Budō iro hakkei　武道色八景　

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Commentary by Mutō Junko

Posted January 7, 2018

Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Budō iro hakkei (Warrior love affairs in eight views) belongs to the genre of early modern popular literature known as ukiyozōshi (浮世草子). The general storyline is as follows. In the tenth month of 1702 (Genroku 15), Kurahashi Tomonoshin 蔵橋友之進 (formerly known as Tomonojō 友之丞) tracks down Muraki Sadaemon (村木定右衛門), an enemy of his father Kurahashi Gyōbuzaemon (蔵橋形部左衛門), after ten months. He strikes him down with the assistance of his pageboy Kiriyama Ukon (桐山右近). While the text mainly focuses on the world of martial arts in the form of spear-fighting matches and the exacting of vengeance, the text’s most entertaining aspect deals with the romance between Tomonoshin and Ukon. The distinguishing feature of the text lay in the depiction of the world of samurai in terms of the martial arts as well as homoeroticism. The author is identified as Momo no Hayashi 桃のはやし (also known as Tōrindō Chōmaro 桃林堂蝶麿), but little else is known about this writer.

The ukiyo-e artist Torii Kiyonobu designed three double-page openings for each of the five volumes. The illustrations serve to complement the text, but they are executed so skilfully that it is possible to understand the contents just from the images. The artist’s signature, written as “Torii Kiyonobu zu” (鳥居清信図), appears on a scroll in the tokonoma in the first illustrated double-page opening in volume 1 (pp. 6–7 on the website).

The copy of Budō iro hakkei in the Art Institute of Chicago (Martin A. Ryerson collection, 18523 [2-2-41]) is mostly a complete text. In addition to preserving the original title slip that reads Fūryū budō iro hakkei 風流武道色八景 (Warrior love affairs in eight fashionable views), it has the pages missing from the Pulverer copy—namely, the verso of the second foilo and the recto of the third folio in volume 3, along with the verso of the third folio and the recto of the fourth folio in volume 5. However, the Chicago copy is missing the verso side of the third folio and the recto of the fourth folio in volume 4.

Two of the seals in the table of contents in volume 1 (inside front cover, p. 1 on the website) of the Pulverer copy belong to Ikkeidō Nagasakibon (一桂堂ながさき本) and the Japanese dealer based in Paris, Hayashi Tadamasa 林忠正 (1853–1906).

Copies in other collections:

Art Institute of Chicago

Tobacco & Salt Museum, Tokyo

University of Tokyo

書名武道色八景

執筆者武藤純子

本書は浮子草子と呼ばれる庶民向けの近世小説である。あらすじは、1702年（元禄15年）10月、蔵橋友之進（前名友之丞）が、父蔵橋形部左衛門の敵である村木定右衛門を10ヶ月ぶりに探し当て、念友桐山右近とともに討ち果たすというものだ。鑓の仕合や敵討など武道の世界を主筋にしながらも、読み物としての面白みは友之進と小姓右近との色模様にある。武道と男色の両面から武士の世界を描いたところが特色である。作者桃のはやしは桃林堂蝶麿とも名乗るが、詳細は不明である。挿絵は鳥居清信で、各巻に見開き3丁ずつ配置され、テキストの内容を補完するとともに、挿絵だけでも内容を理解できるほどの筆の力がある。署名は巻之1の2丁表挿絵の掛物に「鳥居清信図」と記されている。シカゴ美術館本はほぼ完本で、元題簽「風流　武道色八景」があり、本書の欠丁分である巻之3、2丁裏三3丁表、巻之5、3丁裏4丁表の内容を補うことができる。ただし巻之4の3丁裏4丁表はシカゴ本も欠丁である。なお巻之1の目次に「一桂堂ながさき本」、「林忠正」の印などが押されている。