Tamaya, Tamaya! When Goldfish Caught the Bubbles скачать в хорошем качестве

Tamaya, Tamaya! When Goldfish Caught the Bubbles

What makes them so happy? In this playful underwater world, an adult goldfish stands upright with a wooden box slung over its shoulder. Around him, the water seems to ripple with laughter. A turtle gives a piggyback ride to a baby turtle, stretching out in delight. Two young goldfish leap upward, fins raised, trying to catch something drifting above them. Even a tiny tadpole — not yet grown its front legs — kicks with all its might to join the fun. What excites them are the bubbles, floating like jewels through the water, blown by a bubble vendor through a simple wheat straw. This is Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s ‘Goldfish Miscellany: Bubble Vendor’ from the 19th century, a scene overflowing with springtime joy, captured through the glittering shimmer of shabon-dama soap bubbles. The word shabon comes from the Portuguese sabão, meaning ‘soap’. It entered Japan with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the late 16th century, and by the 17th century, people were already captivated by the sight of bubbles drifting through the air. A poem from 1680 described this fascination perfectly: ‘The sky and green fields — soap bubbles blown into the dusk skylark’s song.’ From early on, bubbles carried a double meaning: pure delight and deep impermanence, a beauty that vanishes the moment you reach for it. By the mid to late Edo period, bubble sellers had become a familiar sight in large cities. Soap itself was expensive, so vendors made their mixture by boiling the skins of soapberry fruits, sold dried at grocers and used for washing clothes. The natural foam was strengthened with pine resin, producing bubbles just as vivid and resilient as those made from soap. In Kyoto and Osaka, vendors wandered temple fairs and street corners calling out, ‘Fukidama ya, shabon-dama — blow once and five-coloured bubbles will rise!’ In Edo, a different cry filled the streets: ‘Tamaya, Tamaya!’ — a call that later became famous at fireworks displays, linking bubbles and fireworks through the shared wonder of fleeting light. Nothing was wasted. The black seeds inside the soapberry were used for hane, the feathered shuttlecock in hanetsuki, the New Year’s battledore game. It reflected a quiet rhythm of life: gathering fruit in autumn, washing clothes through winter, playing games at New Year, and blowing bubbles again in spring. Seen this way, Kuniyoshi’s goldfish are not merely playing. They are celebrating creation, change, and the brief moments of beauty that make life feel full. Joy here is not loud or permanent — it is light, fragile, and shared. If this scene made you smile or think differently about everyday pleasures, please like the video, subscribe for more stories hidden in Japanese art, share it with someone who would enjoy it, and leave a comment — I’d love to hear what these bubbles mean to you. __________ Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 Goldfish Miscellany: Bubble Vendor 金魚づくし 玉や玉や (きんぎょづくし　たまやたまや) 19th Century __________ #japanesehistory #japanhistory #japaneseculture #japaneseart #historicjapan #history #japanesetradition #japanesetraditional #japanesetraditionalculture #historylovers #historylover #japan #japanese #ukiyoe #japanesepainting #japanesepaintings #japaneseart　#edo #edoperiod #edojapan #meiji #meijiera #meijirestoration #goldfish #bubble