vol.21 (2025)
FUKUHARA Masako Department of Japanese Literature,
Key words: Teika-style, Taisho-Meikikan, Enshu KOBORI, Teika FUJIWARA, Hakogaki, Utamei, Calligraphy, Tea Ceremony, Fumai MATSUDAIRA, Tenrei-style Taisho-Meikikan is a book of tea ceremony utensil masterpieces compiled by Yoshio TAKAHASH, a businessman and tea master. The book was published in 11 volumes consisting of 9 chapters between 1921 and 1926, and was completed with an index in 1927. The venerable tea utensils are listed, and their names, owners, dimensions, accessories, history, and other information are noted. The collection contains 436 tea caddies and 439 tea bowls, totaling 875 items. This is the first book on tea ceremony utensils with photographs, and it is said that no other book to date has surpassed it in terms of richness of content. This report examines the calligraphical types written on the boxes using photographs from the Taisho-Meikikan. By taking a higher perspective view of the box calligraphy, the author believes that it is possible to systematically demonstrate the character forms of box calligraphy, which have not been extensively discussed until now. The purpose of this study is to clarify the aspect of appreciation of the Teika-style in the tea ceremony of the early modern period by focusing on the Teika-style box calligraphy found in this book. The study categorized the forms of the characters inscribed on the boxes into Tenrei, Kaisyo, and Gyousou styles of writing, plus Teika-style. In addition, the author listed the names of the calligrapher, the positioning of the calligraphy, and the writing style. The results of the survey are shown in the table at the end of this report. Based on the results of the research, the author discusses the following two points. The first is about Enshu KOBORI, who appears frequently in this book as a calligrapher of the Teika-style. Enshu is considered to be an extremely important figure in terms of appreciation of the Teika-style in tea ceremony. After reconfirming and summarizing the process that led to Enshu's use of the Teika-style, appreciation of Enshu's calligraphy by samurai in the early modern period is examined, using materials from the Tosa domain as an example. The second point concerns the distinguishing character forms related to the Teika-style, which is frequently found in this book. The author focuses on the Tenrei-style, which is often used in combination with the Teika-style, and clarifies tendencies in the writing style. Further research is conducted on appreciation of the Teika-style and the Tenrei-style by tea masters such as Fumai MATSUDAIRA, Souga SAKAI, and Naoaki MIZOGUCHI Based on the above findings and verification, the aspect of appreciation of the Teika style in the early modern period is traced back to Enshu and his community, which considered both the Teika-style and the Tenrei-style as stylistic beauty. Also, appreciation of Teika-style is largely due to the succession and development by tea masters who identified with Enshu. | |||||
