Story book - Hanasashibon

A literary genre from the Edo period. It is a collection of short humorous stories, and the meaning of the book is "hanashi" (storytelling). It was published throughout the Edo period, with about 1,000 works published, but around 1772 (An'ei 1), the period when the cultural movement moved eastward, the early period was centered in Kamigata (Kamigata), and the later period was centered in Edo. In the early period, "Gigen Yokishu", "Yesterday is Today's Story", and "Seisuisho" are some of the earliest works, which are humorous stories collected by Otogishu and preaching monks, and many of them contain witty anecdotes of real people. Around 1679 and 1680 (Enpo 7 and 8), a special form of light-hearted storybook was established. It was in the form of "...to iuta" (saying...), and was a general humorous story that completely eliminated proper nouns and didactic meanings, and was an original humorous story. Around the Genroku period (1688-1704), professional storytellers such as Tsuyu no Gorobei in Kyoto, Shikano Buzaemon in Edo, and Yonezawa Hikohachi in Osaka appeared and performed parlor and street tales, while rakugo books such as "Tsuyu ga hanashi" and "Shika no makifude" were also published. These light-hearted stories were published mainly in Kyoto and Osaka until the end of the Meiwa period (1764-72), but after the publication of "Kanokomochi" in 1772 (Meiwa 9), Edo short story books such as "Gakutaiko" and "Kikijozu" became explosively popular. These were shorter than the light-hearted stories, and were witty short stories told in a conversational style. These Edo short stories were popular only during the An'ei period (1772-1781), but after the Tenmei period (1781-1789) they began to decline, and most of them were adaptations of earlier works with new titles such as Tsugitashi and kibyo shijitate books. In this environment, storytelling gatherings by Utei Enba and parlor stories by the geisha Sakuragawa Jihinari were held, and eventually Sanshotei Karaku appeared with his three-topic storytelling. In the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-1830), vaudeville halls flourished, and by the end of the Bunsei era, there were as many as 125 vaudeville halls. Furthermore, long stories were started by Ishii Soshuku, and the original form of modern rakugo was established, and stories changed from short stories to stories to be read. The rakugo books from this period of the popularity of oral rakugo were many times more verbose than the short stories from the An'ei era, losing the light-heartedness of Edo short stories, and steadily declining.

[Masahiko Oka]

"Edo Short Story Dictionary" edited by Muto Sadao (1965, Tokyodo Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代の文学ジャンルの一つ。短い笑話を集めたもので、噺(はなし)の本の意味である。江戸時代を通して行われ、約1000点の作品が出版されたが、1772年（安永1）ごろの文運東漸期を境に、前期は上方(かみがた)を中心に、後期は江戸を中心に行われた。前期では『戯言養気集(ぎげんようきしゅう)』『きのふはけふのものがたり』『醒睡笑(せいすいしょう)』などがごく初期のものであり、これらは御伽衆(おとぎしゅう)や説教僧の手によって集められた笑話であり、実在人物の機知に富んだ逸話も多くあった。これが1679、80年（延宝7、8）ごろには特殊な軽口(かるくち)本の形式が確立する。「……と云(い)うた」形式をとり、固有名詞や教訓性をいっさい捨て去った一般的笑話であり、創作笑話であった。元禄(げんろく)（1688～1704）ごろには京に露の五郎兵衛、江戸に鹿野武左衛門(しかのぶざえもん)、大坂に米沢彦八らの職業的咄家(はなしか)が登場して座敷咄(ざしきばなし)や辻咄(つじばなし)を行う一方、『露がはなし』『鹿の巻筆』その他の咄家の噺本も出版された。これらの軽口本は明和(めいわ)（1764～72）末年まで京坂を中心に行われたが、1772年（明和9）の『鹿子餅(かのこもち)』の刊行を境に『楽牽頭(がくたいこ)』『聞上手(ききじょうず)』以下の江戸小咄本が爆発的盛行をみせる。これは、軽口本の咄より短く、会話体で言い切る歯切れのよい、機知に富んだ小咄であった。この江戸小咄の盛行は安永(あんえい)期（1772～81）だけで、天明(てんめい)（1781～89）以降は衰退の一途をたどり、先行作の嗣足(つぎたし)改題本や、黄表紙仕立(きびょうしじたて)本の改作ものが大半を占めるようになる。そのような状況のなかで、烏亭焉馬(うていえんば)の咄の会や、幇間(ほうかん)の桜川慈悲成(じひなり)のお座敷咄が行われ、やがて三笑亭可楽(さんしょうていからく)が三題咄によって登場し、文化・文政(ぶんかぶんせい)期（1804～30）には寄席(よせ)が盛行を極め、文政末には125軒もの寄席が数えられるまでになる。さらに石井宗叔(そうしゅく)によって長咄が始められ、現行落語の原形が整えられ、咄は読む小咄から聞く落語へと変貌(へんぼう)していった。この口演落語盛行期の噺本は、安永期の小咄に比べて何倍もの冗長な行文を費やし、江戸小咄の軽妙さを失い、衰退の一途をたどった。

［岡　雅彦］

『武藤禎夫編『江戸小咄辞典』（1965・東京堂出版）』

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