Ehon Amanogawa 画本あまの川

FSC-GR-780.359/FSC-GR-780.350

Commentary by Asano Shūgō

Posted December 11, 2017

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Ehon Amanogawa is a picture-book of kyōka poems (kyōkabon 狂歌絵本) printed in monochrome. The Pulverer collection has two copies of the work. FSC-GR-780.359 has an introduction of two-and-a-half page, eleven double-page illustrations, a single-page image, and six double-page spread of kyōka poetry. FSC-GR-780.350 comprises an introduction of two-and-a-half pages, eleven double-page illustrations, a single-page image, and eight double-page spreads of kyōka poems.

The illustrations relate to the Tanabata festival, which occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month, and the kyōka deal with this theme. The preface, entitled “Tanabata no setsu” 七夕の説, The story of Tanabata), describes the origins and diverse tales about this festival. The end of the preface includes the description “a meal was served at an inn on the seventh day of the seventh month, year forty-seven of the sexagenary cycle” (宿屋飯盛庚戌七月七日).

Kyōka drawing on the theme of Tanabata were gathered for the Tanabata of 1790 (Kansei 2) and later published. We know with relative certainty that the publisher was Tsutaya Jūzaburō 蔦屋重三郎 (1750–1797), and that the various kyōka poets paid him in order to have their verse published. However, different from the typical illustrated kyōka book, there is no separate half-folio listing publication information; the publication date and the artist’s name is also not specified. In considering why these omissions occurred it should be remembered that this book appeared at a time when publication censorship was being planned as part of the Kansei Reforms. Moreover, this work is not recorded in Tsutaya Jūzaburō’s publisher catalogue (zōhan mokuroku 蔵版目録) and there is no evidence that he actively promoted and marketed it, both factors that strengthen the argument that this might have been a private publication.

The names of Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 and Kitao Shigemasa 北尾重政 have been proposed as possible artists of this book, and at present the consensus is that Shigemasa designed it. FSC-GR-780.359 is believed to be the earlier of the two Pulverer copies, but it is missing a title slip and an internal title. The title is taken from FSC-GR-780.350, which is a later imprint. FSC-GR-780.350 omits the publisher’s name, has an additional poem, as well as two further folios of poetry. The Hangi sōmokuroku kabuchō 板木総目録株帳(Business register index of printing blocks) records that the publishing rights and the printing blocks were later transferred to the Osaka publishers Izumiya Genshichi (和泉屋源七), Akashiya Ihachi (明石屋伊八), and Kyōya Asajirō (京屋浅次郎). However, only Izumiya Genshichi can be confirmed, and most of the Izumiya Genshichi printings divide the illustrations and poetry into two separate volumes. The Bankidō zōhan ehon mokuroku 万棊堂蔵板絵本目録 (Publisher’s catalogue of illustrated books of Bankidō [Izumiya Genshichi]), appended to the printing from 1797 (Kansei 9) states that the Ehon Amanogawa consists of two volumes.

書名　画本あまの川

執筆者浅野秀剛　

墨摺狂歌絵本一冊。FSC-GR-780.359 は二十丁。序二丁半、見開き図十一、半丁図一、狂歌六丁。FSC-GR-780.350 は二十二丁。序二丁半、見開き図十一、半丁図一、狂歌八丁。七夕に因んだ絵の後に七夕に因んだ狂歌を付けた絵本。序題は「七夕の説」で、七夕の由来・故事を記す。序末に「宿屋飯盛　庚戌七月七日」とあるので、寛政二年の七夕の折、「七夕」の題で狂歌を集め、刊行したものと推定される。企画者は版元の蔦屋重三郎で、和歌を寄せた狂歌師からお金を取ってその歌を掲載したことはほぼ確実。ただし、通常の狂歌絵本と異なり、刊記が独立した半丁ではなく、年記や絵師名もないのは何か事情があったものかもしれない。寛政の改革の一環として出版統制が図られている最中での出版という側面も考慮すべきであろう。本書は蔦屋重三郎の蔵版目録には見えず、積極的に販売に力を入れた形跡もないので、私家版的要素が強かったものか。絵師については、後印本を含めて絵師名のあるものがないので、喜多川歌麿説と北尾重政説が並立してきたが、現在では重政説に落ち着いている。確認した諸本のなかでは、FSC-GR-780.359 が最も早いと思われるが、題簽が欠けている。内題もないので、署名は後印本である FSC-GR-780.350 から取った。780.350 は、780.359の版元名を削除し狂歌を一首加え、他に狂歌を二丁追加して刊行したもの。本書の版株は後に大坂の和泉屋源七、同、明石屋伊八、同、京屋浅次郎と板木が移動していることが、『板木総目録株帳』によって確かめられるが、そのうちで確認できたのは和泉屋源七のみ。和泉屋源七版は、図と狂歌を分けた二冊本が多い。寛政9年の和泉屋源七版に付されている「万棊堂蔵板絵本目録」には、「同（絵本）天の川　全二冊」とある。

Selected readings:

Otaka Sennosuke 尾高鮮之助, “Utamaro ehon kō”「歌麿絵本考」, in Ukiyo-e no kenkyū 20『浮世絵之研究20』(1928).

Suzuki Toshiyuki 鈴木俊幸, Tsutajū shuppan shomoku 『蔦重出版書目』(Tokyo: Seishōdō Shoten, 2008).

Copies in other collections:

National Diet Library, Tokyo

Sakai Municipal Library

Tōhoku University, Sendai

Ehon amanogawa