is a curtain used in setting up a military encampment commonly seen from the pre-modern era in Japan. The jinmaku were also historically known as a , or "military curtain".

Origin

Jinmaku literally means "camp curtain". In the Japanese the word is formed from two

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

. The first, , means " military camp" and the second, means " curtain".

Early use

In ancient Japan jinmaku were tied to poles and stretched around field encampments to form a defensive barrier. References to its use as early in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

(710–794) are found in the

Konjaku Monogatarishū , also known as the , is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period (794–1185). The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which 28 remain today. The volumes cover various tales fr ...

, a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

(794–1185). Soldiers in the Konjaku Monogatarishū slept in an area surrounded by jinmaku to provide protection while sleeping. Jinmaku were typically constructed of

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

cloth. Illustrations on the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

in the Zenkunen kassen emaki depict the appearance of

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

'' emblems on jinmaku in the 13th century. The style and construction of jinmaku were standardized in the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

(1336–1573).

Edo period

The Honchō Gunki Kō (''Thoughts on Japanese Military Equipment''), a military manual written in 1709 by Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725), lays out standard measurements for jinmaku. Arai, an advisor to the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ienobu (June 11, 1662 – November 12, 1712) was the sixth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Tsunashige, thus making him the nephew of Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the grandson of Tokugawa Iemi ...

, recorded that a jinmaku should be tall and wide. The number of , or poles for hanging the jinmaku, was set at 10 for a ''taisho'' officer and 8 for other

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, tethers only in white, black, or blue, and ''mon'' clan emblems placed in between three, five, or seven places. In the Edo period military science became popular among

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

and gave religious meaning to jinmaku as a sacred item.

Modern use

Jinmaku are used in

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

and theaters, especially for open-air performances. Traditionally the jinmaku is thought to have the power to drive evil away from the stage.

References

External links

Jinmaku can be constructed for recreational or historical reenactment using modern materials. The following sites include basic directions.
The Shogun Tent Guide

Nihon Zatsuroku: An Online Japanese Miscellany
{{Japanese architectural elements Architecture in Japan Partitions in traditional Japanese architecture Portable furniture