Tanzaku

A long, thin piece of paper used for writing waka, haiku, Chinese poetry, and pictures, made by pasting Torinoko paper or Gasen paper onto thick paper. It can also be read as "Tanjaku" and written as Tanseki, Tanshaku, Tansaku, or Tanjaku. In the past, it simply meant a form of paper that was a long, thin piece of paper, and the word is also used for twisted writing, lottery tickets, sticky notes, exchange tags, and stickers (such as in the "Nihon Shoki," "Taiki," "Nihon Ryoiki," and "Heihanki"). The first documented example of a tanzaku is found in the "Hanazono Tenno Shinki" (Record of Emperor Hanazono's Diary), "Entry for April, 1313," which shows that it was used as a simplified form of pocket paper at essay gatherings and waka poetry gatherings at the time (late Kamakura period). There are also examples of tanzaku being used as a gambling item in poetry contests. The oldest surviving example is the "Hoshaku Kyoyobon Paper-Back Tanzaku" (120 sheets in one volume, Maeda Ikutoku-kai), which has a colophon dated 1344. As they are written in almost the same format, it is assumed that the format had been established by the mid-14th century and that tanzaku had become established as a paper for writing waka poetry.

There are no rules for writing haiku or poetry on tanzaku, but when it comes to the format of waka poetry, there are detailed regulations such as writing the entire poem on two lines, with the first line on the first and the second on the second, with the first character of the first line halfway over the top third of the line (called "three-fold half-character hanging"), joining the first, third and fifth lines, writing the title above the poem, dividing three characters or less into one line and four or more into two lines, for women, for original poems, for ancient poems, and also for people of higher or lower social status. The dimensions of tanzaku have fluctuated slightly over time, but today they are slightly larger than in the past, with the standard being approximately 36.4 centimeters (1 shaku 2 sun) in length and 5.5 centimeters (1 sun 8 bu) in width. When writing paper first appeared, it was plain white paper without any decoration, but by the mid-15th century, cloud paper strips, made by mixing indigo and purple fibers into the plain paper in the shape of a cloud, had become established and dominated the mainstream. As time went on, more luxuriously decorated strips of paper appeared, with designs in gold and silver paint added to the cloud paper strips, or with cut foil, sand, or wild silk sprinkled on them. The Daigo Cherry Blossom Viewing Strip of March 15, 1598 (Keicho 3) is a well-known typical example. Many historical figures left their original writings only on strips of paper, and as a register of handwriting, strips of paper are extremely valuable in the history of calligraphy in Japan.

[Mitsuharu Kanzaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

和歌、俳句、漢詩、絵などを書く細長い料紙(りょうし)で、鳥の子紙や画牋(がせん)紙などを厚紙に貼(は)り合わせたもの。「たんじゃく」とも読み、短籍、短尺、短策、単尺とも書く。古くは単に細長い小紙片という紙の形態を意味し、捻(ひね)り文(ぶみ)、籤(くじ)、付箋(ふせん)、引換え札、貼り紙などにもこの語が用いられている（『日本書紀』『台記(たいき)』『日本霊異記(りょういき)』『兵範記』など）。短冊の文献上の初例は、花園(はなぞの)天皇の『花園天皇宸記(しんき)』の「正和(しょうわ)二年（1313）四月条」であるが、これは当時（鎌倉後期）作文会(さくもんえ)や和歌会で懐紙の略式料紙として用いられたものである。また短冊が歌合(うたあわせ)の賭(か)け物に使われた例がある。短冊のもっとも古い遺例は康永(こうえい)3年（1344）の奥書を有する『宝積経要品(ほうしゃくきょうようぼん)紙背短冊』（1帖(じょう)120枚。前田育徳会）で、それらがほとんど同じ書式をとって書かれていることから、14世紀中ごろにはほぼ書式の規定も整い、もっぱら和歌を書く料紙として確立していたと推定される。

　短冊に俳句や詩を書く場合は決まりはないが、和歌を書くときの書式については、歌全体は2行に書き、上の句を第1行、下の句を第2行に書くが、上の句の第1字は上から3分の1の線に文字が半分かかるようにする（「三つ折り半字かかり」という）とか、墨継ぎは第1、第3、第5句でし、題は歌の上に書き、3字以内は1行、4字以上は2行に割るとか、婦人の場合、自作の場合、古歌の場合というように、また身分の上下によっても細かな規制が設けられている。短冊の寸法については、時代によって多少の変動があるが、現在は昔よりもやや大きめで、およそ縦36.4センチメートル（1尺2寸）、横5.5センチメートル（1寸8分）が標準である。発生当初の料紙はなんの装飾もない素紙（白紙）であったが、15世紀中ごろには素紙に藍(あい)・紫の繊維を雲形に漉(す)き込んだ雲紙(くもがみ)短冊が定着して主流を占め、以後時代が下るにつれて、雲紙短冊に金銀泥(きんぎんでい)の下絵を加えたり、切箔(きりはく)・砂子(すなご)・野毛(のげ)を撒(ま)くなど豪華な装飾短冊が登場した。1598年（慶長3）3月15日の『醍醐(だいご)花見短冊』は著名な典型例である。歴史上の人物のなかには短冊にのみ真跡を残した者も多く、筆跡台帳としてもわが国書道史における短冊の価値はすこぶる高いものがある。

［神崎充晴］

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