Edo Meisho Zue

Edo Meisho Zue

is an illustrated guide describing famous places and depicting their scenery in pre-1868 Tokyo, then known as Edo. It was printed using Japanese woodblock printing techniques in 20 books divided among seven volumes. Initially published in 1834 (volumes 1–3, 10 books) and republished in 1836 (volumes 4–7, all 20 books) with slight revisions—i.e., all during the late Edo period (1603–1867), it became an immediate hit and prompted a “boom” in the publication of further "meisho zue" (“famous site guides”).

History

"Edo Meisho Zue" took form over a span of more than 40 years. It was conceived by Saitō Yukio Nagaaki (1737–1799) who, influenced by the proliferation of famous site guides about places in Japan’s Kansai region, decided Edo needed one, too. He is thought to have begun work around 1791 and is known to have gotten permission to publish and written a foreword, but he died before he could finish. From this point forward, Yukio’s son-in-law Saitō Yukitaka Agatamaro (1772–1818) began work, undertooking new research to add new sites and re-researching other information; but he, too, died suddenly shortly before he could complete his task. Yukitaka’s son, Saitō Yukinari Gesshin (1804–1878), was only 15 at the time, so he was not able to take up immediately where his father had left off; nonetheless, Yukinari was determined to complete his father’s and grandfather’s labor of love. When he finally managed to bring all the research, writing, editing, and correcting to fruition in 1834, he brought the public an innovative and highly detailed human geography that even today serves as a valuable resource for academic and hobby historians of late–Edo-period Tokyo.

"Edo Meisho Zue" was illustrated by Hasegawa Settan (1778–1843). His illustrations are credited with contributing as much to the work’s fame and long popularity (people still refer to it today for walking tours of historical sites) as the prose.

Content

"Edo Meisho Zue" starts by explaining the history of Musashi Province, the settlement of Edo, and the founding of the Edo Castle, then it moves on to describe the city and its surroundings block by block, town by town, in a manner reminiscent of a walk-through of each area with stops at famous sites. The descriptions often include information about the origins of the place or site’s name and its history, as well as quotations from well-known works of literature (such as Matsuo Bashō’s haiku) that mention it.

In overall scope, "Edo Meisho Zue" goes beyond the confines of the Edo proper and includes descriptions and illustrations of surrounding areas as well, venturing as far away as today’s Hino to the west, Funabashi to the east, Ōmiya to the north, and Yokohama to the south.

External links

* [http://homepage3.nifty.com/onihei-zue/mokuji.htm A walk-through of scenes in "Edo Meisho Zue" with scans of the original work, accompanied by photos of the same places today] ja icon
*Scans of various manuscripts at the Waseda University Library: [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ru04/ru04_00409/ 1] , [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ru04/ru04_03218/ 2] , [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ru04/ru04_03605/ 3] , [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ru04/ru04_05105/ 4]

ources

*The Japanese Wikipedia article on "Edo Meisho Zue" ja icon
*Ichiko, Natsuo and Suzuki, Ken’ichi, eds. "Shintei Edo Meisho Zue" ("Edo Meisho Zue", revised edition), volumes 1–6. Chikuma Gakugei Bunko pocket book series, Chikuma Shobō, 1996–1997. ISBN 4-480-08311-1–4-480-08316-2 ja icon
*Ichiko, Natsuo and Suzuki, Ken’ichi, eds. "Edo Meisho Zue Jiten" ("Edo Meisho Zue" dictionary). Chikuma Gakugei Bunko pocket book series, Chikuma Shobō, 1997. ISBN 4-480-08338-3 ja icon


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Edo Meisho Zue — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Edo Meisho Zue (江戸名所図会 “Guía al famoso emplazamiento Edo”) es una guía ilustrada que describe y representa el paisaje del Tokio de los años anteriores a 1868, entonces conocido con el nombre de Edo. Esta guía fue… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Japanese literature — spans a period of almost two millennia. Early works were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. But Japanese literature developed into a separate style in its own right as… …   Wikipedia

  • Hasegawa Settan — (長谷川雪旦, ? 1843) was a painter who lived during in the late Edo period, born in Edo. His first name was Munehide (宗秀), and his pseudonym Gengakusai Ichiyōsai (巌岳斎 一陽庵). He was commonly called Gotō Uzaemon (後藤右衛門). His was originally a wood… …   Wikipedia

  • Les Cinquante-trois Stations du Tōkaidō — Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō ( …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 Stations du Tōkaidō — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 relais du Tokaido — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 relais du Tōkaidō — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 stations du Tokaido — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 stations du Tōkaidō — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 53 stations du Tōkaidō (Hiroshige) — Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō Portrait de Hiroshige, le crâne rasé, à cinquante ans passés[N 1], par Kunisada. Les Cinquante trois Stations du Tōkaidō …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”