The story of a hammered nail

 

In the prefectural museum in Kanazawa, we came across a display of the processes involved in producing Ushikubi tsumugi silk made from rare double cocoons. Ushikubi, we discovered, translates as “cow’s neck”. Another name for this remarkable durable silk is Kuginuki tsumugi (nail pulling pongee, pongee being a Chinese term for an unbleached fabric). The silk is reputed to be so strong that, if it is caught on a nail, it will pull the nail out. Nails also feature in an old Japanese proverb, Deru kui wa utareru, “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”

The guest room and, to the left, a partial view of the tea room, in Kurando Terashima's house. Note the slippers.

 

The floor plan of the current house.

During our brief stay in Kanazawa, we visited the Oyama shrine, dedicated to Maeda Toshiie (1538-1599), a distinguished general and founder of the Maeda dynasty that ruled the Kaga (Kanazawa) domain, the richest in Japan, until 1871. In 1824, one of Toshiie’s descendants, Maeda Narinaga, was in financial difficulties and turned to a group of capable retainers to sort out his political and economic problems. The contemporary tourist to Kanazawa can visit the few rooms and garden that remain of the former home of one of the most capable of those capable retainers, the samurai Kurando Terashima (1777-1837). Kurando’s life seems to fit the proverb of the hammered nail.

Kurando's garden.

 

The house includes a small display of artefacts that belonged to Kurando, all labelled in Japanese. The non-Japanese visitor is invited to use a QR code to discover more about the objects, but the resulting web pages are not very informative. Fortunately, when we asked questions at the ticket window a helpful lady with good English emerged. Kurando, we discovered with her help, was quite a Renaissance man. His household included bodyguards who protected him from intruders and the house museum displays his samurai sword, so he must have ben a warrior in dangerous times. He was also a hunter – the small selection of his possessions in the house includes a lacquer picnic set, a carrying case for sake, a hunting hat, and his whip and stirrups for riding. And he appreciated fine things. He had an elegant garden designed for his house. He was a patron of a musician for whom he built a small room with a ceiling designed to give the space good acoustics for playing the koto or Japanese harp. And he was an artist: the display includes two artist’s manuals (one for drawing rocks, another for depicting people) and two of his scroll paintings, one of a peony, another of a peony in a mountain landscape with a flying bird. The peony was his emblem: his metal stirrups are elegantly painted with the flower.

Kurando's painting of a peony.

 

 

 

Kurando's painting of a peony, mountain and bird.

 

Kurando reformed the tax collection of the Kaga domain to increase his lord’s revenue (which, unsurprisingly, does not seem to have made him a popular figure). However, after Maeda Narinaga died in 1824, new retainers took over. Kurando opposed the newcomers who in 1837 in 1837 exiled him to Notokima Island, where he died, as we were informed by a leaflet given to us at the house , “having lived a life full of ups and downs.” From exile he wrote to his family (the letter is on display) exhorting them to remain loyal to their lord.

Kurando's commander's "flag", used to enable troops to identify their general in battle.

 

Although he died in exile, in 1883 “his honor was restored” (the leaflet again) and the Maeda family “presented a ritual donation and a waka poem in memory of Kurando’s achievements.” Kurando was, it seems, a man who did not seek popularity, but hoped for recognition for his achievements. Alas, his life proves that good men (and women) do not always receive the rewards that their accomplishments deserve. In Kurando’s case, his nail was well and truly hammered down.

Kurando's stirrups.

 

Footnote: following on from a previous discussion of odd Japanese English, here is a notice from one of our cultural visits: “Please change your shoes into slippers.” It was a rainy day, so fortunately, our shoes refused to become slippers.