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YATATE: Artistry • Craftsmanship • Utility: The Japanese Pre-modern Portable Writing Implement

Robert DeMaria

YATATE: Artistry • Craftsmanship • Utility: The Japanese Pre-modern Portable Writing Implement

The yatate is the Japanese pre-modern portable writing instrument in wide use in Japan from about the late thirteenth century to the early twentieth century. The yatate belongs to the unique Japanese category of items called sagemono, a catch-all word for items that hang from the obi. Over the centuries, as Japan moved toward unity and a distinctive national identity, the yatate remained intertwined with the country's development of its singular culture, traditions and language. The yatate became essential to everyday life and used by warriors, pilgrims, merchants, poets and anyone needing to write on the road. Throughout the centuries the yatate adapted as new styles, fads and preferences ebbed and flowed.

The Japanese personalized the yatate to depict an owner's interest, profession or hobby. Numerous carving and inlay techniques were used along with various lacquer finishes. These techniques produced a prized creative, distinctive and utilitarian writing instrument.

Highlights:
  • Hardcover, 225 pages
  • 329 full color images of yatate accompanied by explanatory and descriptive captions
  • Diverse carving techniques, lacquer and other finishes and materials are illustrated throughout the book
  • Extensive Glossary of terms in English with corresponding Japanese and kanji
  • Signed yatate by craftsmen such as Zeshin, Kyuhaku Koma, Ogawa Haritsu (Ritsuo), Shibayama, Noh mask maker Deme Uman and others
  • Separate craftsmen biographies and signature sections with signatures cross-referenced to yatate images.
    Price: $65.00
    Date Published: July 30, 2020
    ISBN: 9780578577210
    Author: Robert DeMaria
    Part Number: V4081809613-01
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