Sansui ryakuga shiki 山水略画式

FSC-GR-780.337

Commentary by Hinohara Kenji
Posted March 10, 2017

Original unedited Japanese version follows

Sansui ryakuga shiki (Abbreviated landscape sketches) is the fourth in a set of books by Kitao Masayoshi (Kuwagata Keisai) known as representing ryakuga shiki (略画式), or an “abbreviated drawing or sketch style.” It was issued following Ryakuga shiki (FSC-GR-780.335), Chōjū ryakuga shiki (FSC-GR-780.342), Jinbutsu ryakuga shiki (FSC-GR-780.336), and the much later Sōka ryakuga shiki (FSC-GR-780.341).The original title slip and inner cover pages are intact, and this work is believed to be a first printing. The inside back cover has an advertisement for the publisher Suharaya Ichibē (Shinshōdō申椒堂)and particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of an announcement introducing Masayoshi’s ryakuga shiki set. There is also a later printing of Sansui ryakuga shiki of an unknown date in which one or two colors have been omitted.[1]

The contents of Sansui ryakuga shiki comprise a collection of meisho, or “famous places,” drawn in the abbreviatedsketch style. The book begins with the Edo area and continues with along the east-west highway, Tōkaidō, reaching the Lake Biwa district and its celebrated “Eight Views of Ōmi” (Ōmi hakkei 近江八景). It then shows sites in Kyoto and Nara, with the virtual journey concluding with the classic meisho of Mutamagawa (六玉川). Every image is a bird’s-eye view, and Masayoshi renders each with a free, broad use of the brush. One almost has the sense that these compositions are the result of the artist’s study of Kano school techniques.

The names of the famous places portrayed are as follows: Rakan (羅漢); Tsukiji monzeki (築地門跡); Ryōgoku (両国); Mimeguri (三囲); Kameido (亀井戸); Myōken (妙見); Hagi Temple (萩寺); Suzaki (洲崎); Tsukuda Sumiyoshi (佃住吉); Eitai (永代); Gotenyama (御殿山); Atagoyama (愛宕山); Ueno (上野); Zōjō Temple (増上寺); Masaki (真崎); Sannō (山王); Fukagawa Hachiman (深川八幡); Umewaka (梅若); Night View of Ryōgoku (両国夜景); Azumamori (吾妻森); Takinogawa (瀧の川); Shirahige (白鬚); Kannon (観音); Shiba Shinmei (芝神明); Ōji (王子); Tada Yakushi (多田薬師); Meguro (目黒); Kanda Myōjin (神田明神); Komagata (駒形); Tōkai Temple (東海寺); Asajigahara (浅茅原); Mejiro (目白); Kai’an Temple (海安寺); Ichigaya Hachiman (市谷八幡); Suruga-chō (駿河町); Yushima Tenjin (湯嶋天神); Dōkanyama (道灌山); Umeyashiki (梅屋舗); Nippori (日暮里); Asukayama (飛鳥山); Akiha (秋葉); Ushi no Gozen (牛御前); Matsuchiyama Shōden (真乳山聖天); Ōhashi-mitsumata (大橋三股); Shin Yoshiwara (新吉原); Shinobugaoka (忍ヶ岡); Overall View of the Sumida River (隅田川全図); Nihonbashi (日本橋); Shinagawa (品川); Haneda (羽根田); Kanagawadai (金川台); Kanazawa (金沢); Enoshima Kamakura (江島鎌倉); Hakone (箱根); Fujisawa Yugyō Temple (藤沢遊行寺); Shigidatsuzawa (鴫立沢); Yoshiwara (吉原); Sattazaka (薩垂坂); Ōikawa (大井川); Kuwana (桑名); Futamiura (二見浦); Suzukasan (鈴鹿山); Eight Views of Ōmi(近江八景); Nonomiya (野々宮); Yodogawa (淀川); Uji (宇治); Kiyomizu (清水); Daibutsu (大仏); Arashiyama (嵐山); Kamo (加茂); Hatsuse (泊瀬); Yoshino (吉野); Tatsuta (龍田); Kinkaku Temple (金閣寺); Kurama (鞍馬); Takao (高尾); Gion (祇園); Atagoyama (愛宕山); Sumiyoshi (住吉); Wakanoura (和歌浦); and Mutamagawa (六玉川).

書名山水略画式
執筆者日野原健司

『略画式』『鳥獣略画式』『人物略画式』に続いて刊行された第４弾となる略画式シリーズ。外題簽や表紙見返しも残り、初版と考えられる。裏表紙には須原屋市兵衛の出版広告があり、政美の略画式シリーズが宣伝文とともに掲載されていることは注目される。なお、『山水略画式』には一部の色版を省略した後印本も存在している。［1］

内容は、題名の通り略画で描いた名所が集められている。江戸の名所から始まり、東海道の名所を経て、琵琶湖周辺の近江八景、京都・奈良の名所を描き、最後は六玉川という古典的な名所で締めくくられる。いずれも俯瞰的な構図で、筆を面的に使った描写が多く、狩野派からの学習成果を感じさせる。図中に記された名所の名前は以下の通り。「羅漢」「築地門跡」「両国」「三囲」「亀井戸」「妙見」「萩寺」「洲崎」「佃住吉」「永代」「御殿山」「愛宕山」「上野」「増上寺」「真崎」「山王」「深川八幡」「梅若」「両国夜景」「吾妻森」「瀧の川」「白鬚」「観音」「芝神明」「王子」「多田薬師」「目黒」「神田明神」「駒形」「東海寺」「浅茅原」「目白」「海安寺」「市谷八幡」「駿河町」「湯嶋天神」「道灌山」「梅屋舗」「日暮里」「飛鳥山」「秋葉」「牛御前」「真乳山聖天」「大橋三股」「新吉原」「忍ヶ岡」「隅田川全図」「日本橋」「品川」「羽根田」「金川台」「金沢」「江島鎌倉」「箱根」「藤沢遊行寺」「鴫立沢」「吉原」「薩垂坂」「大井川」「桑名」「二見浦」「鈴鹿山」「近江八景」「野々宮」「淀川」「宇治」「清水」「大仏」「嵐山」「加茂」「泊瀬」「吉野」「龍田」「金閣寺」「鞍馬」「高尾」「祇園」「愛宕山」「住吉」「和歌浦」「六玉川」。

Selected readings:

Fukuoka University Library 福岡大学図書館, “Keisai・Shūho sakuhingun to kyōdo haikai no sekai. Wahon no bi”『蕙斎・秋圃作品群と郷土俳書の世界和本の美』, 2003.

Nakada Katsunosuke 仲田勝之助, Ehon no kenkyū『絵本の研究』(Tokyo: Yashio Shoten, 1950).

Uchida Kinzō内田欽三, “248–249 Kitao Masayoshi Sansui ryakuga shiki”「248～249北尾政美『山水略画式』」, in Puruverā korekushon『プルヴェラー・コレクション』, vol. 14, Hizō ukiyo-e taikan『秘蔵浮世絵大観』,ed. Narasaki Muneshige楢崎宗重 (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1990), 266.

Copies in other collections:

British Museum, London
Chiba City Museum of Art

Fukuoka University Library
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tokyo University of the Arts, University Library

[1] Fukuoka University Library 2003.