Tsukumogami
Understood by many Western scholars[1] as a type of Japanese yōkai,[2] the Tsukumogami (付喪神 “Kami of tool”; ) was a concept popular in Japanese folklore as far back as the tenth century,[3] used in the spread of Shingon Buddhism.[4] Today, the term is generally understood to be applied to virtually any object, “that has reached their 100th birthday and thus become alive and self-aware,”[citation needed] though this definition is not without its controversy.[5][6][7]
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Tsukumogami in Japanese Folklore [edit]
According to Elison and Bardwell (1987), Tsukumogami was the name of an animated tea caddy that Matsunaga Hisahide used to bargain a peace with Oda Nobunaga[8]
Like many concepts in Japanese folklore there are several layers of definition used when discussing Tsukumogami.[9] For example, by the tenth century, the Tsukumogami myths were used in helping to spread the “doctrines of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism to a variety of audiences, ranging from the educated to the relatively unsophisticated, by capitalizing upon pre-existing spiritual beliefs in Tsukumogami.”[10] These “pre-existing spiritual beliefs” were, as Reider explains:
- Tsukumogami are animate household objects. An otogizōshi (“companion tale”) titled Tsukumogami ki (“Record of tool kami”; Muromachi period) explains that after a service life of nearly one hundred years, utsuwamono or kibutsu (containers, tools, and instruments) receive souls. While many references are made to this work as a major source for the definition of tsukumogami, insufficient attention has been paid to the actual text of Tsukumogami ki.[11]
By the twentieth century the Tsukumogami had entered into Japanese popular culture to such an extent that the Buddhist teachings had been “completely lost to most outsiders,”[12] leaving critics to comment that, by and large, the Tsukumogami were harmless[citation needed] and at most tended to play occasional pranks[citation needed], they did have the capacity for anger and would band together to take revenge upon those who were wasteful or threw them away thoughtlessly – compare mottainai[citation needed]. To prevent this, to this day some jinja ceremonies[citation needed] are performed to console broken and unusable items.[citation needed]
Known Tsukumogami [edit]
- Abumi-guchi - A furry creature formed from the stirrup of a mounted military commander that works for Yama Orochi.
- Bakezōri - A possessed pair of straw zori sandals.
- Biwabokuboku - An animated Biwa.
- Boroboro-ton - A possessed comforter.
- Chōchinobake - An animated lantern, also known as Burabura.
- Ichiren-bozu - Animated prayer beads.
- Ittan-momen - A roll of cotton.
- Jotai - Possessed cloths draped from folding screens.
- Kameosa - A possessed sake jar.
- Kasa-obake - An animated umbrella. Also known as Hone Karakasa
- Kosode-no-te - A possessed kimono robe.
- Kurayarō - Animated saddle
- Kyōrinrin - Possessed scrolls or papers.
- Minowaraji- An animated Mino straw coat
- Morinji-no-okama - A possessed tea kettle. Another variation is Zenfushō
- Shamichoro - An animated shamisen
- Shirōneri - Possessed mosquito nettings or dust clothes.
- Shōgorō - An animated gong
- Ungaikyo - A possessed mirror.
- Yamaoroshi - A possessed grater.
- Zorigami - A possessed clock.
Difficulty in Finding a Definition [edit]
Because the term has been applied to several different concepts in Japanese folklore, there remains some confusion as to what the term actually means.[13][14]
For example, literally, Tsukumogami is translated as “old woman hair,” [15] though other scholars have defined it as “pasqueflower”[16] as well. This comes from a tenth-century poem:
Momotose ni/ Hitotose taranu/ Tsukumogami/ Ware wo kourashi/ Omokage ni miyu.[17]
References [edit]
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Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (May 2012) |
- ^ Motokiyo, 195
- ^ Classiques de l'Orient, 193.
- ^ Reider, 207.
- ^ ibid.
- ^ Classiques de l'Orient, 194
- ^ Foster, 7
- ^ Motokiyo, 195
- ^ Elison and Bardwell, 213
- ^ Classiques de l'Orient, 194
- ^ Reider, 207-08.
- ^ Reider, 207
- ^ Guo, 324.
- ^ Classiques de l'Orient, 194
- ^ Motokiyo, 195
- ^ Hadamitzky, 339
- ^ Matisoff, 256.
- ^ Translation by McCullough: The lady with thinning hair —/ But a year short/ Of a hundred —/ Must be longing for me,/ For I seem to see her face. page 110.
Classiques de l'Orient: Volume 5. (1921)
Elison, George and Bardwell L. Smith. Warlords, artists, & commoners: Japan in the sixteenth century. University of Hawaii Press. (1987)
Foster, Michael Dylan. Pandemonium and parade: Japanese monsters and the culture of yōkai. University of California Press. (2009)
Guo, Leilani. Baka Histoire: le détournement de la mythologie japonaise dans les films, comices et nasties vidéo. Article taken from “Gaijin Culture.” Solange, Marie and Takehiko Kyo (eds). Kagoshima: Nishinoomote News Press (1984)
Hadamitzky, Wolfgang and Mark Spahn. The Kanji Dictionary: Find Any Compound Using Any of Its Component Characters. Tuttle Publishing. (2000)
Matisoff, Susan. The legend of Semimaru, blind musician of Japan. (2006)
McCullough, Helen Craig. Tales of Ise: lyrical episodes from tenth-century Japan: Volume 1. Stanford University Press. (1968)
Motokiyo, Kwanze. Cinq nô: drames lyriques japonais. Bossard. (1921)
Reider, Noriko T. Animating Objects: Tsukumogami ki and the Medieval Illustration of Shingon Truth. Asian Folklore Studies 64. (2005): 207–31.
Suggested Reading [edit]
Kabat, Adam. “Mono” no obake: Kinsei no tsukumogami sekai. IS 84 (2000): 10–14.
Kakehi, Mariko. Tsukumogami emaki no shohon ni tsuite. Hakubutsukan dayori 15 (1989): 5–7.
Keene, Donald. Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Henry Holt & Co. (1993)
Kyoto Daigaku Fuzoku Toshokan. Tsukumogami http://edb.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit/tsuroll /indexA.html and http://edb.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit/tsuroll/indexB.html
Lillehoj, Elizabeth. Transfiguration : Man-made Objects as Demons in Japanese Scrolls. Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 54 (1995): 7–34.
National Geographic. National Geographic Essential Visual History of World Mythology. National Geographic Society (U.S.) (2008)
Shibata, Hōsei. Tsukumogami kaidai. In Kyoto Daigaku-zō Muromachi monogatari, ed. Kyoto Daigaku Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitsu, vol. 10, 392–400. Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten. (2001)
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