The Japan Expedition, 1852-1854; the personal journal of Commodore Matthew C. Perry

Derek Wessman Blog

 https://www.derekwessman.com/

Genki-kun

 

Japan Country Drive

Maigomika

 

Martin Show - A Black Man in Japan

 

Retiring in Japan

 

Sengoku Daimyo

https://sengokudaimyo.com/





Welcome to SengokuDaimyo.com—a webpage started by the late Anthony J. Bryant as the central linking point to shops and various projects, mostly related to medieval Japan. It is now maintained and updated in his memory by his friends and students so that it remains available to everyone with an in interest in Japanese history.

While much of the information in these pages is strictly historical or primarily historical in nature, some also pertain to re-enacting medieval Japan in the Society for Creative Anachronism, where Tony was an active member, and well respected by the Japanese history community.

For anyone interested in viewing the original site, it has been maintained in an Archive on the site.

So, as Tony did, we invite you to visit these various sites and we hope you will find them useful and enjoyable. The sites on the Links pages are those that we have found informative and entertaining. We hope you shall also find them so.

In a Japanese Garden (1892)

Tokyo Llama

A guide-book for tourists in Japan 1906

Japanese property site

 https://bukkenfan.jp/e/

Tokyo Jazz Joints

Livestream sunrise from the Japanese countryside

Tsukumogami (付喪神)

Tsukumogami (付喪神) is the collective name given to a type of yōkai (Japanese spirits or monsters) which are haunted household objects. It’s a Shinto belief that everything has a spirit, so in Japanese folklore it’s possible for inanimate objects to become sentient. The transformation occurs on their one-hundredth birthday, as only after serving people for a century can objects gain souls. If the object has been mistreated in that century, it becomes vengeful and causes havoc for its current owner. So if you buy second-hand things, beware! If their previous owner was unkind, unfortunately you’re the one they’ll unleash their wrath on. Tsukumogami’s powers range from mildly irritating to murderous, and they are known for teaming up to maximise their scare factor. They also like to wander the streets at night to meet others of their kind.


目目連 Mokumokuren (watchful paper screens)

Japanese-style houses feature room dividers called shōji, which are paper screens. If there are holes in the shōji, it is believed that ghostly eyes can fill them and watch the residents of the house. These are called mokumokuren, and although harmless they are very creepy. Mokumokuren literally translates as ‘many eyes.’ They are one of the staple inhabitants of any haunted Japanese house. Thankfully it’s easy to get rid of them; all you have to do is repair the holes.Mokumokuren by Toriyama Sekien. Image in the public domain – source

化け草履 Bakezōri (sandal ghosts)

If you hear noises in the night, then it’s most likely a pair of bakezōri. Traditional Japanese sandals, called zōri, are a type of flip flop made from rice straw. If they are old and mistreated, they are likely to grow arms, legs, and one eye to transform into bakezōri. These tsukumogami enjoy running around in the dark and causing mischief. They also repeat this chant: Kararin! Kororin! Kankororin! Managu mittsu ni ha ninmai!

Managu mittsu ni ha ninmai translates as ‘three eyes and two teeth.’ Zōri have three holes where their straps are attached, so ‘three eyes’ perhaps refers to these. ‘Two teeth’ makes a little less sense, unless they are geta sandals which have two wooden blocks on their soles. The other words are nonsensical.

茂林寺の釜 Morinji-no-Okama (haunted tea kettle)

Iron tea kettles are used in Japan to heat water on stoves to make tea. The Morinji-no-kama is a tea kettle with a spirit trapped inside. A well-known Japanese folktale called ‘Bunbuku Chagama’ is about a tanuki (Japanese raccoon) which transforms into a tea kettle.Bunbuku Chagama – source

やまおろし Yamaoroshi (porcupine possessed grater)

Sticking with the theme of kitchen appliances which transform into animals, this one is my favourite. Purely because it’s so bizarre. The name yamaoroshi is a pun of sorts – yamaarashi is the Japanese word for porcupine, and oroshi is the word for grater (as in cheese or vegetable grater). Put them together, you get a yamaoroshi. A porcupine grater. Apparently, when a grater becomes dull and can no longer be used, its slicers transform into spines and it grows legs.

I’m confused as to why this tsukumogami even exists, because I’m pretty sure that there’s no cheese in Japan which is actually big enough to grate… I once bought what I thought was a tub of cream cheese, but when I opened the box it was actually individually-wrapped chunks about the size of my thumbnail. You can barely even spread that, let alone grate it! It was a sad day. Also, the rule is that a household object has to be 100 years old to become a tsukumogami. Who keeps a grater for over 100 years?! That would be some random family heirloom. I can just imagine it on the Antiques Roadshow, ‘yes, here’s my century-old grater. Careful, it could turn into a porcupine at any moment!’Yama Oroshi by Toriyama Sekien. Image in the public domain – source

一反木綿 Ittan-Momen (flying roll of cotton)

If you’re a dressmaker, beware of this one! Ittan-Momen is a long sheet of cloth used to make clothes, which flies around at night and attacks people by wrapping itself around them. Sometimes it smothers them, if it goes for the face. This malicious tsukumogami is most commonly found in Kagoshima Prefecture.Me riding an Ittan-Momen in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture. Much smoother than the shinkansen! Image my own.

提灯お化け Chōchin-Obake (haunted paper lantern)

Chōchin lanterns are the iconic paper or silk lanterns with bamboo frames which are a common sight in Japan. Because of their fragility, when they get old they are likely to split. These splits form eyes and a wide mouth with a long tongue hanging out of it. Chōchin can also become inhabited by vengeful spirits. If such a chōchin is lit, the spirit will be released and attack the lighter.

傘おばけ Kasa-Obake (umbrella ghost)

If neglected, old umbrellas will become kasa-obake. There are one of the most commonly-known yōkai, but strangely there are no stories about them. They only exist in folklore and images. It is thought they were created by oral storytellers in the Edo period, when there was a demand for new folklore characters. Kasa-obake are closed umbrellas with one eye, and they jump around using the handle as a leg.
暮露暮露団 Boroboroton (murderous futon)

Futons are Japanese bedrolls. If they are not well cared for, then they may turn into a Borobororton. When the owner is asleep, the Borobororton wraps itself around them and strangles them in revenge for its mistreatment. It then stumbles around the house and strangles any other sleepers it finds. One of the first things I did when I moved into my Japanese apartment was air the old futons!

Negoro-ji in Autumn

Sessho-seki 殺生石,

In 1000 B.C. in China, the Emperor of the Yin Dynasty’s wife, the queen, was the embodiment of an evil fox. She tricked him into misruling his people, and as a result his government was overthrown. Then the fox moved to India, and became the first wife of the prince. She tempted him into beheading thousands of people. But one of his retainers unmasked her and she disappeared at once. In 753, the evil fox took the form of a young girl and sneaked onto a ship of Japanese envoys heading from Tang to Japan. The ship was the same one that high-ranking Priest Ganjin was on board.

After she landed in Japan, she waited quietly for 360 years. And then, she became an abandoned cute little baby and waited for someone to find her, help her, and raise her. And that happened soon. She grew up to become a woman with beauty, wit, and charm. When she was 18, she started to serve at the Imperial Court in ancient Kyoto and publicly identified herself as “Tamamo-no-Mae”. She approached Emperor Toba and gained his favor. He fell in love with her. After that, the Emperor suffered from sickness and his condition became worse and worse. No one could find out why the Emperor was suddenly sick. But a diviner, Abe Yasunari, eventually discovered her true nature and exposed her (the fox’s) plot to ruin the nation. They fought terribly hard and finally the fox showed her tails—she had nine—and escaped from Kyoto.

After some time, the rumor went around that the same nine-tailed fox was abducting young women and girls in the Nasu district. Upon hearing this, the Imperial Court sent an 80,000-strong army to Nasu. The fox put up a vicious fight, but the army finally cornered the fox in a dead-end alley. Then, one of the soldiers shot an arrow at the fox. The fox changed into the form of a giant rock and emitted strong poison. Any people and animals that went close to the rock were killed by its toxic gas. Soon no birds, no insects and no plants could live there.

Many priests tried to appease her anger but it had no effect on the poison. At last, Priest Genoh decided to fight with the rock. He purified his body and soul with a hot spring bath before the battle. Then he started to chant a special sutra and continued it fervently. In the end, Tamamo-no-Mae appeared out of a string of white smoke. And she gradually disappeared, and the rock broke into three parts. Two of them flew away and one of them stayed there. It still eliminates some toxic gas; even its power was weakened.

Tokyo 2010

Hakodate Live Camera

Mapping Early Modern Japan as a Multi-State System

 https://www.geocurrents.info/geopolitics/mapping-early-modern-japan-as-a-multi-state-system

https://dtl.macmillan.yale.edu/digital-atlas-tokugawa-japan