https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/A...4&pub_date=20200812090000&seq_num=16&si=44594
Traditional Japanese glass wind chimes help beat the summer heat
Craft meant to ward off evil now seen as spiritual tool to fight coronavirus
The lovely round handmade glass bodies of furin are all slightly different. Their sounds are light, linger gently and are all unique.
ICHIRO OZAWA, Nikkei staff writer and AKIYOSHI INOUE, Nikkei staff photographerAugust 11, 2020 14:42 JST
Glass wind chimes hung under the eaves of houses have been adding a touch of color and offering a refreshing feeling with sounds created by gentle breezes in Japan's humid summer for centuries. Furin, or wind chimes, were traditionally used as a device "to ward off evil" but have been drawing renewed attention recently in hopes they can help hasten the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese glass wind chimes trace their roots back to the Edo period (1603-1867), a time before Japan embarked on a program of national modernization on Western lines. The traditional techniques have been passed on to generations of craftsmen, overcoming numerous hardships along the way, and are very much alive today in modern designs.
"The notable feature of the glass made in the Edo period is that it is so thin it looks extremely fragile and the beauty comes from its simplicity without any showy embellishment," said Yoshimi Hayashi, a curator at the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo known for its possession of one of the best glass collections in Japan. "How glass was made in those days has been preserved in the Edo Furin glass wind chime."
Shinohara Furin Honpo, a Japanese wind chime maker based in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward, has continued to use the glass blowing technique that began in the Edo period. Meanwhile, it has made changes to production processes previously done separately by various outside artisans.
Now, everything including painting, assembly and sales operations is handled in-house, elevating the wind chimes to a status as artistic handcrafts. Before World War II, there were about 10 wind chime makers in Tokyo, but now only two, including a sister shop, remains.
Yoshiharu Shinohara, the second-generation successor to the Shinohara Furin business, now 95, named its wind chimes "Edo Furin" sometime around 1965 as a way to cherish and pass on the essence of the Edo era. At its studio, a skilled craftsman with beads of sweat on his face creates glass blobs one after another in a furnace heated to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
Viscous molten glass glows in a bright orange color in a crucible inside the furnace chamber. The craftsman then spools it at the end of a long, thin glass tube and blows in puffs of air without using a mold. The technique is called chubuki, or free-blowing. The sequence of the work flows naturally and it takes only a minute or two per piece.
A simple glass blowing technique called chubuki, which means free-blowing, has continued since the Edo period and gives furin their shape of natural roundness.
"I hope customers enjoy the cool and soft sounds distinctive of glass wind chimes while obtaining a sense of what it was like 100 or 200 years ago," said Emi Shinohara, a Shinohara Furin representative and the wife of the third-generation successor. The finished products feature simple paintings and their lovely round handmade bodies each vary slightly. Edo Furin make light sounds that delicately linger, with none sounding the same. The part of the glass that produces sound is made purposely with a slightly jagged edge, a traditional technique that enables the glass wind chime to create complex sounds swinging in the wind.
The roots of furin can be found in a tool used to keep evil at bay, according to Kiyoko Motegi, professor emeritus at the Joetsu University of Education, who is familiar with Japanese music and musical instruments.
What Motegi is referring to is an iron wind chime called futaku in temples in ancient India. Futaku are hung under the four corners of temple eaves and the sounds they make when blown by the breeze are believed to stave off evil. Another theory is that furin are derived from senputaku, used in China for fortune-telling. The sound it makes when hanging from a tree branch determines a good or bad fortune. The most common view is that furin were first introduced to Japan along in the form of futaku along with Buddhism. They are also found in the main hall and five-storied pagoda of Horyuji temple. built in Nara around 607, the world's oldest wooden buildings and a World Heritage site.
Futaku, in which furin have their origin, can be seen at Zojoji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo.
As was the case with futaku in temples, Furin were initially mostly made of iron. In the Heian period (794-1185) and the Kamakura period (1192-1333), aristocrats would hang them under the eaves facing their porch to ward off evil. Furin made of glass first appeared in the Edo period. And in the Meiji period (1868-1912), Peddlers carrying furin on their shoulders walked around the towns, making them widely popular and a seasonal tradition of summer for the general public. "The transparent appearance of the glass gives a sense of coolness and also the sounds of furin that are close to the sounds of nature and symbolic of the wind blowing must have struck a chord with the Japanese people's senses," said Motegi.
In recent years, furin festivals have been held in various places around the country as the wind chimes look refreshing and photograph well. Unfortunately, though, this summer many such events have had to be changed or called off due to the spread of the coronavirus, including one at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine in Saitama Prefecture where more than 2,000 Edo Furin swung in the breeze last year.
An artisan paints a picture on an Edo Furin from the inside to maintain a brilliant shine and for a feel of texture on the glass surface. The image being painted is of Yokai Amabie, traditionally believed to ward off plagues.
The most popular Edo Furin design used to be one completely painted in red, the color known for keeping evil away. More recently, in addition to paintings of gold fish, fireworks and good luck charms such as pine trees and the Treasure Ship bearing the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, modern designs have been added, including an elaborate cityscape and mother-of-pearl inlay work. And the image of Yokai Amabie, an auspicious supernatural being from Japanese folklore believed to help ward off plagues, is making a stunning comeback this year in Japan amid the pandemic and is also being depicted on furin.
Traditional Japanese glass wind chimes help beat the summer heat
Craft meant to ward off evil now seen as spiritual tool to fight coronavirus
The lovely round handmade glass bodies of furin are all slightly different. Their sounds are light, linger gently and are all unique.
ICHIRO OZAWA, Nikkei staff writer and AKIYOSHI INOUE, Nikkei staff photographerAugust 11, 2020 14:42 JST
Glass wind chimes hung under the eaves of houses have been adding a touch of color and offering a refreshing feeling with sounds created by gentle breezes in Japan's humid summer for centuries. Furin, or wind chimes, were traditionally used as a device "to ward off evil" but have been drawing renewed attention recently in hopes they can help hasten the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese glass wind chimes trace their roots back to the Edo period (1603-1867), a time before Japan embarked on a program of national modernization on Western lines. The traditional techniques have been passed on to generations of craftsmen, overcoming numerous hardships along the way, and are very much alive today in modern designs.
"The notable feature of the glass made in the Edo period is that it is so thin it looks extremely fragile and the beauty comes from its simplicity without any showy embellishment," said Yoshimi Hayashi, a curator at the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo known for its possession of one of the best glass collections in Japan. "How glass was made in those days has been preserved in the Edo Furin glass wind chime."
Shinohara Furin Honpo, a Japanese wind chime maker based in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward, has continued to use the glass blowing technique that began in the Edo period. Meanwhile, it has made changes to production processes previously done separately by various outside artisans.
Now, everything including painting, assembly and sales operations is handled in-house, elevating the wind chimes to a status as artistic handcrafts. Before World War II, there were about 10 wind chime makers in Tokyo, but now only two, including a sister shop, remains.
Yoshiharu Shinohara, the second-generation successor to the Shinohara Furin business, now 95, named its wind chimes "Edo Furin" sometime around 1965 as a way to cherish and pass on the essence of the Edo era. At its studio, a skilled craftsman with beads of sweat on his face creates glass blobs one after another in a furnace heated to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
Viscous molten glass glows in a bright orange color in a crucible inside the furnace chamber. The craftsman then spools it at the end of a long, thin glass tube and blows in puffs of air without using a mold. The technique is called chubuki, or free-blowing. The sequence of the work flows naturally and it takes only a minute or two per piece.
A simple glass blowing technique called chubuki, which means free-blowing, has continued since the Edo period and gives furin their shape of natural roundness.
"I hope customers enjoy the cool and soft sounds distinctive of glass wind chimes while obtaining a sense of what it was like 100 or 200 years ago," said Emi Shinohara, a Shinohara Furin representative and the wife of the third-generation successor. The finished products feature simple paintings and their lovely round handmade bodies each vary slightly. Edo Furin make light sounds that delicately linger, with none sounding the same. The part of the glass that produces sound is made purposely with a slightly jagged edge, a traditional technique that enables the glass wind chime to create complex sounds swinging in the wind.
The roots of furin can be found in a tool used to keep evil at bay, according to Kiyoko Motegi, professor emeritus at the Joetsu University of Education, who is familiar with Japanese music and musical instruments.
What Motegi is referring to is an iron wind chime called futaku in temples in ancient India. Futaku are hung under the four corners of temple eaves and the sounds they make when blown by the breeze are believed to stave off evil. Another theory is that furin are derived from senputaku, used in China for fortune-telling. The sound it makes when hanging from a tree branch determines a good or bad fortune. The most common view is that furin were first introduced to Japan along in the form of futaku along with Buddhism. They are also found in the main hall and five-storied pagoda of Horyuji temple. built in Nara around 607, the world's oldest wooden buildings and a World Heritage site.
Futaku, in which furin have their origin, can be seen at Zojoji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo.
As was the case with futaku in temples, Furin were initially mostly made of iron. In the Heian period (794-1185) and the Kamakura period (1192-1333), aristocrats would hang them under the eaves facing their porch to ward off evil. Furin made of glass first appeared in the Edo period. And in the Meiji period (1868-1912), Peddlers carrying furin on their shoulders walked around the towns, making them widely popular and a seasonal tradition of summer for the general public. "The transparent appearance of the glass gives a sense of coolness and also the sounds of furin that are close to the sounds of nature and symbolic of the wind blowing must have struck a chord with the Japanese people's senses," said Motegi.
In recent years, furin festivals have been held in various places around the country as the wind chimes look refreshing and photograph well. Unfortunately, though, this summer many such events have had to be changed or called off due to the spread of the coronavirus, including one at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine in Saitama Prefecture where more than 2,000 Edo Furin swung in the breeze last year.
An artisan paints a picture on an Edo Furin from the inside to maintain a brilliant shine and for a feel of texture on the glass surface. The image being painted is of Yokai Amabie, traditionally believed to ward off plagues.
The most popular Edo Furin design used to be one completely painted in red, the color known for keeping evil away. More recently, in addition to paintings of gold fish, fireworks and good luck charms such as pine trees and the Treasure Ship bearing the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, modern designs have been added, including an elaborate cityscape and mother-of-pearl inlay work. And the image of Yokai Amabie, an auspicious supernatural being from Japanese folklore believed to help ward off plagues, is making a stunning comeback this year in Japan amid the pandemic and is also being depicted on furin.
