“Rescued” antique paper doors

Three paper doors and antique documents hidden inside them, which were found out in the tea house last March were “rescued” by the municipal government, that is, we passed over them to the expert of the local authority for temporary repair and decipherment.

“RESCUE” OF CULTURAL PROPERTIES

In a more common word, “salvage” of cultural properties. 

Maybe experts have used the word “rescue” since long before, but it’s more widely known after the Great East Japan earthquake on March 11, 2011. Precious local cultural properties in the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as a mandatory evacuation due to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, were in urgent need of salvage: temporary safekeeping and expeditious restoration.

Such salvage activities are implemented not only in Japan, and the wording “rescue” (settled down in Japan as a loan word) may sound a bit unnatural. But I still like the collocation. Since usually the word “rescue” is associated with human beings or animals, I have the impression that it’s like personifying cultural properties and so conveys respect and affection toward them.

By the way, the reports on the salvage campaign after the Great East Japan earthquake are available on the website of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties: https://www.tobunken.go.jp/english/rescue/index.html

COVID-19 AND TRAVEL

I wanted to visit Yoshino this April or May, but it was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19. Japan was under the state of emergency from April 7 to May 25, and has been on alert even after lifting the SOE.

Of course, it’s better to wait for the virus to go away. The village is dominated by elderly persons, vulnerable to the virus, whereas I live in Tokyo, where COVID-19 is most prevalent in Japan. However,  the deterioration of the houses goes on, and the end of the COVID-19 pandemic seems a long way off. So I decided to go there cautiously: with a facial mask, keeping social distancing, and going straight back home. The weekend Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, a cash-cow route, was quiet, and a lot of seats remain unoccupied. The Kyoto station was crowded anyway, but if this were an ordinary time, it would be packed full of tourists.

THE RESCUE OF PAPER DOORS

The weather in Yoshino was clear and sunny. Mr. Matsuda, an expert/official of the town, was accompanied by two members of the Oyodo study group for paleography: Mr. Ishikawa and Mr. Nakai. The study group operates on a pro bono basis, but I see they have rich expertise as soon as facing the worn-looking antique documents.

As Mr. Matsuda did, they guessed when these documents had been issued by names of places, which had been changed frequently during that period. The members have common knowledge on the names of individual villages and individual names of residents, and discussed with gusto where was it and who that person was. This can be possible only among community-based researchers (if not professional).

As a preliminary analysis, most documents were issued 140-150 years ago for business purposes. Some are IOU, others are administrative documents to get permission from the authority for certain specific businesses in exchange for some fee. Then, after the documents become invalid or old enough, probably someone bought and reused them to reinforce the paper doors.  

There is a theory that the literacy rate in provinces was low, but interestingly, commoners 150 years ago run their business in the same way as we do today. According to their words, the first public school in the town was established in 1873, and that was relatively earlier than other in areas. In addition, sufficient education was provided during the Edo period (-1867) by small private schools at temples (Terako-ya). Thanks to the Okita family, a local prominent lineage at that time, the cultural level of the area was apparently high.  

Thus, they roughly checked the documents, then packed up the paper doors and documents, and carried them out. Later they’ll read and decipher them more carefully as an activity of the study group. Thankfully enough, at no expense to me.

FINDINGS AND FUTURE OUTLOOK

Then Mr. Matsuda briefly reported what he found and what to do next as a follow-up.

Findings:

1)     The paper doors are supposedly one of the original interiors, and the antique documents, which were stuffed in them, are cast-off documents issued roughly between 1876 and 1882 in neighboring villages.

2)     Hence, the paper doors are estimated to be created approximately between 1882 and 1901, that is, from his advancement to the political world (prefectural assembly member since 1881; House of Representatives (National Diet) member since 1894) to his death. To be more specific, probably somewhere between 1887 and 1892.

3)     As for the tea house, Japanese umbrella pine is used as its post materials, instead of Japanese cedar or Japanese cypress (white cedar), typical materials for conventional homes of the time.

Possible Treatments:   

Out of three paper doors,

1)     As for a severely damaged one, from which the contained documents were flaked off (we discovered the antique documents thanks to that, though.), the surface will be cleaned up and repaired, and the backside will be split up to get other antique documents. The list of documents and what is written in them can be reported hopefully by August.  

2) The other two, with less damage, will be cleaned up and repaired so that we can use them again someday.

The Way Forward:

As the tea house was selected as an Oyodo Legacy site, I can apply for some financial support for the preservation and utilization of the legacy. Each application should be submitted through the head of a village within the town, and if successful, 50% of the total expense, up to 100,000JPY (approximately 950USD) will be covered by the town on a competitive basis. Therefore Mr. Matsuda suggested meeting and discuss with the head of the village by this Autumn, in time for the deadline of application. I hope the COVID-19 will go away before that.