Morning sky - Myokuu

Japanese: 明空 - みょうくう

Years of birth: unknown. A master of vocal music and haiku (also known as banquet music) in the Kamakura period. Author of the Senyo Mokuroku, a catalogue of haiku anthologies. Counting backwards from the description in the catalogue that reads, "Now I am in my sixties, a pitiless life... (omitted) late March, 1306," his birth year is thought to be sometime in the 1240s. Despite being a master of an important genre in the history of Japanese music, there are many unknowns about his origins. There are theories that he lived in the Kanto region and served under the Kamakura Shogunate, or that he was a Buddhist monk. The name "Myoku" is thought to be a hermit's name, a Buddhist name, or a stage name. His real surname is unknown. There is also a theory that the haiku poet Tsukie was the name Myoku took in his later years. Of the 16 volumes of the anthology of haiku poems, he selected 12 volumes, including volumes 1-5 of "Enkyokushu," volumes 1, 2, and 3 of "Enkyokusho," and "Shinkyokusho," and was involved in writing the lyrics and composing the majority of the more than 100 haiku poems included in these volumes. From the lyrics, it can be inferred that he was a highly cultured person well versed in Buddhist scriptures, Chinese classics, national classics, and various performing arts. <References> Tonomura Hisae, "Research on Haiku Poetry," Gamo Mitsuko, "Musical Research on Haiku Poetry"

(Mitsuko Gamou)

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

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
鎌倉時代の声曲,早歌(宴曲とも)の大成者。早歌選集の目録『選要目録』の著者。生年は,同目録にある「今は六十路の余り,つれなき命(中略)嘉元4(1306)年3月下旬」の記述から逆算して,1240年代と考えられる。日本音楽史上,重要な位置にある種目の大成者であるにもかかわらず,出自経歴については不明な点が非常に多い。関東に住し,鎌倉幕府の脚下にあった人物,僧籍にあった人物などの説がある。「明空」の名は隠者名,法名あるいは芸名の類と思われる。本姓は不明。また早歌者の月江は,明空の晩年の名とする説もある。早歌の選集16帖のうち,『宴曲集』1～5巻,『宴曲抄』上中下巻,『真曲抄』など12帖を選し,これらに所収された早歌百数十曲のうち,大半の作詞作曲に関与した。その詞章から,仏典,漢籍,国典,諸芸能に通じた相当の教養人であったことが推察される。<参考文献>外村久江『早歌の研究』,蒲生美津子『早歌の音楽的研究』

(蒲生美津子)

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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