Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(51) Stonemasons carving a lantern, and
koma-inu
, of dogs which guard the entrance of
shintō
shrines.
ers coming home after a day's work in
daimyō
mansions:
Theywereintheirgroups,200-300atatime,andwerechatteringinhighdiscordant
tones. Their side-locks stood out from their cheeks, and their hair was in disorder.
Their clothes were dirty at the collar, and they wore their belts over their jackets,
whichweretornatthecuffs.Someusedtheirrulesaswalkingsticks,mosthunched
theirshoulders,withtheirhandsthrustintothefrontoftheir
kimono,
andfromtheir
back view as they walked along there was no need of a sign to show what trade
they were. Behind them came their mates and apprentices, who were carrying the
shavings and cut-off ends, but no one cared if some precious cypress end-bits fell
and were left behind.
The roofers have especially shrill voices to enable them to shout at each other when on
the job, and they wear their belts outside their jackets instead of beneath them to stop them
getting caught up when they are climbing about. The characteristic economy
of
materials
is shown in the apprentices' task of taking back the shavings and unused ends of wood,
contrasting with the carefree attitude of not picking up any that might fall. The story goes
on to tell how a poor man gathered this wood and sold it, or made chopsticks from it and
sold them, and finished up as a prosperous timber merchant.
The exuberant characters described in this passage had the double advantage of being
both builders and in the employ of
daimyō.
They probably received their pay in the form
of a rice allowance, as did all the “appointed” craftsmen. Some of these who were attached
to the Shogun or rich lords were the prominent artists of the period, such as the painters of
the Kano and Tosa families; included in their number were the lacquerers and wood-carv-
ers, and in fact members of all the crafts. These “appointed” craftsmen were sometimes
honored by being given
samurai
privileges: a commoner was not normally entitled to the
use of a surname, but many outstanding craftsmen were allowed this sign of status, and
some were also given the right to wear two swords. All were permitted to sign their work,
as, in fact, were carpenters, who could put their name on the houses they built: this was
forbidden to ordinary craftsmen.
The attitude to craft was very like that of the medieval counterparts in Europe, with
their system of training and its culmination in initiation into the society of men with the
same skill. This comparison must not be carried too far—in particular the participation of
craftsmen in municipal government was far more advanced in Europe than in Japan—but
there are further points of resemblance. Men in the same craft lived together in the same
