Shiroto Jōjuri Shikata Mitate: Chūshingura Nanatsume Monku (Methods of Jōjuri Amateurs: Seven Phrases from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers)

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Shiroto Jōjuri Shikata Mitate: Chūshingura Nanatsume Monku ["Methods of Jōjuri Amateurs: Seven Phrases from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers"]

[Creator unidentified].

Teramachi, [Kyōto]: Kashiwaya Sōshichi, [ca. late Edo period (1830-40s)?].

A woodblock-printed sheet of words and phrases, often humorous, used by amateur players in jōjuri (puppet) theatre. The phrase recorded in the top of each panel is accompanied in the bottom half of the same panel with the situation in which it is said or the type of person who utters it. For example, one of the panels reads "御意得に参った 番附に下りたといやみいふ人" ("'I am troubled by opinions' - someone who complains about their place dropping in a banzuke ranking"). Another reads "'Thank you kindly in advance' - someone who wants a higher place in the mitate banzuke ranking and so bribes the publisher". The meaning behind the references to the Chūshingura and the word "seventh"/"seven" in the title are unclear, and it may be that the subtitle should be translated as "Phrases from the Seventh Act of The Treasury of Loyal Retainers". More research is evidently required to decipher the nuances of the title and text. The print comes with a partial English translation on a separate sheet. A valuable record of terms and phrases (and possibly slang) of Edo period jōjuri actors. 

One leaf woodblock-printed on one side, complete, accompanied by one leaf handwritten on one side. Wear, small losses, chips, soiling, and burn hole to printed leaf. Sticker residue to lower right corner of same sheet. Central fold to handwritten sheet. Handwritten sheet measures approximately 29.7 x 41.8 cm; printed sheet measures approximately 33.8 x 47.4 cm.

Shiroto Jōjuri Shikata Mitate: Chūshingura Nanatsume Monku (Methods of Jōjuri Amateurs: Seven Phrases from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers)
Price: $400.00 (USD)