紀要論文

酒月米人小伝

A Study of Sakatzuki no Komendo: His life and poems

jpn

13493043

https://doi.org/10.15002/00004159

法政大学キャリアデザイン学部

2

332

315

2005-03

Version of Record

Sakatzuki no Komendo (d.1818) was one of the poets of kyōka (31-syllable witty verse, often with wordplay, on a wide range of topics) which had put Edo citizens in a craze since the 1780’s. As a master of kyōka, he played an important role in the process of its popularization throughout Japan in the beginning of the nineteenth century. This article follows his career in the kyōka world, focusing on the first half after a survey of his basic biographic information. He first entered the kyōka world in 1783 as a member of a group called Honchō-ren and learned along with his colleagues under Ōta Nanpo, the central figure of the kyōka world. He had established himself in the world by the 1790’s and joined another group named Sukiya-ren in about 1793, which later succeeded Nanpo’s Yomo-ren. In this respect he seems to have been a politic person, but appears rather straightforward; he emphasized that he attached importance only to the quality of poems, rather than any faction or authority. In fact, he used his sharp tongue against many works of others, including those of the authorities in the kyōka world in his critical essay Kannanshi (preface dated 1791). His argumentative nature, seen in this work, gave an explanatory style to his poetry and caused him to write books for beginners: kyōka Koto-no-ha-gusa, published in 1801 and Zōho kyōka Dairinsho in 1805. He insisted in these works that it is more important, when composing kyōka poems, to make them reasonable in meaning rather than humorous, which would have sounded easier and more acceptable to beginners. His handwriting style looks like his teacher Nanpo’s hand. There are possibilities that he provided the original calligraphy in the ‘Nanpo style’ which was reproduced in printed books in the 1790s or thereabouts. He seems to have participated in a circle around Nanpo even in the 1790s when the latter refrained from associating with the kyōka world. He gained the poetry alias ‘Yomo no Takisui’ which is closely associated with Nanpo’s former penname ‘Yomo no Akara’ probably in 1809. Such a relation with Nanpo definitely authorized him as a kyōka master. Komendo was a typical kyōka master in the days of popularization of kyōka discussed above, and is worth studying further.

Article

AA11961954