横浜 豊梵天氏の手による“三竦み”を題材とした圧巻の胸割り。構図や額の流れを見れば、その都度延ばしていった結果ではなく、初めから堅い決意を持って臨んだ胸割りであることが分かる。背中の経文と蛇は、同じく中華街に彫り場を構えていた彫鈴氏が逝去されたため、途中から引き継いだものだ。左肩の剣龍は彫鈴氏の在りし日の作品となる。
背に入れる経文としては古いものでは江戸前期に存在したとされる鐘彌左衛門なる侠客の南無阿弥陀仏が知られるが、この南無妙法蓮華経も宗派の違いはあれど意味する根本は同じ。即ち命を賭してでも事を為す覚悟である。
This is a stunning munewari bodysuit on the subject of “San-sukumi” by Yutakabonten in Yokohama. Looking at the composition and the flow of gaku (background), it is clear that this bodysuit was done with a firm determination from the beginning, not as a result of several extending. The sutra and the snake on the back are what Yutakabonten took over from Horisuzu, who had his studio in same Chinatown, as he had passed away. The ken-ryu (sword dragon) on the left shoulder is a work of art by Horisuzu.
One of the oldest known sutra to be placed on the back is “Namu-amidabutsu” of a chivalrous man named Tsurigane Yazaemon in the early Edo period, and here this “Namu-myohorengekyo” has the same underlying meaning. That is the determination to keep faith even at the risk of one’s life.
そしてこの背の蛇と左右脇腹のナメクジを操る綱手、ガマを操る児雷也（または自来也）を合わせ三竦みの完成となる。三竦みとはじゃんけんのように互いに得手不得手となる三者が睨み合い、膠着している状況を指す。東京港区にある宝珠院では境内に蛇、ガマ、ナメクジの石像を配し、争いの起きないその均衡状態から平和を願う心を表すとしている。
With the snake on the back, “Tsunade” and “Jiraiya” managing a slug and a toad on the flanks complete San-sukumi (meaning three-way deadlock). San-sukumi refers to a situation in which three parties with mutual advantages and disadvantages are deadlocked, as in rock-paper-scissors. Hojuin Temple in Tokyo places stone statues of a snake, a toad and a slug in the precincts, and they represent the hope for peace based on their state of equilibrium where no conflict occurs.
