TOKYO GIFTS 62 東京の工芸品・お土産・特産品を扱うギフトショップ

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2021.12.20

東京の夏を彩る、江戸手描提灯の世界 -泪橋大嶋屋-

World of Edo Hand-drawn Paper Lanterns That Color the Summer of Tokyo: Namidabashi Oshimaya

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南千住駅徒歩5分、泪橋交差点のほど近くに居を構える大正2年創業の泪橋大嶋屋。提灯字入れを生業として100年以上続く江戸手描提灯の老舗です。明治時代より提灯は製造と文字描きの分業化が進み、東京には文字や家紋などの描き入れを専門としている提灯屋が多くあります。泪橋大嶋屋では提灯への字入れや格言・ことわざなどを駄洒落にした「地口」を戯画にした地口絵の描き入れ、舞台の小道具の製作なども手がけています。

Namidabashi Oshimaya was founded in 1913. It is located near the Namidabashi Intersection five minutes on foot from Minami-Senju Station. It is a long-established Edo hand-drawn paper lantern store. The store has been in the business of drawing words on paper lanterns for over 100 years. The division of labor between manufacturing paper lanterns and drawing words on them has been advancing since the Meiji period (1868 to 1912). There are now many paper lantern stores that specialize in drawing words and family crests on paper lanterns in Tokyo. Namidabashi Oshimaya is also involved in manufacturing stage props. The store draws words on paper lanterns and draws illustrations that caricature puns by turning sayings and proverbs into jokes.

夏の風物詩の“提灯”

夏になると神社のお祭りなどでたくさんの提灯が並んでいる姿をよく見かけます。それ以外でも、お盆の時期に家紋が描かれた提灯を仏壇の前に置くことがありますが、地域によっては現在でも提灯に蠟燭を入れてお墓参りに行く風習が残っているそうです。提灯といえば「江戸文字」と呼ばれる楷書体を太くした文字が特徴的ですが、代々使われてきた家紋入りの提灯の張替えを依頼される事も多いようで、取材させて頂いた時はちょうど家紋の描き入れの最中でした。

Summer Tradition of Paper Lanterns

It is often possible to see the sight of many paper lanterns lined up at festivals in shrines in the summer. In addition to this, paper lanterns that depict family crests are placed in front of Buddhist altars during the Obon festival. The custom still remains to put candles into paper lanterns and to then visit graves even now in some areas. Words in the thickened square style script called Edo moji are a characteristic of paper lanterns. It seems there are many requests to replace lanterns with family crests that have been used for generations. We saw a family crest being drawn when we visited this store.

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“分廻し”というコンパスの様な道具を使い、円を描き入れていく。

Circles are drawn using a compass-like tool called “Bunmawashi”

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使い込まれた道具達。

Well-used tools

提灯に描き込まれる職人の技

提灯の表面は凹凸があり、直線を描くのも一苦労。しかし、職人さんは平面に描くような速さと正確さで提灯へ筆を入れていきます。提灯へ字入れを行う際は、まず鉛筆で下書きをし、描き入れる字と提灯全体のバランスを取ります。文字を美しく見せる工夫として、丸い提灯に描く際は文字の上下をほんの少し外に広がるように描くことで、離れて見た時に字の幅が上下真っすぐに見えるそうです。その次に縁取りし、最後に文字全体を塗り込んで乾燥させれば完成。1時間程あれば乾くそうですが、乾燥と共に塗りムラがはっきり出てくるので、中から光を当てながらムラがないか確認し、場合によってはドライヤーで乾かしながら確認するそうです。色によってもムラの出やすさがあり、青系は特に色ムラが出やすく、薄墨も出やすいため描く際に注意を払っているとのこと。

Skills of Craftsmen Drawn on Paper Lanterns

The surface of paper lanterns is uneven. Accordingly, it is difficult to draw straight lines. However, the craftsmen put their brushes on the paper lanterns with speed and accuracy like drawing on a flat surface. When drawing words on a paper lantern, the craftsmen first make a draft with paper to achieve a balance between the words being drawn and the overall lantern. The width of the words looks to be straight up and down when viewed from a distance by drawing the top and bottom of the words slightly spread outside when drawing on thick lanterns as a device to make the words look beautiful. Next, the craftsmen draw the borders and finally paint the entire words. It is completed when it dries. It takes about one hour to dry. However, painting unevenness appears clearly while drying. Therefore, the craftsmen check there is no unevenness by shining light from the inside. They check it while drying with a hair dryer in some cases. The likelihood of unevenness appearing depends on the color. Blue is particularly likely to produce unevenness. This is also true for light ink. Accordingly, the craftsmen pay attention when drawing with those colors.

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素早く正確に線を描いていく

Drawing lines quickly and accurately

4代目が作る江戸手描提灯

今回の取材で対応してくださったのは、4代目の村田健一郎さん。高等専門学校卒業後、「荒川の匠育成事業」を活用して父・修一さんに弟子入りし、現在はお父様と一緒に工房で作業を行っています。代々受け継がれてきた伝統の技を引き継いでいくため、次世代の匠が日々奮闘されています。

Edo hand-painted Lanterns made by the Fourth-generation Representative

Kenichiro Murata , the fourth-generation representative, gave us an interview this time. After graduating from a technical college, he used the Arakawa Takumi Training Project to become an apprentice of his father Shuichi . He currently works in the workshop together with his father. Next-generation masters struggle every day to inherit the traditional techniques passed down through the generations.

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泪橋大嶋屋4代目の村田健一郎さん

Kenichio Murata – the fourth-generation representative of Namidabashi Oshimaya

泪橋大嶋屋では提灯への字入れ教室も行っております。江戸手描提灯の世界を体験してみてはいかがでしょうか。

Namidabashi Oshimaya also holds workshops to draw words on paper lanterns. Why don’t you experience the world of Edo hand-painted lanterns?

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