Okada Yoneyamajin

Japanese: 岡田米山人 - おかだ・べいさんじん

Year of death: 1820.9.15?
Year of birth: Enkyo 1? (1744)
A painter of the Southern style in the late Edo period. Little is known about Yoneyamajin's early life, and he is said to have been from either Osaka or Kobe, but his origins are unknown. There are various theories about his year of death, including that he died in Bunsei 1 (1818) at the age of 75. His given name was Kuni, his pen name was Shihiko, and he was commonly known as Hikobei, and Yoneyamajin was a pen name. It was said that in his youth he lived off the landlord Asaka Kiheiji of Kenzaka Village, Shinto County, Harima (Nishikenzaka, Kasai City, Hyogo Prefecture), where he studied hard by reading books while pounding rice, and this has been borne out by the discovery of works and documents such as sliding door paintings in the same place in recent years. Around the An'ei period (1772-1781), he moved to Osaka and ran a rice-making business, and later, around the Kansei 5th year (1793), he served the Tsu Domain as a subordinate for the Osaka storehouse caretaker, living in the domain's residence. He appears to have been self-taught, studying paintings imported at the time, and his works, such as "Pine Trees and Cranes Calculation," "Bamboo and Stones," and "Leisurely Residence at a Secret Pavilion" (all in private collections), display a toughness and dry sensibility not seen in other Nanga painters, giving him a unique place in the history of Nanga painting. Tanomura Chikuden wrote that Yoneyamajin was good friends with Urakami Gyokudo, and that they shared a similar style. He was also close to Kimura Kenkado and others, and it can be said that he was a painter who was raised in the cultural background unique to Osaka, which was connected to the storehouses. During his lifetime, his son Han'e was far more highly regarded, but in recent years Yoneyamajin's paintings have been gaining recognition both at home and abroad. <References> Mori Senzo, "Things About Yoneyamajin" (Mori Senzo Collected Works, Vol. 4), Yoshizawa Tadashi, "Gyokudo and Mokubei" (Suiboku Bijutsu Taikei, Vol. 13)

(Hoshino Suzu)

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

Japanese:

没年：文政3.8.9?(1820.9.15)
生年：延享1?(1744)
江戸後期の南画家。米山人の前半生についてはほとんど不明で,大坂の人とも神戸の人とも伝えるが,出自などはわかっていない。没年についても文政1(1818)年75歳,ほかの諸説がある。名は国,字は士彦,通称は彦兵衛,米山人は号。若いころには播磨神東郡剣坂村(兵庫県加西市西剣坂)の庄屋安積喜平治の下に寄食し,米をつきながら書を読んで勉学に励んだことが伝えられていたが,近年,同地で襖絵などの作品,資料が発見されたことによりこれが裏づけられた。安永(1772～81)のころには大坂に出て舂米屋を営み,その後,寛政5(1793)年のころには津藩に大坂蔵屋敷留守居役の下役として仕え,その藩邸内に住んでいる。絵は当時舶載のものを見たりしながらの独学らしく,「松齢鶴算図」「竹石図」「幽亭閑居図」(いずれも個人蔵)など,他の南画家にはみられないたくましさと乾いた感覚をみせ,南画史上特異な位置を占めている。田能村竹田は,米山人が浦上玉堂と仲が良く,その風趣も似ていたと記している。また木村蒹葭堂らとも親しく,蔵屋敷を介する大坂特有の文化的背景のなかではぐくまれた画家であったといえる。生前は子供の半江の方がはるかに高い評価を得ていたが,近年では米山人の絵は内外ともに評価を高めている。<参考文献>森銑三「米山人のことども」(『森銑三著作集』4巻),吉沢忠「玉堂・木米」(『水墨美術大系』13巻)

(星野鈴)

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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