Quite surprisingly, Joly & Inada in their translation of Sekien’s Gazu hyakki yagyō 畫圖百鬼夜行 start by quoting sort of a mystery preface. It is signed by some Setchuan Riota and dated Anyei 6, that is 1777—a little unlikely for a book that was published the year before, in 1776. Consequently, this preface couldn’t have been part of the original 1776 publication, and first I guessed that it might possibly come from the Konjaku zoku hyakki 今昔続百鬼 of 1779, but that would still be an extremely early, but not impossible date for a preface. 

Yet, so far, I cannot identify any copy of that book with a Setchuan Riota preface. It is anyway quite difficult to locate copies of these Sekien books on the internet. Although ghosts and yokai and yurei seem to be extremely popular these days, Sekien’s books at least failed to attract the early French collectors which might likely help me finding one of these fantastic entries by Charles Vignier in some auction catalogue: Hayashi had a copy of the original 1779 edition (cat 1588); and for the Gazu Hyakki yagyō, Henri Vever had a copy of the 1776 edition (1948: 284, now Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, ex Gerhard Pulverer); and Haviland had a copy of the 1805 edition published by Maekawa Rokuemon and Maekawa Yahei (X: 513), and that’s it. And whereas Jack Hillier took this as an indication of their rarity, I would rather suggest that this kind of pictures did not suit the French taste.

As for the Konjaku zoku hyakki, the Smithsonian Library in Washington has a copy of the 1805 reprint with two prefaces by Nibushian Dōjin and Sekien himself, Leiden has a copy of the 1805 edition with only the Sekien preface (RV-1-4459), and UCLA has just the vols 2 and 3, so no preface there. 

As for the Gazu Hyakki yagyō, I then finally also found a copy in the National Diet Library, Tokyo (辰 6-23) with, yes, the Setchuan Riota preface. And that is apparently of a much later ’1805’ edition, issued by Naganoya Kankichi 長野屋勘吉 of Tsu in Ise Province—which must be similar to the copy owned by Regamey. And so I could identify him as Setchūan Ryōta 雪中菴蓼太, seals Tōei and Yōkyō 印: 冬英, 揚喬, actually Setchūan III, a pen-name of Ōshima Ryōta 大島蓼太 1718-1787, and his preface is, indeed, dated Anei rokunen tori shōgatsu 安永六年酉正月 (Anei 6 year of the Cock, I/1777). And though this still doesn’t solve the mystery where it comes from, let’s cite it anyway for the moment, as it is such a nice piece of writing, hoping I will some day find where it really fits or belongs:

One day I went out for a walk passing Toyeizan (Temple Uyeno [Ueno Tōeizan 上野東叡山]) looking at the fallen flowers as I strolled through Negishi [根岸, a location favoured by writers and artists, such as Sakai Hōitsu, Kitao Shigemasa, and Kameda Bōsai, who all lived there] where the wisteria was just in bloom, passing through Higurashi [a village in the Nippori District] where the yamabuki [山吹 Japanese rose] was full open, and I paid a visit to the studio of Sekiyen. A boy told me that the artist was not in but would soon return, he offered me some tea and soon after I felt very sleepy, a few bees came out of their hives and made a great noise, and I thought of the old story in which someone used his sword to drive flies away. A man who drove flies away with his sword must have been in such circumstances, and I attacked the hives with my stick, with the help of the boy, and then the bees flew about the hives and suddenly changed into many small men, and amongst them there were Soshi (strong men [壮士 henchmen]) a fine woman, wise men and fools, a priest, etc, and they spoke human words; understood and acted as if they were large men, and I was looking at them, leaning forward to the writing desk, I was then awakened by my friend who had just returned. I was startled (bonyari [ぼんやり]) & I realized that there were a few bees flying about the house. I still had a feeling as if I had just returned from a far country (kwaikankoku [怪漢国 the Land of Suspicious-looking People]). My friend said: I have just illustrated Suikoden [Suiko gasenran 水滸画潜覧 published in 1777], and then when he showed me his drawings I realized that all the different illustrations were just the little personages of whom I had just dreamt.

I wonder whether I have also dreamt about all the illustrations in this book. Recently a publisher asked him for these and Sekiyen accepting the offer asked me to write the preface, having no reason to decline his request I take my pen.

Setchuan Riota, Anyei 6 [1777]

Reading the text a few times, it then suddenly occurred to me that the original source might well have been the Suiko gasenran, which was published in 1777, altogether fine with the dating of the preface. It is a 3-volume publication of Izumoji Izuminojō 出雲寺和泉掾 and Enshūya Yashichi 遠州屋弥七, also the original publishers of Sekien’s ghost books, that might well have ended up likewise with Naganoya Kankichi in Setsu, who then mixed up the various components of Sekien’s books.

Again, it was not easy to locate a copy of this book, but the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has two copies, both not yet photographed, so I asked Sarah Thompson for help. She kindly promised to check the books next time she would have an opportunity to get to the collection. And something like a week later, there already was her reply: Hit, the preface is the one belonging to the Suiko gasenran, only found in the complete 3-volume copy (MFA 2009.3761 – the other copy, in MFA 2011.1444 is incomplete). Great, Sarah, thank you so much, now we know where the preface comes from. But when did Naganoya Kankichi make this mix-up? As Siebold was in the 1820s still able to get copies of the 1805 edition of both Zoku hyakki yagyō and Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro, it would seem that Naganoya was active even later than the 1820s—unless, of course, the Siebold copies were bought from some antiquarian bookshop, which he seems to have hardly done. 

The Japan Demonium book of Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt arrived in the mail this week, and I must say that it is quite an impressive and serious work, nicely produced by Dover of Mineola, New York, the one thing I possibly would have preferred is the plates at some more distance from the spine. As you may expect, I immediately checked the translation of the preface to the Gazu hyakki yagyō 畫圖百鬼夜行 that I discussed recently. Although their phrasing is quite different from that of Joly & Inada, the text is essentially quite similar, mostly that is. Let’s see.

Joly & Inada’s ‘There are extraordinary changes in nature so that a stone may become a sparrow and a fude [brush] may change into a grasshopper’ reads a bit more wittier with Yoda & Alt ‘Let us speak of shape-shifting things, like stone-swallows or inkbrush-crickets,’ certainly as they moreover explain in a note that ‘Certain species of fossil shells with bird-like shapes were called “stone-swallows” in China and Japan. This is also a play on Sekien’s name [石燕, seki 石 is stone and en 燕 is swallow], which is written with the same two characters. Fudetsu-mushi (“inkbrush-bugs”) is an archaic, poetic term for crickets’. NB notes in parentheses are quoted from the original, those in square brackets are mine.

The next lines read, with Joly & Inada ’Toriyama Sekiyen has followed the avocation of a painter for many years and his brush changes also in many ways as he depicts almost everything that is known in nature,’ and with Yoda & Alt ‘The man who created this book, Toriyama Sekien, has enjoyed himself in the field of art for some years. His very brush shape-shifts; in fact there is nothing in all of creation it cannot evoke’.

Then, getting to the work it introduces, Joly & Inada have ‘He published Toriyama Biko 彦 some time ago as everyone knows, now he is going to publish another one after Hiakki Yagio of old pictures, changing and revising (them). It is divided into six volumes numbered In Yo Fu 風 U 雨 Kwai Mei’ – to wich I add that his Toriyama Biko 鳥山彦 of 1773 is also known as Sekien gafu 石燕画譜, as well as a translation of “Hiakki Yagio” 百鬼夜行 as Nightly Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. Joly & Inada add in a note that ‘In Yo Fu U Kwai Mei’ translates as ‘negative, positive, wind, rain, darkness and brightness.’ Yoda & Alt have here ‘He is already famed for his book Toriyamabiko. This time, he took the ancient Hyakki Yagyō scrolls as inspiration, to which he added his own inimitable touch. A publisher took note and prepared blocks for printing a book. Sekien split his work into six volumes: Yin, Yang, Wind, Rain, Darkness, and Light’. They add the following note to the Toriyamabiko:  Published in Spring of 1774 [sic], this influential art book’s name has been translated as “Toriyama’s Echoes” but also evokes the name of the yokai “yamabiko.” The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has made their copy available online [and I would absolutely advise you to have a look and marvel at that great four-page portrayal of a peacock (inv.no. 2009.3766)]. I would also add that the circumstance that the writer of this preface can cite the mottos for the next three volumes of the Konjaku – Zoku hyakki 今昔 続百鬼 of 1779 as well, suggests that Sekien had by 1775 already completed the first two instalments of his books of ghosts. This is also confirmed later on, as he states that ‘these three volumes of part one, zenpen 前編, are titled Gazu Hyakki yagyō‘.

The preface is concluded, in the Joly & Inada translation ‘These books are entitled Yedzu Hiakki Yagio, he then asked me for a preface, & I could not refuse his request as we have been good friends for many years in poetry meetings, only I hesitated because of the maxim of Confucius (well bred people) dare not talk about Bakemono’ – as concerns the cited maxim, they add the note (Kunshi wa) Kwai Roku Ran Shin (wo katarazu) adding that this comes out of the Rongo [the Analects of Confucius 論語]. This would be (Kunshi wa 君子は people of virtue) Kai Ryoku Ran Shin 怪力亂神 (wo katarazu を語らず).

It is a pity that Yoda & Alt fail to make the association with the Rongo. Their last paragraph reads ‘These are the first three, entitled, naturally, Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (The Illustrated Demon Horde’s Night Parade). By and by he asked me to pen a Foreword. Sekien and I have long been traders of verse, so I could hardly refuse. But if you’re the sort who follows the conventional wisdom of shying away from talks of spirits and demons, you might find yourself wishing to avert your eyes’. Also their ‘traders of verse’ as a translation of 排歌の友にして, or ‘being friends in haikai poems’ is a bit surprising.

As for the writer of the preface, Joly & Inada have ‘Shio Shujin Rosan 紫陽主人老蠶,’ whereas Yoda & Alt have ‘Rōsan, master of Shiyō,’ and even found that this would be ‘A combination of pen names of the poet Maki Tōei (1721-1783), who also wrote under “Rōsan” (Old Silkworm) and “Shiyō-kan” (Hall of Violet Light), among others.’ This is really a great find – which I cannot check with the books I have here at hand–but I do hope that libraries will soon open again. Altogether, I would say that it is interesting to see how the two translations are at times complimentary, so I will continue to work on the Joly & Inada translations of the three other volumes of ghost books by Sekien.

A dear friend is, like me, organizing her books – an exercise in realizing that we don’t live in eternity and must be realistic about what we can still accomplish, so get rid of most. She asked me if I would be interested in some titles and so she sent me four books for which I now have to find some place. Among these is a MS by Henry L. Joly and Inada Hogitaro, The Books of Goblins and Fantastic Dreams of Toriyama Sekiyen Toyofusa, dated Feb-Mch 1909, and apparently unpublished. 

We know Joly (1876-1920) as a professional electrical engineer and chemist with a great love for Japan, authoring his Legend in Japanese Art (1908), the just fabulous Red Cross Exhibition Catalogue (1915), his catalogue of the Behrens Collection (1913), and quite some works on signatures on tsuba and netsuke and on swords. Inada (died 1940) is probably best-known for the still invaluable Japanese Names and How to Read Them (1923) together with Koop, but also for his cataloguing of the prints exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in the years 1909 to 1914.

They decided to make full translations, with occasional annotations, of the four books that Toriyama Sekien 鳥山石燕 (1712-1788) devoted to ghosts, goblins and apparitions, in their transcription the Yedzu Hiakki Yagio (1776), Hiakki Tsure Dzure Fukuro (1784), Konjaku Zoku Hiakki (1779), and Hiakki Yagio Shui (1781). According to a preliminary note “The following translations are taken from our copies, once in the library of Félix Regamey, who had numbered the pages consecutively from 1 to 260, including all prefaces and postfaces.”

Isn’t it funny to realize that Emile Guimet and Félix Regamey were together traveling Japan, Guimet searching images of Gods for what is now the Panthéon Bouddhique as an annex to the Musée Guimet in Paris, while Regamey was hunting for ghosts and goblins. Anyway, I thought it might be good to create some kind of sub-blog titled, for example, A Ghost A’day Keeps the Doctor Away — until I searched the internet to see whether ‘Sekien ghosts’ would give some result. And lo, there I found that Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda already in 2017 published their Japan Pandemonium Illustrated. The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien. So I ordered a copy that will arrive in a few weeks. Now, I decided to only publish the Joly/Inada translations of the prefaces and postfaces instead, hoping you may like them and possibly also get interested in the Alt & Yoda book. 

The first work in the series that Sekien composed, is the Hyakki yagyō 百鬼夜行 in 3 vols hanshibon, of 1776, also known as Gazu hyakki yagyō 畫圖百鬼夜行 and Ehon hyakki 繪本百鬼.

Vol 1 – 10 sh: 3 pp pref signed Tōto xxshi Shiyō Shujin Rōsan 東都□士紫陽主人老蠶 dated Anei kinoto hitsuji no fuyu  安永乙未冬 (Winter of 1775); 1 p contents; 1 p calligraphy In 陰 (the negative principle) by Rōsan 老蠶; 2 pp frontispiece: portraits of Jō and Uba as the ‘Tree Spirits’; 13 pp ills. Vol 2 – 12 sh: 1 p calligraphy Yō 陽 (the positive principle); 1 p contents; 22 pp ills. Vol 3 – 10 sh: 1 p calligraphy Fū 風 (Wind); 1 p contents; 15 pp ills; 2 pp postface signed Sekien Gessō no shita, s: Toriyama uji, Toyofusa 石燕月窓下 印:鳥山氏, 豊房, dated kinoto no hitsuji no aki kikugatsu 乙未乃秋菊月 (Autumn, IX/1775); 1 p colophon: Toriyama Sekien Toyofusa 鳥山石燕豊房/ assisted by his pupils 校合門人 Shikō 子興 (Eishōsai Chōki 栄松齋長喜)/ Gessha 月沙/ an announcement for a sequel to be cut soon 畫圖百鬼夜行後編 近刻/ block-cutter Machida Sukeemon 彫工 町田助右衛門/ Anei go hinoto saru no haru 安永五丙申春 (I/1776)/ publ Izumoji Izuminojō 御書房 出雲寺和泉掾/ Enshūya Yashichi 書林 遠州屋弥七, both in Edo.

The preface reads:

There are extraordinary changes in nature so that a stone may become a sparrow and a fude [brush] may change into a grasshopper. Toriyama Sekiyen has followed the avocation of a painter for many years and his brush changes also in many ways as he depicts almost everything that is known in nature.

He published Toriyama Biko 彦 some time ago [also known as Sekien gafu 石燕画譜, 1773] as everyone knows, now he is going to publish another one after Hiakki Yagio [Nightly Parade of a Hundred Ghosts] of old pictures, changing and revising (them). It is divided into six volumes numbered In Yo Fu 風 U 雨 Kwai Mei (negative, positive, wind, rain, darkness, brightness).

These books are entitled Yedzu Hiakki Yagio, he then asked me for a preface, & I could not refuse his request as we have been good friends for many years in poetry meetings, only I hesitated because of the maxim of Confucius (Kunshi wa) Kwai Roku Ran Shin (wo katarazu) (well bred people) dare not talk about Bakemono – (Rongo [the Analects of Confucius])

Written in the winter of Anyei, Sheep year [1775]

Shio Shujin Rosan 紫陽主人老蠶

Then there is a Postface (Batsu)

Poetry is the expression of feelings in words (voice) and painting is poetry without words, there is ”sight” but no voice but it gives all kinds of expressions and feelings as well to anyone who understands it.

As there were SanKaiKyō 山海經 in China and Hiakki Yagio by Motonobu [the painter Kanō Motonobu 狩野元信 1476-1559] in this country already and I dared to draw these pictures I was requested by a publisher to let him print them, and he was so earnest in his desire that I have decided to let them be transferred onto cherry wood blocks, in the hope that they may interest all children.

Sheep year, autumn, Kikuzuki (September [IX/1775]) under moonlight windows (1)

Sekiyen (Toriyama) Jibatsu (2) [石燕自跋]

1 – name of studio, Gessō no moto (ni oite) [月窓元]

2 – self postface 

This is a long one for the moment, but maybe it may incite you to want to know more and order the Alt & Yoda book. And I will soon come back to the prefaces to the three sequels that Sekien made.

Just forgetting about the printing revolution enabling full-colour printing for those who could benefit from this development, and just focusing on the now well-established benizurie prints, it is obvious that Torii Kiyomitsu, the number two in the 1750s, climbs to the first position in the 1760s. The number two is his pupil, the new talent Torii Kiyotsune, and number three is Torii Kiyohiro – who was the number one in the 1750s. The number two of the 1750s, Ishikawa Toyonobu, is almost completely out of sight, as is Torii Kiyoshige, the number three.

Interestingly, in the format of illustrated novels, we again find the numbers one and two in single print output, Kiyotsune (43 illustrated novels) and Kiyomitsu (40 illustrated novels), here ranking second and third as illustrators of popular novels of various kinds. But it is Tomikawa Fusanobu aka Ginsetsu (126 illustrated novels – “illustrated a few small books” is the comment in Roberts, p. 27) who takes the first position. Fusanobu had been active as a publisher of popular novels and single prints under the name of Yamamoto Kyūzaemon, operating from Ōtenmachō in Edo. However, he is said to have opted to rather be an illustrator as his business declined (Ukiyoe ruikō, p. 102). Yet, the Yamamoto firm seems to have been active from the 1710s to 1768, and we first see Fusanobu as an illustrator from 1756 to 1781, using the art-name of Ginsetsu from 1772. So he may have been the second generation in the family’s publishing business, leaving this to his son. According to the Watanabe copy of the Ukiyoe ruikō, Fusanobu studied with Nishimura Shigenaga. Actually, he just concentrated on illustrations to novels of the kurohon (171) and the akahon (88) genres, and no enpon, so it seems.

Anyway, with a total of 236 illustrated novels in the 1760s, versus only 25 in the 1750s, this is the beginning of an absolutely major development that will enable us to get a more correct notion of how artists of the popular printing tradition were being evaluated in their times. Here, for example, we know both Kiyomitsu and Kiyotsune from their prints, but in regard to Fusanobu, Binyon & Sexton remark ‘About eight prints in all comprise his output’ (p. 44). We will see this again in the 1780s, when the Kitao tradition is at its height, with Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820, act. 1766-1820) taking the third position, responsible for the illustrations of 35 popular novels, and his pupils Masayoshi (1764-1824, act. 1780-1824) and Masanobu (1761-1816, act. 1778-1804) taking the second and third position, with 150 and 120 illustrated novels respectively. But none of them is really known for his prints.

We have always been taught that the 1760s would see quite drastic changes, like someone pushing the button and lo and behold, there is the Floating World in multicolour. But is there more than just the birth of full-colour printing, the development of the so-called ‘brocade prints,’ nishikie (錦繪). And is there any effect of that innovation of multicolour printing, other than the numerous privately issued egoyomi (繪暦) for 1765 and 1766 and the Katsukawa trying to overpower the Torii portraits of actors. Is there more than just Suzuki Harunobu (1724?-1770, act. 1760-70) and Katsukawa Shunshō (1726-1793, act. 1764-1793). Are we indeed living in a different world?

Anyway, I am afraid that 1765 has become too much of a magical date – more about that later. What we see in single prints in the 1760s is a considerable decline, at least just focusing on the benizurie prints that Higuchi is listing (but still have to incorporate also Mutō’s database). His total for the 1740s is a pretty sound 188, but dropping to 129 in the 1750s – which is well before the development of full-colour printing – and again decreasing by almost 50% in the 1760s, to 100. Would this mean that the single prints from the latter half of the 1760s were all full colour prints?

As we saw before, tane were mostly produced simultaneously with black and white prints, from 1678 until circa 1723, whereas urushie had already been developed from 1717. And urushie then continued to be produced until circa 1752, with benizurie making their appearance as early as in 1744. And so we must also realize that mastering the technique of colour printing would not change the landscape of prints overnight. Indeed, we find benizurie still being published in the years 1766-68 (Torii Kiyohiro [act. 1752-68] and Kitao Shigemasa [1739-1820, act. 1765-1820]), or even as late as in the years 1770-73 (Kiyonaga, the fifth generation head of the Torii studio). Many regular buyers of prints were obviously simply happy with the benizuri portrayals of actors of the kabuki theatre that they had been buying for so many years. Moreover, and more importantly, it looks as if they simply had to still their hunger with benizurie, as they did not happen to belong to the circles that had access to the novel colour prints – as I will explain later on.

And how did other formats fare? Picture books of various kinds, mostly works with just illustrations and brief captions, but also of the ehon type that Sukenobu developed in the 1740s with illustrations to longer bits of text, these number like 58 in the 1740s, created by 12 artists, a figure almost doubled in the 1750s to 112 works by 23 artists. Actually, this is not very disparate in the 1760s, with 105 works created by 26 artists, with 5 artists being responsible for one single work only. But these are total figures. If we just focus on Edo productions, we are talking about a mere 15 works by three artists in the 1740s. For the 1750s, the figure is somewhat better, with 45 picture books by eight Edo artists, and in the 1760s we finally see some difference with the Edo production at almost half of the total of 105, with 50 picture books by nine artists.

This actually shouldn’t really surprise us, as we see the same in publishing in general: until the 1770s, the total production of books by Kyoto and Osaka publishers is far more than what Edo publishers produce. It is only from the 1770s that Edo publishers beat the combined production of Kyoto and Osaka publishers, and that is the situation until this day.[1]

If we also include enpon with the picture books – assuming that these were not really seen as very different at the time – the figure of 58 for the 1740s becomes 74, now by 13 artists. And for the 1750s, the figure of 112 becomes 122 by 25 artists, and for the 1760s this would be 105 plus 29 works by 11 artists (5 from Edo), which is different – but still nothing compared to what difference enpon would make in the 1770s.

For real change, we probably have to focus on popular novels of various sub-genres, such as ukiyozōshi, yomihon, kokkeibon, sharebon, hanashibon, akabon, kurohon, aohon, and kibyōshi, known collectively as kusazōshi (草双紙). Here we see eleven popular novels illustrated by 5 artists in the 1740s. This number is more than doubled in the 1750s, to 25 novels illustrated by 11 artists (three of which did the illustrations of one novel only, and one person only illustrated two novels). And in the 1760s this is more than quadrupled to 114 various kinds of novels illustrated by 12 artists (one being responsible for one work only, and another single person doing the illustrations of only two novels). So this is really booming, it seems.

[1] With the total production of 590 books in Kyoto and Osaka combined, versus 470 in Edo in the period 1727-49, and 1335 versus 1265 in the period 1750-74, this becomes 975 versus 1190 in the period 1775-1799, or even 510 versus 1130 in the period 1800-14.

Summarizing:

1730s Prints: 1) Nishimura Shigenobu [25]; 2) Torii Kiyomasu II [21]; 3) Okumura Masanobu [20]. ((66))

1730s Picture books: 1) Nishikawa Sukenobu [14/4]; 2) Takagi Sadatake [4/0/1]; 3) Okumura Masanobu [1/2]. ((26))

1740s Prints: 1) Okumura Masanobu [41]; 2) Torii Kiyomasu II / Torii Kiyonobu II [36]; 3) Ishikawa Toyonobu [30]. ((107))

1740s Picture books: 1) Nishikawa Sukenobu [29/0]; 2) Okumura Masanobu [3/15]; 3) Hasegawa Mitsunobu [7/0]. ((49))

1750s Prints: 1) Torii Kiyohiro [23]; 2) Ishikawa Toyonobu / Torii Kiyomitsu [22]; 3) Torii Kiyoshige [9]. ((67)) 1750s Picture books: 1) Hasegawa Mitsunobu [15/0]; 2) Ishikawa Toyonobu [7/5]/ Kitao Tatsunobu [12/0]; 3) Tsukioka Settei [9/1]. ((37))

Nishikawa Sukenobu’s (西川祐信) ehon of the 1730s: ((14 + 4 enpon)):

Nishikawa fude no yama (西川筆の山) 1 album, 1730s [1117]; Ehon Tsukubayama (繪本筑波山) 1 vol., I/1730 [M 60; 1119; Toda 133]; Ehon tatoegusa (繪本喩草) 3 vols., I/1731 [M 61; 1121; Toba 133]; Ehon tokiwagusa (繪本常盤草) 3 vols., VIII/1731 [M 62; 1120; Duret 79; Toda 131]; Onna fūzoku tamakagami (女風俗玉鏡) 2 vols., I/1732 [M 63; 1122]; Ehon minanogawa (繪本美柰能川) 1 vol., I/1733 [M 64; 1123]; Fūryū iromedoki (風流色□) 3 vols., 1733 [S 195]; Danshoku yamaji no tsuyu (男色山路露) 3 vols., c.1733 [S 172]; Nehan kyara makura (寝盤伽羅枕) 3 vols., c.1733 [S 178]; Yasa kurabe hana no sugatae (優競花の姿繪) 3 vols., c.1733 [S 209]; Ehon shimizu no ike (繪本清水の池) 3 vols., I/1734 [M 65; 1124; Toda 133]; Ehon arisoumi (繪本有磯海) 3 vols., I/1736 [M 66; 1125]; Ehon tama kazura (繪本玉かずら) 1 vol., I/1736 [M 67; 1126; Toda 134]; Ehon miyakodo’ri (繪本都鳥) 3 vols., c.1738 [1127]; Ehon yūsha kagami (繪本勇者鑑) 3 vols., I/1738 [M 71; 1128]; Ehon sonarematsu (繪本礎馴松) 1 vol., I/1738 [M 72; 1129]; Ehon asakayama (繪本浅香山) 1 vol., I/1739 [M 73; 1130; Duret 81]; Ehon ike no kokoro (繪本池の心) 3 vols., I/1739 [M 74; 1131].

Takagi Sadatake’s (高木貞武) ehon of the 1730s: ((4))Tokiwa hiinagata (常盤雛形) 3 vols., 1732 [839]; Ehon otogigusa (繪本御伽草) 3 vols., 1732 [840]; Ehon wakanoura (繪本和歌浦) 3 vols., 1734 [841]; Ehon buyū homaregusa (繪本武勇誉艸) 3 vols., 1734 [842]. No enpon

Okumura Masanobu’s (奥村政信) ehon of the 1730s: ((1 + 2 enpon)):

Ehon Kinryūzan Asakusa senbonzakura (繪本金龍山浅草千本櫻) 2 vols., 1734 [258]; Onna Shutendōji makurakotoba (女酒吞童子枕言葉) 3 vols., c.1737 [S 121]; Ono no otsū fumibunko (小野お津う文文庫) 3 vols., c.1738 [S 120].

Okumura Masanobu’s (奥村政信) ehon of the 1740s: ((3 + 15 enpon)):

Ehon Ogura nishiki (繪本小倉錦) 5 vols., 1740 [259; Duret 76-5; Toda 157]; Doji kaburomatsu (どうじかぶろ松) 3 vols., c.1742 [S 171]; Neya no hiinagata (閨の雛形) 12 oban, c.1742 [S 178]; Awajima hinagatazome (粟島島雛形染) 1 vol., c.1743 [S 76]; Tsurezuregusa monogatari yoru no kōshaku (徒然草物語夜講釈) 3 vols., c.1744 [S 169]; Enshoku – Kageboshi jūnidan (艶色-影法師十二段) 3 vols., c.1746 [S 126]; Zenaku – Uranai shigata Dōjōji (善悪-占仕形道成寺) 3 vols., c.1747 [S 88]; Enkō tora no maki (艶好虎之巻) 3 vols., c.1747 [S 98]; Shidōken koi no nazo hadaka hyakkan (志道軒戀の謎裸百貫) 1 album, c.1748 [S 152]; Shinoda denju no tama nanairo kitsune tenarai kagami (篠田傳授の玉七色狐手習鑑) 3 vols., c.1748 [S 152]; Yume monogatari – Tōkanmuri hana uirō (夢物語-唐冠華ういらう) 3 vols., c.1748 [S 171]; Enshoku – Azuma kagami (艶色-吾妻鑑) 5 vols., c.1748 [S 75], attrib.; Genkurō kitsune senbonzakura (源九郎狐千本櫻) 3 vols., 1749 [S 132]; Kaiawase – Hamaguri Genji kasengai (貝合-蛤源氏歌仙貝) 3 vols., 1749 [S 183]; Ehon fūga nana Komachi kinkishoga (繪本風雅七小町琴棋書画) 2 vols., 1740s [261]; Ehon bijingao no hiinagata sanjūnisō (繪本美人顔之雛形三十二相) 2 vols., 1740s [262].

Nishikawa Sukenobu’s (西川祐信) ehon of the 1740s: ((29)):

Ehon futa no oka (繪本双の岡) 1 vol., 1740 [1132]; Ehon chitose yama (繪本千歳山) 1 vol., 1740 [M 75; 1133]; Ehon tsurezuregusa (繪本徒然草) 3 vols., I/1740 [M 76; 1134]; Ehon asahiyama (繪本朝日山) 1 vol., 1741 [1135]; Ehon makuzugahara (繪本真葛が原) 3 vols., I/1741 [M 78; 1136]; Ehon chiyomigusa (繪本千代見草) 3 vols., III/1741 [M 79; 1137; Duret 88; Toda 135]; Ehon Izumigawa (繪本和泉川) 1 vol., I/1742 [M 80; 1138]; Ehon hime Komatsu (繪本姫小松) 3 vols., I/1742 [M 81; 1139]; Ehon Yamato hiji (繪本倭比事) 10 vols., I/1742 [M 82; 1140; Toda 136]; Ehon Yamato nishiki (繪本大和錦) 3 vols., I/1743 [M 83; 1141]; Ehon nezamegusa (繪本寝覚め種) 1 vol., I/1744 [M 84; 1142]; Ehon musha kōkan (繪本武者考鑑) 3 vols., 1744 [M 85; 1143]; Ehon ike no kawazu (繪本池の蛙) 3 vols., I/1745 [M 86; 1144]; Ehon hime Tsubaki (繪本女貞木) 3 vols., I/1745 [M 87; 1145]; Ehon wakakusayama (繪本若草山) 1 vol., I/1745 [M 88; 1146]; Ehon tsuru no sumika (繪本鶴のすみか) 1 vol., I/1746 [M 89; 1147]; Ehon Nishikawa Azuma warabe (繪本西川東童) 1 vol., 1746 [1148]; Ehon Miyako sōshi (繪本都草紙) 3 vols., I/1746 [M 91; 1149; Toda 141]; Ehon kame no oyama (繪本亀尾山) 3 vols., I/1747 [M 92; 1150; Toda 141]; Ehon kawanagusa (繪本河名草) 1 vol., I/1747 [M 93; 1151; Duret 82]; Ehon fudetsubana (繪本筆津花) 1 vol., I/1747 [M 94; 1152; Toda 142]; Ehon kaigasen (繪本貝歌仙) 3 vols., I/1748 [M 95; 1153]; Ehon hana no kagami (繪本花の鏡) 3 vols., I/1748 [M 96; 1154]; Ehon hana momiji (繪本花紅葉) 1 vol., 1748 [1155; Toda 142]; Ehon masukagami (繪本十寸鏡) 1 vol., I/1748 [M 98; 1156; Toda 142]; Ehon Ogurayama (繪本小倉山) 3 vols., I/1749 [M 99; 1157; Toda 142]; Ehon musha bikō (繪本武者備考) 3 vols., I/1749 [M 100; 1158]; Ehon Fukurokuju (繪本福禄寿) 1 vol., I/1749 [M 101; 1159]; Ehon yūbu kagami (繪本勇武鑑) 1 vol., I/1749 [M 102; 1160]. No enpon

Hasegawa Mitsunobu’s (長谷川光信) ehon of the 1740s: ((2)):

Ehon bunyū Shikishimadai (繪本文勇敷島台) 3 vols., 1748 [1245]; Daigaku Yamato kaishō (大学倭繪抄) 3 vols., 1748 [1246]. No enpon

Hasegawa Mitsunobu’s (長谷川光信) ehon of the 1750s: ((15)):

Ehon musha kabuto (繪本武者兜) 3 vols., 1750 [1247]; Ehon fuji no midori (繪本藤の緑) 3 vols., 1751 [1248; Toda 150?]; Ehon issei ando kusa (繪本一生安堵艸) 3 vols., 1751 [1249]; Ehon imayō hiji (繪本今様秘事) 2 vols., 1751 [1250]; Ehon meiboku Naniwatsu (繪本名木難波津) 2 vols., 1751 [1251]; Ehon eiyū kagami (繪本英勇鑑) 5 vols., 1751 [1252]; Ehon kaga otogi (繪本家賀御伽) 3 vols., 1752 [1253]; Ehon Naniwatsu (繪本難波津) 2 vols., 1752 [1254]; Ehon atsu? no gomi (繪本壓の塵) 3 vols., 1753 [1255]; Nihon sankai meibutsu zue (日本山海名物図絵) 5 vols., 1754 [1256]; Ehon otogi hyakka tomo (繪本御伽百哥友) 3 vols., 1754 [1257]; Ehon tohi mondō (繪本都鄙問答) 2 vols., 1755 [1258]; Ehon yoroigasen (繪本鎧歌仙) 6 vols., 1755 [1259]; Ehon buyū sakura (繪本武勇櫻) 2 vols., 1756 [1260]; Ehon zokusetsu mantoku nezumi (繪本俗説萬徳鼠) 3 vols., 1758 [1261]. No enpon

Ishikawa Toyonobu’s (石川豊信) ehon of the 1750s: ((6 + 5 enpon))

Iro keizu (色系図) 3 vols., c.1750 [S 81]; Sōka ehon (草花繪本) 1 vol., 1751 [28]; Ehon rigensō (繪本俚諺草) 3 vols., 1752 [29]; Ehon xxgusa (繪本□草) 2 vols., 1752 [30]; Ehon Azuma no mori (繪本東の森) 2 vols., 1752 [31]; Iro asobi (色あそび) 3 vols., c.1752 [S 81]; Iro tsu kagami (色通鑑) vols., 1753 [S 82]; Ehon mattekibana (繪本末摘花) 1 vol., 1757 [32]; Koshoku – Haru no kaze (好色 -春の風) 3 vols., c.1757 [S 184]; Ehon buyū tazuna (繪本武勇太図那) 3 vols., 1759 [33].

Kitao Tatsunobu’s (北尾辰宣) ehon of the 1750s: ((12)):

Shinobusuri (しのぶすり) 2 vols., 1750 [534]; Ehon Ōegishi (繪本大江岸) 2 vols., 1752 [535]; Ehon utai sugata (繪本謡姿) 3 vols., 1753 [536]; Ehon kotobukigusa (繪本壽き草) 3 vols., 1753 [537]; Ehon musha no umi (繪本武者海) 3 vols., 1754 [538]; Ehon musha heirin (繪本武者兵林) 3 vols., 1754 [539]; Ehon ura no chidori (繪本浦千鳥) 1 vol., 1755 [540]; Ehon xx?surigusa (繪本□摺り草) 2 vols., 1756 [541]; Ehon Yamato rongo (繪本倭論語) 3 vols., 1756 [542]; Ehon hyakunin isshu (繪本百人一首) 1 vol., 1757 [543]; Ehon chiyonegusa (繪本千代根艸) 1 vol., 1757 [544]; Ehon tama koi no ike (繪本玉濃池) 3 vols., 1758 [545]. No enpon

Tsukioka Settei’s (月岡雪鼎) ehon of the 1750s: ((9 + 1 enpon)):

Onna dairaku takarabeki (女大楽寶開) 1 vol., 1751 [S 121]; Ehon Tatsutayama (繪本龍田山) 3 vols., 1753 [969]; Yūjo gojūnin isshu (遊女五十人一首) 2 vols., 1753 [970; Toda 331]; Ehon kotoba no hana (繪本言葉花) 3 vols., 1754 [971]; Ehon wakaen (繪本和歌園) 3 vols., 1755 [972]; Onna buyū yosooi kura (女武勇粧競) 3 vols., 1757 [974; Toda 331]; Hanafuku hyakunin isshu (花福百人一首) 1 vol., 1758 [975]; Ehon hime bunko (繪本姫文庫) 5 vols., 1758 [976]; Ehon kōmei futabagusa (繪本高名二葉草) 3 vols., 1759 [977; Toda 332]; Ehon mushadan (繪本武者団) 3 vols., 1759 [978].

A closer look at single prints in the 1730s through the 1750s – Perspective prints As for ukie, these seem to be an innovation that we owe to the visionary Okumura Masanobu, generally believed to date from 1739 onwards.[6] This date is based on a design after a theatrical performance in III/1739 of the play Hatsu motoyuitsū Soga (初鬠通曽我), staged at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:303), and also the Zoku dankai (続談海) records for the same year 1739 that ‘ukie are being published’ (浮繪出板行事). From then, their numbers increase, and the Annals of Edo in Musashi Province, Bukō nenpyō (武江年表, 1-151) confirm the existence of ukie in its general observations for the Enkyō Period (1744-1748).

These obvious references to the prints, alas, fail to give us an answer to the question why these were then being designed and made. Of course, being Dutch myself, I would like to see them as the Japanese alternative for the optica prints that were then imported into Japan in large numbers by the Dutch at Deshima.[7] But it is only from the 1760s and 1770s that we will see Japanese copies after European optica prints of the Canal Grande in Venice, the Forum Romanum, the Colossus of Rhodos, and many more hand-coloured copper plate prints of famous sites and European townscapes, mass-produced in Paris, London and Augsburg from the 1740s.

Earlier ukie all focus on Japanese scenery, be it a view of enjoying the evening cool at Ryōgokubashi, the interior of some kabuki theatre, a street lined on both sides with shops selling materials, a view of the main street of the Yoshiwara, or temple compounds. Moreover, most, if not all perspective prints, have a title and the names of their designer and publisher in a vertical band in the right hand margin. These would thus be readable for the operator of the ōkarakuri in which these prints would normally be shown at the time, a box-like apparatus equipped with magnifying lenses so people would look through these lenses and thus get something like a three-dimensional view of some cityscape. There is some pictorial evidence attesting to the existence of these ōkarakuri, also called ‘Dutch peeping boxes,’ Oranda ōkarakuri, in books of the period and, in fact, even suggesting that these were already in use at a much earlier date than we assign to ukie, as early as 1730.[8] So what did they show then? Their formats, especially the large ones that measure like 345 – 436 x 470 – 642 mms, seem rather appropriate for vistas to be shown to some audience in such an apparatus than as items that would be bought by private people who would keep them in some box together with their other prints. The smaller ones are of a slightly more modest size, measuring 240 – 278 x 395 – 413 mms, but also that is still pretty large.[2] It is only from the 1760s that perspective prints take the format of the standard ōban, and apparently start catering to a market of well-to-do citizens that may even own a zograscope themselves for viewing these prints, as we can see in a Harunobu print of the late 1760s.

In the first decades since they were first developed in 1739, most such ukie would either represent the interior of one of Edo’s kabuki theaters, or offer us a view of the main street of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter seen through the entrance gate, Ōmonguchi. Their main designers are Okumura Masanobu (12), Tanaka Masunobu (5), Torii Kiyotada (2), Teigetsudō (1), Furuyama Moromasa (4), Nishimura Shigenobu (1), Nishimura Shigenaga (10), Torii Kiyohiro (1), Torii Kiyotada (2), Kōgetsudō (1), and Torii Kiyomitsu (1), for a total of some forty prints, mostly dating from the 1740s. However, their real flowering is from the 1760s and 1770s, when artists such as Utagawa Toyoharu make these his specialty, and later also, for some time, Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825), Kitao Masayoshi (1764-1824, act. 1780–), and Katsukawa Shunrō (1760-1849), the later Hokusai. No, perspective prints were not just some temporary vogue, they would even live on in the Japanese etching or copperplate tradition of the first half of the nineteenth century.

An overview of early Ukie, based on Higuchi and Kishi Fumikazu, Edo no enkinbō. Tokyo: Keisō Shobō, 1994, would give the following:

◊ Anonymous painting: Ichimuraza jōnai no zu (市村座場内之図), after the play Tokiwagi Taiheiki (瑞樹太平記), staged XI/1739 at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:306), published anonymously;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shibai kyōgen butai kaomise daiukie (芝居狂言舞台顔見世大浮繪), after the play Miyabashira Taiheiki (宮柱太平記), staged XI/1740 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:314), published by Okumuraya Genroku [H52];

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shin Yoshiwara Ōmonguchi Nakanochō ukie kongen (新吉原大門口中の町浮繪根元), after the situation in between the years 1741 and 1744, published by the Okumuraya;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shibai kyōgen ukie kongen (芝居狂言浮繪根元), after the play Futayosooi mitsugi Taiheiki (艤貢太平記), staged XI/1743 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:422), published by Okumuraya Genroku;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shibai kyōgen ukie kongen (芝居狂言浮繪根元), after the play Sazareishi suehiro Genji (□末廣源氏), staged I/1744 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:445), published by Okumuraya Genroku (?);

◊ Tanaka Masunobu: Untitled theatre interior, after the play Nanakusa wakayagi Soga (七種□曽我), staged Spring/1744 at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:446), published by Izutsuya Sanemon;

◊ Anonymous: Untitled theatre interior, after the play Kachō Taiheiki (花鳥太平記), staged XI/1744 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:448), published by unknown;

◊ Torii Kiyotada: Untitled theatre interior, after a performance of Shibaraku (暫), staged XI/1744 at the xx Theatre (KN 2:000), published by Urokogataya;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shin Yoshiwara Ōmonguchi Nakanochō daiukie (新吉原大門口中の町大浮繪), after the situation in between the years 1744 and 1745, published by Okumuraya Genroku;

◊ Tanaka Masunobu, attrib.: Untitled, view of the Ōmonguchi of Shin Yoshiwara, after the situation in between the years 1744 and 1745, published by unknown;

◊ Furuyama Moromasa: Shin Yoshiwara Ōmon yuki no kei no iro (新吉原大門雪景色), after the situation in between the years 1744 and 1748, published by Igaya;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shibai kyōgen butai kaomise daiukie (芝居狂言舞台顔見せ大浮繪), after a performance of Yanone (矢の根), staged XI/1745 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:479), published by Okumuraya Genroku;

◊ Tanaka Masunobu: Ichimuraza shin kyōgen (市村座新きょうげん), after the play Onna kusunoki yosooi kagami (□楠□粧鑑), staged XI/1745 at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:479), published by Izutsuya Sanemon;

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Shin Yoshiwara Ōmonguchi ukie kongen (新吉原大門浮繪根元), after the situation of circa 1745, published by Okumuraya Genroku; ◊ Tanaka Masunobu: Yoshiwara Nakanochō (吉原中の町), after the situation after the year 1745, published by Izutsuya Sanemon.

[6] Yet, Cal French in his monograph on Shiba Kōkan asserts that ‘the first uki-e, executed in Japan around 1734’ – apparently on the presumption that 1734 is the year of publication of Shimada Dōkan’s Kiku genpō chōken bengi (Understanding the Basic Rules for Viewing Towns with Compass and Ruler, 島田道桓:『規矩元法町見辨疑』), adapted after Abraham Bosse Algemeene manier van de Hr. Desargues tot de practyk der perspective gelijk tot die der meet-kunde. Amsterdam 1686.

[7] What is probably the first unmistakable record of the Dutch importing ‘a perspective with painting for the Lord of Suruga’ dates from VIII/1755, and  ‘a perspective with eighteen prints for the Lord of Sama (Saga?), and idem for the Lord of Shiga’ dates from 1759.

[8] See, for example, Hasegawa Mitsunobu: Ehon otogishina kagami of 1730.

[9] Interestingly, in the Kansai area, a smaller size was apparently in use, at least if we may accept that the many so-called meganee that Maruyama Ōkyo (1733-1795) painted from 1759 just to make a living – though he himself would later deny that – were used for showing in these karakuri. These only measure 205 x 270 mms. However, a printed one, hand-coloured and anonymous, is slightly larger, measuring 227 x 337 mm. It is titled Perspective View of the Large Room of a Teahouse (Ukie ageya ōzashiki), showing people partying in the large room of one of the teahouses in the Shimabara pleasure quarter in Kyoto, published by Kikuya xx? at Kyō Teramachidōri sanjō agaru xx?. Quite interestingly, it is pasted onto several layers of paper, so as to facilitate handling by the operator of the karakuri. As for the publisher – only the Kikuya is still readable, the rest is effaced from handling – this is not Kikuya Kihei, who is located at Teramachidōri Matsubara kudaru machi.  

A closer look at single prints in the 1730s through the 1750s – Pillar prints We already saw three new developments in the format of single prints: the first examples of printing just two colours, the benizurie, from 1744, and pillar prints, or hashirae, as an experiment with a quite demanding surface to work with, and perspective prints, ukie, as a totally innovative way to represent a three-dimensional reality.

As for pillar prints, hashirae, Okumura Masanobu makes a claim to be the originator, hashirae kongen (はしら繪根元).[1] And, although this may well be justifiable, he no doubt was real innovative, both as a designer of prints and as a publisher, the three earliest datable examples should be identified with the designer Torii Kiyoshige (act. 1721-73) and with the publisher Urokogataya.[2] It is quite well possible that Masanobu, in his capacity of a publisher of prints, came up with the idea, maybe just discussing some ideas with his regular clients, and found himself sufficiently encouraged. And maybe he did issue some examples predating the earliest datable pillar prints. And then there is the suggestion that pillar prints just owe their invention to a simple accidental warping of a printing block, and making a publisher realize that one figure might be more attractive than a couple – quite well imaginable as Japanese printing blocks were cut xxxx. But it certainly was a risk to begin with, we must realize that prints of such a large size would certainly cost quite some money, if only because of the format of both the printing blocks and the size of the sheets of paper.

The earliest hashirae prints measure 638 – 738 x 146 – 262 mms., later, we also see some that even measure 1018 – 1050 x 162 – 163 mms. Yet, they seem to have been an almost immediate success, with six designs by Torii Kiyoshige datable to the years 1736-55, probably all published by Urokogataya; twenty-four by Okumura Masanobu datable to the years 1743-49, most likely all published by himself; ten by Nishimura Shigenaga, published by Tsuruya and Urokogataya in 1743; two by Furuyama Moromasa (act. 1690s-00); one by Torii Kiyonobu II; and at least thirty-four by Ishikawa Toyonobu datable to the years 1743-49, mostly published by Urokogataya, but some by Izumiya, Murataya, Nishimura, and Maruko. Yet, remarkably, we cannot, so far, identify any hashirae designed by Kiyomasu II. Later on, we would see much larger numbers, first by Torii Kiyomitsu, later by Harunobu, Isoda Koryūsai (act. 1767-80) and Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815, act. 1774-1800), indeed, pillar prints were not just some short-lived temporary vogue.

In chronological order, as far as we can get some idea of the beginning of hashirae based on datable examples, we get the following picture:

◊ Torii Kiyoshige: The actor Ichikawa Ebizō in the role of Shinozuka, Lord of Iga, in the play Junpū Taiheiki (順風太平記), staged XI/1736 at the Kawarazaki Theatre (KN 2:241), published by Urokogataya [H7];

◊ Torii Kiyoshige: Sanogawa Ichimatsu as the page Yoshida Jinnosuke in Myōto hoshi fuku Nagoya (女夫星福名古屋), staged VII/1742 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:377), published by Urokogataya [H8];

◊ Torii Kiyoshige: Matsumoto Kōshirō as Fuwa Banzaemon in Myōto hoshi fuku Nagoya (女夫星福名古屋), staged VII/1742 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:377), published by Urokogataya [H9];

◊ Okumura Masanobu: The actor Onoe Kikugorō as Yoshino, in Haru no akebono kuruwa Soga (春曙廓曽我), staged I/1743 at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:415), published by his own firm (Art Institute of Chicago) [H75];

◊ Nishimura Shigenaga: Sanogawa Ichimatsu as Hisamatsu in Monryoku tokiwa Soga (門緑常盤曽我), staged I/1743 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:413), published by Urokogataya (Art Institute of Chicago) [H45];

◊ Ishikawa Toyonobu: Sanogawa Ichimatsu as Hisamatsu in Monryoku tokiwa Soga (門緑常盤曽我), staged I/1743 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:413), published by Urokogataya [H4];

◊ Ishikawa Toyonobu: Sanogawa Ichimatsu as Hisamatsu in Monryoku tokiwa Soga (門緑常盤曽我), staged I/1743 at the Nakamura Theatre (KN 2:413), published by Izumiya [H3];

◊ Okumura Masanobu: Onoe Kikugorō as Kichisaburō, in reality Soga no Gorō in Nanakusa wakayagi Soga (七種わかやぎ曽我), staged Spring/1744 at the Ichimura Theatre (KN 2:446), published by his own firm [H76].

[1] I am aware that Julian Lee wants to interpret ‘kongen’ as ‘excellent, superb, outstanding,’ but I am afraid that I fail to see why.

[2] Already in 1921 and maybe even in the 1911 first edition that I don’t have at hand, Julius Kurth in his Der japanische Holzschnitt. München 1921², p. 37, identifies Kiyoshige as the first to design hashirae.

Picture books in the years from the 1730s through the 1750s – General For much of this period, Nishikawa Sukenobu and Okumura Masanobu play a major role, Sukenobu ranking first with eighteen titles in the 1730s, and Okumura Masanobu ranking third, with only three titles. In the 1740s, Sukenobu is still holding the first position, now with twenty-nine titles, Masanobu following in the second position, indeed more seriously, with eighteen titles. Third is the Sukenobu pupil Hasegawa Mitsunobu with seven titles. In the 1750s, both Masanobu and Sukenobu are no longer to be found in the first three positions – Sukenobu dies in 1751, at the age of 81 years old. Hasegawa Mitsunobu, whom we saw in the third position in the 1740s, now leads with fifteen titles, and then we see some new names in the second position, such as Ishikawa Toyonobu (1711-1785, act. 1730s-79) and Kitao Tatsunobu (act. 1747-72), each with twelve titles, followed by the Osaka artist Tsukioka Settei (1710-1786, act. 1751-87) with ten titles in the third position. Anyway, the strong representation from the Kansai region that started with Sukenobu’s breakthrough in the 1710s is not over yet, and its lasting influence on Edo imagery is still to come.

Looking at the number of works of an erotic nature, in the 1730s there are only six titles (4 by Sukenobu, 1 by Takagi Sadatake [act. 1720-52], and 2 by Masanobu), versus nineteen of non-erotic content (14 by Sukenobu, 4 by Sadatake, and 1 by Masanobu). For the 1740s, these figures would be fifteen for erotic works, all by Masanobu, versus thirty-nine non-erotic works (29 by Sukenobu, 3 by Masanobu, and 7 by Mitsunobu). And for the 1750s, we can only identify six erotic works (5 by Toyonobu and 1 by Settei), versus forty-three non-erotic works (15 by Mitsunobu, 7 by Toyonobu and 12 by Tatsunobu, and another 9 by Settei).

As a consequence, we must conclude that works of an erotic nature make out only some 26% of the picture books issued in the years from the 1730s to the 1750s – remember, this was 77% in the 1710s. This might suggest that the Kyōhō Reforms did have some impact. If so, this would at least be temporarily, as the 1770s would see their greatest flowering in the eighteenth century – in numbers that is, percentagewise we will have to wait and see, this may well be different. It is also interesting to note that quite a number of designers seem to abstain completely from designing enpon, such as, for example, Nishimura Shigenaga, Torii Kiyomasu II, Hasegawa Mitsunobu, Torii Kiyonobu II (1706-1763, act. 1726-60), Takagi Sadatake, Torii Kiyomitsu, and Torii Kiyotsune.

Most interesting is yet another development that we can observe from the 1750s: the modest beginnings of professionals illustrating popular novels. The first, admittedly still weak sign of this, we can see in the circumstance that the eleven illustrated novels for the 1740s – with Yamamoto Shigeharu (act. 1740s-50s?) illustrating one aohon novel and three kurohon novels, Torii Kiyomitsu (1735-1785, act. 1752-78) doing the illustrations of two kurohon novels and one aohon novel, and Nishimura Shigenaga illustrating one novel of the ukiyosōshi type – are easily being doubled to twenty-five illustrated novels in the 1750s – with Kiyomitsu being responsible for illustrating two novels of the kurohon genre and three aohon novels, Torii Kiyomasu II (1706-1763, act. 1728-60) illustrating three kurohon novels and one aohon, and Torii Kiyotsune (act. 1758-80) two more aohon novels.

Figures such as eleven illustrated novels in the 1740s, or more than the double in twenty-five for the 1750s may still seem quite unimportant, but then they really more than quadruple and become like 114 in the 1760s. Indeed, Kiyotsune and Kiyomitsu would then be responsible for illustrating forty-three and forty popular novels respectively, and that still hardly compares with Tomikawa Ginsetsu Fusanobu (act. 1756-81) who would in the same 1760s illustrate no less than 126 popular novels – “Illustrated a few small books” is the comment in Roberts, p. 27, with many more to follow in the 1770s. — At some point, I will go into more detail in regard to the illustration of popular novels of various kinds.