What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 14

SURPRISE! I didn’t bother announcing it this year to see how many people would remember my yearly tradition, but The Twelve Days of Fun are BACK! For the next twelve days I’ll be posting a new feature everyday, so let’s get to it! On The First Day of Fun I present... a new pocchiri!

Image courtesy of Lovelyhoneybee. Materials: Silver, Jade, Coral, and Diamond Motif: Chrysanthemums and Waves Owned By: Nakasato (中里) in Kamishichiken First off, this is one of my favorite pocchiri of all time due to its giant chrysanthemum (one of my favorite flowers) that’s carved from one giant piece of coral, and smack in the center of that flower is a large honkin’ diamond! It looks slightly small in this image, but that diamond is well over a carat in size! That type of coral that it’s carved from is called angelskin as it’s a very light, almost whiteish pink color. As you can imagine, angelskin is extremely valuable and it’s rare to come across such large pieces! Surrounding the flower we have silver swirling around forming water and small leaves. Set into the water at various points are small pieces of jade that act as complementary colors to the light pink coral. Overall it’s a simple piece with not too much background on it that I could find, but its beauty is truly stunning. Here you can see it being worn by Naokazu (尚可寿):

Image courtesy of Onihide-san.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 12

On The Sixth Day of Fun I present... another outfit feature! This is an incredibly unique design with special materials and hides more than meets the eye!

Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono. Materials: Silver, Gold Plate, Jade, Coral, Clear Quartz, Agate, Sunstone, and Diamond Motifs: Butterflies Owned By: Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho In a modernist twist, this pocchiri features butterflies that seem as though they’re flying out of the center diamond and into real life. This perspective is achieved by making the butterflies closest to the diamond small and progressively getting larger as they reach the outer rings. It’s not surprising then that the most expensive materials can be found in the center as well! Besides that massive diamond, the smallest butterfly is made from a dark red coral, also known as Ox Blood Coral, that’s extremely expensive. From there we see a dark pink coral, which is also sought after when it has such a uniform color sch as shown here. From there we see a beautiful grass green jade that must have also cost a fortune. However, the next three materials are quite cheap in comparison, which may be why they were chosen as those stones are quite large. Beside the jade and pink coral rests a very sparkly stone known as a Sunstone. This stone doesn’t actually exist in nature but is instead a man-made stone! Red is the most common color, but it can be found in all colors of the rainbow, especially for crafting beads. Next we have banded agate, which is the red stone with the white stripes. Agate often has bands of colors running through it, but most aren’t as straight as the ones in this piece. Finally there’s clear quartz that appears slightly cloudy due to the silver setting. What’s interesting is that the bottom set of wings for each of the butterflies was once gold plated! You can still see some gold present on the smallest butterflies. The jade, agate, and quartz butterflies, whose bottom wings face outwards, seems to have had the gold rubbed off over time.

Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 9

It’s a return to a shiny feature, but this time we’re looking at something that’s brand new!

Image courtesy of Takuya Iba. Materials: Silver, Coral, Pearls, Agate, and Nephrite Jade. Motifs: Folding Fan, Chrysanthemum, and Ivy Owned By: Katsufumi (勝ふみ) in Kamishichiken It’s always a treat to see the techniques used by modern artists to capture traditional motifs that straddle the line between old and new. Unlike older pocchiri that tend to put the most emphasis on the stones themselves, this one instead shows off some seriously impressive silver work that treats each individual motif differently in order to bring out its best features. In the fan itself we can see intricately carved motifs that make the silver sparkle and shine like diamonds. But, that sparkle gives way to relatively plain vines that wind their way behind and eventually around to the front of the piece. At the bottom we can see some of the ivy leaves carved into the silver, with the solid ones having that same shine as the fan. The bottom is also decorated with pearls that form a bit of a border underneath the chrysanthemum to bring our eyes back to its intricately carved coral petals. But, beside that beautiful chrysanthemum are two large ivy leaves; one made from an orange agate and the other from a nephrite jade. The stone we know as “jade” can actually come from two different sources: nephrite and jadeite. This piece is almost certainly nephrite as nephrite is known for its right, dark green color that is often compared to foliage. The bright greens and white that are seen in other pieces are characteristic of jadeite. Overall nephrite is cheaper per carat than jadeite as it’s not as rare and usually not as highly sought after as bright green jadeite. Now, you may be wondering: why is there ivy creeping around this entire piece, culminating with those two leaves made from semi-precious stones? Well, the five pointed ivy leaf is the kamon of the Katsufumi okiya. The entire design tells us that the chrysanthemum, the symbol of the emperor, and the fan, the symbol of maiko and geiko, are important aspects of Japanese culture, but right behind them, figuratively and literally, is the new growth that is Katsufumi. Here you can see it being worn by Katsufumi’s premiere maiko, Fumiyuki (ふみ幸):

Image courtesy of KH Photo NM.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 8

Finding some nice pieces has been a fun challenge, so here’s another unique piece with some amazing back story!

Image courtesy of Rinezumi. Materials: Opal, Silver, Sapphire, Amethyst, Jade, Carnelian, Coral, Pearl, Emerald, and Cubic Zirconia Motifs: Flowers and Folding Fan Owned By: Masamiya (雅美家) in Pontocho This piece is truly unique, and although I’m not sure of its age, I can say that its construction makes it stand out over others. It seems to be a juxtaposition between traditional Japanese design and modern, raw materials, most of which are not native to Japan at all! At the base we can see simple design of water ripples, leaves, and small flowers. From there it may be a bit hard to see, but in the center all of the motifs are resting upon an old style cypress fan that’s become synonymous with the nobility; we can tell because of its its leaves (the flat parts of fans) and its inclusion of tassels on long strands of silk cords. It then has beautiful grapes growing over top of the fan as a way to show that the old fan has been left behind. From there the raw and polished cut gems form modern flowers, each stone representing an abstract petal on an almost cubist-like bloom. When it comes to identifying gems it makes me thankful that I attend gem shows and can see what they look like before they’re cut into various shapes as otherwise this would make it much harder to identify! The beautiful pearls that represent the grape berries are of wonderful quality, which is no surprise as Japan is known for its pearls. It was Mikimoto Kōkichi (御木本幸吉) who created the modern method of cultured pearls that basically every company around the world uses today. Since the karyukai only uses the best quality for everything I wouldn’t be surprised if the pearls are the most valuable gems in this entire piece! Looking over to the main motifs, starting at the top most flower we can see a jade roundel that’s engraved with... something. Even after zooming in I can’t tell for sure what it is, but it may be a butterfly. On top of that rests an oval carnelian cabochon and the first of multiple cut cubic zirconia. I’m going with cubic zirconia again on this one as I shouldn’t be able to see the setting through a diamond, but I can definitely see it here. It could possibly be a white sapphire as well since there are other sapphires on this piece, but for now the simple and safest guess is a cubic zirconia. Since it seems to have confused some people last time, it looks like an explanation on some terminology is in order. A cabochon is a precious stone that’s smoothed and polished instead of having facets cut into it. This is often done with opaque gems, such as coral or carnelian, but can be done with translucent gems, such as amethyst and sapphires, too. From there we can look at the largest of the flowers, which features from clockwise: a large amethyst cabochon, an oval cut pink sapphire, a natural shaped opal nugget, another carnelian cabochon, a jade cabochon, another oval cut sapphire, but this time in light blue, and a marquise cut coral cabochon that surrounds another cubic zirconia. For the second flower we can see: a carnelian cabochon that’s more on the yellow side than the others, another raw opal, a raw coral piece, an emerald cut cubic zirconia, and an emerald cut emerald (that’s actually the correct terminology!), all surrounding a solitaire cut amethyst.  All together you can see it in action being worn by maiko Hidekano (秀華乃):

Image courtesy of Hikocd.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 7

This one has a very interesting history, so we’re going back to Gion Higashi to take a look!

Image courtesy of Wakasa15thfd. Materials: Silver, Coral, Jade, and Rubies Motifs: Grapes and Grape Leaves Owned By: Man (まん) in Gion Higashi This one is quite simplistic compared to others, but it’s hiding some unique secrets! The first secret is that this pocchiri has changed hands over the years! It was originally owned by Okatome (岡とめ), but was given to Man (まん) recently upon its imminent closure. Man has already been putting the piece to great use too! The second is that the jade parts were most likely one whole obidome at one point. You can tell that they’d make an almost perfect oval and seem to fit together. It’s possible that this once broken piece was recycled for use in a new one. Its motifs are fruits and leaves, so it fits well into the new piece! The rubies may have been recycled too as it’s a bit odd to see such different cuts for a simple design. The silver leaves that serve as a base also appear to have been gold plated at one time, but this has dirtied and worn off at the edges. The coral that make up the grapes themselves are still in good condition, albeit slightly worn. It’s a great way to make something old and broken new again with an nice design to match! Here you can see it being happily worn by new maiko Masanao (満彩尚):

Image courtesy of Gion Hayakawa.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 3

I’m really excited to continue this series as I get to share wonderful jewellery with everyone and some of the cool stories behind them! If there’s any specific piece that you’d like me to see covered then let me know! Otherwise, I’m just going to pick from the many available images of some seriously beautiful pieces ^^!

Image courtesy of 3LAPhoto. Materials: Jade, Coral, and Silver Motifs: Komainu Owned By: Kanoya (叶家) in Gion Higashi I chose this one next as the motif in the center is really interesting and this piece has undergone a slight transformation over the years. First, let’s look at the motifs. The main one is Komainu (狛犬), which are Japanese lion dogs. They’re famous for guarding the entrances to important places, such as shrines and temples. The animals are always found in pairs as the two represent both male and female (yin and yang) and “a/あ” and “un/うん,“ which is the Buddhist equivalent of alpha and omega. To learn more about Komainu click here for a wonderful article ^^! Breaking down the materials, this piece uses two different colors of jade, specifically a semi-translucent green variety that’s the color of grass. The second is the arguably more valuable but more opaque white/green jade. Between the pieces of grass colored jade we can also see two coral balls to complete the symmetry and bring to mind the traditional yin/yang dichotomy. From older images that I’ve found the coral on the right was actually replaced! It seems as though it was once as small as the one on the left, but broke off at some point. Since the two pieces of jade are no longer the same size it’s likely that a small part of the jade broke off with the coral as jade isn’t very hard overall. The repair involved a new piece of coral that is larger to fit the hole and is now secured into the place with a pin.  As an example, you can see it worn by maiko Kanohiro (叶紘) here:

Image courtesy of Chuan Lai.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 2

This feature got a great amount of feedback, so let’s keep shining a spotlight on the treasures of the karyukai! For more information about why most materials are chosen and a bit of back story click here ^^

Image courtesy of Yukari Kato. Materials: Coral, Rose Quartz, Jade, Citrine, Garnet/Tourmaline, Diamond/Cubic Zirconia, and Enamel Motifs: Lucky Treasure Ship Owned By: Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho What else could represent the treasures of the gods better than a treasure boat filled with them!? This specific type of ship is known as a Takarabune (宝船), which translates as “Treasure Ship” and is an emblem of the Shichifukujin (七福神), who are the Seven Lucky Gods. The materials used here are all interesting, but let’s step back a bit so that we can understand it all a bit better. This pocchiri is old, and “old” for a pocchiri is anything over 30+ years since they didn’t really come into prominence until the 1950s. There’s images of Masunoya girls wearing this piece as far back as the 1980s, so clearly it has been well loved. The first place that we can easily see wear is on the enamel. A few decades ago it was actually fairly common to see some enamel on pocchiri, and even a few pocchiri were made exclusively from enamel by skilled artisans. Nowadays instead of enamel we tend to see metals and shells account for these colors in a bid to be even more extravagant than those of the past. The enamel used for this piece is white for the sails and a dark, almost bronze colored brown for the base of the boat and the mast. You can see where constant use over the years has rubbed away some of the enamel from the sides to show its silver exterior. The small coral flower on the bottom left of the piece has also been chipped, likely due to an accident from brushing up against things over many decades. However, pocchiri are given the respect for the craftsmanship that initially went into them, so unless a very important piece breaks or falls off then it’s left as is to appreciate its age and the story that it carries. Without a detailed look at the piece it’s impossible to know what all of the gems are for sure, but the majority remain easy to spot. The large tear drop shaped rose quartz stands as a focal point along with the natural shaped coral that appears to be holding a citrine in its branches. At the top and bottom of the sail we have two dark green jade cabochons and what is either a garnet or possibly a tourmaline at the bottom. To show different colors of coral we also see a small coral bead at the top of the rose quartz, the aforementioned carved coral flower, and a dark orange coral cabochon on the bottom right. The three clear stones are a bit of a mystery as diamonds aren’t unheard of for pocchiri, but that many and of such high quality definitely are. However, I do want to lean more towards cubic zirconia as diamonds are so incredibly reflective that it’s practically impossible to see through them to their mount, but on the smallest stone I can clearly the see the bottom of the mount and we can get a hint of that brown enamel. This won’t really affect much except for the overall value, but since that doesn’t really matter here since we’re more interested in its craftsmanship rather than its cost. Like last time, here’s an image of the piece being worn by maiko Shinaju (志奈寿):

Image courtesy of Yocca.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 1

On The Third Day Of Fun I present... the brand new feature! Pocchiri, the special obidome that maiko wear, are the most expensive piece of any outfit in the karyukai. Centuries ago they actually functioned liked special belt buckles that would lock together to form a motif, but over time became more ornate and adapted to changing times. Instead of having to sew an obijime together with the pocchiri to form a belt the newer versions have loops on the back that now slide onto obijime. The ease in changing the pieces and global trade allowed for them to be made of precious metals and act as a focal point of wealth rather than a simple clasp that helped to keep an obi tied.  Modern pocchiri are made from the materials that make up Shippō (七宝), which are the Seven Lucky Treasures that are spoken of in Buddhist sutras. They include: Hari (玻璃) - Quartz Gin (銀) - Silver Kin (金) - Gold Menō (瑪瑙) - Agate Ruri (瑠璃) - Lapis Lazuli Shinju (真珠) - Pearl/Mother of Pearl Sango (珊瑚) - Coral  Wearing pocchiri made from these treasures is meant to bring good luck, plus it promotes the use of native precious and semi-precious stones and materials. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the first example:

Image courtesy of Onihide-san. Materials: Gold, Silver, Mother of Pearl, Pearl, and Coral Motifs: Butterflies, Canola or Oxalis Blossoms, and Wind Owned By: Fukushima (福嶋) okiya in Gion Kobu This piece was chosen for two main reasons; the first is that we get to see the piece not being worn, which allows us to specifically focus on it and not the entire outfit. The second is that the flower parts are actually a bit debatable! Surprisingly, canola blossoms and oxalis (clover) blossoms look very similar as they both have four heart shaped petals. They’re also motifs found in the spring when butterflies begin to awaken from their winter slumber. However, canola blossoms are yellow whereas oxalis blossoms tend to be white, pink, or purple. But, if I had to choose, I’d actually go with canola blossoms for this one as there is a song/dance in the Inoue repertoire called Nanoha (菜の花), the name for canola blossoms, which is the story of a butterfly deciding which canola blossom to land on. Also, oxalis are most commonly seen with three petals, but since four isn’t unheard of I decided to add it anyway as you can never be too sure. The wind motif that the main motifs rest upon is meant to invoke the image of a slight breeze that moves both the butterflies and flowers around. As a special bonus, here’s maiko Fumino (章乃) wearing this piece:

Image courtesy of Onihide-san.