Rokurokusō 六々藻

FSC-GR-780.212

Commentary by Suzuki Jun

Posted June 2, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

The Upper Senzai poetry group (Ue Senzai-ren 上千載連)of the Asakusa-gawa 浅草側 (Asakusa circle) compiled this collection of portraits by Teisai Hokuba (Katsushika Hokuba 葛飾北馬) and kyōka verse by various poets. The colophon records that, “Teisai Hokuba created the drawings; Asakura Ihachi carved the blocks.” The thirty-six poets who contributed verse also underwrote the costs of the publication, which indicates that this was a nyūgin-mono 入銀物, a reference to a type of private subscription publication.

Asakusa’an Ichihito (d. 1820), the head of the Asakusa circle and Hokuba’s kyōka teacher, remarks in the preface that, “The region of Ōmama in Kamitsukenokuni is divided into the Upper and Lower and is named the Senzai group. The coterie gathered together, and Asajian selected kyōka to make up a group of six by six (thirty-six) poets for this single volume.” In other words, Asajian (Asajian Moriya 浅茅庵守舎; 1777–1830) was the editor for this volume of kyōka by the Upper Senzai group; the link with the theme of the “Thirty-six Immortal Poets” (Sanjūrokkasen三十六歌仙) is also clear. Ōmama is located in the province formerly known as Kamitsuke no kuni (present-day Gunma Prefecture) near the city of Kiryū. It had a thriving silk industry during this period, as well as a flourishing art and literary milieu that supported the composition of kyōka.

The portraits in Rokurokusō are printed in black sumi ink. The first shows Ichitei Eikō (市亭栄行)holding a tanzaku poem slip, and the volume ends with a portrait of the editor Asajian sipping sencha tea, his kyōka printedabove. Some of the subjects are dressed like characters from the theater such as the easily recognizable image of Benkei from the kabuki play Kanjinchō (The subscription list; pp. 12 on the website). However, on the whole the portraits are of refined figures, the majority showing gentlemen engaged in cultured pursuits such as eating and drinking, playing go, painting, writing, or performing on traditional string or wind instruments. Moreover, the focus is on depicting the individual traits of each figure, thus representing an attempt to convey the subjects as if drawn from life.

署名　　六々藻

執筆者鈴木淳

浅茅庵（浅茅庵守舎）編、蹄斎北馬ﾃｲｻｲﾎｸﾊﾞ(葛飾北馬)。上野国大間々の浅草側上千載連による肖像狂歌集。墨摺。刊記丁に「画工蹄斎北馬　彫刻朝倉伊八」とある。出詠した三十六人が出資する、いわゆる入銀物（私家板）として出されたものであろう。浅草庵市人の序に「かみつけや大末々のさとに、かみしもをわかち千載社とよひて、ともたちつとへたり、そのかみのひとつらの歌を浅茅庵か六々の数をあけて一巻となんなしける」（上野国大間々地方を上下に分け、千載連と呼んで仲間を集め、これまでの狂歌を、浅茅庵が三十六人分取り上げて、一巻とした）とあり、大間々の上・下千載連の内、上千載連について、浅茅庵が編者となって、三十六歌仙に因んで制作されたことが知られる。大間々は桐生市に隣接する、絹織物業が盛んな地域で、文芸も狂歌をはじめ、広く行われた。巻頭に短冊を手にする市亭栄行、巻軸に煎茶を喫す浅茅庵の像と狂歌を載せる。肖像画は、役者に扮したものもあるが、全体的に平穏で、飲食、書画、囲碁、管弦などの高等な趣味に耽る檀那衆を描いたものが多く見受けられる。また、それぞれの個性を描出することに重きを置き、写生に努めている。

Selected readings:
Suga Chikuho 菅竹浦編, ed., Kyōka shomoku shūsei 『狂歌書目集成』(Nagoya: Hoshino Shoten, 1936; repr., Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten, 1977).

Copies in other collections:

Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library