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The Fascination of Japanese Traditional 大橋 正叔(Ôhashi Tadayoshi) Vice-President , Tenri University (1)Introduction Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: My name is Tadayoshi Ohashi of Tenri University. It gives me great pleasure in presenting the SOAS Brunei Gallery exhibition of “ART OF JAPANESE BOOKS”. These are some of the Kotenseki 古典籍(Japanese Antiquarian materials) treasures from the Tenri Central 天理図書館.It is an honour to have the opportunity to speak before you at this joint cultural event of SOAS and Tenri University. Today I wish to talk about the attractions of KotensekiI. Wherever they come from, antiquarian books are beautiful in their own styles and traditions. Japanese antiquarian books, however, are very unique in their diversities; namely, the binding-forms and paper-materials used, not to mention the wide range of calligraphic and multi-coloured techniques. For your reference I have enclosed a copy of bibliographical research sheet of the National Institute of 国文学研究資料館. This is the sheet we use when we conduct research on Kotenseki. This sheet is dual-format applicable for both printed books and . But there is single purpose format either for printed books or for manuscripts. The reason why I am showing you this is, that I believe that this research sheet encapsulates the essence of Kotenseki(Japanese Antiquarian materials). I am going to discuss each style one by one. I am careful in using the word KOTENSEKI rather than the more usual word HON. Kotenseki includes not only HON (books, manuscripts and records) but also the materials written on 短冊 Tanzaku(a strip of oblong paper mainly used for writing Waka 和歌)or Shikishi 色紙(a square of high- quality paper). There are two distinctive categories in Kotenseki,namely ‘printed materials’ and ‘hand-written manuscripts’. In general there is only one unique copy of ‘hand-written manuscripts’ but there are more than one ‘printed materials’ extant. This is because a copy was made only for a few people responsible for its production, but printed materials could be made according to the demands of a wider circle. In other words, one can assume more intimate relationship between manuscript copy and its author or owner. As for printed books, there is less direct relationship between the readers and the work.

(2) Kanpon 刊本 (printed books)

First I wish to discuss the history of printed books in briefly. At the very beginning of the current exhibition you find Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼．As you can see in the commentary, this is one of the first printed materials not only in Japan but also in the world. With the wish to stabilize and atone for the nation, Emperor Koken 孝謙天皇 initiated the printing four kinds of sutras in Mukujyôkô Daranikyô 無垢浄光陀羅尼経, in total of 1 million copies, and contained them in the small wooden three-layered , and placed them in 10 leading temples such as Horyuji 法隆寺 and Tôodaiji 東大寺. This was completed in JingoKeiun 神護景雲 4 年(A.D.770). It took 5 years and 8 months. However it is not certain if Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 as many as 1 million copies were printed, but there are 45,000 small pagodas found in Horyuji alone. Therefore we can be sure that great many Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 were printed. As you can see Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 were the first printed materials taking advantage of the

1 characteristics of printing process that can produce as many facsimile copies as you want. This took place about 1243 years ago. The printed mantras were contained at the top of under Kurin 九輪. As for the method of printing it is more probable that it was done by plate printing than printing. However, there is disagreement among scholars if the plate printing was wood-plate or copper-plate printing. In addition they are arguing if it was printed by either Syûsatsu 摺刷（The effect of impressing a sheet of paper on an inked woodblock） or Ônatsu 押捺（Impression） In the Nara period, under the influence of Tang dynasty China, many hand-copied sutras were made. Although the technique in the printing of sutra ,as shown in the case of Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔 陀羅尼,was established in Nara period, in the following early Heian 平安 period we cannot discover any printed sutra in Japan. In the current exhibition you can find a printed image of Buddha(Inbutsu 印仏) of Bishamonten 毘沙門天. After the middle part of Inbutsu 印仏 and Syûkyô 摺 経 were beginning to appear. They were made in order to wish for the heavenly bliss for the dead or for the recovery from illness. Furthermore, major temples began printing sutras for trainee monks such as Kasuga 春日 , Todaiji 東大寺 edition,Koya 高野 edition and Gozan 五山 edition. Before the Muromachi 室町 period one can say that almost all the printed materials were sutras, but there were some exceptions such as the Gozan edition (five Zen 禅 temples in and in Kamakura,in the late Kamakura and the ) , where they reprinted non-Buddhist materials from Chinese editions in Song（宋）,Yuan（元）,Ming（明）periods and Korean editions. In the Muromachi period(1392～1573), the fixed notion that a equals a hand-written copy no longer applies. Many printed books were introduced to various places other than Gozan 五山. In particular, in the town of Sakai 堺, which was a highly developed commercial centre, many practical books and compendiums were published. They include Rongo-shikkai 論語集解(正平 19、1364), Ishotaizen 医書大全(1528), Setsuyôsyû 節用集（1590）. Meiô 明応 edition of Rongo-shikkai 論語集解,the one you see in the exhibition, was a reprinted edition of Shôhei 正平 edition, and it was a provincial edition published by Sugi Takemichi 杉武道 of Ôuchi 大内 family in 明応 8(1499). They were all woodblock printed. These printed books were widespread because the stability of Japanese society after Tokugawa 徳川 unification gave the opportunities to grow in economic and political fields. I wish to discuss this matter later on．

(3)Manuscripts 写本(hand-written materials)

Let’s talk about something completely different . I am now going to discuss the attractions of manuscripts before Muromachi 室町 period and, firstly, I will focus on the materials you can see in our exhibition. As I mentioned before, unlike printed materials, every single manuscript is unique. This is the chief attraction of manuscripts.Before the Muromachi period we saw the development of Waka 和歌 and Monogatari 物語. They were very much the product of aristocratic court culture; it was a custom for the aristocrats to exchange hand-written Waka and Monogatari. The distinction was therefore made between author’s own handwriting and someone else’s copied materials. You can see a copy of Turezuregusa つれづれ草 in our exhibition. Unfortunately this is not in the author, Yoshida Kenko’s 吉田兼好 own handwriting, but it is extremely rare to find an author’s original hand-written materials and most remaining materials are copied. This Turezuregusa in the exhibition shows a calligraphic style of Early Edo 江戸 period. It is assumed that this was the hand of Honami Koetsu 本阿弥光悦, but I see Suminokura Soan’s 角倉素庵 style in the shape of letters and calligraphic style. Therefore, I would say this is a copied manuscripts in Soan-style. It is bound in sewn books format(Tetchosô 綴葉装 A number of sheets of paper， handwritten or printed, are placed on above another and folded in half to from a section．Several

2 sections,thread-sewn through the centre,and sewn together to make a )and the cover is Kon- byoshi 紺表紙(Dark blue cover) with the scattered metallic powders on the sheet of paper with golden mud and flowers motif. If you look at the back of front cover you can see golden paper. Texts were written on Gubiki-gami 具引紙(Painted paper with powderd mica dissolved in thin glue ). All in all, this book is set up in a gorgeous manners. So as I said before, all manuscripts are unique in its style of binding, calligraphic style and the paper used. These differences are due to who made the manusciprt and with what purpose. Let’s go back to Turezuregusa つれづれ草 the maker hired a calligraphy master in certain style to write the text and made the binding in the format of Masugatabon 枡形本(a book of square form). They were done in this way because the maker wanted to show his deep respects for classical literature. In early , Turezuregusa was a very popular classical book. The different ways books were made were expressions of deep feelings and strong opinions about the books themselves. Of course in the case of Kotenseki 古典籍 this applies to both manuscripts and printed books. Therefore, if you find a valuable copy it is important to know the provenance of the book. It is an act of paying a tribute to the previous owners. Paying respects to books was very common and this practice can be found not only in the hand written manuscripts but also in the printed materials. I have already mentioned Meiô edition of Rongo shikkai 明応版論語集解, it belongs to Tenri Toshokan Kogido Bunko 天理図書館古義堂文庫 ,and the original owner of this copy was the second-head of Kogido school Ito Togai 伊藤東涯(1670- 1736). Kogido was a private school founded by the Confucian scholar Ito Jinsai 伊藤仁斎 (1627- 1705) in Kyoto 京都. This school was so popular that it was said it had 3000 disciples. Rongo shikkai 論語集解 has Shikigo 識語(A handwritten note appended to a book) by Kiyohara Nobukata 清原宣 賢, an eminent scholar of late-Muromachi period. So it is clear that Nobukata himself studied the book. Looking at the various inscriptions in the book, we can sense that Nobukata was expressing his respect for the previous owners through these writings. This is one of the attractions of Kotenseki. Nobukata’s direct ancestor in 8 generations was Urabe Kanenatsu 卜部兼夏,who copied the national treasure Nihon Shoki 日本書紀. A replica of this book is in our exhibition. Nihon Shoki is on scrolls. The rolled-up format in Kamakura 鎌倉 period was very meaningful. We think this was made into scrolls because the maker wanted to stress its authenticity in Shintô 神道 scholars’ family. Moving back to hand-written materials again, in our exhibition we have Kokinwakashû 古今和歌 集 by Asukai Eiga 飛鳥井栄雅. Asukai Eiga(1446-1490) was a prominent Waka poet in mid- Muromachi period,and he was the founder of Asukai school of calligraphy. Eiga also penned the commentary on Kokinwakashû Kokineigashô 古今栄雅抄. Therefore for him, copying Kokinwakashû 古今和歌集 must have been an emotional act. It is indeed a pleasure to see the intricate bindings of Kotenseki, but there is also a pleasure in appreciating the beautiful calligraphy in Kotenseki. To understand this, all you have to do is to look at Haikairengashô 誹諧連歌抄(1523). This was written by author’s own hands in the unique style of Yamazaki Sokan 山崎宗鑑 School. As for manuscripts of Monogatari and Waka, many of them were copied by the master calligrapher of the time. Therefore it is common to wonder who was the calligrapher when you look at manuscripts. From the mid-Heian 平安 period both 漢字 and かな were used in writing down Waka poetry. Therefore, it became very important to achieve the balanced and harmonious calligraphic style.It also became important to choose the suitable quality papers to write on. You can see the result of these considerations in Masugatabon 枡形本 Isemonogatari 伊勢物語, which was written on Torinoko 鳥の子-paper, Small Masugatabon 枡形本 Genjimonogatari 源氏物語 was written on Hishi 斐紙 paper. Both Torinoko and Hishi were high quality papers. For Waka poets both ISE and GENJI were essential books. This was stressed by the famous father- son Waka masters; Fujiwara Shunzei 藤原俊成 in his Roppiakuban- utaawase 六百番歌合 and his son Teika 定家 in Eiganotaigai 詠歌大概. Both books were bound and crafted to a very high

3 standard. They were made in the fashion of traditional scholarly books from the middle ages. In other words, these binding-formats were the expression of the respects and homage to classical literature. In fact, one must know these things to appreciate Kotenseki. Therefore it is important to find; firstly, the identity of the calligrapher who wrote it; secondly the type of writing paper; and thirdly, the identity of previous owners. Genjimonogatari 源氏物語 has inscription (Shikigo 識語 by Takano Hanzan 高野斑山, which indicated that previous owner of the book was )Miyamonzeki 宮門跡 (Sanzenin 三千院).

(4 )Kirishitanban キリシタン版 and Kokatsujiban 古活字版

In early Edo 江戸 period, the first typographic printing appeared and they were called Kokatsujiban 古活字版(The early movable type printing,ca. 1593～1640). In Japan, Christian mission press first introduced typographic printing technique, but they were politically compromised ,and eventually Christianity was banned in Japan. When the were expelled from Japan they took their printing equipment with them. As a result, Christian typographic printing techniques did not settle in Japan. Christian press is also known as Jesuit Mission Press. This is defined as printed materials that were printed by the Jesuits in Japan using the printing equipments from Western Europe. Jesuits mission press were printed in the period of 1591- 1610 at their printing offices in Japan mainly in Kyushu. There are about 30 kinds, 75 items of publications are extant all around the world today, of which 7 items are in Tenri Library. In our exhibition you can see 2 replicas; the one is Orashio(Oratio) in Japanese which was printed in Nagasaki with metal printing type,the other is Kontemutsusu Munji(Contemptus Mundi) which was printed in Kyoto using wood printing type. Christian press adopted the Western style of printing. Their type sets were pressed on papers. There were two kinds of type sets,namely in Roman letters and in Japanese letters. These techniques were not compatible with the traditional BAREN-pad printing technique(摺刷) in Japan. And as they used metal types with oil-based ink it is thought the transmission of western techniques would probably not have been easy even if the printing equipment had been left behind. With the exception of Kontemutsusu Munji, Chrisitian press was mainly printed in the remote places like Amakusa 天草, Nagasaki 長崎 and Kazusa 加津佐 long away from Kyoto 京都. These were not good places to advance new printing technologies.Naturally, the ban on Christianity had the biggest negative impact on Christian press, but according to recent studies, Christian press had influences on old type printing in Japan. Some scholars argue that the use of mixed type sets (Kanji 漢字 and Kana かな) were inspired by Christian press. As for old type press called Kokatsujiban 古活字版 ; it was introduced in Japan from Korea. When 豊臣秀吉 invaded Korea (1592-93) the type printing technique in Korea was brought over with Korean copper printing type. It is said that under the auspice of Emperor Goyôzei 後陽成天皇 the first old type printing was commissioned, which was Kobunkôkyô 古文孝経 using copper printing types from Korea. However, this item is not extant, so only two years after Christian press was introduced the new technique was also brought over. Gradually old type printing became popular but its popularity was to be taken over by that of block printing. Initially, old printing press was for the limited use of the dignitaries like the emperor and Tokugawa Iyeyasu 徳川家康, but the popularity of old type printing began to expand outside this limited circle. One prominent example is the beautiful Sagabon 嵯峨本 (or Suminokurabon 角倉本). Traditionally, printing in Japan was mainly for Buddhist’s mantra or Chinese poetry, but Sagabon published one after another Japanese classics printed in mixed type of Kanji 漢字 and Kana かな. Of Sagabon, the scripts based on block- copy written by Honamikôetsu 本阿弥光悦 are called Kôetsubon 光悦本, and the scripts based on Suminokura Soan 角倉素庵 are called Suminokurabon 角倉本.

4 Sagabon achieved much more than the ordinary printing press. They were not only able to recreate the style of manuscripts in printing press but also it was able to make each copy special. The typical Sagabon 嵯峨本 is Isemonogatari 伊勢物語 with illustrations. It shows special attentions to printing papers. There are 4 kinds and 9 different editions extant in Isemonogatari. They are all slightly different in the choice of printing papers. The existence of different type sets editions means that the type setter rearranged them. It was done not only because of damages in type but also it was done in some parts with specific reasons. Although the reason behind theses changes are not clear, one can imagine that it was a special favour to its owners to make his Isemonogatari truly unique.It is not known how many copies were printed in each edition, but considering the extraordinary labour involved, they were printed in very small quantities and they were distributed among special patrons, maybe friends of Kôetsu or Soan. In other words, what they wanted from Sagabon was the beauty of hand–written manuscripts using printing press. It was aesthetic standards they wanted to achieve with Sagabon. Incidentally, the illustrations in Isemonogatari are wood block printing, but Sogamonogatari in the exhibition were printed with pictorial types. The other important thing we must not forget is that Sagabon greatly contributed to the revival of Japanese classic literature. Traditionally Japanese classic literature was in the hands of aristocrats and the professional poets, who wanted to study poetry, and these collections were rarely shown outside. However, Sagabon published many Japanese classics starting from Ise 伊勢 to Hojôki 方丈 記，Turezuregusa つれづれ草 etc. It was a very important step towards the opening access to Japanese classics for the wider circle of people. In our exhibition you can see two Utaibon 謡本. Although the front cover has similar pattern. Tôgankoji 東岸居士 used white paper on the front cover and main texts. Kasugaryûjin 春日龍神 has light green and main texts in green and its paper has Kirazuri 雲母刷り(Powderd mica was dissolved in thin glue which was applied to the printing block and transferred to the paper of a book as decorative designs). These were influenced by the aristocratic tastes of the time. They also have gorgeous type format, which were made as exact copy of block-copy. This was a very elaborate process. This is why Sagabon is respected as hand-written manuscripts.

(5)Seihanbon 整版本( )

The old type printing was most popular for 35 years in the early part of Edo 江戸 period (1596- 1630) although the traditional woodblock printing was also made that time. Once the Tokugawa 徳 川 regime was established in Japanese society, new style of books began to appear, with practical purposes for the new society. Traditional readers were aristocrats and monks, but the population was boosted by the addition of Bushi 武士(Samurai) and newly prosperous merchants. Because of greater demands for books, woodblock printing was adopted rather than old type printing and these books became commodities to be sold at a bookshop. With the growth of a reading population, the demand for books also increased, and it became more convenient to use woodblock printing because it could be used for a long time and re-printing was easy to meet new demands. Old type printing was not suitable for large scale printing as it was too expensive and too labour-intensive. The optimum number for old type printing was around 100 to 200 copies, which was not enough to meet the increased demands for books. In addition to this, old type printing had difficulties in combining three different scripts; namely Kanji 漢字, Hirakana ひ らかな and カタカナ in the same texts. Woodblock printing offered much freedom in this respect. Therefore the tide was turning against old type printing and the age of woodblock printing arrived. With woodblock printing one can print 1000 to 2000 copies, but it was more common to print few copies at first, then the printer adjust the amount to be copied in later printing run. This was the merit of woodblock printing. Because of this custom it is very difficult for us to determine first edition(Shohan 初版) or later edition(Saihan 再版), first run(Shozuri 初刷) or later run(Atozuri 後刷).

5 However, it took some time for the woodblock printing to introduce Hansaibon 版彩本(A book of printing more than two colours using multiple woodblook). In our exhibition there is a comment on Sogamonogatari 曽我物語 and Karukaya かるかや that they are Tanrokubon 丹緑本. Tanrokubon was made only in Osaka area in the early Edo(Kanei 寛永 ～Manji 万治) period. They added three colours to the illustrations. These three colours, red,green and yellow, were hand-printed. In the case of Sekkyôshôhon 説経正本 it was a rule to have two red lines above green line on recto leaf, and green above red lines on verso leaf. You may wonder “What is the point of this?” However it is thought even this little colouring increased the enjoyment of readers mainly women and children.From Enpô 延宝(1673-1681) we begin to see children’s books . In our exhibition we have Akakohon 赤小本(also known as Hiinabon 雛本[5 ㎝×3.5 ㎝]). Akahon 赤本 was the early style of popular reading materials Kusazôshi 草双紙. This is called Akahon(red book) because of the colour used for front cover. These Akakohons are very rare now. There are only five copies extant. In order to have colour printing in woodblock printing we had to wait till the invention of Kentô 見 当 around the time when Benizurie 紅刷絵 were published.(1774-1747). As for the early example of multi-coloured wood-block printing , Chichinoon 父の恩(1730) is well known. This work was published by Nissei 二世 Ichikawadanjyûrô 市川團十郎 in order to commemorate the 27th year after the death of his father Danjyûrô the 1st. However, in Chichinoon you can see the hand-painting details were added to create Hansaishoku 版彩色 effect, therefore it was not a completely colour printed book. After this multi-coloured printed Azumanishikie 東錦絵 became popular around 1765. The colour printing technologies became so sophisticated that woodblock printed books with multicoloured illustrations were widely available. In our exhibition we have five multi-coloured woodprinted books. There are Nissei Issuian Mon‐ Shikihokku Surimonojô 二世一炊庵門四季発句摺物帖 (1772-1780),Uminosachi 海の幸(1762) and Tatsunomiyatsuko 龍の宮津子(1802). They are all Haikaisho 俳諧書,and Ehonmushierami 画本虫撰 (1778),this is a Kyôkasho 狂歌書. These books share the same characteristics that they were created to amuse the friends in the same hobby. These books were distributed among friends with the expense paid by Tôkusha 投句者(Haiku poets) themselves, they were very much the books of leisure. However, another multi-colored woodblock printed book Suizokushashin 水族写真(1857) was a product of natural history study(Honzôgaku 本草学). In fact the cost of producing Taibu 鯛部(sea bream section) was so much that ,it was said, the publisher went bankrupt. Its minute multi- colouring and scattering silver powders on fish scales are very impressive. Although this was not a multi-coloured woodblock printing book, Sekkazusetsu 雪華図説(1831) is also worth a mention. This book came out of research into snowflake crystallization. It started out as a hobby of Doi Toshitura 土井利位(Daimyo 大名 of Shimofusa Kokawa 下総古河). The book is printed on the expensive thin quality paper and it was also very expensive in the sense that they were not for sale to the public. So you cannot help feeling the extraordinary enthusiasm of Doi Toshitura.In contrast to these specialists books there were books for public entertainment that used colour printing only in the selected places such as front cover and end paper. This was mainly to save on costs. For example, in our exhibition Ukiyoburo(1809) used colour printing on its front cover as the vivid reminder of the entrance to public bath. As for Kibyôshi 黄表紙 Edoumareuwakinokabayaki 江戸生 艶気樺焼(1785) its front cover is very eye-catching. Incidentally there was a general rule that Kibyôshi and 滑稽本 should be in the medium-sized format(Cyûhon 中本[17～19 ㎝×12 ～14 ㎝]).Kibyôshi had to be 1 volume /5 sheets(10 pages) format and maximum size was 3 volumes per book. Yomihon 読本 Ugetsumonogatari 雨月物語 is the half-sized format( Hanshibon 半紙本[21 ～23 ㎝×15～16 ㎝])． Now let’s talk about the letters in the texts. You will see either Kanji 漢字-Katakana カタカナ or Kanji 漢字-Hirakana ひらかな combinations in a text. Usually Kanji-Katakana - text has more

6 intellectual content, such as history writing..Even history books for common people were written in Kanji-katakana rather than Kanji-Hirakana. It is one of the great characteristics of Japanese books that the contents of a book were very much linked to the format of the book and its choices of letters.

(6)Conclusion

All these things I have been discussing so far are all encapsulated in the bibliographical research sheet of Japan the National Institute of Japanese Literature 国文学研究資料館. Now I have discussed a short history of Japanese antiquarian books but I hardly mentioned its attractive qualities. If there is admiration, you feel something about the book in front of you. They are joy to look at. You can appreciate its intricate binding format and colour printing, but if you add the knowledge of its history you can truly appreciate its artistic qualities. Thank you very much for listening. 【Translater 小鹿原 敏夫(Ogahara Toshio)】

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