Traditional lighting equipment of Japan

The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯), the bonbori (雪洞), the chōchin (提灯), and the tōrō (灯篭).

The andon is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal.^[1] The paper protected the flame from the wind. Burning oil in a stone, metal, or ceramic holder, with a wick of cotton or pith, provided the light. They were usually open on the top and bottom, with one side that could be lifted to provide access.^[2] Rapeseed oil was popular. Candles were also used, but their higher price made them less popular. A lower-priced alternative was sardine oil.

The andon became popular in the Edo period (1603–1867).^[1] Early on, the andon was handheld; it could also be placed on a stand or hung on a wall.^[3] The okiandon was most common indoors. Many had a vertical box shape with an inner stand for the light. Some had a drawer on the bottom to facilitate refilling and lighting. A handle on top made it portable. A variety was the Enshū andon. One explanation attributes it to Kobori Enshu, who lived in the late Azuchi-Momoyama period and early Edo period. Tubular in shape, it had an opening instead of a drawer.^[4] Another variety was the Ariake andon, a bedside lamp. The kakeandon under the eaves of a shop, often bearing the name of the merchant, was a common sight in the towns.

The expression hiru andon, or "daytime lamp," meant someone or something that seemed to serve no purpose.^[5] In dramatizations of the story of the forty-seven ronin, Oishi Yoshio is often given this description.

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  Ukiyo-e print showing an andon being carried indoors
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  An andon standing outdoors with one side open
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  Andons hung in Mishima, Shizuoka
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  Example of a cylindrical andon at the Hanatouro Festival in Arashiyama, Kyoto
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  The Aoandon lit. 'blue andon' of Japanese folklore.

The bonbori (雪洞(ぼんぼり)) is a kind of Japanese paper lamp used in the open during festivals. It normally has an hexagonal profile and a rather wide, open top.^[6] It can either hang from a wire or stand on a pole. Famous is the Bonbori Festival (ぼんぼり祭り, Bonbori Matsuri), held annually at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura, Kanagawa. Artists paint on the about 400 bonbori erected for the occasion on the shrine's grounds.^[7]

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  Bonbori lining the Sandō at a Bonbori Festival
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  Yōkōkan Teien (養浩館庭園) in Fukui
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  Kangetsu-kai (観月会) at Ise Jingū
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  Kake-bonbori (懸雪洞) at the Mitama Matsuri festival at Yasukuni Jinja

A relative of the Chinese paper lantern, the chōchin has a frame of split bamboo wound in a spiral. Paper or silk protect the flame from wind. The spiral structure permits it to be collapsed into the basket at the bottom.^[8] The chōchin is used outdoors, either carried or hung outside the house.^[1] In present-day Japan, plastic chōchin with electric bulbs are produced as novelties, souvenirs, and for matsuri and events.^[9] The earliest record of a chōchin dates to 1085,^[8] and one appears in a 1536 illustration.

The akachōchin, or red lantern, marks an izakaya.^[10] In Japanese folklore, the chochin appears as a yōkai, the chōchin-obake.^[11]

Gifu is known for its Gifu lanterns, a kind of chōchin made from mino washi.^[12]

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  Chōchin at Minatogawa Shrine in Kōbe
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  White chōchin decorated with tomoe
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  Oversized chōchin at the Kaminarimon in Sensō-ji
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  Akachōchin lantern outside an izakaya
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  Ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi showing a chōchin decorated with a landscape
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  Yata-dera (矢田寺) Temple in Kyōto
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  Gifu chōchin
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  Massive chōchin at Isshiki Manabi no Yakata museum

Originally used in the broad sense to mean any lantern, the term tōrō came to refer to a lamp of stone, bronze, iron, wood, or another heavy material. These illuminate the grounds of Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, Japanese gardens, and other places that include tradition in their decor.^[1] The earlier use of oil and candles has in the modern day been replaced by electric bulbs.

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  Bronze and stone lanterns in Chi Lin Nunnery, Hongkong
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  Bronze lantern at Hōryū-ji
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  8th century bronze lantern at Tōdai-ji (National Treasure)
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  Bronze lantern at Itsukushima Shrine

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  Stone lantern in Taiwan
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  Water lantern in Zhejiang Province
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  Tachi-dōrō of the kasuga-dōrō type
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  Three legged yukimi-dōrō. One leg rests on ground, two in water.

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  Wooden tōrō (黒木灯籠)
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  Wooden tōrō placed between stone tōrō at Fukutokuinari shrine

• Physalis alkekengi, the lantern plant
• Water lantern

• Japanese Gardening, Lanterns. Accessed on February 2, 2010