Ejima Island - Ejima Island

A mid-Edo period ukiyo-zoshi writer. His real name was Murase Gonnojo, commonly known as Shozaemon. His family had been selling Daibutsu mochi (rice cakes wrapped in rice cakes) in front of Kyoto's Hokoji Temple for generations, and he was the fourth generation of the family. In 1699 (Genroku 12), he wrote the actor's reputation record "Actor's Mouth Shamisen" as the behind-the-scenes author for the book dealer Hachimonji Hachizaemon (his own laughing face) and it was well-received. In 1701 (Genroku 14), he made his debut in the ukiyo-zoshi world with "Keiseirojamisen" (A courtesan's colored shamisen). This book was a breath of fresh air in the field in terms of both its format and content, and Soki competed with Nishizawa Ippu in the Hoei period (1704-1711) with works such as "Furyukyoku Shamisen," and established himself as a leading author by compiling his erotic works in "Kyosei Kintanki" published in 1711. However, he also came into conflict with Hachimonjiya over profit sharing and other matters towards the end of the Hoei period, and opened a bookstore called Ejimaya (Ichirozaemon) under his son's name, and exposed the inside story in "Yakusha Mekikiko" published in 1714 (Shotoku 4), sparking an all-out conflict. During this time, he competed with Hachimonjiya by publishing town characters such as "The Merchant's Fan Team" (1712) and temperamental works such as "The Spirit of the World's Son" (1715), but in 1718 (the third year of the Kyoho era) they reconciled, and from then on, Hachimonjiya published works such as "Oyajikatagi" (1720) under the joint signatures of Soki and Jisho (until 1721, they were jointly published with Ejimaya). After this, Hachimonjiya produced period works that incorporated a lot of elements of Kabuki and Joruri, bringing about the heyday of Hachimonjiya and becoming the greatest Ukiyo-zoshi author after Saikaku in terms of both quantity and quality. He died on June 1, 20th year of the Kyoho era, or in June of the following year, the first year of the Genbun era, at the age of 70.

He wrote about 70 works in his lifetime. Although he often plagiarized Saikaku's writings and abandoned Saikaku's realistic attitude, he popularized Ukiyo-zoshi with his simple writing style and skillful structure, and had a stronger influence on later Gesaku writers than Saikaku did.

[Yutaka Emoto]

"The Age of Self-Laughing and Disputes: The Fate of the Yamozuya Woodblock Prints" by Nakamura Yukihiko (included in Studies on the History of Early Modern Novels, 1961, Ohfusha; reprinted in Collected Writings of Nakamura Yukihiko 5, 1982, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "The Great Series of Japanese Classical Literature 91: Ukiyo-zoshi (1966, Iwanami Shoten), edited by Noma Mitsutatsu" ▽ "A Study of Ukiyo-zoshi (1969, Ohfusha) by Hasegawa Tsuyoshi"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の浮世草子作家。本名村瀬権之丞(ごんのじょう)、通称庄左衛門。代々京都方広寺前で大仏餅(もち)を商う富裕な商家で、其磧は4代目。1699年（元禄12）に書肆(しょし)八文字八左衛門（自笑）の陰の作者として書いた役者評判記『役者口三味線(くちじゃみせん)』が好評を得、1701年（元禄14）刊の『傾城色三味線(けいせいいろじゃみせん)』で浮世草子界に登場した。同書は体裁・内容両面で斯界(しかい)に新風を吹き込む作で、続いて其磧は『風流曲三味線』等で宝永(ほうえい)期（1704～1711）を西沢一風(いっぷう)と競いつつ、1711年刊の『傾城禁短気(きんたんき)』で自らの好色物を集大成するとともに、第一人者としての地位を確立した。しかし一方で、宝永末ごろから八文字屋と利益配分などで対立、息子名義で書肆江島屋（市郎左衛門）を開業、1714年（正徳4）刊の『役者目利講(めききこう)』で内情を暴露して全面抗争に入る。この間『商人軍配団(あきんどぐんばいうちわ)』（1712）等の町人物、『世間子息気質(むすこかたぎ)』（1715）等の気質物を出して対抗するが、1718年（享保3）には和解、以後は『浮世親仁形気(おやじかたぎ)』（1720）等、其磧・自笑の連署で八文字屋から出すようになった（1721年までは江島屋との相版）。こののち、歌舞伎(かぶき)、浄瑠璃(じょうるり)の趣向をふんだんに取り入れた時代物を制作して八文字屋全盛期を現出、量的にも質的にも西鶴(さいかく)以後最大の浮世草子作家となった。享保(きょうほう)20年6月1日、または翌元文(げんぶん)元年6月70歳で没した。

　生涯の述作およそ70。文章などで西鶴を剽窃(ひょうせつ)するところ多く、かつ西鶴のもつ現実主義的態度は放棄しているが、平明な文体や巧みな構成などで浮世草子をより大衆化させ、後期戯作(げさく)者への影響は西鶴よりも強かった。

［江本　裕］

『中村幸彦著「自笑其磧確執時代・八文字屋本版木行方」（『近世小説史の研究』所収・1961・桜楓社／『中村幸彦著述集5』1982・中央公論社に再録）』▽『野間光辰校注『日本古典文学大系91　浮世草子集』（1966・岩波書店）』▽『長谷川強著『浮世草子の研究』（1969・桜楓社）』

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