Nansensho, the Mandarin of the South

Japanese: 南仙笑楚満人 - なんせんしょう・そまびと

Year of death: Bunka 4.3.9 (1807.4.16)
Year of birth: 1749
A comic writer from the mid- to late Edo period. His real name was Kusunokihikotaro. He also had other names such as Somanto and Somanto. He is said to have lived in Udagawacho, Shiba, Edo, and there are various accounts of his family occupation, such as doctor, woodblock maker, and sheath maker, so it is unclear. He appeared as a writer of kibyōshi in 1783 (Tenmei 3). His work Takiuchigijohide (Vengeance on a Woman), published in 1795 (Kansei 7), was in keeping with the times after the Kansei Reforms, and marked the beginning of the subsequent popularity of stories about revenge. He was active in writing collections of stories about revenge until his death. Although his style is described as stereotypical and mediocre, he produced an extremely large number of works, which shows that he was a writer who was in tune with the times. Shinagawa Hosomi's Hananno Iemitsu and Ominameshi, published in both 1778 and 1779 (Anei 7 and 8), are probably his works, and we can infer his family occupation from this analogy.

(Mitsutoshi Nakano)

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

Japanese:

没年：文化4.3.9(1807.4.16)
生年：寛延2(1749)
江戸中・後期の戯作者。本名を楠彦太郎という。杣人,曾満人などの別号がある。江戸芝宇田川町住といわれ,家業は医者,板木師,鞘師など諸伝まちまちでよく分からない。天明3(1783)年から黄表紙作者として登場。寛政7(1795)年作『敵討義女英』が寛政の改革後の時流にかない,以降の敵討物流行の端緒となって,没するまで敵討物の合巻に活躍している。作風は類型的で凡庸と評されるものの,作品数は極めて多く,それだけ時好にかなった作者であった。安永7,8(1778,9)の両年に刊行した品川細見『波南能家満』『おみなめし』もおそらくその作と思われ,その家業も類推できよう。

(中野三敏)

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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