Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki (The Moon of Affinity: New Lyrics)

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Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki ["The Moon of Affinity: New Lyrics"]

[Illustrator and author unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Keiō 4 (1868)].

Kawaraban were woodblock-printed gossip and news sheets produced illicitly in the Edo period for the consumption of laypeople. Publishers who dared print kawaraban on political topics were at a particularly high risk of punishment (including the death sentence), so had to creatively conceal any political connotations within their publications in such a way as to avoid the notice of the Tokugawa authorities. With the fall of the Tokugawa in the 1860s and the resulting political mayhem, publishers became bolder and works like Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki slipped through the cracks. The main title, Yukari no Tsuki, is the name of a jiuta - a song typically composed and performed by blind musicians on shamisen. The subtitle, Shinmonku, notes that the verses printed on the kawaraban provide new lyrics. These parody lyrics are based on the Battle of Toba–Fushimi (27–31 January 1868). History of social thought expert Dr. Morita Kenji provides the following notes on this particular kawaraban:

"Many kawaraban on the Battle of Toba–Fushimi used songs, jōruri and kabuki to satirise the battle [...] By depicting all of the characters with strangely shaped heads based on things like clan leaders' family crests, the battle scene here has been turned into a caricature. The woman on the far left, with her body bent over, has a face made from a hollyhock of the 'Mitsuba Aoi' (three-leaf hollyhock) variety, representing the Tokugawa family (the former shogunate). The three people driving her away can be understood to be, from left to right, the Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa clans, as their faces similarly reflect their family crests. The rightmost character represents the Owari clan, as it is reminiscent of the Owari Daikon (Miyashige Daikon)."*

Another feature reminiscent of hanjimono and hanji-e "puzzle prints" is the kana-esque patterned kimono of the figure representing the Tokugawa family. The kappazuri-printed colours suggest the work was produced in Kamigata. A carefully timed and daringly produced piece of political satire.

One ōban nishiki-e, complete. Light browning. Traces of a central horizontal crease. Minor red pigment bleed to left margin. Mounted on thin card. 25.5 x 36 cm.

* K. Morita. 「かわら版」が伝える 江戸の大スクープ, THE PAGE, 2018. 

Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki (The Moon of Affinity: New Lyrics)
Price: $960.00 (USD)