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	==Introduction==		==Introduction==
	~~The shishi~~-~~odoshi~~ (~~鹿威し~~), literally ~~deer scarer~~, is a ~~device that uses falling water to produce an intermittent sound. The bamboo-tube version is properly called~~ a ~~sōzu (添水). A length of bamboo is cut at an angle~~, ~~pivoted off centre~~ and ~~fed by~~ a ~~small stream~~. ~~Water collects in~~ the ~~open end until~~ the ~~tube becomes top-heavy, tips forward, empties, swings~~ back ~~and strikes a stone with a hollow knock~~.		A sekimori-ishi (関守石), literally a barrier keeper's stone, is a rounded stone about the size of a fist, bound with black palm-fibre rope and set on a stepping stone in a garden path. It means that the path is closed and the visitor should turn back.

	The ~~device was agricultural before it was ornamental~~. The ~~sound startled deer and wild boar away from crops in fields nobody could watch continuously. It later entered garden design, where~~ the ~~best known example is at Shisen-dō in Kyoto~~.		The name refers to the sekisho, the checkpoints that controlled travel on the roads of Edo period Japan. The stone performs the same function as a checkpoint with none of its apparatus.

	===A ~~clock~~ with no ~~mechanism~~===		===A barrier with no barrier===
	The ~~interval between knocks is set by two things: the volume of~~ the ~~tube~~ and ~~the rate of flow. Neither is adjusted~~ by a ~~control~~. ~~Changing the interval means changing the water~~, ~~which means that the device reports the state of the stream. A fast knock means the stream~~ is ~~running high. A slow one means~~ it is ~~low~~. ~~A silent one means it has stopped~~.		The stone blocks nothing. It weighs a few hundred grams, sits loose on the path and could be lifted aside by a child. Its authority comes entirely from being legible, and it is legible because it is obviously placed. Stones do not tie themselves in rope, and they do not land in the centre of a stepping stone. The visitor reads intention, not force.

	~~The sound has properties that make it easy to live beside~~. It is ~~short, it is broadband, it is irregular enough not to become~~ a ~~metronome~~, and it ~~arrives at intervals long enough that the ear never habituates completely~~.		This produces a specific quality of instruction. A locked gate says the owner does not trust you. A rope barrier says the space is being managed. A bound stone says a person made a decision about this path today, and it can be moved tomorrow without a trace.

	A ~~sōzu~~ does not need to:		A stopping stone does not need to:
	*Be ~~powered~~		*Be attached to anything
	*~~Be wound, set or calibrated~~		*Carry text
	*Be ~~reset after it fires~~		*Be strong enough to stop a person
	*Be ~~monitored to know it is working~~		*Be removed by staff rather than by the host

	~~It is a timekeeper~~, a ~~stream gauge~~ and ~~an animal deterrent built from~~ one ~~piece of bamboo and one stone, and each function is a side effect of the same physical arrangement~~.		The same object also appears in tea gardens, where the sequence of a roji is controlled and a guest must be kept to one route without being herded.

	Just as a ~~bamboo tube marks time~~ by ~~emptying itself~~, a well-made ~~device can carry several kinds of information~~ through ~~a single motion~~.		Just as a bound stone closes a path by being obviously placed rather than by being immovable, a well-made signal works through legibility rather than through force.

	==Categories==		==Categories==

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==Introduction==
The shishi-odoshi (鹿威し), literally deer scarer, is a device that uses falling water to produce an intermittent sound. The bamboo-tube version is properly called a sōzu (添水). A length of bamboo is cut at an angle, pivoted off centre and fed by a small stream. Water collects in the open end until the tube becomes top-heavy, tips forward, empties, swings back and strikes a stone with a hollow knock.

The device was agricultural before it was ornamental. The sound startled deer and wild boar away from crops in fields nobody could watch continuously. It later entered garden design, where the best known example is at Shisen-dō in Kyoto.

===A clock with no mechanism===
The interval between knocks is set by two things: the volume of the tube and the rate of flow. Neither is adjusted by a control. Changing the interval means changing the water, which means that the device reports the state of the stream. A fast knock means the stream is running high. A slow one means it is low. A silent one means it has stopped.

The sound has properties that make it easy to live beside. It is short, it is broadband, it is irregular enough not to become a metronome, and it arrives at intervals long enough that the ear never habituates completely.

A sōzu does not need to:
*Be powered
*Be wound, set or calibrated
*Be reset after it fires
*Be monitored to know it is working

It is a timekeeper, a stream gauge and an animal deterrent built from one piece of bamboo and one stone, and each function is a side effect of the same physical arrangement.

Just as a bamboo tube marks time by emptying itself, a well-made device can carry several kinds of information through a single motion.

==Categories==
* [[Japanese Concepts]]
** [[Nijiriguchi]]
** [[Onta Yaki]]
** [[Stopping Stone]]
** [[Ward off Deer]]
** [[Omotenashi]]
** [[Washi Paper]]
** [[Texture]]
** [[Modernist Design]]
* [[Calm Technology]]

Stopping Stone - Revision history

Caseorganic: Created the page!

Caseorganic: Created the page!