Utei Enba

Japanese: 烏亭焉馬 - うてい・えんば

Year of death: 2nd June 1822 (19th July 1822)
Year of birth: 1743
A comic writer from the mid-Edo period. He was also known as a patron of the theatrical literary circles and theatrical world of the time. He was a master carpenter living in Aioi-cho, Edo, by trade, and was commonly known as Izumiya Kazusuke, but became a town carpenter at the end of the Tenmei period (around 1789). He began writing comics around 1777 (An'ei 6), and his activities covered almost all genres. Through his friendships with Hiraga Gennai and Ota Nanpo, he eventually became a writer of Edo joruri and became well-known in the theatrical world. He organized the Sansho-ren, a group of fans of Ichikawa Danjūrō, and greatly protected the successive generations of Danjūrō. In his later years, he published the Hana Edo Kabuki Chronicle (1811-15), which was intended to honor Danjūrō, and is a valuable source of fundamental information on Edo Kabuki. At the same time, he founded a group of new rakugo stories at the end of the Tenmei period, and is also known as the founder of the rakugo revival. He was a man of a bossy disposition who was well versed in all aspects of the popular literary world of the mid-Edo period, including comic fiction, drama, kyoka, and rakugo. <References> Shinji Nobuhiro, "Utei Enma Nenpu" vols. 1-6 ("Bulletin of the Department of Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts, University of Tokyo," March 1982 issue, etc.)

(Mitsutoshi Nakano)

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

Japanese:

没年：文政5.6.2(1822.7.19)
生年：寛保3(1743)
江戸中期の戯作者。当時の劇文壇,劇界のパトロンとしても知られた。江戸相生町住の大工棟梁を家職とし,通称を和泉屋和助というが,天明末年(1789年ごろ)に町大工となる。戯作は安永6(1777)年ごろから手を染め,活動はほとんどのジャンルにわたる。また,平賀源内や大田南畝などとの親交を通じて,やがて江戸浄瑠璃の作者となり,芝居関係にも顔の利く存在となって,市川団十郎の贔屓団体「三升連」を組織して,代々の団十郎をおおいに守り立てた。晩年,団十郎の顕彰を意図して刊行した『花江戸歌舞伎年代記』(1811～15)は,江戸歌舞伎の根本資料として貴重である。一方,天明末年には新作の落咄の会を創始し,落語中興の祖とも称されている。戯作と芝居と狂歌と落咄という,江戸中期の俗文壇の万般に通じた世話役という役所をつとめた親分肌の人物であったらしい。<参考文献>延広真治「烏亭焉馬年譜」1～6(『東京大学教養学部人文科学科紀要』1982年3月号他)

(中野三敏)

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