Shelf - Tana

A board laid flat horizontally to place things on. "Tana" is a Yamato word, and "ta" in "tana" is an archaic form of the hand, and "na" is a connective particle, and it expresses a horizontal state, with the same roots as "tanabiku" (to stand on end) and "tanagumo" (to stand on end). There are built-in shelves and freestanding shelves, and each of these can be practical or decorative. Built-in shelves include hanging shelves, prepared shelves, cupboards, and staggered shelves. Hanging shelves, also called takadana, have been around for a long time and are even mentioned in the Ruiju Zoyosho (Collection of Various Items) from the Heian period. Prepared shelves with several built-in shelves were also used in the Kamakura period. A cupboard with sliding doors attached to it became popular in the Edo period. Both are practical, and are used as a zendana (a tray for storing tableware and food) in the kitchen, or as a room cupboard for storing miscellaneous items in a room. Sachidana are decorative shelves placed to the side of a tokonoma or shoin study, and because they are important pieces of interior decor in a tatami room, the pillars and shelves are beautifully made from fine wood. The Kasumi-dana shelf at Shugakuin Imperial Villa, the Katsura-dana shelf at Katsura Imperial Villa, and the Daigo-dana shelf at Sanboin are famous and are known as the Three Great Shelves of Japan. Shelves have also been around for a long time, and two shelves from the Nara period remain in Shosoin. One is about 180 cm wide and 150 cm high, with side panels on both sides and three shelves, and the other is about 260 cm wide and 140 cm high, with four pillars as well as pillars at the front and back of the center and three shelves. Both are made of plain wood and are practical, and are the basic form of shelves, and this type of shelf continued to be used in the kitchen as a tray shelf, a room shelf, or a storehouse shelf in its original form through the Middle Ages, early modern times, and modern times, but in the early modern period it became a cupboard with sliding doors. Drawers were also added, making it even more convenient and still in use today.

On the other hand, decorative shelves are modeled after zushi, which were introduced from the continent during the Nara period. Zushi have double doors with shelves inside, are beautifully made using fine woods and decorated with metal fittings, and were used as interior decoration to store stationery and books. In the Heian period, zushi shelves were invented by adding shelves to zushi shelves, and these became the epitome of Japanese aristocratic furnishings, and all subsequent mechanical shelves were influenced by zushi shelves in some way. There are two-tiered zushi shelves, with shelves on top and a zushi shelves on the bottom, as well as two-tiered and three-tiered shelves. The two-tiered zushi shelves are of higher rank, and in shinden-zukuri style buildings they were placed in the main building, while the two-tiered and three-tiered shelves were placed on the eaves. All of them were ornately made with makie and raden lacquering, and were decorated with items such as boxes for carrying items and incense bottles, and were always placed in pairs side by side. These were inherited by the samurai families, and during the Edo period they were developed into the three shelves of feudal lords' furnishings - the zushidana, black shelf, and bookshelf - and all of them, including the items stored inside, were made with gorgeous taka-makie lacquerware under a unified design. There were also shelves invented by tea masters. These were simple items made from plain wood or using bamboo or reed screens. A mixture of these was the decorative shelf for the Japanese-style room that is still used today, which was created in the early modern period and later, when ordinary people also began to decorate shelves.

[Kazuko Koizumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

横に平らに渡した板で、物をのせるもの。「たな」は大和(やまと)ことばで、「たな」の「た」は手の古形、「な」は連体助詞であり、「たなびく」とか「たな雲」と同根の、水平の状態を表す。棚には建物に造り付けのものと独立した置き棚とがあり、それぞれに実用本位のものと装飾的なものとがある。造り付け棚には吊(つり)棚と仕込み棚と戸棚、および違い棚がある。吊棚は高棚ともいい、古くからあり、平安時代の『類聚雑要抄(るいじゅうぞうようしょう)』にも出ている。何段かの棚を造り付けにした仕込み棚も鎌倉時代には使われている。これに引違い戸をつけたのが戸棚で、これは江戸時代に多くなる。いずれも実用的なもので、台所で食器や食品を入れる膳棚(ぜんだな)として、あるいは部屋で雑多な物を入れる部屋戸棚として用いられる。違い棚は床の間や書院の脇(わき)に設けられる飾り棚で、座敷の室内装飾として重要なものであるため、柱や棚板などは銘木を使って美しくつくられる。修学院(しゅがくいん)離宮の霞棚(かすみだな)、桂(かつら)離宮の桂棚、三宝院の醍醐(だいご)棚は天下の三棚といわれて有名である。置き棚も古くからあり、正倉院には奈良時代の棚が2基残っている。1基は間口約180センチメートル、高さ150センチメートルで、両側に側板を立て、3段の棚板を渡してあり、1基は間口約260センチメートル、高さ140センチメートルで、4柱のほか中央の前後にも柱を立て3段の棚板を渡してある。どちらも素木(しらき)造りで実用本位の、棚の基本形のようなものであるが、この型の棚はその後も台所用の膳棚、部屋棚、また倉棚として基本的にはそのままの形で中世、近世、近代へと引き継がれているが、近世になるとこれに引違い戸がつく戸棚となる。さらに引出しなどもつけられ、より便利なものとなって現代に及んでいる。

　一方、装飾的な置き棚は奈良時代に大陸から渡来した厨子(ずし)を原型とする。厨子は両開き扉の中に棚がつくもので、銘木などを使い、飾り金具をつけた美しい造りで、文房具や書物などを入れて室内装飾として用いられた。平安時代になると、これに棚を加えた厨子棚が創案されるが、これが日本の貴族調度の典型とされ、以後の装置的置き棚はすべてなんらかの形で厨子棚の影響を受けることとなった。厨子棚には上が棚で下が厨子の二階厨子と、棚だけの二階棚、三階棚がある。二階厨子のほうが格が高く、寝殿造では母屋(もや)に置かれ、二階棚、三階棚は庇(ひさし)に置かれた。いずれも蒔絵(まきえ)や螺鈿(らでん)などの華麗な造りで、手箱や香壺(こうつぼ)箱などを飾り、かならず2基並べて据えられた。これを武家が受け継ぎ、江戸時代に整備されたのが大名の調度の厨子棚、黒棚、書棚の三棚であるが、中に収める物を含め、すべてが統一された意匠のもとに豪華な高蒔絵などでつくられた。そのほか、茶人らが創案した棚もある。これは素木造りとか竹やよしずなどを使った簡素なものである。これらを混合したのが現在でも使われている座敷用の飾り棚で、これは近世以降に一般民衆も棚を飾るようになって生まれたものである。

［小泉和子］

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