Guide to Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) by Photos and Movies

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Name
Dandara
Address
Kawai-machi, Wajima City
Category
Festival
Class
Custom
Designation
Wajima City Intangible Folk Cultural Asset (June 2009)
Comment
Dandara is a type of play-on-words that has been preserved by Wajima lacquerware craftsmen. It is based on haiku and senryû, which have 17 syllables divided into lines of five, seven and five. For example, “Omedetai, kanpaitsuzuku, kanpaitsuzuku kitanoyado” contains homonyms of kanpaitsuzuku, and the former half and latter half of the poem depict different things. The origin of this play dates back to the mid-Edo period, when a peddler of Wajima lacquerware learned about a pun in Edo (former Tokyo), and spread it among the craftsmen. The processes for manufacturing Wajima lacquerware are lengthy, and require painstaking manual labor. Puns were an ideal form of refreshment for the craftsmen, since they could enjoy them without stopping their work. Dandara puns are exhibited on lamp posts along the street from the roadside station Wajima Furatto Homu to the morning market, and are enjoyed by tourists.
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