Walking stick - Cane

Japanese: 杖 - つえ

A walking aid. It is usually a long, thin stick made of wood or bamboo, and is used by the elderly, physically disabled, travelers, mountaineers, peddlers, and others for long walks or carrying heavy loads. Materials range from light ones such as bamboo and rattan to mulberry, palm, and red ragwort, and also hardwood and iron depending on the purpose.

In ancient times, the walking stick was considered a vessel for the gods, but eventually it came to be considered a possession of the gods, and later it came to be used as a symbol of authority for those in power and for self-defense. However, since ancient times the walking stick has been used mainly as a tool for the elderly, and in particular, the dove walking stick, which has a dove carved into the top of the stick, was bestowed by the Imperial Court to high-ranking persons over 70 years of age from the Nara period onwards, and was known as the Imperial Walking Stick until before the Second World War. The deer walking stick also had a forked top and was also called the shumokuzue, and was especially permitted to be carried by blind officials. In contrast, the walking stick carried by monks was the shakujo, which had a top shaped like a stupa, several rings attached to it, and was also called the seijo because it sounded every time it struck the ground. Kongo-zue (a walking stick) is an octagonal or square wooden walking stick carried by ascetic monks. At the Imperial Court, on the day of the rabbit in the New Year, the Otoneri-ryo and the Efu (guard offices) would offer up to the Emperor, the Empress and the Crown Prince Uzue (a walking stick to ward off evil spirits). This was an adaptation of a Chinese custom, in which plum, peach, camellia and willow trees were cut into lengths of five feet and three inches (about 160 cm) and bundled together in groups of three for the offering. Furthermore, the Kayu-zue (rice porridge walking stick), which was performed on the 15th day of the New Year (Kosho-gatsu), was made by cutting the embers of a tree used to cook rice porridge and beating the waist of a newly-wed or childless woman with it, in the belief that she would give birth to a child, and this was done up and down the country.

In addition, canes have been used since ancient times as punishment, including whips and canes, to strike those guilty of caning crimes, and in the Sengoku period, the iron or hexagonal canes used by warlords were also a type of punishment. An ikizue was a cane carried by people who carried heavy loads, such as palanquin carriers, to support the load they were carrying when they were resting. In the early modern period, it was said that using a cane made from mulberry wood was good for health, and mulberry canes became popular. Canes gradually became less practical and more like a type of accessory, and during the Genroku period (1688-1704), slender bamboo canes were called yojozue (passionate canes) or keshozue (cosmetic canes) and were popular among fashionable people and young people who frequented the pleasure quarters. When the Meiji Restoration came and the sword ban was issued, the trend of carrying a walking stick instead of a sword emerged, and walking sticks with a sword hidden inside were widely used by warriors and other warriors. Western-style walking sticks became popular around 1887 (Meiji 20), and other items included crutches for the physically disabled and white walking sticks for the blind.

[Mizuo Miyamoto]

Legend

Meanwhile, there are also many legends about walking sticks. The legend of the walking stick planted by a high priest or hero such as Kobo Daishi grows into a large tree, and there are many examples of this across the country, including walking stick ginkgo, walking stick plum, walking stick cherry, walking stick bamboo, and walking stick cedar. This is sometimes accompanied by a spring legend, in which clear water springs up when the walking stick is placed on the ground. There are also various legends, such as the walking stick Jizo, to which travelers offer their walking sticks in prayer for a safe journey, and the legend of the prison guards of hell who reproach criminals with their iron walking sticks.

[Mizuo Miyamoto]

[Reference] | Walking stick

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

歩行のための補助道具。普通は木や竹でつくった細長い棒で、老人をはじめ、身体障害者、旅行者、登山者、行商人などの長い歩行や重い荷物の運搬に用いられる。材料には竹、籐(とう)などの軽いものから、桑、シュロチク、アカザ、また用途によって堅木(かたぎ)、鉄なども使用される。

　杖は古くは神の依代(よりしろ)としての性格をもっていたが、やがて神の持ち物とされ、下っては権力者の権威の象徴や護身用としても利用されるようになった。しかし、杖は古代からもっぱら老人の道具として用いられてきたもので、とくに杖の頭部にハトの彫り物のある鳩杖(はとのつえ)は、奈良時代以後、70歳以上の高位者に朝廷から下賜され、これは宮中杖(じょう)の名で第二次世界大戦前まで行われていた。また鹿杖(かせづえ)は杖の頭部が二またになったもので、撞木杖(しゅもくづえ)ともよばれ、とくに盲官がこれを持つことを許された。これに対して、僧侶(そうりょ)の持った杖は錫杖(しゃくじょう)で、これは頭部を塔婆(とうば)にかたどり、数個の鐶(かなわ)をかけ、地を突くたびに鳴るので、声杖(せいじょう)ともいわれた。金剛杖(こんごうづえ)は修験者(しゅげんじゃ)の携行するもので、八角または四角の白木の杖である。また朝廷では、正月の卯(う)の日に悪鬼を払う卯杖(うづえ)を、大舎人(おおとねり)寮・諸衛府(えふ)などから、天皇、中宮、東宮に献上することが行われた。これは中国の風習を採用したもので、梅、桃、ツバキ、柳などの木を長さ五尺三寸（約160センチメートル）に切り、3本ずつ束ねて献上した。さらに正月15日の小正月(こしょうがつ)に行われた粥杖(かゆづえ)は、粥を炊くのに用いた木の燃えさしを削り、これで新嫁や子のない女の腰をたたくと、子供が生まれると信じられ、上下にわたって行われた。

　このほか、杖は、古代から笞(ち)・杖(じょう)など杖罪の者を打つ刑具としても使用され、戦国時代、武将の用いた鉄の杖あるいは六角の杖も、刑具の一種であった。息杖(いきづえ)は駕籠(かご)かきなど重荷を担ぐ者が持つ杖で、休息するとき、その担う物を支えるのに用いた。近世に入ると、桑の木の杖をつくと養生によいといわれ、桑杖(くわづえ)が流行した。杖はしだいに実用性を離れ、一種のアクセサリーとなり、元禄(げんろく)（1688～1704）のころには、細身の竹杖が余情杖(よじょうづえ)、化粧杖(けしょうづえ)などとよばれ、洒落(しゃれ)者や遊里通いの若者に愛用された。やがて明治維新になり、廃刀令が出ると、刀にかわって杖を持つ風を生じ、杖の中に刀を仕込んだ仕込杖が壮士などに盛んに用いられた。洋風のステッキstickが流行するようになったのは1887年（明治20）前後のことで、ほかに身体障害者のための松葉杖や盲人用の白い杖などもある。

［宮本瑞夫］

伝説

一方、杖に関する伝承もいろいろある。弘法大師(こうぼうだいし)など高僧・英雄の立てた杖が成長して大樹になるという杖立(つえたて)伝説は、杖銀杏(いちょう)、杖梅、杖桜、杖竹、杖杉など全国にその例が多い。これは、地に杖をつくと清水(しみず)がわいたという湧水(わきみず)伝説を伴うこともある。また旅人が杖を捧(ささ)げて行旅の安全を祈るといわれる杖地蔵や、地獄の獄卒が鉄杖で罪人を呵責(かしゃく)するという伝説などさまざまある。

［宮本瑞夫］

[参照項目] | ステッキ

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