Angura hotpot - Agura hotpot

Kanagaki Robun's comic novels. Three volumes, five books. Published between 1871 and 1872 (Meiji 4-5). Includes the "Beef Shop Chat" (Ushiya Zodan). Set in the beef hotpot restaurants that began opening one after another throughout Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration, this work uses a humorous style to vividly sketch the lives of ordinary people sitting cross-legged and chatting away while munching on their beef hotpot. In the conversations of the characters, who include country samurai, craftsmen, literary figures, geisha, and merchants, there are many references to modern cultural artifacts such as steam cars, telephones, and bat umbrellas. This is a masterpiece from the era of Lu Wen, which accurately captures the reaction of the common people to "enlightenment and civilization" at the level of their customs.

[Ai Maeda]

"Complete Works of Meiji Literature 1: Collection of Literature from the Meiji Enlightenment Period (1)" (1966, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

仮名垣魯文(かながきろぶん)の戯作(げさく)小説。3編5冊。1871～1872年（明治4～5）刊。「牛店雑談(うしやぞうだん)」の角書(つのがき)がある。明治維新後、東京市中に続々と開業した牛鍋(ぎゅうなべ)屋を舞台に、あぐらをかいて牛鍋をつつきながら気楽なおしゃべりを交わす庶民の生態を、滑稽本(こっけいぼん)風の手法で生き生きとスケッチした作品。田舎(いなか)武士、職人、生(なま)文人、芸者、商人などの登場人物の会話のなかには、蒸気車、伝信機(てれがらふ)、こうもり傘など、開化の文物が縦横に取り上げられている。風俗のレベルで「文明開化」を摂取した庶民の反応を的確にとらえた魯文一代の傑作である。

［前田　愛］

『『明治文学全集1　明治開化期文学集(1)』（1966・筑摩書房）』

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