Ise white powder - Ise face powder

A white flour speciality of Izawa Village, Ise Province (Izawa Town, Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture). It is made mainly from mercury and red soil. In the past, it was known as Izawa's keifun or "Haraya." The keifun industry was established using mercury produced in the hills of Nyu (Nyu, Taki Town, Taki District) upstream of the Kushida River, and red soil (red soil) from Shunakayama in Izawa. At its peak in the Muromachi period, there were as many as 83 kamamoto (breweries), but later, fears of mass production of low-quality products led to the number being reduced to 16 kamamoto. The priests of Ise Shrine gave light flour to nobles in Kyoto, and the priests of Yamada (Ise City) also brought it as a souvenir when they visited parishioners in various provinces to distribute at purification ceremonies. Even after the Nyu mercury mine was closed in the early Edo period, production continued using ingredients from other countries, and Izawa light flour remained known as a specialty of Ise. After the Meiji period, it declined due to the popularity of chemical products, and the last remaining potter went out of business in 1953 (Showa 28).

[Yoshio Harada]

``Shiwa Cultural History'' written by Ujihiko Yamazaki and Shigeo Kitano (1956, Shiwa Village Board of Education)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

伊勢国射和(いざわ)村（三重県松阪市射和町）特産の白粉。水銀と赤土を主原料とする。昔は射和の軽粉(けいふん)または「はらや」の名で知られた。櫛田(くしだ)川上流の丹生(にう)（多気(たき)郡多気町丹生）の丘陵地帯から産出する水銀と、射和の朱中山(しゅなかやま)産の丹土(にど)（赤土）を使用して軽粉業が興った。最盛期は室町時代で、釜元(かまもと)が83軒もあったが、のち粗製乱造をおそれ16釜になる。伊勢神宮の禰宜(ねぎ)は軽粉を京都の公卿(くぎょう)たちに贈り、山田（伊勢市）の御師(おし)も御祓(おはらい)配りのため諸国の檀家(だんか)回りにもこれを土産(みやげ)物とした。江戸初期、丹生水銀の廃鉱後も他国産原料で製造を続け、射和の軽粉はなお伊勢の特産物として知られた。明治以後、化学薬品に押され衰退し、最後に残った1軒の釜元も1953年（昭和28）に廃業した。

［原田好雄］

『山崎宇治彦・北野重夫著『射和文化史』（1956・射和村教育委員会）』

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