The Centipede in the Box

The "Century Akao Collection," inherited by the Keio Museum Commons (KeMCo) from the Century Museum, includes many fubako (letter boxes). A fubako is a long, narrow box with a lid used to store letters or written petitions. In the "Wakana: Part I" chapter of The Tale of Genji, an expensive "fubako of aloeswood" appears, used to seal a petition. In the early modern period, letter boxes of various shapes were produced as containers for letters, tanzaku (poetry slips), and writing paper, and were even included in the wedding dowries of daimyo. The letter boxes in the Century Akao Collection are extremely brilliant, featuring maki-e lacquerwork with motifs of seasonal nature, ranging from plum, cherry, chrysanthemum, and autumn leaves to hydrangea, silver grass, ivy, palm, birds, and butterflies. Among these, the "Letter box with dragon in clouds and centipede in maki-e" is a unique work.

The lid is decorated with a stylized dragon-in-clouds pattern. The dragon ascending to heaven on a cloud is a motif that originally developed in China and was used on clothing as a symbol of the emperor. When you remove the lid and look into the bottom of the box, a large centipede, about the size of a palm, is lurking there. It is not clear why a centipede was placed in a letter box, but the combination of a centipede and a dragon brings to mind the tale of the giant centipede extermination in the Otogi-zoshi "Tawara no Tota Hidesato Monogatari." In this story, a giant serpent (a dragon god) living at the Seta Bridge in Omi Province asks Tawara no Tota Hidesato to exterminate its arch-enemy, the centipede, which is depicted as a terrifying monster. On the other hand, since the Kamakura period, the centipede has also been believed to be a messenger of Bishamonten, protecting warriors and bestowing fortune upon people. It is said that the messengers of Takeda Shingen (1521-73) carried sashimono (battlefield banners) with centipede patterns into battle.

This work, which has a very eccentric design for a letter box, is on display at the KeMCo New Year Exhibition 2024: "The Dragon's Vacant Lot." This exhibition brings together Keio University collections featuring dragon motifs, ranging from letters by Takeda Katsuyori (1546-82), who succeeded Shingen, to medieval Western manuscripts, mysterious animal bones, and Japanese games. Please visit and see the centipede peering up at the sky from the bottom of the box.

(Yu Homma, Senior Lecturer, Keio Museum Commons)