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錠図 / 東京囜立博物通

Mouse (Nezumi)

The mouse, an animal of the Rodentia family and Myomorpha subfamily, is a vermin that damages agricultural products, food, and houses, but is also closely tied to human society

Nezumi (mouse) is a general term for mammals that, for the most part, belong to the order Rodentia and the suborder Myomorpha. Mice are very fertile and are distributed almost all over the world. It is the most fecund of rodents, the largest group of mammals. Most are small, from 9 to 20 centimeters long, and most are nocturnal and mainly feed on plants.

       They are usually divided into field mice and house mice, and in the former category, there are about 20 species that live in forests, wilderness, and agricultural lands. In the latter category, there are three species: the brown rat, the black rat, and the house mouse, virtually all of which live in houses and nearby fields and are dependent on human society. In addition to causing damage by eating agricultural products and stored foods, and causing damage to houses, they are also a vector of various diseases, and so are targeted for extermination. On the other hand, rats and mice are also useful as experimental animals.

       Mice have been regarded as vermin since ancient times, as is shown by the excavation of mouse guards from the remains of elevated-floor buildings at archaeological sites. Mice, it can be said, have long coexisted with human society.

       In the first volume of Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, ca. 712), there is the story that when Okuninushi no Kami (Head of the Nation) was surrounded by wildfire, a mouse showed him a hole, and he was able to escape. This suggests that mice were masters of the underground, and it explains why they were thought to be able to predict such crises as fires. It is said that the source of this myth is the belief that a mouse is the messenger of Daikokuten (the god of wealth, commerce, and trade). In the chapter "Mutsukashige narumono" (Messes) in Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book, there is a description of a baby mouse that had not yet grown hair rolling out of its nest. Also, the mouse is the first sign in the Chinese Zodiac. In the old tale "Nezumi jodo" (Mouse Heaven), an old man is welcomed by a mouse after going underground in pursuit of a dumpling that had fallen into a hole.

       In the Edo period (1603-1867), the kosode (small-sleeved kimono) for men and women was often a shade of grey called mouse-colored. Also, Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi, a thief in the late Edo period, was made into a chivalrous thief. The name Nezumi Kozo is said to come from his being small like a mouse and appearing everywhere.

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Related Works

Character in plays with the nickname “Mouse”

Mouse-colored kimono

Mouse-shaped inro (seal cases) and netsuke (button fasteners)

Various mouse traps

Past Exhibitions

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Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • Established in 1877, the National Museum of Nature and Science (Kahaku) is one of the oldest museums in Japan. It is also the only national museum in the country that offers a comprehensive exhibition of natural history and the history of science and technology. It collects and preserves a variety of collections, such as natural history specimens, historical objects, and scientific and technical documents, and so on.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.

  • he National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (Minpaku) is the only research institute of cultural anthropology and ethnology in the world, that is equipped with one of the world’s largest museum facilities as well as post-graduate educational facilities.

External Links

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References

  1. 日立デゞタル平凡瀟,平凡瀟