Itakobushi - Itakobushi

A popular song from the mid-Edo period. During the Edo period, the water town of Itako (Ibaraki Prefecture) was a collection point for rice from the Tohoku region sent to Edo, and was also bustling with visitors to the Kashima and Katori shrines. This song, also known as a boat song or a courtesan's boating song, was adapted into an o-zashiki song and spread to Edo at the end of the Meiwa period (1764-1772), where it became a huge hit during the Bunka period (1804-1818). This lyric form, consisting of 26 syllables in the 7775 format, can be said to be the first folk song to be sung and loved throughout Japan. Eventually, in Edo, shinnai and saimon melodies were added, and in Osaka it became the basis for "Yoshikono." As the song was distorted, the original melody was lost, and to this day all that remains is the enka song "Itako Dejima" and the folk songs "Itako Ondo" and "Itako Jinku."

[Yoshihiro Kurata]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の流行唄(はやりうた)。江戸時代の水郷潮来（茨城県）は、東北地方の米を江戸へ送る集積地であり、また鹿島(かしま)、香取(かとり)両神宮への参拝客でにぎわった。そのため、舟唄とも遊女の舟遊び唄ともいわれるこの歌は、明和(めいわ)（1764～72）の末にはお座敷化して江戸へ伝わり、文化(ぶんか)（1804～18）にかけて大流行した。7775の26文字からなるこの詞型は、日本全域で愛唱された初めての民衆歌謡といえよう。やがて江戸では新内や祭文(さいもん)の旋律が加えられ、大坂では「よしこの」の母胎になるなど、歌い崩されて本来の旋律は失われてしまい、現代では端唄(はうた)『潮来出島』、民謡『潮来音頭』『潮来甚句(じんく)』として残っているにすぎない。

［倉田喜弘］

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