Kajikawa and Masayoshi: Gold Lacquer and Metal-Inlaid Seven-Case Inro

The seven-case inro of upright form with rounded edges, featuring a gold kinji and mura nashiji ground, beautifully lacquered in gold and silver takamaki-e and hiramaki-e, as well as masterfully inlaid in shakudo, silver, and gold, depicting the Kachi-Kachi yama legend.

The front shows the rabbit standing triumphantly towards the prow of his metal-lined boat, raising its oar about to strike down the tanuki, who clings on to the barge of his mud-boat, which is inlaid in pewter. The reverse with the full moon inlaid in silver, rising above the turbulent sea and the interior of rich gyobu; signed for the lacquer KAJIKAWA saku with a red ‘tsubo’ (pot) seal Ei and for the metalwork, MASAYOHI with a kakihan within a rectangular gold reserve.

The Kachi-Kachi yama story, also known as the Farmer and the Badger, is one of the few Japanese folktales in which a badger (tanuki) is a murderous villain rather than the boisterous, corpulent alcoholic. The episode depicted here is when the tanuki challenged the rabbit to a life and death contest to prove who was the better creature. They were each to build a boat and race across a lake in them.