Ladle (ladle) - Ladle

Japanese: ひしゃく(柄杓) - ひしゃく

A tool for drawing water, it was originally made by splitting a gourd in half, similar to a shakushi (rice scoop). It is written as hishaku or hinoki shaku, but having a handle or being made of cypress were not its original characteristics. Rather, the defining feature of hishiku is the "hiyotan" meaning gourd. Hishiku is a corrupted form of the word "hiyotan," and its popular beliefs also share many things in common with gourds and shakushi, which were seen as containers for divine spirits. There is a widespread custom of offering a ladle with a hole in the bottom as a prayer for safe childbirth so that it would drain easily, and it is said that if one encounters a ghost of a boat at sea and asks for a ladle, one should also give a ladle with a hole in the bottom so that the boat does not sink.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

水をくむ道具で，古くはしゃくし(杓子)と同様に瓠（ひさご）を半分に割って作られた。柄杓とか檜杓と書かれるが，柄があることやヒノキで作られることが最初からの特徴とはいえず，むしろひしゃくの特徴は瓢簞（ひようたん）を意味する匏にある。ひしゃくは匏のなまった言葉であり，その俗信も神霊の容器とみられた瓢簞やしゃくしと共通するものが多い。よく抜けるようにといって安産の祈願に底抜け柄杓を奉納する風習は広く見られ，また海上で船幽霊に出会って〈ひしゃくをくれ〉といわれたときには船が沈められないようにやはり底抜け柄杓を与えるものとされている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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