Gifu lanterns - Gifu lanterns

A Gifu specialty, this long, egg-shaped lantern is made of thin bamboo ribs covered in thin Mino paper and decorated with colorful paintings of flowers, birds, and plants. It is widely used as a lantern to be offered before Buddhist altars during the Obon festival or hung under eaves, and is also called a Bon lantern. The Morisada Manko contains a reference to "Gifu lanterns," indicating that lanterns were being manufactured in Gifu as early as the late Edo period, but it was not until the mid-Meiji period that they became prominent as a Gifu specialty. At first, wholesalers had factories and employed craftsmen to manufacture lanterns. Then, as demand increased from the mid-Taisho period, the division of labor in each manufacturing process progressed, and muzzle makers, lacquer makers, makie makers, itamebori makers, surikomi makers, and hariya makers became independent. Each of them produces lanterns in response to orders from wholesalers.

[Naoyuki Ogawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

岐阜特産の提灯で、細い竹骨に薄い美濃(みの)紙を張り、花鳥草木の彩色絵を施した長卵形の提灯。お盆に仏前に供えたり、軒先に吊(つ)るしたりする提灯として広く用いられ、盆提灯ともいわれる。岐阜での提灯の製造は、『守貞漫稿(もりさだまんこう)』に「岐阜提灯」の記載があり、江戸時代後期には行われていたことがわかるが、岐阜の特産として目だってきたのは明治時代中ごろからで、初めは問屋が工場をもち、職人を雇って製造が行われた。その後大正時代なかばからは需要が増えるに伴い、各製造工程の分業化が進み、口輪(くちわ)屋、塗師、蒔絵(まきえ)師、板目彫(いためぼり)師、刷込(すりこみ)師、張屋(はりや)が独立した。それぞれ問屋の発注を受けて生産が行われている。

［小川直之］

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