Modern Suiseki

Suzukake-ishi-I

I would like to introduce Suzukake-ishi here. Suzukake-ishi is Suiseki from Kitagawa which flows through between southern district of Oita and northern district of Miyazaki Prefecture.

There are tin and lead mines in a river flowing area of Kitagawa and the reason why Suzukake-ishi is so heavy is because it seems to be including tin.

Suzukake means hanging a bell on a branch of a tree. It is derived from the lyrics of folk song in Shiiba, Miyazaki. The song is called Hietsuki-bush.

The original song was barnyard-grass pounding song sung in Shiiba from age to age but itis modified in around ‘30s to include tragic love stories between competing entities, the Genji and the Heike in the lyrics and it became famous all over the country in Japan.

Tinkle a bell on a branch of a tree in the garden for a sign to call you…

Actually, there is no direct link between Suzukake-ishi and the song. It was just a famous song around there and both tin and bell are Suzu in Japanese and therefore, the stone is called Suzukake-ishi.

Let’s see Suzukake-ishi:

Suzukake-ishi

The greatest feature of Suzukake-ishi is its weight, mugwort color and specific surface.

The surface is not Jagure but rough granular patterns.