Yoshida Kenko

Japanese: 吉田兼好 - よしだ・けんこう

Year of death: After Bunwa 1/Shohei 7 (1352)
Year of birth: Around 1283 (Kōan 6)
A poet and essayist from the Kamakura and Nanboku-cho periods. His secular name was Urabe Kenko, and his Buddhist name was pronounced Kenko. The title "Yoshida" was a title given to him as he was from the family of the head priest of Yoshida Shrine, and was not a family name, so it would be more correct to call him Kenko Hoshi rather than Yoshida Kenko. He was the son of Jibu no Shoyu Kaneaki. He became the head steward of the Horikawa family, and when Emperor Go-Nijō ascended to the throne in 1301 (Shōan 3), he served as a sixth-rank treasurer, as the Emperor's mother, Saikamon'in, was the son of Horikawa Tommori. In 1308 (Enkei 1), he retired from court after the death of the Emperor. He became a monk sometime before September 1313 (Shōwa 2), for reasons unknown. As a poet, he had one poem included in the "Zoku Senzaishū," and is counted as one of the four great waka poets of the Nijō Tameyomon school. His family anthology Kenko-Hoshi-Shu, compiled around 1343, contains 285 poems selected by Kenko himself and two linked verses. Eighteen of his poems were included in an imperial anthology. There are various theories about its origin, but his major work Tsurezuregusa, thought to have been compiled around 1331, is a collection of essays consisting of 244 chapters, from the first to the 243rd chapters, beginning with the prologue "As I am lost, I spend my days at my inkstone." The contents are diverse, covering topics such as impermanence and the search for the truth, views of nature, living environments, hobbies, human observation, life lessons, court customs and research, anecdotes, and humorous tales, and it has also been described as a "book of the principles of the way," a "book of the philosophy of living in the world," and a "book of hobbies," but each of these has a point and accurately describes the intention of the work. His praise of the Imperial Court, his yearning for the old days, his recollections of witnessing scenes that seem like stories, his notes on court etiquette and historical research, all show his learning and interests in his youth, while his talk of what he saw and heard in the Kanto region and its people is based on his experiences of going to Kanazawa in Musashi Province (Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama City) at least twice, and is noteworthy for the fact that all of these are deeply related to his personal development. In reference to "When the mind arises, it is always entrusted to fate" in Volume 5, Part 1 of "Maka-Shikan" and "A quiet place of tranquility" in Volume 4, Part 2, he asserts in the 58th paragraph that "The mind is drawn to fate and is easily changed, so it is difficult to follow a path that is not free," but he himself frequented the services of Takanori Takauji's butler, Takashina no Moronao, and according to "The Liar's Death of Enya Hangan" in Volume 21 of "Taiheiki," he is said to have tried to write a love letter for an illicit love affair and failed, so he is certainly not an easy person to understand. <References> Hirofumi Kuwahara, "The Master of Life, Kenkohoshi," Fumihiko Gomi, "Words and Pictures of the Middle Ages"

(Yoichi Misumi)

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

Japanese:

没年：文和1/正平7以後(1352)
生年：弘安6頃(1283)
鎌倉・南北朝時代の歌人,随筆家。俗名は卜部兼好,法名は音読して兼好。「吉田」の称は吉田神社の神主の家の出身であることにちなむ冠称で,苗字ではないのだから,吉田兼好よりは兼好法師と呼ぶ方が正しい。治部少輔兼顕の子。堀川家の家司となり,正安3(1301)年,後二条天皇が即位すると,天皇の母である西華門院が堀川具守の子であった縁により,六位の蔵人として仕える。延慶1(1308)年,天皇の死去に遭い宮廷を退く。正和2(1313)年9月以前に出家,理由は不明。歌人としては『続千載集』に1首入集し,二条為世門の和歌四天王のひとりに数えられる。康永2/興国4(1343)年ごろ成立の家集『兼好法師集』は自選で285首と連歌2句を収める。勅撰集に18首入集している。諸説あるが,元弘1(1331)年ごろ成立とみられる主著『徒然草』は「つれづれなるままに,日暮らし,硯にむかひて」で始まる序段以下,第1段から第243段まで全244章段からなる随筆集で,その内容は無常と求道,自然観,住環境,趣味,人間観察,人生訓,有職故実と考証,逸話や滑稽談など多岐にわたり,「道念の書」「処世哲学の書」「趣味の本」とも評されるが,それぞれに一理あって作品の意図をいいあてている。宮廷を讃美し,古き世を慕い,物語的な場面に立ち会った思い出を語り,有職や考証を書き留めるのは,その若き日の学問や関心を伝えており,関東での見聞や関東人を話題にするのは,少なくとも2度,武蔵国金沢(横浜市金沢区)に下った経験によるもので,いずれも彼の自己形成に深くかかわるという点で注目される。『摩訶止観』巻5上の「心起こるは必ず縁に託す」や巻4下の「閑居静処」にちなみ,第58段で「心は縁にひかれて移るものなれば,閑ならでは道は行じがたし」と主張しているが,自身は足利尊氏の執事高師直のもとに出入りし,『太平記』巻21「塩冶判官讒死事」によると,邪恋の恋文の代筆をして失敗したと伝えられており,一筋縄ではとらえられない人物であるのは確かである。<参考文献>桑原博史『人生の達人兼好法師』,五味文彦『中世のことばと絵』

(三角洋一)

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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