Ehon Yoshitsune shima meguri 絵本義経島巡り

FSC-GR-780.428.1-2

Commentary by Kitagawa Hiroko

Posted January 8, 2018

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

This book has the same title as the 1783 publication illustrated by Shimokōbe Shūsui 下河辺拾水 (d. 1797). The artist of this volume, Nakamura Nagahide, was from Kyoto, and he worked on illustrations for a wide variety of publications, including picture-books (ehon) and yomihon, as well as ukiyo-e prints. It could be conjectured that he produced the greatest range of works within publications of the Kamigata (Osaka/Kyoto) region: his ukiyo-e include full-color prints (nishiki-e) portraying Osaka kabuki actors, and in Kyoto he designed actor prints and “toy prints” (omocha-e) in monochrome and using the stencilling technique of kappazuri. In the latter process, pigments, often of low quality, are applied with a brush over paper stencils. It is extremely rare to see books like the Pulverer copy that employed the kappazuri technique in which the colors are still in such beautiful condition.

The story featured in this work was popular in picture-books from the Kamigata region. The title Ehon Yoshitsune shima meguri (A picture-book of Yoshitsune’s travels around the islands) refers to Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 (childhood name Ushiwakamaru 牛若丸, 1159–1189), a military commander who lived in the later Heian period and was a much loved figure with Edo-period Japanese, well known through both tales (monogatari) and theatrical plays. Although Yoshitsune played a pivotal role in the Genpei War (1180–1185), he was ostracized by his own brother Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147–1199); he died an untimely death in Hiraizumi in Ōshu Province. The various legends that emerged following his death claimed that Yoshitsune actually survived, crossing over to the Chinese continent to become Genghis Khan or that he continued on to the land of Ezo (present-day Hokkaidō). This book is based on the latter legend. The setting in volume 1 is Ezo, but volume 2 illustrates the different islands visited by Yoshitsune. There are also concise depictions of the appearance of foreigners in parts of volume 2, and this reveals, quite interestingly, the influence of foreign publications.

書名絵本義経島巡り

執筆者北川博子

1783 年に刊行された下河辺拾水画の同名本があり、上方京都・大坂でも絵本の素材としてよく知られていたお話であった。長秀は京都の絵師で、絵本や読本など本の挿絵や浮世絵など幅広く活躍した。浮世絵に関しては、大坂で錦絵の役者絵を、京都で合羽摺・墨摺の役者絵やおもちゃ絵などを手がけた。上方で最も幅広い画業を持つ絵師と言えよう。源義経幼名牛若丸は平安時代末期に活躍した武将で、江戸時代の人々にとっては、物語や演劇で馴染み深い人気者であった。義経は源平の戦いで活躍しながらも、兄の源頼朝に疎んじられ、奥州平泉で非業の死を遂げた。しかし、義経はその後中国大陸へ渡りジンギス・カンになったとか、蝦夷地今の北海道に渡ったとかいった伝説が生まれた。本書は蝦夷地に渡った伝説を踏まえている。上巻は蝦夷島であるが、下巻は様々な島への義経一行の島巡りを描いている。下巻には具体的に異国人の容貌が描かれている箇所もあり、海外の書物との影響関係がが見受けられる点が興味深い。なお、本書は合羽摺で着色されている。合羽摺は切り抜いた型紙の上から刷毛で着色する技法であるが、安価な絵の具が使われており、本書のように、これほど美しく色が残っている例は極めて珍しい。

Selected readings:

Kimura Yaeko 木村八重子, “Akahon ´Yoshitsune shimameguri´ o megutte” 『赤本「義経島めぐり」をめぐって』, Kokugungaku kaishaku to kyōzai no kenkyū649『国文学解釈と教材の研究649』(December: 1999), 116–25.

Shibata Minako 柴田みなこ, “Yoshitsune no shima meguri mono kara miru Edoki Kamigata kodomo no ehon: Kamigata ehon ‘Ehon yoshitsune shima meguri’ to Yoshitsune okina mondō o chūshin ni” 『源義経の島巡りものから見る江戸期上方子どもの絵本—上方絵本「繪本義経嶋巡」と「義経翁問答」を中心に』,Baika jidō bungaku 12 『梅花児童文学12』(June 2004), 53–71.