Hajime-Komainu – はじめ狛犬 – [Yokai|Artifact]

Description

Hajime-Komainu – はじめ狛犬 – [Yokai|Artifact]

• About: The earliest komainu in Japan, which where inspired by china’s Imperial guard liondogs (aka Shishi or ‘foo dogs’) that where crafted by stone masons some 200-300+ years ago. (During the Nara period to Early mid Edo period) Although many nobles already had standardized, regal looking Koma-inu guarding their castles; these where made by and for the common folks & shrines, largely without any photographic or drawn reference. no phones, cameras or way for your average person to show the masons what in the world a ‘Koma Inu’ actually looked like, Other than a vague description or the masons memories. So, a lot of masons used what they had readily available: Rumors of what they looked like and/or their imaginations.

Results are often a square or flat-faced-dog-like creature which is shaped a bit like a frog, but naturally, there’s a large variety of faces & expressions that range from a bit scary to down right silly! – Try googling ’em sometime “はじめ狛犬“ – [you can also find a nice collection of them at komainu.net] – Regardless, they’re all very charming.

Incidentally, among enthusiasts, a common slang & nick name for this type of komainu is “Hajime-chan” said with much affection indeed.

Much like Komainu, Shisa, Niō and other ‘guardian statues’ like them, the face with the mouth open is called A-gyō (阿形) “Ah” , representing Yang, life and beginnings. – The one with a closed mouth is called Ungyō (吽形) “Un” representing Yin, death and the end. – Together these represent the Japanese-Buddhist “Om” (阿吽) – A syllable which symbolizes the beginning, middle, and end of all things. (its Sanskrit in origin, often used in meditative chants the world over.) Statues that are paired like this are said to be in an “A-Un” relationship’ “阿吽の仲” (or “a-un no naka”)) Others argue that the one on the left is male, the right is female, the left one  has their mouths open to scare away evil and the other one have their mouths shut to welcome in good. (Though as usual, there’s some debate weather that’s true in this case at all. No telling how good these guys are at keeping evil spirits away or not! But considering that several shrines still proudly have them on display after all this time, they must do a decent job!! Mine was inspired by the pair found at Tenmangu Shrine in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. i adore their expressions, when side by side they feel like an arguing couple.)

Ungyō (吽形) with her mouth closed, shes inviting good spirits in.

[The pair found at Tenmangu Shrine in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture.]

Well…Anyway, People kept asking me to draw a koma inu for years now, so here you go! 😀 (Obviously I’ll do a ‘serious pair’ of Koma-inu & and probably a Shisa soon too to match, if i’m up for it i’ll do some proper Myobu Kitsune as well lol. – I was also asked to draw a lion dancer mask by our local lion dancer at nikkei fest a couple months back! So, thats why i’m down this rabbit hole now. – more comin’ up! )

See also: ShiShi, Koma inu, Shisha, Otoroshi

[art stickers by samkalensky part of my Yokai collection of stickers follow and support for many more! [PS: this ones a buy one get two special <3]