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Description

Two piece urn, with body (part a) and lid (part b). Made in the form of a palace, in a style called goten-gata zushigame (御殿型厨子甕). The top of the lid has two shachihoko (鯱鉾/鯱), a mythical sea creature with the head of a tiger or dragon, and the body of a fish; between them is a dragon head, with eight dragon heads at the corners. Parts of the inside are glazed brown. The interior is blue and yellow on white. The epitaphs called migachi or miigachi (ミガチ/ミーガチ/銘書) are in Okinawan on the front of the urn and also at the bottom of the lid and the urn.

Cultural Context

funerary urn

History Of Use

Known as jiishigaami or jīshigāmi (ジーシガーミ) in Okinawan and zushigame (厨子甕) in Japanese. Okinawans used to practice shinkuchi/senkotsu (シンクチ/洗骨/ bone-washing) as a form of reburial, and the washed bones were placed in such urns. Historically, the deceased were either left in the open air or placed in a large family tomb during the first period of internment. After several years the family would gather and clean the bones before placing them in jiishigaami (ジーシガーミ). Okinawa (沖縄) was ruled by the Ryūkyū ōkoku (琉球王国/ Ryūkyū kingdom) from 1429 until 1879, when Japan annexed the island. Trade with Japan, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia influenced social practices in Okinawa, but distinct cultures in the archipelago remain vibrant.

Narrative

The epitaph called migachi or miigachi (ミガチ/ミーガチ/銘書) in Okinawan on the front of the urn reads 荒神ノ前カメ (kōjin no mae kame). The epitaphs on the bottom of the lid and urn indicate that it is the urn for the mother of Matayoshi Kama (又吉カマ母), who passed away on the 9th day of March in the lunar calendar (旧三月) in the Japanese year of Meiji 10 (明治十年) and the Chinese year of the 3rd reign year of Guangxu Emperor (光緒三年) during the Qing dynasty, or 1875. The bones were washed (洗骨) on the 14th day of October in the lunar calendar, in 1898, or Meiji 31 (明治三十一年). These epitaphs also read 荒神ノ前カメ (kōjin no mae kame) after the mother of Matayoshi Kama (又吉カマ母). Most of the Okinawan items in the collection at MOA were collected by Wayne Suttles, who was recruited into the US Navy in 1941, soon after he finished his first degree, and was posted to Okinawa as a Naval Japanese language officer. While stationed there, he conducted research related to Okinawa culture and language.