Vintage tin drum with Japanese scenes

Vintage tin drum with Japanese scenes. 

Description
Rectangular tin drum which is equipped with an iron handle. This tin has a hinged lid.

The decoration consists of a red surface with Japanese scenes, including a man and woman sitting on a rug in traditional Japanese clothing (kimono) and a crane. The crane has been a symbolic bird since ancient times and is considered a sacred animal in some countries. In Japan, the crane (Grus japonensis) is considered to be blissful, as a symbol of longevity.

Furthermore, on the long sides, there is a man sitting on the ground with a Shamisen (Japanese stringed instrument) in his hands. On the short sides a reading woman and a pipe-smoking man.

Condition
This tin is in an original vintage condition with various traces of use and age-related traces of wear.

Size

• Height: 13 cm. 
• Length: 23 cm. 
• Width: 18,5 cm. 

Shamisen
The shamisen or samisen, (also sangen, both words mean "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.

The Japanese pronunciation is usually shamisen but sometimes jamisen when used as a suffix, according to regular sound change (e.g. tsugaru-jamisen). It is samisen in western Japan and in several Edo-period sources.

The construction of the shamisen varies in shape, depending on the genre in which it is used. The instrument used to accompany kabuki has a thin neck, facilitating the agile and virtuosic requirements of that genre. The one used to accompany puppet plays and folk songs has a longer and thicker neck instead, to match the more robust music of those genres.

The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment. Kimono was basically derived from the Chinese hanfu of the Wu region in Jiangnan, China. Kimono ("object that is worn") means garment and has come to denote these full-length, usually robes. The standard English plural is kimonos, but the unmarked Japanese plural kimono is also used. Kimonos are often worn for important festivals or formal occasions as formal clothing.

Some translations come from an automated system and may contain errors.