science

Traditional lighting equipment of Japan

Traditional lighting equipment of Japan is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Traditional lighting equipment of Japan rather than just read about it. In short: The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯), the bonbori (雪洞), the chōchin (提灯), and the tōrō (灯篭). Andon The andon is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal.

Key takeaways

Traditional lighting equipment of Japan belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Traditional lighting equipment of Japan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Traditional lighting equipment of Japan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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

Andon

The andon is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal. 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. 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). Early on, the andon was handheld; it could also be placed on a stand or hung on a wall. 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. 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. In dramatizations of the story of the forty-seven ronin, Oishi Yoshio is often given this description.

Bonbori 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. 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.

Chōchin

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. The chōchin is used outdoors, either carried or hung outside the house. In present-day Japan, plastic chōchin with electric bulbs are produced as novelties, souvenirs, and for matsuri and events. The earliest record of a chōchin dates to 1085, and one appears in a 1536 illustration. The akachōchin, or red lantern, marks an izakaya. In Japanese folklore, the chochin appears as a yōkai, the chōchin-obake. Gifu is known for its Gifu lanterns, a kind of chōchin made from mino washi.

Tōrō 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. The earlier use of oil and candles has in the modern day been replaced by electric bulbs.

Bronze tōrō

Stone tōrō

Wooden tōrō

See also Physalis alkekengi, the lantern plant Water lantern Gandō

References

External links Japanese Gardening, Lanterns. Accessed on February 2, 2010

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Traditional lighting equipment of Japan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Traditional lighting equipment of Japan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Traditional lighting equipment of Japan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Traditional lighting equipment of Japan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Traditional lighting equipment of Japan

In research: Traditional lighting equipment of Japan appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Traditional lighting equipment of Japan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Traditional lighting equipment of Japan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Culture of Japan, Light fixtures, Lighting, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Traditional lighting equipment of Japan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Traditional lighting equipment of Japan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Traditional lighting equipment of Japan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Traditional lighting equipment of Japan in simple terms?

The traditional lighting equipment of Japan includes the andon (行灯), the bonbori (雪洞), the chōchin (提灯), and the tōrō (灯篭). Andon The andon is a lamp consisting of paper stretched over a frame of bamboo, wood or metal.

Why does Traditional lighting equipment of Japan matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Traditional lighting equipment of Japan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Traditional lighting equipment of Japan.