Matsukin
Store

Nishikie of Edo firefighters

We are selling original pictures and prints of nishiki-e (brocade pictures) on the theme of "Memories of the Edo Firefighters" by Chikashi Okada, an Edo-style firefighter nishiki-e artist. We also offer a service to write your favorite words, name, or company name on them. This is a great gift for your loved ones.

• "Omotenashi Selection 2022" Award
• Tokyo Weekender published

Who were Edo Firefighters?

In the Edo period, tobis(=construction workers who work at heights) took on the main role in firefighting activites. They were divided by  area into brigades called “kumi”or”gumi,” and each brigade was assigned a letter of the traditional Japanese alphabet as its name. When engaging in firefighting activities, each brigade carried and raised its own distinctive “matoi(=decorative maker pole),” The hantens that these firefighters wore bore their brigade names and the motifs of their matoi. There were many rankas within each brigade, such as, from top. Kumigasira(=brigade leader), fuku-kumigashira, kogashira, tsutsusaki, dogumochi and wakaishu. Those belonging to the rank of kogashira or above were collectively known as todori. Hantens differed according to rank. Presently, firefighting activites are carried out by the Fire Department, but at festivals held in Nihonbasi, you can still observe the traditional firefighting customs that have been handed down by the tobis and encounter tobis gallantly clad in hantens.

Goshuin-cho

Goshuin-cho is a book for collection of stamps given at a shrine or a temple. It is different from an ordinary memorial stamp because they are placed by the staff of shrine or priests.
It boars a vermilion stamp over which the name of the shrine or temple is written with a brush and ink, and then the date of the visit is also written on it.
They are called "Shuin".
Collecting Shuin has been getting more popular overseas people.