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Kyokutei Bakin

An outstanding writer of popular fiction of the late Edo period; the author of Nanso Satomi hakken den 1767-1848

Kyokutei Bakin of Edo was a writer of popular, lowbrow literature of the late Edo period. His original name was Takizawa Okikuni and later was simply Toku. Among his many pen names, he used Chosakudo Shujin, Saritsu Gyoin, and Gendo Chinjin. He was born in Fukagawa, Edo. His father was a steward serving in the household of Matsudaira Nobunari, a direct retainer to the shogun.

 

After his father's death, he succeeded his father as head of the Takizawa family and served in the Matsudaira household, but at age 14 he fled from his employer's household and worked in a series of service jobs, etc., in unstable circumstances. At age 24 he set his sights on writing popular fiction and became a pupil of the poet and writer Santo Kyoden. In 1791 he published the yellow-cover book Tsukaihatashite nibu kyogen (Two Noh Farces All Used Up) under the name Daiei Sanjin. Thereafter, he wrote other yellow-cover books and ghostwrote for Kyoden, as well as serving as a clerk for the bookseller Tsutaya Juzaburo for a while.

 

In 1793 he married the widow of Iseya, footwear merchants in Iidamachi—an arrangement that gave him the economic freedom to write popular fiction full time. With Takao Senjimon, published in 1796, he began producing, one after another, full-length Edo-period reading books (as opposed to books with lots of illustrations). Among these works, Sanshichi zenden nanka no yume (The Complete Story of Sankatsu and Hanshichi: A Dream of Nanka) and Chinsetsu yumiharizuki (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon) were especially well received.

 

In 1814 he began publishing his longest reading book Nanso Satomi hakken den (Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes of the Satomi Clan of Nanso), devoting the next 28 years to this work before he completed it. (Edo-period reading books imitated Chinese vernacular fiction, such as Dream of the Red Chamber, to which authors added gloriously conceived plots full of romance. They remained popular from the 1850s to 1890s.)

 

Bakin's full-length reading books were works of stupendous labor. In addition to Cresc ent Moon and Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes, two other reading books of his are Kaikan kyoki kyokaku den (Tales of Chivalrous Protectors) and Kinse setsu bishonen roku (Story of a Handsome Young Man). He also wrote historical studies, such as Enseki zasshi (Useless Miscellaneous Notes), Nimaze no ki (Potpourri), Gendo hogen (Speaking in Mystical Agreement), and Toen shosetsu (Notes of the Toen Association). His Agahotoke no ki (A Record of the People Close to Me) gives a history of the Takizawa family and biographies of family members, and his Kinsei mono no hon Edo sakusha burui (A Classification of Recent Books and Edo Authors) is a critique of popular fiction writers of the period.

 

Other important materials for understanding Bakin's life and the world of popular fiction of that time are his massive diary and his letters. For instance, we find out that late in his life, he experienced such misfortunes as his eldest son Sohaku dying early and he himself losing his sight. We also know that Sohaku's widow Omichi took dictation and enabled him to complete Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes.

 

His grave is located at Jinko Temple in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

Related People, Things and Events

Books

『南総里見八犬伝』執筆の苦心

馬琴の旧蔵本・書き入れ本・書簡など

『八犬伝』自筆稿本と完成本の比較

国立国会図書館が所蔵する『南総里見八犬伝』の自筆稿本は、当時の執筆の実状がわかる貴重な資料だが、特に目を引くのは、挿絵の下絵から、見返し、絵の四周を囲む飾枠(匡郭)、目次、奥付、広告の案文など、本文以外に対するさまざまな指示で、これを見ると馬琴の下絵が単なるラフスケッチではなく、画工(絵師)、彫り師、摺り師に対して細かい指示を出すことによって、造本の全体に深く関っていた様子がうかがえる。

ここであげるのは、第九輯巻一の見返しと九輯巻五の挿絵の例で、稿本の青色の枠の部分をクリックすると、刊行本の同じ箇所があらわれて、稿本の指示が完成本でどのように実現されたかをみることができる。

Related Works

Past Exhibitions

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『八犬伝』を題材にした映画・放送番組など

TitleDb解説

Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • 曲亭馬琴自筆の日記や『南総里見八犬伝』原稿、『新編金瓶梅』原稿などをはじめとする、馬琴関係の貴重書のコレクションで知られている。

  • 馬琴作の歌舞伎や演劇作品の台本が閲覧できる。

  • 東京都文京区深光寺の墓所にある。

External Links

  • 早稲田大学・古典籍総合データベースによる電子展示「江戸文学の世界」中のコンテンツ。「馬琴の生涯」、「年譜」、「主要な作品」、「馬琴をめぐる人々」の四部にわかれ、極めて充実した内容の展示となっている。

  • 曲亭馬琴の自筆書簡、『南総里見八犬伝』第9輯の自筆稿本などを見ることができる。

  • 『南総里見八犬伝』ゆかりの館山市による電子展示。館山市立博物館所蔵の『八犬伝』関係の役者絵、双六、見立絵など、400点以上の錦絵を公開している。

  • 「瀧澤」「曲亭蔵本」「瀧澤文庫」の三種類の馬琴蔵書印を紹介する。

  • 「馬琴と国芳・国定 八犬伝と弓張月」(2017年6月)の資料集。

参考文献

  1. 曲亭馬琴 著,徳田武 校注,岩波書店
  2. 木村三四吾 著,八木書店
  3. [滝沢]馬琴 [著],柴田光彦, 神田正行 編,八木書店
  4. 神保五弥, 杉浦日向子 [著],新潮社
  5. 鈴木重三 著,美術出版社
  6. 日本書籍出版協会京都支部 編,日本書籍出版協会
  7. 「曲亭馬琴」の項
  8. 「読本(よみほん)」の項
  9. 「曲亭馬琴」の項