Shuichi Murata

村田修一

むらた　しゅういち

Lantern Characters and Jiguchi Illustrations

Lantern lettering is the art of writing characters on lanterns. By the late Edo period, lantern shops specializing in lettering were confirmed to exist. The tracing brush technique used by these shops, along with the double-hook and cage-character techniques, also emerged around this time.
During the Edo period, lanterns were widely used as portable lighting devices. They were decorated with characters, family crests, and divine emblems for ceremonies like weddings and funerals, festivals, and also served as shop signs. Even today, they are used not only for ceremonies like festivals and funerals but also for shop signs and other purposes.

Jiguchi-e are caricatures based on “jiguchi” – puns on proverbs and sayings. By the late Edo period, it became customary to decorate lanterns with jiguchi-e during the Hatsuuma festival at Inari shrines.
The custom of displaying jiguchi-andōn lanterns at festivals and shop eaves persists today, with lantern lettering artisans within the ward continuing this tradition.

About the Craftsman

Mr. Murata is the third-generation head of “Namida Bridge Oshimaya,” a business continuing since the Taisho era, following his grandfather, Mr. Yozo, and his father, Mr. Kinichi (deceased, former holder of the ward’s registered intangible cultural property). He began training under his father in 1973 and inherited the craft.
He primarily creates lanterns for local festivals, as well as lanterns, traditional Japanese umbrellas, and calligraphy for Kabuki props.
He also studied under kite painter Imai Tetsuzo, mastering kite painting and jikuchi-e (traditional Japanese humorous paintings). He creates the jikuchi-e paintings for the jikuchi-e lanterns displayed at the Hatsuuma Festival at Senzoku Inari Shrine (Taito Ward) every February. He is known by the jikuchi-e name “Zuiryu”.
He currently runs the workshop alongside his successor, the fourth-generation Kenichiro (a graduate of the Arakawa Ward Craftsman Training Program).