Mōri Narimoto's Kyōka Activities
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print was replaced by Utagawa School. However, the most indicate the playful phrase “gijutsu” together with his own notable there is that the style of Shunshō was succeeded casual poem and the cherry-blossom-and-butterfl y crest. not only within Katsukawa School but also across atelier, by and within Utagawa School. As far as the author This personage of the piquant name in association acknowledges, Shunshō began making works of sumō with the Magao circle, had long been an unknown fi gure print in Tenmei 1, and at this point he applied the similar in surimono-related studies. Th e veiled identity is actually visual expressions as those seen in actor and warrior Lord XI of Chōshu Clan, Mōri Narimoto. He had prints. However, within only two years, by Tenmei 3, the produced surimono during his rein, from Bunsei 7 and style of sumō print with the distinctive facial and physical until he died at the age forty-three in Tenpō 7. features came into being recognized. On the one hand, after Shunshō, the figure illustration in sumō print often His enthusiasm for kyōka and poetry had most likely remained in the stylised format, and especially for the been under the infl uences of the previous Lord Narihiro, body features, the heavily built imagery became typical and his relative Mōri Motoyoshi of another clan who regardless of the artist’s discriminability of each wrestler. belonged to the Magao circle. As a kyōka poet, Narimoto composed a congratulatory piece for the occasion of the As it is apparent with actor print and bijin-ga, the Uma no homare reception by Tachikawa Enba II, and also figure illustration in ukiyo-e is generally often seen as supervised the compilation of Haikaika karinshu. From his idealized rather than portrayal of each unique individual. other kyōka pieces, for instance as inscribed in the scrolls It implies what the viewers saw and refl ected through the currently in the collection of Mohri Museum, or from subject of illustration, and also what characteristics they episodes noted by Yashima Teiko, derive the personality of valued and pursued in the visual. To consider from this this Lord, who enjoyed kyōka even in his communication point of view the idealization process of the wrestlers’ with the vassals. However, those names indicated image, we are able to see that the first priority of sumō in his surimono with the same cherry-blossom-and- print was to visually express the grandness of the wrestlers’ butterfl y crest, do not appear in the compilation which he body, and therefore, for facial features, more realistic supervised. Th is suggests a possibility of diff erent circles in portrayal elements were employed only at first, and the his affi liation. emphasis later shifted to the more exaggerated illustration of heavily built body. Narimono had more than one name for making his surimono, and this becomes apparent through letters by This paper is to consider such characteristics of Santō Kyōzan, who shared a common-law with Narimoto the figure illustration in sumō print, which date to the himself. Records of his sankin kotai on duty in Edo, period of the visual stylization, by closely looking at the together with articles of Kyōzan verify that Narimoto manners of both the facial and physical expressions, and to produced his surimono in both Edo and Hagi. reexamine the value as well as distinguishing elements of sumō print within ukiyo-e. Narimoto-kō on-gisaku-shu, which is in the preservation of Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives, is a document about Hananari’s surimono, written by a Mōri family of the Taisho era, who seems to have taken part in writing Mōri’s genealogical history. The Preface reveals that Hananari’s surimono had already been lost from the hand of the Mōri family then. Th is paper introduces the Study of Ryuo-tei Edo no Hananari entire document and also examines characteristics of his and his surimono: surimono. Mōri Narimoto’s Kyōka Activities Lastly, a list of Hananari’s surimono, which Tsuda Mayumi materialised with the generous help of great many individuals, is attached in this paper. Th e list may still be Edo no Hananari, the prolific maker of surimono of incomplete, however with the hope that it will contribute bijin and actors by Kunisada, Kuniyoshi, and Eisen during to further studies on this subject from diff erent approaches the period from the Bunsei to Tenpō eras. As it has already in History, Literature, or History of Art, the author has been reported, works of his surimono often distinctly determined to make it public at this time. 92 Abstracts in English time during the end of the Edo period. Th e Craze for Chiyoda-Inari Shrine Moreover, the two facts, firstly that the prints were as depicted in Nishiki-e Print published immediately after the craze for Chiyoda Inari started, and secondly that the motifs were stylised in such Yamamoto Noriko a short time, indicate the degree of an incredible fl ourish of the Shrine. This trend, however, was short-lived, and During the summer 1863 (Bunkyu 3), in the end nishiki-e of Chiyoda Inari soon deceased likewise. It of the Edo period, Chiyoda-Inari Shrine in Shibuya of suggests that the role of nishiki-e in the end of the Edo Edo, saw a craze of visitors to itself. Simultaneously, period served more with the quality of news, and that numerous nishiki-e that took subject from the same Shrine the artists were keenly aware of the contemporaneous were published. This essay investigates into some of the ongoings, whilst it also refl ects the transiency of extreme characteristics of those nishiki-e of Chiyoda-Inari Shrine, trends of the day. and also of the background factors as to further examine how the craze for the Shrine transpired. Prior to this craze of visiting Chiyoda-Inari, there had been two oracular messages delivered by the Shrine-once concerning a mysterious fire at the inner palace (Ō-oku) of the Edo Castle, and once another fire at the palace Some Characteristics of the Depiction Nishi-no-maru. Th ere was also a mystic incident in which of the Body in the Tenmei-Era Sumō Print Shogun was kept safe in Kyoto at the time. The history of Chiyoda-Inari, having previously been located in the Okubo Noriko land of Edo Castle, added to the alleged reliability of its oracular messages. Th e golden period of ukiyo-e, generally said to be the Tenmei and Kansei eras (1781-1801), was also the prime Triggered by such spiritual incidents, the previously time for the professional sumō. This period, when many obscure Shrine became the target to visit for the masses luminary wrestlers appeared, is also intriguing especially and in consequence made great profi ts inside and around for studying the formation as well as later developments in the neighbour. This is witnessed by Buko nenpyo and of sumō print within the nishiki-e oeuvre. The portrayals Fujiokaya nikki. Following the craze, various nishiki-e of wrestlers were delicately detailed and contributed to with images of the Shrine were published. Although these improve the quality of the fi gure illustration in ukiyo-e as prints were published in a limited length of time, from a whole. On the other hand, remaining examples of sumō June to July of Bunkyu 3, the contents were truly diverse. print are rare, and thus, there have been less studies, unlike the cases with actor print and bijin-ga. This paper aims Nishiki-e of Chiyoda Inari can be categorized largely to analyze the formation process of the visual expression into the following four types: and stylization of the sumō print particularly of the 1. Visitors and the precincts, which recently became a Tenmei era, and to bring to light some of the outstanding landmark by endowment characteristics unique to the development of sumō print, 2. Guardian of Shogun in association with his homage through a close observation of the career of Katsukawa to Edo Shunshō, who ultimately established the basis of sumō 3. Guardian spirit of Edo, worshipped by common print. people 4. Illusionistic landscape with fantastic elements such During and after the Meiwa era (1764-1772), as a humanized fox portraits of individual kabuki actors were employed in actor print, and those had impact on works of sumō print Some of them even portray Shogun and his warship, simultaneously. Katsukawa Shunshō was the fi rst ukiyo-e which, although well wangled pictorially to avoid the artist to continually produce images of individual wrestlers, censor, would most likely have been banned if prior to and his leading Katsukawa School oligopolistically this time. Through these prints, we inevitably notice the produced works of sumō print until the Bunka era (1804 decline of the canonical authority of the Edo bakuhu of the - 1818). From the Bunsei era onwards, the lead of sumō 93 .