Tenjiku Tokubei

A merchant in the early Edo period. His exact birth and death years are unknown. He is said to have been born in Takasago, Harima Province (Hyogo Prefecture). In 1626 (Kan'ei 3), he was employed as a scribe by Maebashi Seibei, the boatman of the red seal ship trader Suminokura Ryoi, and traveled to Siam (Thailand). In 1630, he also boarded a red seal ship operated by the Dutchman Jan Joosten and traveled from Southeast Asia to India. His observations and experiences from these two voyages have been compiled into the "Tenjiku Tokai Monogatari" and "Tenjiku Monogatari," and are important historical documents that provide information on the structure of red seal ships and the goods traded at the time. Furthermore, Tokubei's travelogue, with its interest in exotic places, aroused the curiosity of ordinary people during the Edo period under the national isolationist policy, and was used as subject matter for joruri and kabuki plays such as "Tenjiku Tokubei Kikigaki Orai" (Namiki Shōza, 1757), "Tenjiku Tokubei Sato no Sugatami" (Chikamatsu Hanji, 1763), and "Tenjiku Tokubei Ikoku Banashi" (Tsuruya Namboku IV, 1804), which became widely circulated.

[Eiichi Kato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸初期の商人。正確な生没年は不明。播磨(はりま)国（兵庫県）高砂(たかさご)の生まれという。1626年（寛永3）、朱印船貿易家角倉了以(すみのくらりょうい)の船頭、前橋清兵衛に書役(かきやく)（書記）として雇われ、シャム（タイ）に渡航し、さらに30年にもオランダ人ヤン・ヨーステン（耶揚子(やようす)）の朱印船に乗り組み、東南アジアからインド方面に渡航した。この二度の渡航の見聞をまとめたものが『天竺渡海物語』『天竺物語』として伝えられ、当時の朱印船の構造や貿易品などを知る重要な史料となっている。また、徳兵衛の見聞記は、その異国趣味的興味が鎖国制下、江戸時代庶民の好奇心をそそり、『天竺徳兵衛聞書往来』（並木正三(しょうざ)・1757）、『天竺徳兵衛郷鏡(さとのすがたみ)』（近松半二(はんじ)・1763）、『天竺徳兵衛韓噺(いこくばなし)』（4世鶴屋南北(つるやなんぼく)・1804）など、浄瑠璃(じょうるり)や歌舞伎(かぶき)の題材に取り上げられ、広く流布した。

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