A little more on the Chochin...
JAPANESE LANTERNS
The chochin, the Japanese paper lantern, with its tasteful daintiness, its defenceless frailty, contrasts interestingly with the solid utilitarianism of the western metal-framed lantern. This child of the Japanese mode of living and Japanese taste plays a popular role in their everyday life. Not to speak of the Japanese All-souls' Day, which is sometimes called the lantern festival, on occasions of various court ceremonies, of flower-viewing parties or of parades demonstrative of joy or some public events, this paper lantern is an indispensable requisite.
A chochin is now made of ribs of split bamboo shaved to an extreme thinness. Gowa, or lantern paper, covers this frame; the paper is strengthened with oil. The top and bottom are usually made of chipped wood, and the bottom piece has a metal stick in the center to hold a candle. It is mostly globular or cylindrical in shape, and collapsible as it is pleated along the ribs.
The origin of the chochin is not definitely known. The first lantern is supposed to have been imported from China; it was made of the headbone of a fish. The paper lantern, however, was invented by the Japanese. In a story narrated in the romance Akinoyomonogatari, the "Autumn-nights' Tales," is recorded the fact that a lantern made of a skeleton head of a fish was used in the reign of Emperor Gohirikawa (1222-1232). It was called "Gyono-no-chochin" and is presumed to have come from China. This was made of the headbone of aouo, a blue-colored fish resembling a carp. This headbone was made semi-transparent by boiling to obtain the framework of a lantern. In the story above mentioned, the lover lighted his path by the pale light from fireflies collected in this translucent fish lantern.
Down to the middle of the Ashikaga period (about the beginning of the Fifteenth Century) the chochin was not in common use. The an don, a paper-covered lightstand, and the torch were the providers of light for the populace. During the Temmon period (Sixteenth Century) the kago-jochin, the basket lantern, made its appearance. The usual size was about two feet high, and a half a foot in diameter, and it was cylindrical in shape. In the center of the bottom case was fixed a bamboo piece, which fitted into the socket at the lower end of a candle. Candles in those days were made of resin exuded from the pine-tree.
The collapsible paper lantern appeared first in the Tensho era, late in the same century. In the time of Taiko Hideyoshi, the hakojochin, the box-lantern, was used among aristocratic people. The top and bottom case were made of rattan braidwork. Those made of chipped wood appeared during the Keicho era (1596-1614). Then the brilliant era of Genroku greatly fostered the development in the direction of artistic craftsmanship of articles in daily use. Following the aesthetic demands of luxurious aristocratic families and rich people, lantern-makers vied with one another to produce lovelier lanterns. The result was the attainment of great excellence in the manufacture of lanterns, as attested by specimens handed down to us.
Among some of the curiosities of chochin still in use, the most interesting is perhaps the fugu-jochin, the swell-fish lantern. It preserves ingeniously enough the very form of the fish when swollen to its full extent. For a summer night's amusement, boys and girls, like children in America at Hallowe'en, often make a grotesque lantern of a watermelon, hollowing out its contents. This method is often applied to a mad-apple or other smaller melons. The dainty bonbori, though it rather belongs to the family of light-stands, is a charming illuminant indispensable in beautifying Doll Festivals.
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