Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868

Chapter 4. Edo Publishing and Ukiyo-e

64 C H A P T E R 4 EDO PUBLISHING AND UKIYO-E The great majority of woodcuts known as ukiyo-e were produced and marketed in the city of Edo. These prints were bought for the purchaser ’s own enjoyment or to be taken back to the provinces as souvenirs for friends and family. Mass production of ukiyo-e first took place in Edo during the Kyòhò period (1716–1736). Morishima Chûryò (1757–1809) noted that the golden age of the beautiful polychrome ukiyo-e known as azuma nishiki-e (eastern brocade pictures) or Edo-e (Edo pictures) lasted until the final decade of the eighteenth century.1 Ukiyo-e emerged from a social milieu that centered on publishers and groups of cultured individuals who lived in the shitamachi area, particularly around Nihonbashi. From the mid-eighteenth century, a time when Edo was becoming the cultural center of Japan, this area functioned as the hub of cultural activity not just of Edo but of all Japan. Edo Publishers By the Genroku period (1688–1704) the most important features of the Edo metropolis were firmly set in place. Sources such as the Edo meisho-ki (Records of Famous Sites in Edo, 1662), the Edo suzume (The Sparrows of Edo, 1677), and the Murasaki no hitomoto (A Purple Thread, 1683) provide precise descriptions of the city during the late seventeenth century. These guides to famous spots in Edo placed a heavy emphasis on the shogun’s castle before moving on to portray the Nihonbashi area. As time went on, such guides became increasingly detailed. Excerpts from registries of military households (bukan) are usually presented, but the center of attention invariably shifts to the chònin, whose activities are recorded meticulously. A few years after the appearance of these three works, two Edo: The City and Its Culture 65 important books entitled Edo ka no ko (A Dappled Cloth of Edo, 1687) and Kokka man’yòki (Records of Japanese Efflorescence, 1693) were published. These two volumes were an entirely new type of book, documenting with extraordinary accuracy chònin society and the details of each block in the city. From the Edo ka no ko and Kokka man’yòki one learns that block cutters (hangiya) of the day were concentrated around Nihonbashi-minami, Sakai-chò, and Tòriabura-chò. Picture-book shops could be found at Muramatsuch ò, where the artists Hishikawa Moronobu, Hishikawa Kichizaemon , and Hishikawa Sakunojò were active. Prose volumes were sold at some twenty shops in Nihonbashi-minami, Tòrinorimonoch ò, Tòrishirogane-chò, Koku-chò, Moto-ryògae-chò, Shiba Shinmei -mae, Kyòbashi, and Kanda Kaji-chò. Fashionable books of jòruri narratives were sold on the third block of Òdenma-chò by Yamamoto Kyûzaemon and Urokogataya Sanzaemon, at Hasegawach ò Yoko-chò by Matsue Sanshirò, at Tòriabura-chò by Tsuruya Kiemon and Yamagataya Ichiròemon. At the start of the Edo period, the Edo publishing world was monopolized by branch shops of Kyoto book dealers. Gradually, however, Edo chònin began to publish their own popular books and prints. Publications included jòruri books, erotic “pillow books” (makura-ehon), and the ukiyo-e of Hishikawa Moronobu, Torii Kiyomasu (active 1700–1720), and Torii Kiyomitsu (1735–1785). Nihonbashi. From Edo meisho zue. 66 Edo Publishing and Ukiyo-e Eventually, large wholesalers of illustrated storybooks appeared. Nevertheless , until the middle of the eighteenth century bookshops linked to Kyoto and Osaka were still a formidable force. Thereafter, however, Edo publishers gained enough strength to compete with their Kamigata rivals. The opening salvo in the move for independence was launched by Maekawa Rokuzaemon, who ran a shop named Sûbundò on the third block of Nihonbashi-minami. In the middle of the eighteenth century Maekawa refused to acknowledge Kamigata book dealers’ traditional copyrights and began to reprint their books. The Suwaraya, which from this time on was the outstanding Edo publishing house, was also powerful enough to contend with its Kamigata counterparts. Other Edo publishing houses expanded rapidly as well; by the latter half of the eighteenth century, Edo branches of Kyoto bookshops were in a steep decline.2 By this time, the Edo publishing industry was issuing many bestsellers and amassing great fortunes. These successes mobilized a large number of cultured individuals. A good example is provided by the Suwaraya, which comprised a chain of bookstores located at Nihonbashi Tòri-itchòme...