Japanese Ephemera

Mineral Matters #458

Remember the Collector Gene?

There is a group of collectable items known as ephemera.

The term ephemera, senso stricto, refers to items that were originally intended to be used or enjoyed for only a short period of time. These items often include paper-based materials such as posters, tickets, postcards, menus, etc.

However, the term can also be employed for other items such as artefacts. There are many mineral collectors that also have mining-related items in their collection.

I have a Japanese item that may be related to mining (I think it was originally advertised that way), but may also have some other use. It is a pick of sorts. On the bottom of the handle is a Kanji character. In the past, I would not have known what the character meant, and in fact, I would not even have known which way was up! 😆 (It is on its side in the photo below and needs to be rotated clockwise 90 degrees).

Now I know better.

The Kanji 岡 reads as oka, and means mount, hill, or knoll. So it could well be of mining or geological use, but equally, could relate to mountain climbing!