{"id":2454,"date":"2014-09-05T12:10:33","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T03:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-09-05\/2454"},"modified":"2014-09-05T12:10:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T03:10:33","slug":"gargoyle-tile-workshop-visit-part-1-factory-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-09-05\/2454","title":{"rendered":"Gargoyle-Tile Workshop Visit Part 1: Factory Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOrnamental Temple Roof Tile<\/span>\nin need of a roof\nat the Minobe Onigawara Workshop (\u7f8e\u6fc3\u9089\u9b3c\u74e6\u5de5\u623f),<\/span> Otsu Japan\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Japanese temples generally have tiled roofs, with ornamental tiles of various sizes and meanings sprinkled liberally throughout. For example, the demon-face tile\nseen the other day on this post<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPeak of a Temple<\/span> Roof<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

In Japanese these ornamental tiles are called onigawara<\/a><\/i> (\u9b3c\n\u74e6) — literally “<\/span>demon tile”<\/span> — though the word is used for any\ncomplex decorative tile, with or without a demon.<\/span> The English<\/span> word\n“<\/span>gargoyle”<\/span> is often used for these; it's not really the right word, but\nit's evocative of the same concept, and I can't<\/span> think of anything\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n

Earlier in the summer I had a fantastic opportunity (more on that later)\nto get a private<\/span> tour of the Minobe family workshop<\/a>, which has been\nentrusted to make these tiles for generations. Subject over the years to\nweather, earthquakes, war, and vandalism, the tiles end up lasting only a\nfew<\/span> hundred years, so much of their current work is recreating and\nreplacing the ornamental tiles that earlier generations of the family had\ncreated for famous Kyoto temples.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 4000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMr. Minobe Shows the Kiln<\/span>\nhis father is the current head of a household<\/span> that's been in business for generations\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStorage Area Above the Kiln<\/span>\nit was hot\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The huge decorative tiles seen above are still called onigawara<\/i>\n(demon tiles), even though they don't have demons or ogres or devils, or\nanything else like that. Here's the detail from the one on the right, of\nwhat looks to me like a phoenix.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMore Storage<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 42mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGarden Gnomes<\/span>\n( sort of )\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 60mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEbisu<\/span>\nthe Japanese god of fishermen, luck, the working man, and children's health<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Side note; “<\/span>Ebisu”<\/span> is the namesake for one of Japan's oldest beers,\narchaically transliterated on the label as “<\/span>Yebisu”<\/span> but pronounced the same. To facilitate<\/span> distribution of this beer, the company made a train<\/span>\nstation<\/a> near the brewery in 1901 and named it after the beer. The Ebisu<\/a> neighborhood\nof Tokyo then grew up around it. So the station<\/span> and the neighborhood are\nnamed after a beer,<\/span> but the beer is named after an ancient deity.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKirin<\/span>\nanother part of mythology<\/a> that lends its name to a Japanese<\/span> beer<\/a>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

In front of the kirin<\/i> is a title<\/span> with a simple<\/span> flower. There were also things\nlike birds and fish, and all had meanings. I might<\/span> be remembering this\nincorrectly, but having a bird<\/span> on your roof (or in your garden) would mean\npeople would flock there in larger numbers, and having a fish<\/span> means that\npeople would return time and again. The point<\/span> is that there's meaning to all of this\nthat goes back centuries; it's not just decoration.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWide Variety of Demon Tiles<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMassive Tile Awaiting the Kiln<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

This workshop is not normally open to the public, but can now be visited as\npart of an\nexclusive tour<\/a> by Tour du Lac Biwa<\/a>\n(“<\/span>Lake Biwa Tours”<\/span>), a new<\/span> company devoted to English-language\noff-the-beaten-path tours in Shiga, near Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n

Prior to them opening their tour business to the public, I attended<\/span> a test<\/span> tour for free, as a\nguinea<\/span> pig. I had a<\/span> great time, and contributed my photos to their cause,\nso you'll see some of my photos (and photos of me) on the\ntour page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

(I've taken a number of their\ntours<\/a> as a test<\/span> guinea pig, but couldn't write about it on my blog\nuntil they started business officially. Now that they<\/span> have, I can start<\/span> to\nwrite about some of the wonderful experiences I had.<\/span>)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDelicate<\/span>\nprior to firing, the drying clay looks quite fragile\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 28mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFreshly Fired<\/span>\nit looks much more substantial\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The huge demon tile above is the one that I whimsically<\/span> labeled as the “<\/span>Japanese Gargoyle of Email Destruction”<\/span> in my\npost about lost email<\/a> the other day:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“<\/span>Japanese Gargoyle of Email Destruction”<\/span><\/span>\nmy whimsical name; I don't know the real name\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It's interesting to compare the eyes on this one to some of the others.\nWith most of these demon-face tiles, the eyes are bulged out like the huge\nawaiting-the-kiln unit above, or like that with deep indentations for the\npupils. But with this<\/span> one right above, the eyes are empty tubes all the way\nin, which means that they'll turn into deep holes of black once mounted.\n(In the photo above, what looks like pupils are really holes in the\nmounting bracket at the back of the tile, which would normally not be lit\nwhen actually mounted. The lining<\/span> up to appear as pupils in this photo was\nquite intentional.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJumble of Old Pieces<\/span>\nthat serve as reference for recreations\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOld and New<\/span>\ncreating a replacement for an old damaged piece\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Mr. Minobe gave a demonstration of how they work, which will become part two of this writeup.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japanese temples generally have tiled roofs, with ornamental tiles of various sizes and meanings sprinkled liberally throughout. For example, the demon-face tile seen the other day on this post:<\/p>

In Japanese these ornamental tiles are called onigawara (\u9b3c \u74e6) -- literally \"demon tile\" -- though the word is used for any complex decorative tile, with or without a demon. The English word \"gargoyle\" is often used for these; it's not really the right word, but it's evocative of the same concept, and I can't think of anything better.<\/p>

Earlier in the summer I had a fantastic opportunity (more on that [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,2,6,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}