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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯), the bonbori (雪洞), the chōchin (提灯), and the tōrō (灯篭).
The andon is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal.[1] The paper protected the flame from the wind. Burning oil in a stone, metal, or ceramic holder, with a wick of cotton or pith, provided the light. They were usually open on the top and bottom, with one side that could be lifted to provide access.[2] Rapeseed oil was popular. Candles were also used, but their higher price made them less popular. A lower-priced alternative was sardine oil.
The andon became popular in the Edo period (1603–1867).[1] Early on, the andon was handheld; it could also be placed on a stand or hung on a wall.[3] The okiandon was most common indoors. Many had a vertical box shape with an inner stand for the light. Some had a drawer on the bottom to facilitate refilling and lighting. A handle on top made it portable. A variety was the Enshū andon. One explanation attributes it to Kobori Enshu, who lived in the late Azuchi-Momoyama period and early Edo period. Tubular in shape, it had an opening instead of a drawer.[4] Another variety was the Ariake andon, a bedside lamp. The kakeandon under the eaves of a shop, often bearing the name of the merchant, was a common sight in the towns.
The expression hiru andon, or "daytime lamp," meant someone or something that seemed to serve no purpose.[5] In dramatizations of the story of the forty-seven ronin, Oishi Yoshio is often given this description.
The bonbori (雪洞) is a kind of Japanese paper lamp used in the open during festivals. It normally has an hexagonal profile and a rather wide, open top.[6] It can either hang from a wire or stand on a pole. Famous is the Bonbori Festival (ぼんぼり祭り, Bonbori Matsuri), held annually at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura, Kanagawa. Artists paint on the about 400 bonbori erected for the occasion on the shrine's grounds.[7]
A relative of the Chinese paper lantern, the chōchin has a frame of split bamboo wound in a spiral. Paper or silk protect the flame from wind. The spiral structure permits it to be collapsed into the basket at the bottom.[8] The chōchin is used outdoors, either carried or hung outside the house.[1] In present-day Japan, plastic chōchin with electric bulbs are produced as novelties, souvenirs, and for matsuri and events.[9] The earliest record of a chōchin dates to 1085,[8] and one appears in a 1536 illustration.
The akachōchin, or red lantern, marks an izakaya.[10] In Japanese folklore, the chochin appears as a yōkai, the chōchin-obake.[11]
Gifu is known for its Gifu lanterns, a kind of chōchin made from mino washi.[12]
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Originally used in the broad sense to mean any lantern, the term tōrō came to refer to a lamp of stone, bronze, iron, wood, or another heavy material. These illuminate the grounds of Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, Japanese gardens, and other places that include tradition in their decor.[1] The earlier use of oil and candles has in the modern day been replaced by electric bulbs.
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