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what's the green thing?

Goldiegirl

先輩
10 Aug 2006
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What is that green thing by Japan Reference? I am sure it's something but I really can't tell what it is. Is it cut bamboo? on a tray? a hat? Anyone know?
😊😌
 
It looks like a little bamboo hut to me, but I can't tell.

Sorry. :(

-Doc 🙂
 
I thought it might be bamboo too, but what does it symbolize? No need to be sorry, I just can't stop looking at it now. It's a mystery! :)
 
It looks to me like a little bamboo hut with big bamboo pipes sticking out of it.

Just a question; does anyone know how long it has been there?
 
I think it showed up after Christmas, and I am sure I saw it last year. Why would a bamboo hut need so many pipes sticking out the top? Are they chimneys? Someone's gotta know the answer!!
 
Just a guess ?

I have seen a similer object on TV shows about Japanese swords. It is a tall pole type set up with bamboo rods for testing a swords cutting ability. Not positive that's what it is, but it sure looks like it was cut at an angle with something. If you Google "tameshigiri" you can find pictures of sword testing. Usually they use rolled tatami mats (goza/tatami omote). I guess bamboo poles are used, but it says only the best experts should try to cut hard objects. It says in the old days , they tested blades on cadavers to see how well they cut and even on live condemed criminals. I guess a good sword could cut with 1 slice from the shoulder down through the body and come out the hip. Probably turn out the picture we are talking about is of a garden decoration, LOL.

Uncle Frank

 
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Yeah it sure does look like bamboo cut on an angle. So far we know it's green, most likely bamboo that has been cut on an angle with a sword, not a hut and not chimney. Ok, well we are getting closer to the answer. When I first saw it I thought it was a hat for St. Patrick's Day, but then I thought why would that be on JREF? Actually now that I have spent so much time looking at it, I think it resembles the Emerald City of the Wizard of Oz! :)
 
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Ah, I see where you are coming from there! When I think about it it does look like that.
My dojo used them until somebody cut too hard through it and nearly hit another kendoka.
(Kendo, but to practice accuracy we often had to cut things until now.)

One thing. WHY IS IT THERE NOW. WHAT RELATION DOES IT HAVE TO CHRISTMAS AND/OR 2008?
 
I barely noticed it just today (or maybe yesterday?). Now that you mention it, it does look like bamboo sticks at the top, and maybe the rest of it is a broom or something with the bamboo shredded and the ring to hold it together? Yes, this is a mystery! What is it???
 
This is a New Year's decoration item. It is often put near entrances to public buildings. I would have to ask to get the know the intended meaning behind it, however. We also find pine tree branches and that special paper for the paper covered sliding doors cut out and folded in a special way too. The cut bamboo is usually sitting in a bucket of sorts, and has some greenry or 'moss' effect stuff around it at base (or top of the bucket holder)

New Year 'offically' lasts until the seventh of January, so after that, the stores and buildings will remove it...if not even, earlier. So that's what it is; simply New Year's decor.
 
So it's a New Year's decoration...Thank-you Mars Man! The mystery is solved. Although I would love to know what it is supposed to symbolize.
 
If no one beats me to it (Mikawa Ossan, for example...he's much better at these kinds of things than I am...though I've been here somewhat longer) I'll get back with that tonight.
 
I bet we could have a great new thread !

We post pictures of everyday things in Japan and try to guess what they are. It would be a neat way to learn little details about Japanese things us gaijins never get to see.

Uncle Frank

PS - I should have remembered the saying "Keep it simple". I turn a holiday decoration into a sword testing device, LOL.

😊
 
It's called Kadomatsu!

This is what I found on Wikipedia about it.
A kadomatsu (窶禿・ツ渉シ? lit. "gate pine") is a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes supposedly to welcome ancestral spirits or kami of the harvest. They are placed after Christmas until January 7 (or January 15 during the Edo period) and are considered temporary housing for kami. Designs for kadomatsu vary depending on region but are typically made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes ume tree sprigs which represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively.

Construction and placement

The central portion of the Kadomatsu is formed from three large bamboo shoots, though plastic kadomatsu are available. Similar to several traditions of ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement), the shoots are set at different heights and represent heaven, humanity, and earth with heaven being the highest and earth being the lowest. Some Kadomatsu places the humanity and earth shoots at the same height. After binding all the elements of the Kadomatsu it is bound with a straw mat and newly woven straw rope. Kadomatsu are placed in pairs on either side of the gate, representing male and female.

source
 
I like your idea Uncle Frank! And thanks to Dutch Baka for the final answer to the mystery green things meaning. I think I will have to make kadomatsu for my house next New Year.
 
We post pictures of everyday things in Japan and try to guess what they are. It would be a neat way to learn little details about Japanese things us gaijins never get to see.
Uncle Frank

That's a good idea, Uncle Frank! It would be fun to try to guess things like that. Maybe we could do some from other countries, too.

...the shoots are set at different heights and represent heaven, humanity, and earth with heaven being the highest and earth being the lowest..... Kadomatsu are placed in pairs on either side of the gate, representing male and female.

Very interesting!
 
We post pictures of everyday things in Japan and try to guess what they are. It would be a neat way to learn little details about Japanese things us gaijins never get to see.
Uncle Frank
PS - I should have remembered the saying "Keep it simple". I turn a holiday decoration into a sword testing device, LOL.
😊


LOL I was thinking the same thing Uncle Frank!

Maybe it can be both for next year! Just call me THE-SUPER-HAPPY-NEW-YEAR-MEGA-BAMBOO-HOLIDAY-SAMURAI! Okay, maybe it shouldn't be one word. :p
 
Kadomatsu, aha, thanks for the info
I just figured out that I have three relatively large bamboo sticks of different length with the appropriate cut left from an ikebana session. So I could make one for next year myself, ha! ;-)

And the picture idea is great!!

I hope I don't miss the thread then, please inform me!
 
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