Page 295 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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with a design of rain-soaked, wind-blown acters written on the saddle. The charac- erable damage and some parts show traces
leaves and vines of the kuzu (arrowroot) ters are superimposed over the plant of later repair. On the peak of the pommel
plant juxtaposed with pine needles. forms, and serve as keys to the identifica- the damage and subsequent repairs have
Among the maze of plant forms are sev- tion of the poem. This convention, known been most extensive.
eral Japanese characters, also in the raden in the Japanese calligraphic tradition as Since the early seventeenth century it
technique, written in cursive script. The ashide (literally "reed-script"), in which has been believed that this saddle was
characters are from a famous waka (thirty- characters are written as if part of the reed owned by Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-
one-syllable poem) on the theme of love, plant on an embankment, was one of the 1189), the younger brother of Yoritomo
by Jien (1155-1225). This poem was in- most frequently used artistic forms in the (1147-1199). This provenance is spurious,
cluded in the imperial anthology, Shin ko- twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The however, because the date when the poem
kin wakashù (New collection of ancient characters are: was first included in the Imperial anthol-
and modern poems). ogy, Shin kokinshù, 1205, post-dates
shigure (drizzle of autumn), in the lower Yoshitsune's death date. YS
Waga koi \va center of the pommel's outer faces;
matsu o shigure no some (to dye or change hue), on the lower
somekanete right edge of the pommel; 218 Saddle
Makuzugahara ni ni (particle indicating "at" or "in") on the lacquer on wood with shell
kaze sawagunari lower left edge of the pommel; 30.o(ll 3/io)
1
This love I feel- shigure, in the upper center of the cantle; Kamakura period
powerless to change her mind, waga (my), in the lower center of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo
like the drizzle the pine's hue; cantle; Important Cultural Property
My heart like the wind koi (love), on the lower right edge of the
that stirs the leaves on Kuzu Plain. cantle; and Like cats. 216 and 217, this gunjingura, or
hará (field), on the lower left edge of the military camp saddle, is among the most
The poem's rich, elusive symbolism cantle. famous examples in Japan. Such wagura
derives from long-established poetic con- (Japanese-style) saddles with a rounded
ventions. Puns based on Japanese homo- The inlaying technique used for this shape and hand grooves in the pommel
nyms give certain words hidden meanings. saddle is very elaborate. The two sides of were used by military commanders from
For example, the wind exposing the whit- the kuzu leaves are depicted in two differ- the late Heian through the Kamakura pe-
ish undersides of the kuzu leaves (urami, ent ways: the white undersides are repre- riods. Lacquered saddles were considered
or "to see the back") in the poetic lan- sented by inlaid cut pieces of shell very precious articles, and some were ex-
guage creates a pun on a homonym that simulating the general shape of the leaves, ported to China; one was even presented
means "to hate." The word "pine" or and by dark spaces left between the leaves to an emperor of the Song Dynasty.
matsu is a pun on another word pro- to indicate the veins; the faces of the Gnarled mountain cherry trees (yama-
nounced matsu, which means "to wait." leaves are defined by lines made of ex- zakura) extend up and across the outside
The pictorial equivalents of the plant tremely fine pieces of shell. The pine nee- faces of the pommel and cantle. The roots
imagery in the poem mesh with the char- dles are rendered in herringbone patterns.
The lacquer surfaces have suffered consid-

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