Miyoshi Shoraku

Date of birth and death unknown. A Joruri (Japanese puppet theatre) author in the mid-Edo period. He is said to have been a monk from Matsuyama, Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture), a doctor from Osaka, or the owner of a teahouse, but his background is unclear. He was active at the Takemotoza Theatre for over thirty years, from 1736 (Genbun 1) to 1771 (Meiwa 8). He was involved in over fifty plays, but none of them were written by him alone, and he signed only two plays as a lead composer: "Hanagoromo Iroha Engi" and "Chugen Uwasa no Kakedai." The rest were written with the help of Bunkodo, Takeda Izumo and his son, Namiki Senryu, and Chikamatsu Hanji. He is said to have been in charge of the second act in "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" and the second and tenth acts in "Kanadehon Chushingura," and was involved in many other masterpieces, including "Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Blossoms." In the review "Sōkyoku Naniwa no Ashi," published in 1747 (Enkyō 4), he was given the third highest rank after Izumo and Senryū, and in his later years he was treated as an elder in the world of Jōruri.

[Jiro Yamamoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年未詳。江戸中期の浄瑠璃(じょうるり)作者。伊予(いよ)国（愛媛県）松山の僧とも、大坂の医師とも茶屋の主人とも伝えられ、その伝は明らかでない。1736年（元文1）から71年（明和8）に至る三十余年にわたって竹本座で活躍した。50以上の作にかかわっているが、単独作はなく、立(たて)作者として署名したのは『花衣(はなごろも)いろは縁起』『中元噂掛鯛(うわさのかけだい)』の二作にすぎず、ほかは文耕堂(ぶんこうどう)、竹田出雲(いずも)父子、並木千柳(せんりゅう)、近松半二(はんじ)を助けて書いた。『菅原伝授手習鑑(すがわらでんじゅてならいかがみ)』では二段目、『仮名手本忠臣蔵(かなでほんちゅうしんぐら)』では二段目・十段目を担当したといわれ、そのほか『義経(よしつね)千本桜』など多くの名作に関与した。1747年（延享4）に出た評判記『操曲浪花蘆(そうきょくなにわのあし)』では出雲、千柳に次ぐ三番目の位置が与えられており、晩年は浄瑠璃界の長老として遇された。

［山本二郎］

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