jiku 
KEY WORD : art history / paintings, architecture / tea houses
 
1 A roller used for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 or hand scroll. After being rolled the scrolls can be stored in piles, one on top of another. Can also refer to just the attachments at either end of the roller. The word jikugi 軸木 specifically refers to the part of the roller that the end or bottom of the scroll is wound around. The jikugi, generally made of cryptomeria wood in Japan, is not visible when the scroll is viewed from the front. The word jikusaki 軸先 is another term for the attachments at the two visible ends of the roller. Jikusaki, however, can mean specifically the jiku, or the end attachment next to the *gedai 外題, a strip attached to the upper back of the mounting to identify the mounted painting or calligraphy. The other end in this case will be called jikumoto 軸元. Materials such as elephant ivory, rosewood, horn, bamboo, lacquerware, tsuishu 堆朱 (elaborately coated red lacquerware with relief patterns), metal, quartz and porcelain are used for the end attachments. In recent years, plastic has also come to be used for these pieces. The jiku also come in a variety of shapes, each type with a name ; sugujiku すぐ軸, bachijiku ばち軸, uzujiku うず軸. The thickness of the jiku and jikugi are adjusted according to the width of the hanging scroll. Jikutasuke 軸助 is a piece of paper affixed to the back of the bottom roller to support it. There are times when this piece of paper is also employed for the upper rod *hassou 発装, but it is usually used only on the jiku.

2 A term for hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. This way of mounting paintings and calligraphy was brought from China, where kakemono or kakejiku 掛軸, as they are also called, were only one of many forms called jiku.

3 The counter for hanging scrolls and horizontal scrolls *kansubon 巻子本.

4 Calligraphic works or paintings mounted on hanging scrolls hung on special nails *jikukakekugi 軸掛釘, in the alcove *tokonoma 床の間, of a tea ceremony room *chashitsu 茶室. There are scroll holders on each side of the bottom of the scroll to keep the piece from moving and to make it easy to open when it is hung. Calligraphic ink inscriptions *bokuseki 墨跡, rendered by Zen priests, are often displayed.

 
 

 
REFERENCES:
 
EXTERNAL LINKS: 
  
NOTES
 

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。