Kusakabe Meikaku

Japanese: 日下部鳴鶴 - くさかべ・めいかく

Year of death: January 27, 1922
Year of birth: Tempo 9.8.18 (1838.10.6)
A leading figure in the calligraphy world in the Meiji and Taisho periods. The second son of Tanaka Soemon, a samurai of the Hikone domain, he was adopted into the Kusakabe family of the Hikone domain at the age of 22. His given name was Tosaku, and his pen name was Shiyo. He changed his pen names to Touyu, Suiyu, and Meikaku. In his later years, he also used the alternative pen names Yakaku, Rokaku, and Kakuso. At the age of 24, he went to Kyoto and set his sights on calligraphy, offering sake to the Lanting Preface and vowing to devote himself to his studies. Around this time, he was impressed by the calligraphy of Nukina Kaiya and became his private disciple. In 1869 (Meiji 2), he moved to Tokyo and became a government official, progressing through the ranks to become Chief Secretary of the Dajokan. He was trusted by Sanjo Sanetomi and Okubo Toshimichi, but when Toshimichi was assassinated, he resigned from his position and devoted himself to calligraphy. In 1881, Yang Shoujing came to Japan bringing with him stone tablets and calligraphy scrolls from the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, and he studied their calligraphy with Iwaya Ichiroku and others for about five years, mastering the technique of turning one's arm and writing directly, and establishing his own style of calligraphy. In 1891, he traveled to China and was praised as the "Saint of Calligraphy in the East Sea." After returning to Japan, he started a club to educate the next generation, started a reading group, and deepened his friendships with literati and artists. At the age of 80, he gathered his disciples together to found the Daido Shokai, and published the journal Shosei. One of his representative works is the "Okubo Shinto Monument," which he wrote by imperial order. <References> Ihara Ungai, "Meikaku Sensei Sowa"

(Tsunemasa Yamauchi)

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

Japanese:

没年：大正11.1.27(1922)
生年：天保9.8.18(1838.10.6)
明治大正時代の書壇の第一人者。彦根藩士田中惣右衛門の次男。22歳で彦根藩日下部家の養子となる。名は東作。字は子暘。号を東嶼,翠雨,鳴鶴と改めた。晩年,野鶴,老鶴,鶴叟の別号も用いた。24歳のとき京都に出て書に志を立て,『蘭亭序』に酒を供え専念学習を誓った。このころ,貫名海屋の書に感銘して私淑。明治2(1869)年,上京し官吏となり,累進して太政官大書記官となる。三条実美,大久保利通の信任を受けたが,利通暗殺を契機に官を辞し,書学に専念する。13年,楊守敬が漢魏六朝の碑版・法帖を携えて来日すると,巌谷一六らと約5年その書法を研究,廻腕直筆の用筆法を修得し,独自の書風を築いた。24年,清国に遊歴し「東海の書聖」と賞揚される。帰国後,同好会を発足させて後進の育成を図り,読書会を起こし文人墨客との親交を深めた。80歳の折に,門弟を集め大同書会を創立し,機関紙『書勢』を発行。勅命により揮毫した「大久保公神道碑」は代表作のひとつ。<参考文献>井原雲涯『鳴鶴先生叢話』

(山内常正)

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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