Umebori-Kokuga

Japanese: 梅暮里谷峨 - うめぼり・こくが

Year of death: 1821.9.28 (September 3, 1821)
Year of birth: 1750
A comic writer from the mid-Edo period. He was a samurai of the Kururi Domain in Kazusa Province (Chiba Prefecture) under the name Sorimachi Saburosuke, but lived in the domain's residence in Edo Honjo Uebori, so he took the name Umeguri. He was originally known as Baigetsudo Kajihito, and later also as Yotei. His debut work was the joke story "Seirou Itsugigane" published in 1788 (Tenmei 8), but at the time, the Kansei Reforms were happening, and people were hesitant to write joke stories. When this situation finally calmed down in 1798 (Kansei 10), he published "Kyosei Kai Nisujido" and suddenly became a favorite of the later joke story world. He published two and three more volumes of "Nisujido," completely changing the content of the joke stories from his heyday, which were mainly intellectual, and leading to emotional and fantastical content, which eventually laid the groundwork for the creation of human interest stories. He also tried his hand at writing reading books from the end of the Bunka era (around 1818) through the Bunsei era (1818-1830), but this did not seem to be his forte. Takizawa Bakin is often criticized for "having a talent for comic writing, but being a man of poor writing skills" (Edo Sakusha Burui), but the content of "Nisujimichi" skillfully combines the legendary content of "Keijo-kai Tora no Maki" (1778) by Tanara Kingyo with the detailed descriptions and humor of the sharebon of the heyday, bringing about a qualitative change in sharebon in a single story, and certainly shows his extraordinary talent. Later, Hagiwara Otohiko (Utazawa Noh Rokusai), the second son of an Edo samurai, claimed to be the second generation, and he also became a first-class comic writer from the end of the Edo period until the Meiji era.

(Mitsutoshi Nakano)

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

Japanese:

没年：文政4.9.3(1821.9.28)
生年：寛延3(1750)
江戸中期の戯作者。反町三郎助と称する上総国(千葉県)久留里藩士だが,江戸本所埋堀の藩邸に住んだので,梅暮里と号した。初め梅月堂梶人,のちには蕣亭とも号している。天明8(1788)年刊の洒落本『青楼五ツ雁金』を処女作とするが,当時はちょうど寛政の改革のころで,洒落本の著作などを遠慮する世情となり,それがようやく落ち着いた寛政10(1798)年,『傾城買二筋道』を刊行して,一躍,後期洒落本界の寵児となる。その後『二筋道』の2編,3編を続刊し,主知的な戯作であった盛期の洒落本の内容を一変して,主情的,伝奇的な内容へと導き,やがて人情本を生み出すその下地を作った。また文化末年(1818年ごろ)から文政(1818～30)にかけては読本の作にも手を染めたが,こちらの方はあまり得意とするところではなかったようである。滝沢馬琴は,例によって「戯作の才はありながら,文字は素よりなき人なるべし」(『江戸作者部類』)と悪口をいうが,『二筋道』の内容は,安永7(1778)年,田螺金魚作の『契情買虎之巻』の伝奇的内容と,盛時の洒落本の細密な描写や滑稽性とを上手に一編のなかに盛り込んで,洒落本の質的変化を無理なくもたらしたあたり,確かにその才の並々ならぬものを示している。のちに江戸旗本の次男坊であった萩原乙彦(歌沢能六斎)が,その2代目を名乗るが,こちらも,幕末明治まで,一流の戯作者として活躍した。

(中野三敏)

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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