Tatsu no miyatsuko 龍の宮津子

FSC-GR-780.338

Commentary by Hinohara Kenji

Posted March 10, 2107

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Each opening of Tatsu no miyatsuko depicts a diversity of marine life, such as whales, sea bream, and salmon. The upper register of every image has two to six haiku poems with the names of the poets that are related to the creatures portrayed. This work completely differs from the group of works that the artist Kitao Masayoshi (Kuwagata Keisai) had previously created in a ryakuga shiki (略画式), or “abbreviated drawing or sketch style” (see Ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.335; Chōjū ryakuga shikiFSC-GR-780.342; Jinbutsu ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.336; Sansui ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.337; Sōka ryakuga shiki FS-GR-780.341). Rather than rendering the subject matter through a simplified method of representation characteristic of ryakuga shiki, this illustrated poetry book uses the technique of shasei 写生, or “sketching from nature.”

The haiku poet Ichiyōsei Sogai wrote the introduction. He notes that because Suharaya Ichibē (Shinshōdō 申椒堂)was the publisher of Masayoshi’s compositions of marine life, his (Sogai’s) haiku group was requested to compose the poems and the titles. Masayoshi’s teacher was the ukiyo-e master Kitao Shigemasa, and Shigemasa looked up to Sogai as a haiku master. It appears that some sort of relationship or exchange existed between Masayoshi and Sogai. Perhaps it was due to these connections or circumstances that Sogai contributed to the book.

The Pulverer copy still retains the original cover and title slip. It is believed to be a first printing; however, many alternate or different printings of the book are known. One printing, retitled Gyokaifu 魚貝譜 (Album of fish and shellfish; 1802 [Kyōwa 2]), has omitted the introduction and the names of the haiku poets, even though the colophon is identical to Tatsu no miyatsuko. There is also another undated printing of Gyokaifu without the haiku poems. In 1813 (Bunka 10), the woodblocks were transferred to the publisher Fukusada Tōbē (福定藤兵衛)in Osaka, and the book was subsequently sold under the title Gyokai ryakuga shiki 魚貝略画式(Abbreviated sketches of fish and shellfish). [1] The existence of multiple printings is not due to the technical mastery of the ryakuga sketches, rather that Masayoshi’s illustrations of marine life remained popular over an extended period.

書名龍の宮津子
執筆者日野原健司

各丁見開きの画面に鯨、鯛、鮭などさまざまな魚介類を描く。画面の上部には、それらの魚介類にちなんで詠まれた発句が２～６句、作者名とともに賛として掲載している。これまで政美が手掛けていた略画式シリーズとは全く異なり、対象を写生的に描いた俳諧絵本となっている。序文を記した俳人の一陽井素外によると、政美が描いた魚介図を須原屋市兵衛の元から刊行するにあたって、素外の俳諧グループの人たちによる発句、ならびに題名を名づけることを求められたとある。政美の浮世絵の師匠は北尾重政であるが、重政が俳諧の師匠として仰いだのが素外であった。政美と素外の間にも何らかの交遊関係があったと思われ、そのような経緯から素外が制作に協力したのであろう。

プルヴェラー本は表紙の外題簽も残り、初版と考えられるが、この『龍の宮津子』は異版が多くある。まず『魚貝譜』と改題し、序文や発句の作者名を削ったもので、奥付は『龍の宮津子』と同一である。次に、それからさらに発句まで削った『魚貝譜』。そして文化10年に大坂の福定藤兵衛に版木が移り、『魚貝略画式』として販売されたもの。［1］略画の技法によるものではないが、政美の魚介図が長きに渡って愛好されたことを物語っている。

Selected readings:

Atsumi Kuniyasu 渥美國泰, Edo no kufūsha Kuwagata Keisai『江戸の工夫者鍬形蕙斎』(Tokyo: Geijutsu Shinbunsha, 1996).

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.

Kano Hiroyuki狩野博幸, “Kuwagata Keisei ehon no kentō” 「鍬形蕙斎絵本の検討」, MUSEUM 338 『MUSEUM』338号(May 1979), 18–28.

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

Satō Satoru 佐藤悟, “Kuwagata Keisei ehon no hangi「鍬形蕙斎絵本の版木」, ed. Jissen Joshi Daigaku Shoku no fūkei Purojekuto Kenkyūjo実践女子大学食の風景プロジェクト研究所(Tokyo: Jissen Joshi Daigaku, 2012), 6–11.

Uchida Kinzō内田欽三, “244–247 Kitao Masayoshi Tatsu no miyatsuko”「244～247北尾政美『龍乃宮津子』」, 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), 265–66.

Copies in other collections:
National Diet Library, Tokyo
Tokyo University of the Arts, University Library

[1] Kano 1979, 18–28, and Satō 2012, 6–11.