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Biwa-bokuboku
The Biwa-bokuboku ( ja, 琵琶牧々; meaning "Biwa goblin") is a fictitious being from Japanese folklore. It belongs to a group of yokai and is said to have an ambivalent character. Description The Biwa-bokuboku is described as an anthropomorphic being with the head of a traditional biwa. He is also said to wear precious kimono. The Biwa-bokuboku comes to life at night and sits calmly in a tatami room, singing and plinking while lamenting the neglect of his former owner. Other stories report of Biwa-bokuboku dancing through inhabited houses while making much noise.Sekien Toriyama, Mamoru Takada, Atsunobu Inada u.a.: 画図百鬼夜行, Kokusho Kankōkai, Tōkyō 1992, , p. 295.Katsumi Tada: 幻想世界の住人たち. 4, 日本編. Shinkigensha, Tokyo 1990, , p. 303.Masaharu Takemura: ろくろ首考:妖怪の生物学. Bungei-sha, Tokyo 2002, , p. 89-91. Background The Biwa-bokuboku was modeled after the ''biwa'' (), a short-necked, wooden lute. Toriyama Sekien reports ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsukumogami
In Japanese folklore, ''tsukumogami'' (付喪神 or つくも神, lit. "tool ''kami''") are tools that have acquired a kami or spirit. According to an annotated version of ''The Tales of Ise'' titled ''Ise Monogatari Shō'', there is a theory originally from the ''Onmyōki'' (陰陽記) that foxes and tanuki, among other beings, that have lived for at least a hundred years and changed forms are considered ''tsukumogami''. In modern times, the term can also be written 九十九神 (literally ninety-nine ''kami''), to emphasize the agedness. According to Komatsu Kazuhiko, the idea of a ''tsukumogami'' or a ''yōkai'' of tools spread mostly in the Japanese Middle Ages and declined in more recent generations. Komatsu infers that despite the depictions in Bakumatsu period ukiyo-e art leading to a resurfacing of the idea, these were all produced in an era cut off from any actual belief in the idea of ''tsukumogami''. Because the term has been applied to several different concepts in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and conte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals. Etymology Anthropomorphism and anthropomorphization derive from the verb form ''anthropomorphize'', itself derived from the Greek ''ánthrōpos'' (, "human") and ''morphē'' (, "form"). It is first attested in 1753, originally in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the Christian God.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "anthropomorphism, ''n.''" Oxford University P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyers' wigs or military officers' spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word ''tradition'' itself derives from the Latin ''tradere'' literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways. The phrase "according to tradition", or "by tradition", usually means that whatever information follows is known only by oral tradition, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710–794). Typically to in length, the instrument is constructed of a water drop-shaped body with a short neck, typically with four (though sometimes five) strings. In Japan, the is generally played with a instead of the fingers, and is often used to play . One of the 's most famous uses is for reciting ''The Tale of the'' , a war chronicle from the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In previous centuries, the predominant musicians would have been , who used the as musical accompaniment when reading scriptural texts. The 's Chinese predecessor was the (), which arrived in Japan in two forms; following its introduction to Japan, varieties of the quadrupled. Guilds supporting players, particularly the , helped prol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono is traditionally worn with a broad sash, called an , and is commonly worn with accessories such as zōri sandals and socks. Kimono have a set method of construction and are typically made from a long, narrow bolt of cloth known as a , though Western-style fabric bolts are also sometimes used. There are different types of kimono for men, women, and children, varying based on the occasion, the season, the wearer's age, and – less commonly in the modern day – the wearer's marital status. Despite the kimono's reputation as a formal and difficult-to-wear garment, there are types of kimono suitable for both formal and informal occasions. The way a person wears their kimono is known as . Though previously been the most common Japanese garm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for training in a dojo and for competition. Tatami are covered with a weft-faced weave of (common rush), on a warp of hemp or weaker cotton. There are four warps per weft shed, two at each end (or sometimes two per shed, one at each end, to cut costs). The (core) is traditionally made from sewn-together rice straw, but contemporary tatami sometimes have compressed wood chip boards or extruded polystyrene foam in their cores, instead or as well. The long sides are usually with brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging. History The term ''tatami'' is derived from the verb , meaning 'to fold' or 'to pile'. This indicates that the early tatami were thin and could be folded up when not used or piled in layers.Kodansha Encyclope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can refer to an instrument from the family of European lutes. The term also refers generally to any string instrument having the strings running in a plane parallel to the sound table (in the Hornbostel–Sachs system). The strings are attached to pegs or posts at the end of the neck, which have some type of turning mechanism to enable the player to tighten the tension on the string or loosen the tension before playing (which respectively raise or lower the pitch of a string), so that each string is tuned to a specific pitch (or note). The lute is plucked or strummed with one hand while the other hand "frets" (presses down) the strings on the neck's fingerboard. By pressing the strings on different places of the fingerboard, the player can sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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