逍遥が描いた父親の肖像 / 早稲田大学文化資源データベース

Between Edo and the West—Boyhood to Shirotabi-to

Tsubouchi Yuzo (childhood name), who later named himself "Shoyo", was born on May 22, 1859 (Ansei 6), in Ota-mura, Kamo-gun, Mino Province (currently Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture). Yuzo grew up as the youngest child of ten siblings, born to Heiemon (father) and Michi (mother). Yuzo inherited the strict and honest temperament of his father, who was a servant of the Owari Daikansho (magistrate's office), and his mother's love of plays and paintings.

Shoyo in his boyhood

In Meiji 2 (1869), following the Meiji Restoration, the Tsubouchi family moved to Kamisasashima village (current Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi), on the outskirts of Nagoya. Shoyo’s father, Heiemon, retired and returned to farming, changing his name to Heinoshin, and handed over the reins of the family to his eldest brother, Nobumasu, who had become a government official in Tokyo. From July of that year, Shoyo began to attend a Terakoya (temple school) in a castle town, as well as often going to Daiso, a book rental shop, and being taken by his mother to see plays.

In Hiranoshin's diary dated February 18, 1870, there is a description of a play at the Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine (later the Suehiro-za, a kabuki theatre in Nagoya). Suehiro-za, where Shoyo and his mother used to go, is a long-established theater known as Wakamiya Keidai Shibai (theater plays in the precinct of Wakamiya Shrine) since the Edo period.

Shoyo was particularly enamored with the works of Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848). Shoyo, who was enthusiastic about Bakin's novels including Nanso Satomi Hakkenden (a fantasy novel about eight dog warriors) , once tried to author a novel that imitated them.

This is one of the items related to Bakin in Shoyo's old collection. This hanging scroll contains both waka poems by Kyokutei Bakin (pen name of Takizawa Bakin) and haiku poems by Suzuki Bokushi, with Shoyo's pen writing on the back of the hassou (half circle shaped wood rod on the top of the scroll).

December of Taisho 9 (1920), Shuppan-bu (publishing department), Nippon Engei Goshi Kaisha)

Ichikawa Danjuro IX, whose stage performance impressed Shoyo

In Meiji 9 (1876), Shoyo moved from Nagoya and went to Tokyo Kaisei School (now the University of Tokyo). He met Takata Sanae there, who was born and raised in Tokyo and had a detailed knowledge of kabuki and dramas. Influenced by Sanae, Shoyo went to the Shintomi-za theater, where he saw Danjuro (a kabuki actor) for the first time and was impressed by his performance. Shoyo also often attended vaudeville shows, aggressively debated in Shogetsu (a tempura restaurant in Jimbocho), and developed his inclination to literature fostered in Nagoya. Shoyo called himself ”Gokuraku tombo (a happy-go-lucky fellow)” when he reminisced about himself at that time.

In June of 1878 (Meiji 11) at the Shintomi-za theater. In Meiji 9 (1876), Shoyo moved from Nagoya and went to Tokyo Kaisei School (now the University of Tokyo). He met Takata Sanae there, who was born and raised in Tokyo and had a detailed knowledge of kabuki and dramas. Influenced by Sanae, Shoyo went to the Shintomi-za theater, where he saw Danjuro (a kabuki actor) for the first time and was impressed by his performance. Shoyo also often attended vaudeville shows, aggressively debated in Shogetsu (a tempura restaurant in Jimbocho), and developed his inclination to literature fostered in Nagoya.

Shosetsu shinzui and Tosei shosei katagi

In Meiji 15 (1882), Tokyo Senmon Gakko (College) was founded by Okuma Shigenobu and others. While Shoyo and Takana Sanae taught at this college, they devoted themselves to literary research. In Meiji 18 (1885), Shoyo published Shosetsu shinzui, a collection of literary essays. He applied the literary theory from those essays in a novel titled Tosei shosei katagi. At this time, Shoyo dressed in kimono and was nicknamed "Shirotabi-to (white tabi socks fan)" and Tsubouchi Shikou, his nephew, described Shoyo as a snob.