Description
This handpainted bonsai pot by Tosui features a lively fox lantern procession, inspired by Japan’s folklore of the “fox’s wedding.” Blending cultural storytelling with exquisite craftsmanship, this charming pot adds a festive and mystical touch to your shohin bonsai display.
Features:
- Artisan: Tosui (kiln)
- Design: Round shape with a white glaze and intricate hand-carved depiction of ‘The Fox Wedding’ (Kitsune no Yomeri)
- Size: Ideal for small shohin bonsai trees
- Origin: Handcrafted in Japan
Measurements:
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- Outer (diameter x height): 9,0 x 5,5 cm
- Inner (diameter x height): 8,0 x 4,8 cm
Cultural Significance:
While several cultures worldwide view foxes as spirits or supernatural beings, for the Japanese, the fox holds a deeply rooted place in both culture and faith. This connection between the Japanese and foxes dates back to the Yayoi period (around the 10th century BCE – mid-3rd century CE), when Japan began cultivating rice, and foxes were revered as sacred beings that preyed on mice, helping to ensure abundant harvests. Later, during the Heian period (794–1185), a popular Buddhist narrative depicted “mischievous foxes deceiving people and eventually submitting to monks.” This narrative led to beliefs in foxes’ ability to deceive humans, transform them into people, or even cause mental disturbances. By the Edo period (1603-1868), foxes were venerated as gods of commerce, and it became customary to display clay fox figurines as a part of folk beliefs. Japanese folklore is filled with foxes of many personalities, ranging from god-like beings with mystical powers to spirit possessions that lead humans astray.
In Japan, people often say, “Oh, it’s a fox’s wedding!” when it rains while the sun is still shining. This term for a sun shower stems from the idea that such an unlikely combination of sun and rain might be some illusion as if something supernatural is playing a trick. Given the long-held belief in foxes’ mysterious powers, this strange event became known as a “fox’s wedding.”
Another example is the mysterious fox fire. In the mountains or along riverbanks at night, rows of ghostly flames can appear in a line resembling a lantern procession. People imagined this as foxes lighting their way for a wedding, thus calling it a “fox’s wedding.”
Historically, nighttime lantern processions usually marked a bridal procession from a distant village. However, if no nearby wedding was planned, this unexpected procession was attributed to foxes pretending to hold a wedding to deceive humans.
Both sun showers and fox fire have been regarded as supernatural phenomena. While such phenomena might sound ominous, famed poets during the Edo and Meiji eras composed poems on “fox’s weddings,” and in Kochi Prefecture, there was even a children’s song about it. Even today, fox wedding festivals and ceremonies are held across Japan, showing how deeply connected the Japanese are to this theme. These tales highlight those brief, surreal moments when people question if what they are seeing is real. In Japan, such moments blend with faith and culture, creating unique stories like these.
This bonsai pot by Tosui is just the right size for a Shohin bonsai. The procession of foxes carrying lanterns is charming, lively, and festive. Not only a beautiful pot, it’s a meaningful piece that carries a story rooted in Japanese culture and life, is perfect for those seeking a special pot with a cultural tale.
About the Kiln:
The pot’s creator, Tōsui (Tsugao Mizuno), is the current generation of Tōsui, a lineage that has produced many masterpieces from the pre-war to the post-war period. The earlier Tōsui pots were mostly glazed, with paintings by Asai Chazan (Shinano Chazan). Tsugao Mizuno studied ceramic painting under Chazan and trained in pot-making under his father, Ryokujian Tōsui. As an artist who inherited both Tōsui’s pot-making techniques and Chazan’s painting style, he introduced Tōsui painted pots to the world. His distinctive paintings, rich in character, feature landscapes, figures, and birds and flowers based on the Southern School of Chinese painting, as well as series like The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, Four Seasons Landscapes, as well as various pots for bonsai, colored pots, and medium-sized pots, showcasing his versatile talent and prolific output. Due to the limited production of Tōsui painted pots, their popularity has been increasing in recent years.
