Hakogaki (meaning autograph or note) are inscriptions found upon the surface of kiribako boxes. The signatures, usually in black ink, indicate the origin, creator or defining of the item contained inside. In this historic method of cataloging each piece of tea ceremony equipment/antique comes stored in its signed, and paired box (Tomobako and more specifically, kiribako).
These boxes are as important as their contents, with both elements required to prove an item’s authenticity. Not only referring to the item’s own genesis, the box itself proves legitimacy through its own origin: one could describe it as multi-dimensional verification.
There are three terms that define various hakogaki on boxes: Kakitsuke-bako, Kiwame-bako, and Tomobako:
- Kakitsuke-bako: The paulownia box is autographed by a person of authority, i.e. Tea Ceremony Master.
- Kiwame-bako: A connoisseur who has appraised the bowls, has left an autograph which acts a certificate of authenticity on the paulownia box
- Tomobako: An inscription and autograph written by the artist defining the box’s contents.
The inscriptions are relics of each object’s own entangled history, as well as signifiers of value: with some rare tea equipment bearing multiple hakogaki and boxes. Each time the ownership of the object changes, the newest owner adds a layer to the Kiribako box. This could result in four or five layers of boxes, each signed by a new owner, further increasing the item's market value.
(Earthenware Chawan Named 'Sennen'yu' (Friend of a Thousand Years) Christie's, 2009)
For example this Earthenware Tea Bowl (Chawan) Named "Sennen'yu" (Friend of a thousand years), from the Edo Period (18th-19th Century), by 9th Generation Raku Master Ryonyu (1756-1834).
This antique chawan shows an intimate, multi-dimensional history through its layering of Hakogaki, with signatures of authentication by Raku Kichizaemon XIII (Seinyu; 1887-1944) and Sen Sosa XIII (Sokuchusai; 1901-1979), Omotosenke the 13th, the second son of 12th generation Seisai. Omotesenke (表千家) meaning "front Sen house/family”, is one of the three lines of descendants of Sen no Rikyu, which form the schools of tea ceremony alongside Urasenke (裏千家) and Mushakōjisenke (武者小路千家).
Not only indicating the tea ceremony accessories’ origin as well as their maker, the hakogaki on the kiribako boxes that hold them have another important function: indicating the combination of the accessories. At tea ceremonies, it is the combination of accessories that provide meaning and value to the participating guests, indicating the level of thought of the ceremony’s master.
The hakogaki at times represent certain tea-politics: with practitioners of one tea lineage tending not to buy utensils signed by masters from other lineages, as the utensil is too remote from their personal past. In addition, some tea masters would only sign boxes above a certain quality standard, for example, the inner lid’s lip must have mitred corners, not butted.
What an understanding of hakogaki reveals is the importance of intention within the culture of Japan, its tea ceremony, and the surrounding objects. Hakogaki history exemplifies that these boxes are artifacts in their own right, with as much history and of as high quality as the items inside.