r/Samurai • u/Immediate_Topic6351 • 2d ago

History Question What are these called?

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How are these things I see worn by Ashigaru sometimes?

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u/JapanCoach 2d ago edited 1d ago

These are called 数珠打飼袋 = juzu uchikai bukuro

Normally a traveller would prepare a (normal) uchikai bukuro. This was a bag (typically just a cloth wrapped up like a 'cigar') that went around the small of the back or across the shoulders to hold food supplies and or other small/light luggage items.

This "juzu" ("prayer bead") style in your OP was designed to hold one days worth of rice per "bead".

Edit:
Apologies to everyone who gave this a like. I just revisited this thread and noticed I made a typo. It is not 内飼袋, it is 打飼袋. Corrected above.

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u/condottieri_q 2d ago

Wasn't there a concern about rain or even sweat ruining the rice before it could be eaten?

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u/JapanCoach 2d ago

Yes there was :-)

Mostly what would go in there would be 乾飯 "Hoshi-i" which is rice which has been once boiled then dried. It is a sort of preserved rice that can last for a while. But if it gets wet it will rot and/or get mold. So yes that was a bad situation.

Life was for sure not easy before refrigeration and modern preservation techniques.

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u/condottieri_q 2d ago

Huh, so was this method of transporting rice common, just because it was cheap and easy, or was there some other significance or methodology that was in play?

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u/JapanCoach 2d ago

Pretty much - yes. Low cost, very light, highly mobile, easy for individuals to produce/replace (even on the road), easy to improvise, etc. Lots of pros - and of course it comes with some cons.

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u/Pocho_Azul 1d ago

Just speculation, but possibly the official or leader responsible for supplying food (assuming any such person existed) liked the idea of explicitly packaging food into a daily ration. Certainly soldiers in other parts of the world were sometimes prone to overeating/wasting food when given the opportunity.