8/31/2014

furugi old robes

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furugi 古着 old robes, old cloths

The most common robes and cloths of the Edo period
. Kimono, Yukata, Nagajuban and more .

When they got old, they joined the marked for used and second-hand clothes and robes.

furugiya 古着屋 a second-hand clothing store

They belonged to a group if eight recycle businesses in Edo

happinshoo 八品商
. Recycling and Reuse in Edo .
The government kept an eye on them, because sometimes their merchandise was stolen.


. shitateya 仕立屋 / 仕立て屋 tailor, seamstress .
They were also part of the recycle business of old robes.
kogire 古裂れ old pieces of cloth, size did not matter, small pieces were also available.
kamawanu - 構わぬ never mind (the size), became kamawanu 鎌わぬ.

kogireya 古裂れ屋 / 端切れ屋 dealer in old pieces of cloth, ready to be re-sewn.
tsugihagi, tsugi-hagi 継ぎ接ぎ patching and darning was also popular.

for mitaoshiya 見倒し屋 second-hand dealer, see below
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furugi kai 古着買い buyer of old cloths

They were the beginning of the shops dealing with old and used robes. The government kept an eye on them, because sometimes the merchandise was stolen.
Many stores started at Tomizawa-cho 富沢町 close to Nihonbashi.
One of the first known dealers was
Tobisawa Jinnai 鳶沢甚内. He was a samurai of the Odawara clan and became the boss of a thieve's group, after his domaine was abolished. When peace returned to Japan, he settled as a cloth merchant. Soon many followed him and one small quarter was named after him, Tobisawa cho 鳶沢町.

Some buyers even got the old robes from poor people who had died. They had to wait until the funeral was well over, to make sure the dead had reached Paradise and would not come back to claim his robes before they could sell this merchandise.

When the dealers walked through town, there were usually two of them. The beginning of this custom is legend:
Once there was a dealer who became too ill to carry the pole with the merchandise himself, so he had his son follow him to carry the burden. This was well observed and soon imitated by others.

Tomizawachoo 富沢町 Tomizawa Cho district
中央区 Chuo ward.



. Place names of Edo - Introduction .

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furugiya, furugi-ya 古着屋 dealer in old cloths


source : simofuri.com/recycle

Around 1723 there were more than 1180 stores in Edo, most of them members of a special guild 同業組合.
Most kept their merchandise in a shop, others employed peddlers to offer them in a wider area of Edo.
Some sold complete kimono and robes,



others had them taken apart (furugire 古切れ)and sold the material separate.



source : ginjo.fc2web.com
 「柳原土手に並ぶ古着屋」 Yanagiwara Dote  江戸東京博物館蔵

Many shops were along the river Kandagawa from 万世橋 Manseibashi bridge to Asakusabashi bridge,
an area called the 柳原土手 Yanagiwara dote river bank.



. Recycling and Reuse in Edo .

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In Osaka and Kyoto, the shops were called
furuteya, furute-ya 古手屋

They were even the subject of rakugo comic stories, for example "Kanjo Ita 勘定板".
The shop at Sakasuri jinja 大坂船場の坐摩神社 is especially famous.


古手屋喜十 為事覚え by 宇江佐真理 Ueza Mari

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takeuma furugi uri 竹馬古着売り / 竹馬古着屋
selling old cloths hanging on a "bamboo horse" (takeuma) carried over the shoulder



In the year 1629 a certain 家城太郎治 prepared a hanger with four legs from bamboo, like stilts (takeuma 竹馬)
to carry his merchandise of old robes around town. He started from Tokiwabashi 常盤橋.
First the front part of the hanger was high and looked like the head of a horse, with the merchandise covered by a large furoshiki cloth when walking around. Later front and bottom became the same hight, but it was still a "bamboo horse".
The ladies came soon to buy, because his ware was cheap, even if the material was faded or torn.

Other stores at Tomizawa-cho 富沢町 and Tachibana-cho 橘町 soon followed.

The town government soon produced some laws for dealing with
kobutsu shoo 古物商 "dealing with old things" .
古物商 へ売買定法再令

furumono kai 古物買い to buy old things
shoku akindo 職商人(しょくあきんど) they bought old things and repaired them.

in our modern times they are sometimes called
risaikuru shoppu リサイクルショップ recycle shop



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mitaoshiya 見倒し屋 / 見倒屋 second-hand dealer


source : wishpafupafu.blog110.fc2.com

An important recycle business in Edo for used things, including all kobutsu shoo 古物商 dealers in "old things".

mitaosu, mi-taosu 見倒す means to "look down", to underrate, under-value.

The dealers would take a look down at the shoes of the new client to judge his status, then at the things he brought to the shop, and underrate them quite a bit accordingly to make a good deal.
Therefore many Edokko 江戸っ子 "true men of Edo" took great care to have expensive-looking footware.


見倒しは刀を差して鍋をさげ
mitaoshi wa katana o sashite nabe o sage

things get under-valued -
be it a sword
be it a cooking pot


and on his way home

 the mitaoshiya
wears a sword
and dangles a cooking pot



The mitaoshiya could not afford to feel sorry for his clients, even if they brought the valuables and mementos of a deceased family member -
and yet sometimes this happens -

見倒屋ついでに後家も仲人し
mitaoshiya tsuide ni goke mo nakoodo shi

the mitaoshiya
in the course of time finds a husband
for the widow . . .


nakoodo 仲人 is a go-between for a couple.




隠れ岡っ引 見倒し屋鬼助事件控
by 喜安 幸夫 (著), ヤマモト マサアキ (イラスト)

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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

行春や我を見たをす古着買
yuku haru ya ware o mitaosu furugigai

spring departs -
the old clothes buyer
ignores me


. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .
Tr. David Lanoue

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. - Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .

. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .


. Japanese Architecture - cultural keywords used in haiku .

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