An is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects, suspended from the (sash) worn around the waist when wearing a
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 Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
. They are often highly decorated with various materials such as
lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...
and various techniques such as , and are more decorative than other
Japanese lacquerware
is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in ''urushi-e'', woodblock printing in Japan, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddhist art, Buddha statues to ''bento'' boxes for food.
...
.
Because traditional Japanese dress lacked pockets, objects were often carried by hanging them from the in containers known as (a hanging object attached to a sash). Most were created for specialized contents, such as tobacco, pipes, writing brush and ink, but the type known as is suitable for carrying small things, and was created in the
Sengoku period
The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
(1467–1615) as a portable
identity seal and medicine container for travel.
In the middle of the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
(1603–1868), became popular as men's accessories, and wealthy merchants of the and
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
classes collected often beautifully decorated with lacquer. As the technique developed from the late Edo period to the
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
(1868–1912) and the artistic value of increased, were no longer used as an accessory and came to be regarded as an art object for collection.
[Masayuki Murata. ''明治工芸入門'' pp. 104–106. Me no Me, 2017 ][Yūji Yamashita. ''明治の細密工芸'' pp. 79–81. Heibonsha, 2014 ]
The term is a combination of the
kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, 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 and are ...
for , which means a
seal or stamp, and the kanji for , which means a basket.
Description
Consisting of a stack of tiny, nested boxes, were most commonly used to carry medicine. The stack of boxes is held together by a cord that is laced through cord runners down one side, under the bottom, and up the opposite side. The ends of the cord are secured to a , a kind of toggle that is passed between the sash and pants and then hooked over the top of the sash to suspend the . An bead is provided on the cords between the and to hold the boxes together. This bead is slid down the two suspension cords to the top of the to hold the stack together while the is worn, and slid up to the when the boxes need to be unstacked to access their contents.
are mostly made from paper, wood, metal, or ivory, with the most common material being paper. Paper are made by winding and hardening many layers of paper with lacquer; paper was a popular material for as unlike wood, it would not distort and crack over time.
are commonly decorated with lacquered designs, with the expensively produced featuring , , ivory inlay and metal foiling. Though and evolved out of a mostly decorative capacity, retained their functionality, having evolved from strictly utilitarian articles into objects of high art and immense craftsmanship.
For a period of time in the Edo period, was also used as a symbol of power. Today, among
sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...
referees (), only of the higher ranks are allowed to equip .
Today, many are collected in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
,
the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
. Because were popular among foreign collectors, there were few of the highest quality made from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period in Japan, but Masayuki Murata actively collected them from the 21st century, and today the
Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, which he manages, houses many of the highest quality .
Today, are made by a few craftsmen. The best lacquer technique from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period, especially the technique, was almost lost in the westernization of Japanese lifestyle. However, in 1985 lacquer craftsman set up his own studio and succeeded in recreating them. His lacquer works are collected in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and are an object of collection for the world's wealthy.
[超絶の伝統工芸技術の復元から 世界ブランド構築へのマーケティングヒストリー](_blank)
Web Dentsu. September 5, 2016雲龍庵とは何者ぞ！細部に宿る漆工の美 超絶技巧の全貌 雲龍庵と希龍舎.
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. September 21, 2017 Nowadays, are rarely worn as kimono accessories, but there are collectors all over the world.
Gallery
File:Inrō with Design of Cranes Standing Beneath a Gnarled Pine Tree and Netsuke Depicting Yoshitsune and Benkei.jpg, with a design of cranes standing beneath a gnarled pine tree and depicting Minamoto no Yoshitsune
was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...
and Benkei, Edo period, 18th century
File:印籠-Inro with Fox's Wedding.jpg, with fox's wedding (). Edo period, late 18th–early 19th century
File:原羊遊斎作・酒井抱一下絵 梅木蒔絵印籠-Inrō with Design of Blossoming Plum Tree MET DP259977.jpg, with design of blossoming plums, by Hara Yōyūsai and Sakai Hōitsu, Edo period, early 19th century
File:七夕蒔絵印籠-Inrō with Tanabata Story of the Weaver and the Herdboy MET DP223709.jpg, with story of the weaver and the herdboy, by Nomura Kyūkoku, Edo period, early 19th century
File:古満安匡作 孔雀蒔絵印籠-Inrō with Peacocks and Flowers MET DP281397.jpg, with peacocks and flowers, by Koma Yasutada, Edo period, 19th century
File:梶川文竜斎作, 宝船蒔絵印籠 - Inrō with Treasure Boat.jpg, with treasure boat (), by Kajikawa Bunryūsai, Edo period, 19th century
File:印籠-Inro with Design of Eulalia Grass and Deer.jpg, with design of eulalia grass and deer, with eagle , Edo period, 19th century
File:印籠-Inro with Design of Two Hawks on Tasseled Perches.jpg, with design of two hawks on tasseled perches, Edo period, 19th century
File:Inro Somada school.jpg, , design of minute patterns in mother-of-pearl inlay, Somada school, Edo period, 19th century
File:MET DP253247.jpg, by Shibata Zeshin, Meiji period, 19th century
File:印籠-Inro. Grasses.jpg, with the rice ears, by Yamada Joka, 19th century
File:印籠-Inro. Twelve calendrical animals in a landscape.jpg, . Twelve calendrical animals in a landscape, 19th century
See also
* Sporran (Scottish)
References
* Bushell, Raymond "The Handbook", Weatherhill, 2002.
* "Legend in Japanese Art" by Henri L. Joly; 1908/1967; Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland VT;
External links
Netsuke: masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains many examples of
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inro
Fashion accessories
Japanese lacquerware
Japanese words and phrases
Japanese woodwork
Nested containers
Medicine storage containers
Japanese clothing