Karai Senryu - Karai Senryu

Japanese: 柄井川柳 - からい・せんりゅう

Year of death: September 23, 1790 (October 30, 1790)
Year of birth: 1718
A poet of the Edo period. His given name was Masamichi, commonly known as Yaemon. His haiku name was Ryokutei, Mumeian, and Senryu. The Karai family originally lived in Kyoto, but moved to Edo during the time of his great-grandfather Karai Shoso. At the age of 38, he succeeded the position of headman in front of the gate of Ryuhoji Temple at Shinboribata in Asakusa. He was originally a master of the Danrin school, but on August 25, 1757 (the 7th year of the Horeki era), he held his first Manku-Agatsu (a contest of 10,000 poems). From then on, he held monthly performances every year from August to the end of the year. He limited the place of reception of submitted haiku to Edo in a broad sense, and placed importance on urban haiku-style haiku, which made him popular, and by the 12th year of the Horeki era, the number of submitted haiku exceeded 10,000. In the midst of this, the word "senryu", which was originally the haiku name of the judge, eventually came to refer to the poems themselves. In particular, it was the first edition of "Haifū Ryutaru" that raised the name of senryu with pre-posterous haiku. This was edited in 1765 by Goryoken Kayu (pen name Momen), a member of the company, and published by Hanaya Kyujiro, also known as Seiundo, a publisher in Takemachi, Shitaya. Following the example of the miscellaneous haiku collection "Toketama River" compiled by Keikiitsu, it was a groundbreaking work that omitted the opening verse and was written in a small vertical format. This gave birth to a new style of senryu-style mad verse as an independent poem, and senryu came to be revered as the father of senryu-style mad verse. However, his work only contained three opening verses, making him a unique figure as a commentator who did not have any works. Goryoken died in 1788, the 8th year of Tenmei, after editing the 22 volumes of "Ryutaro", and senryu also died in 1790. His death poem reads, "A cold wind blows, and afterwards the buds bloom senryu," but it is doubtful whether it was written by him. He was buried at Ryuhoji Temple. His posthumous name was Keijuin Senryu Yuryoku Shinshi. Today, his death anniversary is designated as Senryu Memorial Day. The following year, 24 volumes of "Ryutaro" were published as memorial poems. In the 33 years since he started scoring senryu, the number of submissions to the Mankugo contest exceeded 2.3 million at the regular meetings alone. He was truly the foremost haiku scorer in Edo.

(Yutaka Sonoda)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛政2.9.23(1790.10.30)
生年：享保3(1718)
江戸時代の前句付点者。名は正通,通称は八右衛門。俳号を緑亭または無名庵,川柳という。柄井家はもと京都の住であったが,曾祖父柄井将曹の代に江戸に下る。38歳のとき,浅草新堀端の竜宝寺門前の名主の職を継ぐ。初め談林派の宗匠であったが,宝暦7(1757)年8月25日に初めての万句合を興行する。以後,毎年8月から年末まで月並興行をしていた。応募句の取次所を広義の江戸に限定し,都会的俳諧的な句を重視したため人気を得て,宝暦12年には応募句が1万句を越えるほどになった。こうしたなかで,もともと選者の俳号であったはずの「川柳」が,やがてはその作句自体をさすようになる。とりわけ前句付作者川柳の名を高めたのは『俳風柳多留』初編である。これは明和2(1765)年,社中の呉陵軒可有(俳号木綿)が編集し,下谷竹町の版元星運堂こと花屋久治郎から出版された。慶紀逸編の雑俳集『武玉川』にならい,前句を省略し,縦小本とした画期的なものであった。これが独立詠としての川柳風狂句という新様式を生んで,川柳は川柳風狂句の祖と仰がれることになる。ただし,彼の作品は発句3句のみで,作品を持たぬ,点者としては特異な存在といえるだろう。呉陵軒は『柳多留』22編を編集した天明8(1788)年に没し,続いて川柳も寛政2(1790)年に没する。「木枯らしやあとで芽をふけ川柳」の辞世があるが,本人の作かどうか疑わしい。竜宝寺に葬られる。戒名,契寿院川柳勇緑信士。現在その命日は川柳忌と定められている。翌3年の『柳多留』24編には追善句合が載る。川柳が点者となって33年間で万句合は定会だけで応募句数が230万句を超えた。まさに江戸随一の俳諧点者であったといえよう。

(園田豊)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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