ETHAS 041233

Japon kakejiku Kusunoki Masashige, boîte

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041233
Portrait of Kusunoki Masashige 楠木正成
Japan, Kyōto, 1918
Print on paper, lacquered wood
Jean Eracle mission to Japan in 1981
The 5 May was Boys' Day (Tango no sekku 端午の節句), an occasion for celebrating heroic values. These days it is the Children's Festival (Kodomo no hi こどもの日). Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336), defender of the Emperor Go-Daigo, is the model of the loyal soldier. His banner bears the motto “Water and Chrysanthemum” (kikusui 菊水), an expression still used for the kamikaze raids in 1945. It also bears the slogan of loyalty to the emperor: Hi-ri-hō-ken-ten 非理法権天.

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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/41233.pdf

 

Japan of the samurai

Unlike China, Japan has always had only one imperial dynasty, which continues today. Its legitimacy stems from the uninterrupted succession of emperors, which mythology traces back to the sun goddess, Amaterasu. But from the 12th to the 19th centuries, real power was wielded by military juntas, directed by a commander-in-chief (shōgun) and based successively in Kamakura, Kyōto (Muromachi) and Edo (Tōkyō). The feudal period saw the rise of the military class (samurai 侍) attached to various local lords (daimyo 大名).

Samurai in armour, <i>Views & Costumes of Japan, </i>by<i> </i>Stillfried & Andersen, Yokohama, around 1870.

Samurai in armour, Views & Costumes of Japan, by Stillfried & Andersen, Yokohama, around 1870. Alfred Bertrand collection © MEG Inv. ETHPH 411917

Bibliograpy

  • Eracle, Jean. 1983. Les samurai : objets d'arts, armes et armures de l'ancien Japon dans les collections du Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. Genève : Musée d'ethnographie, p. 78-79

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