Bird chasing pine tree

Japanese: 鳥追お松 - とりおいおまつ

She is the heroine of the early Meiji period documentary novel "Torioi Asatsu Kaijo Shinwa." Written by Kubota Hikosaku, the novel was serialized in "Kanayomi" (a new title for "Kanayomi Shimbun") from 1877 to 1878 under the title "The Legend of Torioi Omatsu," gaining popularity, and in 1888 it was adapted into a kabuki play and performed as "Nijuyonji Kaisei Shinwa." Omatsu was the daughter of Sadagoro, who lived in Unegahara, Kobiki-cho, Edo, and was highly regarded as a beautiful woman. She would wander around samurai residences and other places singing Shinnai songs, and was the object of admiration for young men. However, she was a typical wicked woman, and she played around with the likes of Chuzo, a clerk at a kimono shop who was in love with her, Hamada Masashi, a former conscript, and Osaka Yoshi, a playboy, and squeezed money out of them. The model for Omatsu was said to have been a Yanaka resident and a well-known beauty, but it is unclear whether she actually existed.

(Toshihiko Uda)

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

Japanese:

明治初期の実録風の小説『鳥追阿松海上新話』のヒロイン。作者は久保田彦作で,明治10～11(1877～78)年に『かなよみ』(『仮名読新聞』の改題)に「鳥追お松の伝」の題で連載され,評判になり,11年には歌舞伎芝居に脚色され,『廿四時改正新話』として上演された。お松は江戸木挽町采女が原に住む定五郎の娘で,美人の評判高く,武家屋敷などを新内を流して歩き,若者たちの憧れの的であったが,典型的な毒婦で,慕い寄る呉服屋の手代忠蔵,元徴兵隊の浜田正司,遊び人大坂吉らを手玉に取って金を絞り取る。モデルとなったお松は谷中の人で,評判の美人であったというが,その実在性については未詳である。

(宇田敏彦)

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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