Asukayama shōkei　飛鳥山勝景　
FSC-GR-780.553
Commentary by Itō Shiori　

Posted April 19, 2017
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

The eighth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshimune 徳川吉宗 (1684–1751), planted one thousand cherry blossom trees on Mount Asuka (Asukayama) and opened the area to the general public in 1733 (Kyōhō 18). Even today it is celebrated as a meisho, or “famous place,” for flower viewing. In 1737 (Genbun 2) Yoshimune’s achievements on Mount Asuka were recorded on a monument erected there. The Neo-Confucian scholar Hayashi Ryūkō, at the time the head of higher education under the shogunate, visited Mount Asuka for leisure. His kanshi (Chinese) poetry about this “famous place” established the theme of the“Twelve Views of Mount Asuka” (Asukayama jūnikei), and in 1739 (Genbun 4) the subject appeared in waka (Japanese) poetry. This led to the publication in 1741 (Genbun 6) of Asukayama jūnikei waka 飛鳥山十二景和歌 (Waka poems on the twelve views of Mount Asuka). The delicately colored illustrations were by Kano Yūho 狩野友甫 (?–1762), and a copy of this work is housed in the Waseda University Library (ヘ0408102).

The postscript in Asukayama shōkei (Scenic views of Mount Asuka) states that the shogunate made donations to the Ōji Gongen Shrine on Mount Asuka. Moreover, the eleventh-generation Yūkin 宥欣(1781–1847) of the Kinrin Temple (Kinrinji 金輪寺) planned the publication of the poems relating to the “Twelve views of Mount Asuka” and the Mount Asuka monument inscription. [1] He also appointed Kumasaka Ransai as the illustrator. However, this publication was not completed during Yūkin’s lifetime; it was reportedly finished during the tenure of his successor, the twelfth-generation Yūkin. The kanshi poems and the preface may have been taken from Hayashi Ryūko’sAsukayama jūnikeishi ichimaki 飛鳥山十二景詩一巻 (Poems of the twelve views of Mount Asuka; preface dated Kyōhō 18, 1733), which was passed down to the Kinrin Temple. These are printed alongside the waka with the corresponding place names from the earlier Asukayama jūnikei waka. The illustrations by Kano Yūho were adapted and drawn by Suzuki Gako. The only exceptions are the images of Mount Asuka on the left side of the seventh illustrated opening and the right side of the eighth illustrated opening (pp. 17 and 18 on the website, respectively). These appear to be Gako’s own work.

Asukayama shōkei includes a re-cut of the postscript from the 1741 Asukayama jūnikei waka, and Kumasaka Ransai also contributed a postscript. The supplements Asukayama hijōjo 飛鳥山碑帖序(Introduction to the album of the Mount Asuka monument) by the Confucian scholar, kanshi poet, and artist Hattori Nankaku 服部南郭 (1683–1759) and the Asukayama hijōbatsu 飛鳥山碑帖跋 (Album postscript on the Mount Asuka monument) by the Confucian scholar Irie Nanmei 入江南溟(1682–1769) are both dated 1738 (Genbun 3). This suggests that their publication was planned immediately after the construction of the Mount Asuka monument. A copy of Asukayama shōkeiin the Fukuoka University Library has the same textual content as the Pulverer copy but with a different inside front cover. It also includes a kanshi poem that accompanies the image on the right side of the eighth illustrated opening. The Pulverer copy is an average example, comparable with copies in the Chiba City Museum of Art and the National Diet Library, Tokyo.

書名　飛鳥山勝景　
執筆者　伊藤紫織

飛鳥山は江戸幕府八代将軍徳川吉宗が千株の桜を植えて享保18年（1733）に一般に開放し、現在も花見の名所として知られる。当時の大学頭林信充が飛鳥山に遊び、漢詩に詠んで飛鳥山十二景が定まった。元文2年（1737）には吉宗の飛鳥山における事績を記した「飛鳥山碑」が建てられた。新名所飛鳥山十二景は元文4年に和歌に詠まれ、元文6年に狩野友信画『飛鳥山十二景和歌』が刊行された。

跋文によれば本書は飛鳥山を幕府から寄進された、王子権現、王子稲荷を管理する別当寺、金輪寺[1] の十一世宥欣によって、[1] 絵師に熊坂蘭斎（1799～1875）を起用して飛鳥山十二景の詩歌、飛鳥山碑の碑文の刊行が企てられたが果たされず、十二世宥秘の代に実現したという。漢詩と序は金輪寺に伝わった林信充「飛鳥山十二景詩一巻」から取ったものか、『飛鳥山十二景和歌』所収の和歌と合わせて各景ごとに載せた。挿図は狩野友信の図を翻案して鈴木鵞湖が描き、17ページから18ページの飛鳥山の図は友信の図にはなく鵞湖が独自に描いたものだろう。「飛鳥山十二景和歌跋」も元文6年の本の文章を再刻したもの。熊坂蘭斎も跋を寄せる。附録の服部南郭「飛鳥山碑帖序」、入江南溟「飛鳥山碑帖跋」は共に元文3年の年記があり、碑を建ててすぐに出版の計画があったものか。福岡大学図書館本は本書と文字内容は同じだが異なる見返しを持ち、18ページの絵に漢詩が付されている。

Selected readings: 　
Chiba City Museum of Art 千葉市美術館, ed., Suzuki Gako 『鈴木鵞湖』(Chiba: Chiba City Museum of Art, 2007).

Copies in other collections:
Chiba City Museum of Art
Fukuoka University Library
Gotoh Museum, Tokyo
National Diet Library, Tokyo
National Institute of Japanese Literature, Tokyo
Niigata University Library, Niigata
Rikkyō University Library, Tokyo
Sankō Library, Tokyo
Tokyo University of the Arts, University Library
Waseda University Library, Tokyo

[1] The Kinrin Temple oversaw the management of the Ōji Gongen and Ōji Inari shrines. It was an example of a “separate Buddhist temple” (bettōji 別当寺), and these were erected on the grounds of Shinto shrines. The Kinrin Temple was abandoned with the separation of Buddhism and Shinto during the Meiji period. Today it is known under the name of the sub-temple Fujimotobō.