index
Part 2: Modern era
Chapter 9: Writers 1.Literary figures active during the end of the Edo period to Meiji Restoration
KAWATAKE Mokuami, 1816–1893
Mokuami was a playwright of kabuki. His original family name was Yoshimura. He worked as an apprentice playwright with the name Katsu Genzo under Tsuruya Nanboku V. In 1843, he became head playwright of Kawarazaki-za (Kawarazaki Theater) and took the name Kawatake Shinshichi II. The name "Mokuami" was adopted after he announced his retirement in 1881, although he continued to write new works thereafter. Over his lifetime, he produced about 360 plays and was described by Tsubouchi Shoyo as "the great wholesaler of Edo theater."
130 Gonin otoko narabini danjuro serifu zukushi [京乙-319]
A volume of 11 collections of kabuki lines compiled by secondhand bookseller Someya. At the beginning of the volume is a preface handwritten by Mokuami himself, dated June 1889. The text is written in his characteristically rhythmic and musical 7–5 syllabic meter. In it, he confides "I have always preferred the old woodblock-printed blocks. No matter how fine a work may be, I cannot bring myself to like the smell of Western paper and ink," thus reflecting Mokuami's feelings as someone who had lived through the transition from the Edo period to the Meiji era. Almost every kanji character comes with furigana, which attests to his meticulous personality. The cover page of each collection of lines comes with large prints recording the play titles, actors, family crests, and owners of theaters, thereby making this volume a highly valuable reference for theatrical history.
KANAGAKI Robun, 1829–1894
Robun was a novelist and journalist. His real name was Nozaki Bunzo. Active from the late Edo period to the Meiji era, at the dawn of the modern Japanese novel, he authored the comedic novels Seiyo dochu hizakurige (lit. Journey to the West on Foot) and Agura nabe . Thereafter, while working at the Kanagawa Prefectural Office, he founded newspapers such as Kanayomi Shinbun and Iroha Shinbun (the name alluding to the ABCs of the Japanese syllabary), ultimately contributing to the popularization of colloquial written Japanese.
131 Hanagoromo kitsune no soshi, First Volume of Part I, 1861 [本別12-14]
A manuscript of kusazoshi [W114-13] (a graphic novel popular during the Edo period) in which the characters of Fuwa, the repertoire of eighteen classical kabuki plays, are reimagined as a fox and raccoon dog. Instructions on how the novel is to be illustrated are sketched by Robun himself. In parts of the manuscript, a slip of paper akin to a present-day sticky note is affixed atop a section of a drawing for the reader to flip and compare alternative compositions.
花裘狐草紙 初編上巻（貼り込み右上）
右上の貼り込みをめくった拡大図
SAN'YUTEI Encho, 1839-1900
Encho was a rakugo storyteller. He took the name Koenta and gave his first Japanese vaudeville performance when he was 7 years old. Later, he changed his name to Encho and became popular with stories about human nature or emotions and ghost stories. He is called the founder of modern rakugo. He was also enthusiastic about creating rakugo stories and wrote new rakugos including his representative works, Shinkei Kasanegafuchi, Kaidan botan doro which are still performed today. Kaidan botan doro which was published with the purpose of disseminating stenography had great influence to establishing genbun icchitai (unification of the spoken and written language).
132 San'yutei Encho shokan, February 28, [ca. 1896] [Yanagihara Sakimitsu Papers: 2-8]
This is a letter written by Encho to a person at Hakubunkan, a publishing company. In the letter, Encho informs the person that he has sent the application for publishing Chinsetsu ezo namari, and the frontispiece for Meijin Choji, which was readdressed to him, was well drawn. Encho published both Chinsetsu ezo namari and Meijin Choji in March 1896, and the letter is thought to have been written around that time.
三遊亭円朝書簡