This top depicts a samurai attendant. During the Edo Period (1600-1868), daimyō (military lords) were required to travel to the capital of Edo (modern day Tokyo) on alternating years to reside there. Travel across the country took place in long processions of the daimyō and their retainers and servants. These processions were a point of pride for each individual province and local ruler, and could include as many as several thousand men. At the forefront of these processions were bannermen, who carried spears or flags, and called out for commoners to clear a path for the daimyō’s party to move through the road. Here, Hiroi-sensei has made a top of one of these bannermen.
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Hiroi Michiaki: And this is a samurai attendant. In the past, there were daimyō (military lord) processions; there was a practice called sankin kōtai [in which daimyō travelled on alternating years to do a year-long residence in Edo [Tokyo]]. For example the processions even went all the way from Sendai to Edo. And after some years they’d turn around and come back. At that time, the person in the very front of the line, the attendant, carried a spear, and while calling out something out loud he’d walk like this. [This top] shows this. The attendant on the road. At the very front of the daimyō procession.
This work depicts a daruma. A daruma is a traditional Japanese doll whose figure is based on the Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. Daruma are often depicted in this roundish shape because of a legend that the Bodhidharma stared at a wall in intense meditation for nine years, until both his arms and legs fell off. Daruma are traditionally depicted in red, but can appear in various colors with different meanings. They are considered good luck figures.
This top depicts Momotarō, sometimes translated as “The Peach Boy,” or “Peach Tarō,” a legendary figure originating in the Edo period (1600-1868). In many versions of the Momotarō legend, Momotarō is a boy who came to Earth inside a giant peach who is discovered by an elderly couple who then raise him. He later leaves his home to fight a band of demons on a distant island, meeting a talking dog, a monkey, and a pheasant on the way who joint him in his quest. Most versions of the legend end with Momotarō defeating the demons, taking their treasure and their chief captive, and then returning home to live happily ever after with his parents.
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Hiroi Michiaki: And this is, did this one have two faces? He’s facing backwards, and there’s another [face] in the front. This is Momotarō on the back, too. And he’s carrying dango (dumplings). Ahh, there it is, there it is. He’s carrying dango, Momotarō, too. And this is the back of the oni. I think the front is in here somewhere, too. This the reverse side of Momotarō.
This top depicts Momotarō, sometimes translated as “The Peach Boy,” or “Peach Tarō,” a legendary figure originating in the Edo period (1600-1868). In many versions of the Momotarō legend, Momotarō is a boy who came to Earth inside a giant peach who is discovered by an elderly couple who then raise him. He later leaves his home to fight a band of demons on a distant island, meeting a talking dog, a monkey, and a pheasant on the way who joint him in his quest. Most versions of the legend end with Momotarō defeating the demons, taking their treasure and their chief captive, and then returning home to live happily ever after with his parents.
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Hiroi Michiaki: And this is, did this one have two faces? He’s facing backwards, and there’s another [face] in the front. This is Momotarō on the back, too. And he’s carrying dango (dumplings). Ahh, there it is, there it is. He’s carrying dango, Momotarō, too. And this is the back of the oni. I think the front is in here somewhere, too. This the reverse side of Momotarō.
This top depicts a rabbit dressed as a clown beating a drum. It is called “rabbit antics” because of the whimsical image of a rabbit pretending to be a clown. Hiroi-sensei made it in honor of the year of the rabbit.
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Hiroi Michiaki: This is called “rabbit antics.” I made it in the year of the rabbit, so I made it a rabbit. The hands move in this kind of way. The hands are moving back and forth. When you spin this. Though really what the “rabbit antics” are is the rabbit is dressed as a clown.
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