Imai Time

Japanese: 今井似閑 - いまい・じかん

Year of death: October 4, 8th year of Kyoho (November 1, 1723)
Year of birth: 1657
A Japanese scholar of the early Edo period. He was originally called Koshiro, and later called himself Oaza Ya Ichibei. His pen name was either Miushi or Ennezumitei. He can also be written as "Jikan." He was the third son of the wealthy Imai family of Kyoto. As the family's fortunes declined under his succession as head of the family, Nikan put his studies aside and tried to revive the business. Twenty years later, after he succeeded in restoring the business, he retired to Higashiyama, and in the latter half of his life he resumed his studies and devoted himself to classical studies. He studied under Kise Sanno and Shimokawabe Choryu, but around 1695 (Genroku 8), he asked Keichu to teach him. It seems that the lectures that Keichu gave in 1699, using the first draft of Keichu's famous work "Man'yo Daishouki" as basic material, were in response to Nikan and his friends' request. He assisted his teacher in his work until his death in 1701, and always made the investigation of the Man'yoshu the core of his studies. Other than the commentary "Man'yo-Itai" (20 volumes, completed in 1717), there are no known works of his own, but he edited and collated many other works. In his later years, he donated a large number of manuscripts, including Keichu's handwritten manuscripts, that he had collected, to the Mite Bunko library at Kamigamo Shrine, and his contribution to preserving them should be considered great. His grave is in Kurodani, Higashiyama, Kyoto. <References> Hisamatsu Sen'ichi, "Keichu-den"

(Robert Campbell)

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

Japanese:

没年：享保8.10.4(1723.11.1)
生年：明暦3(1657)
江戸初期の国学者。初め小四郎といい,のち大字屋市兵衛と称した。号は見牛または偃鼠亭。「自閑」とも書く。京都の富豪今井家の3男。次兄の家督下に家運が傾いたため,似閑は学問を中途にして,商売の挽回に努めた。20年後,復旧に成功するや東山へ隠居し,後半生は学業を再開して,古典学に打ち込んだ。木瀬三之や下河辺長流にも師事したが,元禄8(1695)年ごろに,契沖に教えを請うた。9年,契沖がその名著『万葉代匠記』初稿を基礎的材料に行った講義は似閑らの求めに応じたものだったらしい。師の亡くなる年(1701)まで,その業を助け,終始,万葉集考証をその学問の中核とした。注釈書『万葉緯』(20巻,1717年完成か)以外の自著は知られないが,その編集や校合にかかるものは多い。なお晩年に,自らが集めた契沖の手沢本を含めおびただしい写本などを上賀茂神社の三手文庫に奉納し,保存を図った功績は大とすべきである。墓所は京都東山黒谷にある。<参考文献>久松潜一『契沖伝』

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