Sawazumi Kengyo

Japanese: 沢住検校 - さわずみけんぎょう

Year of birth: Year of birth and death unknown. A biwa priest from the end of the Muromachi period to the beginning of the Edo period. Also written as Sawakaku. According to the Shikido Daikyo (1678), he was the first to use the shamisen, which was passed down through Tozawa Kengyo, as an accompaniment to Joruri, similar to the biwa used in Heikyoku. He is said to have been deeply involved in the establishment of Joruri as a form of modern music, along with Takino Koto and others who performed Heikyoku and began to recite Joruri, but this too remains merely a legend. It is said that the surnames of shamisen players such as Takezawa and Nozawa are derived from the character "zawa" in his name. <References> Tsunoda Ichiro, "Shamisen Music" (Iwanami Lectures/Music of Japan and Asia, 2)

(Hiroyuki Sakaguchi)

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

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
室町末期から江戸初めにかけての琵琶法師。沢角とも書く。『色道大鏡』(1678)によれば,虎沢検校相伝という三味線を,平曲の琵琶に準ずるように,はじめて浄瑠璃の伴奏楽器に用いたという。平曲をやつして浄瑠璃を語りはじめたという滝野勾当らと共に,近世音曲としての浄瑠璃芸の成立に深いかかわりがあったとされるが,これも伝承の域を出ない。三味線弾きの竹沢,野沢などの姓は,彼の「沢」の字に由来すると伝える。<参考文献>角田一郎「三味線音楽」(『岩波講座/日本の音楽・アジアの音楽』2)

(阪口弘之)

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