In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

282 HEROES, ROGUES, AND FOOLS After Shino had finished with this earnest exposition, Kobungo and Genpachi approached the bull from its rear, and smartly slapped its buttocks . At this, the demon bull started in surprise, staring with silent hatred at Obanai and Funamushi. Then, without hesitation, it charged and drove its long, sharp horns into this one and that, piercing their breasts from armpit to shoulder. As they were being gored by the raging bull, it was for Funamushi and Obanai as if they were experiencing the tortures of hell. Their eyes grew red with blood, and their faces turned red, then bluish white. The waves of pain ripping through their guts produced screams like those of the damned souls condemned for all eternity to the tortures of hell. Countless times they were pierced by the bull’s horns, and when there was finally no more breath left in their bodies, even the six brave dog warriors could do nothing but avert their eyes from the spectacle before them and then look at each other, stunned into silence by the horrors they had just witnessed. translated by Valerie L. Durham  & &  A Flower Almanac RYŪTEI RIJŌ Illustrated Chiefly by Keisai Eisen, Utagawa Kuninao, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi Z EightFootlooseFools:AFlowerAlmanac(Hanagoyomi:Hasshōjin, fivebooksincludingfifteenvolumes)waswrittenbyRyūteiRijō (?–1841) and first published in 1820, to be followed by additional books by other writers until 1848. The author’s life remains obscure. Born in Edo as Ikeda Hachiemon, Rijō was known as a craftsman who carved ornate designs in turtle shells, mother-of-pearl, and silver. Contemporary accounts also say that he was accomplished in a number of traditional arts, including playing the shamisen and acting as an entertainer (taikomochi) in the Edo brothels and teahouses. The character Sajirō, a fast-talking man-about-town who plays the shamisen, is not unlike Rijō himself. Rijō was closely associated with the star author Tamenaga Shunsui (1790–1843) and his studio of writers and illustrators; so closely, in fact, that he coauthored the first section of Shunsui’s first “sentimental books” (ninjōbon), The Dream-Come-True after the Crows at Dawn (Akegarasu Nochi no Masayume, 1819). EightFootlooseFoolsisanexampleof“funnybooks”(kokkeibon),agenre HEROES, ROGUES, AND FOOLS 283 that featured witty dialogue, humorous scenarios, and contemporary style. The following translation presents the preface and a selection from book II, volume two. During the course of the entire narrative, the action takes place in eight famous locations in Edo and spans four different seasons. In the following excerpt, Rijō presents a number of comic situations in which profligate commoners find their schemes and pranks exposed at their own expense, while at the same time ridiculing their social superiors. The comic novel features a cast of eight motley characters. Sajirō, the leader of the pranksters, has left his profitable family business to his younger brother, an ideal situation for any Edo playboy. He himself runs a small houseofentertainmentbytheShinobazuPondinUeno.Hislive-insidekick, Genshichi, neglects his household duties even as he depends on Sajirō’s largesse in order to pursue a life of leisure. Abatarō (Pocky) is another buffoon, with dark skin full of unsightly pockmarks. The others include Soppachi (Bucktoothed) and Noromatsu, whose name refers to his lazy slowness. Each of the eight has his own individual gags. Noromatsu is good at improvising skits appropriating stories and lines from nō and kabuki. Donshichi is the biggest drinker of the eight, with a face that resembles a tanuki, the Japanese raccoon dog famous for its love of drink. Zuburoku, another lover of saké, is described in the most unflattering terms: he has lazy eyes, yellowed teeth, and a flat and dripping nose. Many of the jokes rely on puns. In the preface, every single one of the famous place names of Edo is employed as a double or triple entendre. For example, “Higurashi no sato” was a popular nickname for “Nippori,” deliberately reading the three characters for the latter in the classical Japanese fashion . “Higurashi” means “day and night,” at the same time suggesting “higure” (twilight). Most of the puns are phonetic, as when Zuburoku conveys to the deaf old man that he is going flower viewing (“hanami”) by pointing at his teeth (“ha”) and then at a large wave (“nami”) inscribed on a coin. Rijō is, like many gesaku writers, careful not to ridicule the Tokugawa shogunate in any direct way. The antics of his comic figures do, however, make fun of certain elite groups and institutions within contemporary Edo society. Zuburoku, in...

Share