Amorous man - Koshoku ichidai otoko

This is Saikaku Ihara's first ukiyo-zoshi work. It was published in October 1682 (Tenwa 2) by Magobei Kashin of Aratoya, Shinanbashi, Osaka. It has 8 volumes and 8 books. It is a collection of 54 short stories, and is a full-length story that begins with the birth of the protagonist Yonosuke and ends with him setting sail for Nyogoshima at the age of 60. The first half of the work, up to volume 4, depicts the precocious Yonosuke's life of dissoluteness, starting from his childhood, when he is disowned by his parents at the age of 19, and wanders around Edo, Kokura, Shimonoseki, Teradomari, Sakata, Shinshu, Izumi Province, and other places, experiencing the lustful life in each place, until he is pardoned and inherits a huge inheritance. The latter half of the story, from volume 5 onwards, takes the form of a series of biographies of famous prostitutes from various provinces, depicting Yonosuke's practice of sophistication in the pleasure quarters. It begins with the story of Yoshino II, who made a name for herself in the pleasure quarters of Rokujo Misujimachi, Kyoto, and goes on to tell the tales of other famous prostitutes, including Yugiri, a famous prostitute from Shinmachi, Osaka, Takao IV and Komurasaki I of Yoshiwara in Edo. With its innovative concept and free prose writing, this work was a success as a realistic novel of manners for a new era, and it distinguished itself from conventional novels, becoming a monument announcing the beginning of the Ukiyo-zoshi era. It was published in three Kamigata versions, three Edo versions with illustrations by Hishikawa Moronobu, and also as a picture book by Moronobu, and gained a wide readership from all over the country, from the capital to the countryside.

[Akira Asano]

"Amorous Man, translated and annotated by Yasutaka Terunobu (Kadokawa Bunko)" ▽ "Amorous Man, complete commentary, 2 volumes, by Kingoro Maeda (1980, 1981, Kadokawa Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

井原西鶴(さいかく)の浮世草子処女作品。1682年（天和2）10月、大坂・思案橋荒砥屋(あらとや)孫兵衛可心から出版。8巻8冊。54章の短編小説群からなり、主人公世之介(よのすけ)の誕生から書き起こし、60歳で女護島(にょごがしま)へ船出するまでの一代記的構想を長編的な筋としている。巻4までの前半部分は、早熟な世之介の幼年時代から始まる遊蕩(ゆうとう)生活を描き、19歳で親に勘当され、江戸、小倉(こくら)、下関(しものせき)、寺泊(てらどまり)、酒田、信州、和泉(いずみ)国など諸国を放浪し、各地の好色生活を体験するが、勘当赦免、莫大(ばくだい)な遺産を相続するまでの話である。巻5以降の後半部分は、諸国遊里の名妓(めいぎ)列伝の体裁をとり、世之介の遊里社会における粋(すい)の実践が描かれる。京都六条三筋町の廓(くるわ)で艶名(えんめい)を馳(は)せた2代目吉野の話から始まり、大坂新町の名妓夕霧、江戸吉原の4代目高尾や初代小紫など、高名な遊女話が続々と展開する。斬新(ざんしん)な構想と自由な散文表現とが相まって、新しい時代の写実的な風俗小説として成功したこの作品は、従来の小説とは一線を画して、浮世草子時代の開幕を告げる記念碑となった。上方(かみがた)版3種、菱川師宣(ひしかわもろのぶ)の挿絵入りの江戸版3種、さらに師宣の絵本としても流布し、上下都鄙(とひ)にわたり広範な読者を獲得した。

［浅野　晃］

『暉峻康隆訳注『好色一代男』（角川文庫）』▽『前田金五郎著『好色一代男全注釈』2冊（1980、81・角川書店）』

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