Saizō

The clown who plays the role of the tayu in the Mikawa Manzai festival held in the New Year. He wears a Daikoku hood and plays a drum along with the tayu, accommodating him. By extension, it can also be used to derogate from the followers who nod along in unison. There are several theories about the origin of the word, including one that it is based on the name Saizō, taken from the word sai (age) in the Manzai, and another that it is a corrupted version of Senzu. During the Edo period, when it flourished under the protection of the shogunate, the Saizō market was held in Yokkaichi, Nihonbashi, Edo every year around the end of the year, and the tayu would hire someone to play the role of Saizō. As it is a clown role, they would scout out people with comical faces and gestures and quick wits, and they would go round the gates of Edo's townhouses during the New Year. This market continued until the end of the Edo period, and it is said that many of the Saizō officials were from Awa and Kazusa (Chiba prefecture) or Shimousa Koga (western Ibaraki prefecture).

[Masahiro Tanahashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

正月の三河万歳で太夫(たゆう)の相手をする道化役。大黒頭巾(だいこくずきん)をかぶり、太夫にあわせて鼓をたたき、はやしながら供をする。転じて、調子よく相づちを打つ追従者(ついしょうもの)を軽蔑(けいべつ)していうこともある。語源については、万歳の歳（才）をとって、才蔵と人の名に擬したとする説や、千秋（センズ）が訛(なま)ったとする説などがある。幕府の保護を受けて盛んであった江戸時代には、毎年歳末のころ、江戸・日本橋四日市に才蔵市が立ち、この市で太夫は才蔵役を務める人物を雇うわけだが、道化役だけに顔だちやしぐさが滑稽(こっけい)で、機転の利く人物をスカウトし、正月には江戸の町家の門々を回ることになる。幕末までこの市は続き、才蔵役は多くは安房(あわ)・上総(かずさ)（千葉県）、下総古河(しもうさこが)（茨城県西部）の出身者であったといわれる。

［棚橋正博］

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