Question about a Japanese symbol/icon

[hogg]

I've seen tattoos of various Japanese lucky charms, like Uchide-no Kozuchi (the lucky mallet or Uchide's hammer, seen here in a tattoo by Benjamin Sacks):

You often see Daikokuten holding that hammer. I've also seen a wish-granting jewel called a houju or houshu, like these:

My question is: does anyone here know of a similar charm of a drum? I have no idea what it's called, so I can't search for it. Maybe @taaaro san can help. Thanks!

[SnowyPlover]

Maybe a tsuzumi or kotsuzumi, it's a hand drum; I only know this one as it's common on kimono and obi. The charms are called takara or takara-zukushi (treasures).

The link is about takara (although no mention of the drum)

http://irebokuro.tumblr.com/post/23030936702/takarazakushi

[hogg]

Ha! I read that tumblr post earlier today. I thought I'd found my answer, but alas, no drum. I was looking into tsuzumi earlier, too, but didn't find what I was looking for. Thanks, though!

[taaarro]

I don't think so. I just looked in the "World of Japanese Tattooing--color illustrated" (1973) and didn't see anything like it. I also did a quick google search in Japanese and no explanation of the jewels included a drum. Closest I saw was kotsuzmi or raijin's drum.

[irezumi]

Japanese Art Motives - Maude Rex Allen - Google Books

Start at page 151; I see a thorough list and translation of the treasures but nothing about a drum.

Good book by the way; the Chinese art motives/symbols book is also crucial.

[Cork]

I'm stumped. I tried to look up and see if the drums that Raijin beats on had any sort of significance. At a high level search, it seems they are not significant except for the tomoe symbol. I haven't seen drums anywhere else other than those little charm dangle ones, and I doubt that's what you're looking for. See image below.

[hogg]

@taaarro and @irezumi, thanks! I'll let you know if I find anything else.

[Graeme]

@hogg I don't know if this is what you're looking for because it seems to be Tibetan/Indian in origin and not Japanese, and I don't know the symbolic connotations of it, but maybe a damaru?

[hogg]

@hogg I don't know if this is what you're looking for because it seems to be Tibetan/Indian in origin and not Japanese, and I don't know the symbolic connotations of it, but maybe a damaru?

Is it invisible? ;) Because I don't see anything.

[Graeme]

Is it invisible? ;) Because I don't see anything.

Do they not have Google in the Bay Area because I swear that I read somewhere that they do.

Something like this:

[hogg]

Haha, I thought you meant to attach an image. Now that I see it, it's super cool. Honestly, this whole search came about because I talked to a Japanese tattooer on the phone about maybe getting a money mallet, and he said, "I think the drum is cooler." I thought I knew what he meant, but I obviously didn't. I still think the hammer's cool, though.

[Graeme]

Haha, I thought you meant to attach an image. Now that I see it, it's super cool. Honestly, this whole search came about because I talked to a Japanese tattooer on the phone about maybe getting a money mallet, and he said, "I think the drum is cooler." I thought I knew what he meant, but I obviously didn't. I still think the hammer's cool, though.

Haha, no. I was looking through a book of Buddhist iconography and that was the only thing they had for drum. The book unfortunately doesn't have any pictures of the drums, thus Google. Still pretty cool though.

[Cork]

Money mallet, oh man that is way cooler than Uchide no kazuchi.

[hogg]

Money mallet, oh man that is way cooler than Uchide no kazuchi.

Credit goes to @irezumi for that one.

[Graeme]

If I may resurrect this thread I was wondering if anybody had information about this tattoo:

These are taken from the Perseverance catalog, the back is by Shige and the front is from Horitomo, and they depict skeletons dancing with fans. I love the imagery, but I was wondering if anybody had an idea of what story it is referring to? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Dennis]

@Graeme

They almost look like something out of Tibetan Mythology rather than Japanese.

"In the sacred Tibetan Skeleton dance two Dharmapalas (Protectors of Truth) appear, played by Monks, deities whose role is to protect the cemetery grounds. Their presence also reminds the audience of the ephemeral nature of this world and of their own mortality."

I know in Japanese mythology there is Gashadokuro, who are giant skeleton who bite the heads off of people and drink the blood.

Maybe it's an amalgamation of the two ideas? Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about! Either way, they are great tattoos!

[tatB]

@Graeme I don't know if it is the same but rubendall did a back piece with similar dancing skeletons. Try googling "citipati".

[Lance]

@Graeme, I suspect the tattoo Horitomo did is a depiction of the priest, Ikkyu. Not exclusive to only Kyosai, but he has an image or 2 depicting dancing skeletons with Priest Ikkyu and the Hell Courtesan, Jigoku Daiyu. I'm not positive it's the same client as I've only seen the pieces seperately, but I think it's a bodysuit with Ikkyu on the front and Jigoku Daiyu on his back. It makes cohesive sense and both are black/grey so I'm rationalizing it is the same Client.

Couldn't figure out how to attach the image directly from my phone, but here's a link that shows an image. Third image down.

http://kiritz.jp/2012/08/kawanabe-kyosai/

That said, I'm not sure if Shige's back piece is tied to any story or idea in particular.

[Graeme]

@Dennis @BrianH @Lance Thank you, that is exactly the sort of information I'm looking for.

[KVipers]

@Graeme I don't know if it is the same but rubendall did a back piece with similar dancing skeletons. Try googling "citipati".

This was the first thing that came to my mind. It is an awesome piece!

[KVipers]

Tapatalk wouldn't let me add the image to my last post but here is said Rubendall back piece that he posted on his Instagram awhile ago.

[Dennis]

Yeah that Rubendall piece is definitely tibetan inspired! The skulls are adorned with smaller skulls, just like real Tibetan necromancer masks!

[Kai Eirik Espedal]

I have been obsessing over Citipati skulls lately. Somehow they seem impossible to find when using that search word. I came to think of them when I saw the last two episodes of "On the shoulders of giants" and noticed that Dante Di Massa has a rad couple on his neck. That Rubendall is killer and I know Koeplinger has done some of them.