Recreational research into Feudal Japan
Why Fireflies Sing
Fireflies Sing is intended for my ramblings on my research into various aspects of pre-Edo Japanese culture, poetry, language, and art. It is my hope that this will help others in the Society for Creative Anachronism who hail from these parts and also inform and entertain others with relevant interests or curiosity.
You may wonder why this blog is called Fireflies Sing. The name comes from a story told about Hosokawa Yūsai, a buke (samurai-class) poet recognized as an authority on waka (Japanese poems) during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1603).(WAC:119) At one point, he was participating in a renga session hosted by Jōha, called the last master of renga. (Renga is a linked verse form in which poets take turns composing stanzas.) One of the participants, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, ended a stanza describing an autumn mountain scene with “naku hotaru”, which translates to “fireflies sing”. Another participant objected that fireflies make no noise, and Jōha immediately agreed. Yūsai, however, quoted from an ancient poem: “hotaru yori hoka naku mushi wa nashi” (“there are no insects singing other than fireflies”). Presented with such evidence from such a figure, Jōha had no choice but to concede the point, and the renga session continued smoothly. Yūsai later told Jōha privately that he had made up the “ancient poem”, but that keeping the gathering in a poetic mindset was more appropriate than putting truth above all else.
While I’m not going to fabricate sources to appease critics here, I do tend towards an imaginative mindset when doing research. Plus, it’s a fun story.
~Kihō
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Resource: the Rijksmuseum
June 30, 2016 - 5:00 pm
Tags: Azuchi-Momoyama period, Edo period, fabric, helmets
Posted in Mon, Crafts | 2 comments
I recently discovered that the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch national museum, has their collection searchable online with freely-usable images. They’ve got some cool stuff. Here are some highlights, focused on Japanese heraldry. <img src="http://fireflies.xavid.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-30-at-13.48 traitement viagra naturel.50-300×114.png” alt=”Screen Shot 2016-06-30 at 13.48.50″ width=”300″ height=”114″ class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-594″ srcset=”http://fireflies.xavid.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-30-at-13.48.50-300×114.png 300w, http://fireflies.xavid.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-30-at-13.48.50-768×293.png 768w, http://fireflies.xavid.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-30-at-13.48.50-1024×390.png 1024w, http://fireflies.xavid.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-30-at-13.48.50.png 1506w” sizes=”(max-width: […]
Primary Source: Kenmon Shokamon
June 5, 2014 - 12:29 am
Tags: Azuchi-Momoyama period, Edo period, Kenmon Shokamon, Muromachi period, Sengoku period, plover, provincial
Posted in Mon | No comments
O-umajirushi is great for an idea of what mon were like in the Momoyama period, but what were they like before that? There are few earlier sources for mon other than depictions of battle scenes and similar. One that I have found, however, is Kenmon Shokamon (見聞諸家紋), which translates to “Various Observed Family Crests”. It’ss […]
Link: A Roll of Japanese Armory
June 12, 2011 - 10:57 pm
Tags: Azuchi-Momoyama period, Sekigahara, Solveig
Posted in Mon | No comments
Just found an article that’s apparently been up for a while on the Academy of Saint Gabriel where the illustrious Solveig Throndardottir discusses family crests: A Roll of Japanese Armory. It’s short, but it features several pages of mon from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which is handy for those seeking a wider selection […]
Element of the Week: Carriage Wheel
August 1, 2010 - 1:04 pm
Tags: Azuchi-Momoyama period, Buddhism, Genji, Heian period, Sakakibara Yasumasa, samurai
Posted in Mon | No comments
Today we talk about the carriage wheel motif. This design is associated with The Tale of Genji, a Heian-period classic of Japanese literature, and it’s popularity as a motif dates to the latter part of Heian period (794–1185).(Dower:130) It may have also developed some religious associations due to its similarity to the Buddhist wheel of […]
Names and Variation
April 5, 2010 - 12:40 am
Tags: Azuchi-Momoyama period, Edo period, Inaba, bellflowers, circles, enclosures, kanji, squares
Posted in Mon | 5 comments
Unlike English heraldry, which had an ornate system for describing heraldic devices that became divorced from the normal language, Japanese mon are named using simple phrases using reasonably standard Japanese for the time.1 The mon is named as its primary element, possibly prefixed with modifiers indicating its count, enclosure, style, or other characteristics. In some […]
Paralyze
January 15, 2010 - 5:22 pm
Tags: Hideyoshi, Paralyze, fireflies, waka
Posted in Poetry, Toys | 6 comments
I’ve been a bit busy with mysterious activities this weekend, so I thought I’d give you a quick glimpse of a new project I’ve been working on: Paralyze. It presents the translation of a text alongside the original and shows you how they relate by letting you mouse over a bit of text and highlighting […]