Abstract
Sumitsubo, which are used as line–marking tools, consist of a part for winding strings and an inkpot for applying ink to the strings. These tools are peculiar to East Asia, and are used in China. the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. I primarily investigated documents on and pictures of Chinese and Japanese sumitsubo as historical reference materials, and conducted a comparison study with the actual shapes of modern sumitsubo.
According to written reference materials, line#8211;marking tools appeared in China from the fifth to third centuries B.C. These materials do not clearly indicate that line#8211;marking tools took the shape of sumitsubo, however. The kanji for sumitsubo first appeared in the Tang period. The kanji for suminawa, which apparently were made only of rope, also appeared before those for sumitsubo in Japan, with the kanji for sumitsubo first appearing in the Heian period.
In Japan. sumitsubo originating in the eighth century has been unearthed. Its shape is of the shiriware type and its reel supported by shiriware. The shiriware type was apparently used until the middle of the Edo Period. Thereafter, however. the shapes of sumitsubo began to diversify. In China, no sumitsubo predating the Yuan dynasty have been discovered，but its shape (as in Japan) apparently began to diversify in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The shiriware type of sumitsubo has been unearthed in Tali, an inland area of China.
