day some 2,410 silk banners were brought to the grounds of Tenmangu Shrine to be blessed before they were carried into battle.

After this time, during the Kanbun-Enpo Period (1661-1680) many people began to work in factories and came to Kiryu from Kyoto, Osaka, Edo and other distant areas. As a result of the steady growth in the silk industry, the Silk Market was opened in Kiryu in February, 1738. In that same year, mechanized looms began to be employed and new types of textiles were produced.

As for the silk market, it is difficult to express in words the great prosperity it met with. Even today people remember the booming days of Kiryu's silk market.

With continued success year after year, Kiryu began to produce silk of increasingly high quality and the city grew in fame. Given this background, it is not hard to understand why the local people long for the days of the prosperous silk industry and are eager to preserve for posterity the events of those times. The commemorative illustration of the Kiryu Sayaichi (Silk Market) is an attempt to show graphically the circumstances of that period.

The Kiryu Sayaichi Silk Market illustration was painted in Meiji 27 (1894) by Toko Oh-Ide, a Nanga painter from Kiryu, and the essay above which accompanies the painting is by Haruhiko Kojima, the Mayor of Kiryu at the time who was also a poet.

- Manufacturing Process
1. OMESHI ORI (figured silk crepe)
2. YOKO NISHIKI ORI (horizontally woven brocade)
3. TATE NISHIKI ORI (vertically woven brocade)
4. FUTSU ORI (airy weave)
5. UKITATE ORI (raised pattern weave)
6. TATEKASURIMON ORI (vertically splash-pattern weave)
7. MOJIRI ORI
This layered fabric is woven on a Jacquard loom using pre-dyed yarn.
..... Kiryu Chiami Gaito archeological site.
..... A traditional industrial art is a technique or method which was in use prior to or during the Edo Period, and which continues to be in use as a technique or method for the production of local craft items.

- Read the details here:
- source : kiea.jp/KiryuOr -


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Numata town 沼田市

Widely known as Kashozan, temple Miroku-ji 弥勒寺



Kashoozan no tengu men 迦葉山の天狗面
Tengu mask from mount Kashozan

sanshoo tengu 山椒天狗
tengu from wood of the mountain pepper
Taken from the legend from temple Miroku-Ji talks about a mountain ascetic who became a tengu goblin. One woodcarver made this image from the mountain pepper wood.


sansei 山精 mountain spirit
juunisama 十二様

Details:
. Kashozan, a Tengu mountain 天狗 .


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Sooja 総社 - (near Maebashi)

. hikimono 挽き物 things made on a wheel .
toys, chopstick rests and more

. kendama ケン玉 cup and ball .

. Daruma otoshi だるま落し hitting Daruma .

kindai kokeshi 近代こけし modern kokeshi wooden dolls
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
- with a yearly contest for new Kokeshi 群馬近代こけしコンクール

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Takasaki town 高崎 - the Daruma Town

. Takasaki Daruma 高崎だるま .
and the Daruma temple Shorin-Zan 少林山


Toyooka no zazen Daruma 豊岡の座禅だるま Daruma meditating Zazen
Toyo-Oka hariko 豊岡張子

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. hakuroku daruma 白鹿だるま white deer Daruma .
A papermachee doll and a cookie !
「高崎だるま　真下輝永」

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. Takasaki hariko　高崎張子 more papermachee dolls .



... ebisukoo no hariko えびす講の張り子 papermachee Ebisu
... maneki neko 招き猫 beckoning cat

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mushikiri shishigashira 虫切り獅子頭 lion head "to cut away insects"
from shrine Yamana Hachimangu 山名八幡宮

Used for a dance to ward off insects (mushi fuuji) .
They are made from light paper and children can wear them.

For children, there are also some "mushi" connected with illness like the

kan no mushi 疳の虫 / 癇 insect of nervousness, short-temperedness
nakimushi 泣き虫 insect of crying too much
hara no mushi 腹の虫 insect causing diarrhea

Parents with children who suffered these ailments would get such a lion head and place it in the child's room.

. medicine for kan no mushi 疳の虫 .



. mushikiri dorei 虫切り土鈴 clay bell .
from Yamanashi
shrine Kanazakura Jinja 金櫻神社 in Kofu


More clay bells with MUSHI insects :
source : yamatonodorei


Migawari Monkey
. san-shi no mushi 三尸の虫 Sanshi no Mushi
The Three Worms in Taoism and Chinese Mecicine

. Mushifuji Inu 虫封じ犬　Dog to ward off the three mushi .

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. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

はつ雪が降とや腹の虫が鳴
hatsuyuki ga furu to ya hara no mushi ga naku

noises in my stomach
tell me it's about to start --
winter's first snow
Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the tenth month (November) of 1810, when Issa was traveling around in the area just east of the city of Edo, now called Tokyo. He is fascinated by the way his body can tell beforehand that snow will soon fall. This happened to Issa more than once, because in 1824 he wrote:

hara no mushi naru zo yo yuki wa asu atari

hey, my stomach
is making noises --
snow tomorrow

Perhaps Issa is experiencing what in Japanese is called yuki-bara (雪腹 snow stomach). This refers to one's stomach and intestines becoming chilled and painful even before snow begins to fall as well as while it is falling. Hara can refer to the stomach alone but often means the whole abdominal area, and, by extension, guts, courage, spirit, and mind as a form of visceral feeling.

I follow the reading of the hokku by Maruyama Kazuhiko in Shintei Issa haiku-shuu 137.
- - - - - Chris Drake


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. Reference and Photos . Gangu Guide . .
- reference : Yama no Ie . Folk Toys -
- reference : 群馬県　玩具　 -

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. WASHOKU . Regional Dishes from Gunma

MORE
. Gunma Folk Toys - this BLOG .


. Japan after the BIG earthquake March 11, 2011


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