#ishikiri

‘22.12.29 石切神社にて

今日からお正月休み。今年は一応喪中なので年明け前にいつもの石切さんへ。人出はそれなりにありますが、境内も参道も大晦日へ向けて準備中といった感じで、閉まっているお店もちらほらありました。

Sketches of Ishikirimaru and an arrow from Ishikiri Tsurugiya shrine. Pencils were done on-site; watercolours and light pen done from memory/scribbly notes when we got back to our hostel late at night. No photos are permitted of the exhibits, so I asked if I could draw pictures. I didn’t expect much, but to my surprise I was kindly taken around by two miko and given the okay 👌(actual “OK” hand gesture from the kannushi/shinshoku/priest). The security guard watching me crouching around the case said this was the first time he’d ever seen anybody do this 😂 I’m not surprised because there’s no way any good art can come out of being hunched down in a darkened room squinting at a blade vertically mounted in a glass… But for me, the point is not so much about getting an accurate drawing as it is a way of making me really observe - really look closely at the artifact, and have an experience that takes full advantage of being in the room with the real thing.

For example, a few things I noticed that never registered before from the photos/scans I’ve seen: the etched texture on its gold mount at the tang and the gold that fills two of its three rivet holes. Also being able to look at the sword head-on from the business edge of the blade (an angle you will practically never see in photos - but you sure would if you were about to be cut down by it!). It would have been nice to draw all the swords in the exhibit, but I didn’t want to be a nuisance or waste other people’s time. Also this approach would not work with all the swords exhibited - some of them were lit in such a way that they were almost impossible to stare at for long periods of time.

I also sketched an arrow from the main (free) exhibit! (For Touken Ranbu fans - Kogitsunemaru and the Kogarasumaru replica were in that section.) Thanks @atorier and Zanazac for helping me to decipher some of the info on the arrow, though there was very little context about the actual artifact 😂 Most of it was about its construction or how it got misplaced.

A really wonderful experience - I’m so appreciative of the shrine staff and to my friends for making this possible!

‘22.1.9 石切参道商店街、石切神社にて

駅から参道の商店街を下っていくと、神社のそばあたりで道幅がきゅっと狭くなります。当然人の密度も上がるのですが、お店の活気や人の往来をぎゅっと感じながら歩くと子供の頃からの記憶にある、この界隈での正月感が思い出されてきます。

さて、神社に着きました。とりあえずは本殿でお参り。

‘22.1.9 石切参道商店街にて

‘22.1.9 石切神社にて

早速続編💦。新年感がまだあるうちにまとめて出す作戦にしました。すでに前の投稿に嬉しいレスをいくつもいただいておりますが、お返事遅れてスミマセン･･。