Tsutaya Juzaburo

Japanese: 蔦屋重三郎 - つたや・じゅうざぶろう

Year of death: May 6, 1797 (May 31, 1797)
Year of birth: 13 February 17, 1750
A book and jihon wholesaler in the mid-Edo period. His father was Maruyama Jusuke from Owari, and his mother was Tsuyo. He was raised by the Kitagawa clan. His given name was Kara. His pen names were Koshodo and Torakan. He also wrote kyoka and gesaku under the pen name Tsuta Karamaru. He was born in Edo's Shin-Yoshiwara. As he grew older, he opened a bookshop called Koshodo in Shin-Yoshiwara Gojikkanmichi, which mainly offered rental and retail services. In 1775, he started revising and wholesaling Urokogataya Magobei's edition of Yoshiwara Saisaku, while also using his local ties to start publishing Yoshiwara-related kusashi such as lantern rankings and Nawagoshi no ehon. In the autumn of 1782, he started publishing his own edition of Yoshiwara Saisaku, and gradually expanded the content of his publications to include Tomimoto Masahon, practice books, correspondence, and popular gesaku, and in September 1783, he moved to Toyu-cho. From this point on, he became acquainted with Ota Nanpo, a central figure in the world of kyoka and gesaku at the time, and developed a friendship with the members of the kyoka and gesaku circles who began to come together through the medium of popular kyoka. In the same year, the publication of "Manzai Kyokashu" edited by Nanpo marked an explosive rise in popularity of Edo kyoka, and he became a kyoka poet himself and actively participated in kyoka gatherings. By providing a venue for kyoka poets and gesaku writers to work, he monopolized the publication of works and sent out the best of Tenmei-era gesaku and kyoka to the world. From the end of the Tenmei period to the beginning of the Kansei period, the enthusiasm of those who had been in central and leading positions began to cool, and the kyoka and gesaku circles gradually began to show signs of stagnation. Publishers took the lead in strengthening their leadership, but the resignation of influential writers in the aftermath of the Kansei Reforms further accelerated this trend. It was around this time that he joined a book wholesaler and tried to diversify his business operations. In 1791, Yamato Den's publication of three sharebon books ran counter to the public morals reform policy of the time, and he was reprimanded and had half of his assets reduced. In the middle and later years of the Kansei era, the publishers were not particularly enterprising in the publishing of gisaku and kyoka books, but from 1793 to 1794, they published over 140 ukiyo-e prints by Toshusai Sharaku, and many other noteworthy works in the publishing of ukiyo-e prints and books related to books. He is a publisher worth noting not only for having brought to the world ukiyo-e prints and kusashi that are representative of the time, but also for his deep involvement in the historical development of literature. <References> Suzuki Toshiyuki, "Trends in the Kyoka World and Tsutaya Juzaburo" (Edo Bungaku, No. 6)

(Toshiyuki Suzuki)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛政9.5.6(1797.5.31)
生年：寛延3.1.7(1750.2.13)
江戸中期の書物・地本問屋。父は尾張の人丸山重助,母は津与。喜多川氏に養われる。名は柯理。号耕書堂,薜羅館。蔦唐丸の筆名で狂歌,戯作の作もある。江戸新吉原に出生。長じて新吉原五十間道で貸本,小売を主体とする本屋耕書堂を開業,安永4(1775)年から鱗形屋孫兵衛版『吉原細見』の改め・卸を手掛ける一方,地縁を背景に,灯籠番付や俄の絵本などの吉原関係の草紙を主体とした出版を始める。5年秋からは自版の『吉原細見』を刊行,以後富本正本,稽古本,往来物,流行の戯作類と次第に出版の内容を広げ,天明3(1783)年9月には通油町に進出する。これより先,当時の狂歌・戯作界の中心的人物大田南畝の知遇を得てより,流行の狂歌を媒介として結集し始める狂歌・戯作壇の連中と親交を深める。同年,南畝編『万載狂歌集』刊行を契機として江戸狂歌流行が爆発的な流行をみるや,自ら狂歌師となって狂歌の集まりに積極的に参加,狂歌師・戯作者の活動の場をお膳立てすることによって作品の出版を独占的に手がけ,天明期戯作・狂歌の最良の部分を世に送り出すことになる。それまで中心的,指導的な立場にあった人間たちの熱が冷め,狂歌・戯作壇が徐々に停滞の兆しを見せ始める天明末から寛政初めにかけては,板元主導の態勢を強化していくが,寛政改革の余波による有力作者の退陣はその傾向に一層拍車をかけた。書物問屋に加入し,営業内容の多角化を図るのもこのころである。寛政3(1791)年刊山東京伝作洒落本三部出版が時の風俗矯正政策に抵触し,咎めを受けて財産半減の処分を受ける。寛政中・後期,戯作や狂歌本の出版においては,進取の気に富むものに乏しいが,寛政6年から7年にかけ,東洲斎写楽の錦絵を140点余刊行するなど,錦絵や書物系統の書籍の出版などに注目すべき仕事も多い。当時を代表する錦絵や草紙類を世に出したというだけではなく,文芸の史的展開に深く関与したという点でも注目すべき板元であろう。<参考文献>鈴木俊幸「狂歌界の動向と蔦屋重三郎」(『江戸文学』6号)

(鈴木俊幸)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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