Shinpo Kodaiji Temple

This is one of the titles of Japanese folk songs, and is the mainstream of songs sung by entertainers in our country. Its origin is unknown, but it is thought to have originated from "Koutoina," a song sung by Echigo blind female musicians on the eaves of their houses.

Tracing the background of this story, we come to an incident that occurred during the time of the 14th head priest of Kodai Zenji, a Zen temple in Shimogumi, Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, called the "Kyodai Zen Temple." The farmers of Terashima Shinden and Kaminoshima Shinden came into conflict over the right to cultivate an island in the Shinano River. The temple sided with Terashima Shinden, while Mogamiya Uemura Touemon Kuniyoshi, head of the crepe paper wholesalers' association, sided with Kaminoshima Shinden, and the conflict eventually escalated between the temple and Mogamiya. Mogamiya then decided to drive out the temple's priest, and based the song "Koutoina" on the above, had a parody of the song that badmouthed the priest written, and had everyone from goze female entertainers to opposing farmers sing it. This was in 1782-83 (Tenmei 2-3), and the lyrics at that time included things like "I lost at Shinbo Kodaiji Temple" and "In the wasan (hymn) of Shinbo Kodaiji Temple, there is the character for color..." and so it came to be called "Shinbo Kodaiji Temple." This was later transformed by blind female musicians into a long "kudokibushi" (song) in which four lines of the 7-7-7-7 syllable pattern were combined into one unit and sung repeatedly as necessary, and it began to spread throughout the country through sellers and candy sellers, eventually becoming "Yagibushi" (Gunma Prefecture), "Akita Ameuri Uta" (Akita Prefecture), "Tsugaru Jongara Bushi" (Aomori Prefecture), "Dounan Kudoki" (Hokkaido), and so on.

[Tsutomu Takeuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本民謡の曲名の一つで、わが国の遊芸人の唄(うた)の主流をなすもの。源流は不明だが、越後瞽女(えちごごぜ)が門付(かどづけ)の軒先で歌う『こうといな』あたりが元と思われる。

　この背景をたどると、新潟県十日町市下組(しもぐみ)新保にある禅寺の広大禅寺14代目の白岩亮端和尚(おしょう)の時代、信濃(しなの)川の中州の耕作権をめぐって、寺島新田と上ノ島新田の農民が対立した事件にいきあたる。寺は寺島新田側につき、一方上ノ島新田側には縮(ちぢみ)問屋の組合頭・最上屋(もがみや)上村藤右衛門邦好がついて、ついには寺と最上屋の争いになってしまった。そこで最上屋は寺の和尚を追い出すことを考え、先の『こうといな』あたりを元に、和尚の悪口唄の替え唄をつくらせ、瞽女をはじめとする遊芸人から反対派の農民にまで歌わせた。それは1782～83年（天明2～3）のことで、そのときの歌詞が「新保広大寺メクリこいて負けた」とか「新保広大寺の和讃(わさん)のなかに色という字が……」といったものであったことから『新保広大寺』とよばれるようになった。これはのちに瞽女の手で七七七七の4句を一単位にして、必要なだけ繰り返して歌う長編の「口説節(くどきぶし)」に形が変えられると、読売りや飴(あめ)売りなどの手を経て諸国に広まり始め、『八木節(やぎぶし)』（群馬県）、『秋田飴売唄』（秋田県）、『津軽じょんがら節』（青森県）、『道南口説』（北海道）などになっていった。

［竹内　勉］

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