Unit 4. Emaki and Ehon
IGURO Kahoko, National Institute of Japanese Literature

Summary
In this unit, you will explore the relationship between text and illustrations, in narratives, bycomparing the kotobagaki 詞書き (textual descriptions of illustrations) and e 絵 (the illustrationsthemselves) found in emaki 絵巻 (picture scrolls) and eiribon 絵入り本 (illustrated books).
Some narratives specified how the text and illustrations should be arranged in each transcription,
resulting in a standardised format for that narrative. In other cases, scribes were given greater
leeway in interpreting how they reproduced the text and illustrations.
Focusing on examples from the latter category, you will see how a given narrative could havemultiple versions in terms of text and illustration and how these disparate interpretational
approaches widened the possibilities for meaning making, giving rise to new narratives.

1. History of Emakimono
In what narratives did illustrations In Buddhist setsuwa 説話
first appear?

What were the Four Greatest Emaki Genji Monogatari Emaki 源氏物語絵巻
created?
Ban Dainagon Emaki 伴大納言絵詞
Shigisan Engi Emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻
Chōjū Giga 鳥獣戯画

How did Emperor Go-Shirakawa
favour emaki?

Sanjūsangen-dō, Kyoto

Who were famous emakimono fans? Prince Gosukō (Kanmon Nikki 看聞日記)
Sanetaka Sanjōnishi (Sanetaka Kōki 実隆公記)

What were emaki used for?

Illustrated histories of Buddhist temples and Shinto
shrines (jisha engi emaki 寺社縁起絵巻)
Pictorial representations of Buddhist principles (e-toki絵解き)
Pictorial Buddhist tracts used for missionary work

Otogi-zōshi 御伽草子: The otogi-zōshi are a group of short narratives written in the lateMuromachi and early Edo periods. Many of these narratives were illustrated by a shogunal
painter-in-service (goyō-eshi 御用絵師), while others were done by painters (machi-eshi 町絵師) or amateur painters.
Koe 小絵: Koe are small emaki that started appearing in the late Muromachi period. The verticallength is half of that of an ordinary emaki. Koe were produced for the children of nobility orprominent samurai households.
Nara ehon 奈良絵本: Produced during the late Muromachi and early Edo periods, Nara ehon
were manuscripts that included coloured illustrations. This category includes emaki.
Tanrokubon 丹緑本: Tanrokubon were illustrated books printed in black ink and hand paintedin colour. The books were printed with black ink in the Edo period. Tanrokubon were produced
exclusively in Kamigata (Osaka).
Shibukawaban 渋川版: Shibukawaban refers to a series of books published by the Osakapublisher Shibukawa Seiemon during the reign of Kyōhō (1716–1736). The series was titledshūgen otogi bunko 祝言御伽文庫. The otogi-zōshi category derives its name from theshibukawaban.
SourcesMiya Tsugio 宮次男 (ed.). Kadokawa emakimono sōran 角川絵巻物総覧. Kadokawa Shoten, 1995.
Wakasugi Junji 若杉準治 (ed.). Emakimono no kanshō kiso chishiki 絵巻物の鑑賞基礎知識. Shibundō,1995.

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Tokuda Kazuo 徳田和夫. Otogi-zōshi kenkyū お伽草子研究. Miyai Shoten, 1988.
Tokuda Kazuo. Egatari to monogatari: Imeiji rīdingu sōsho 徳田和夫『絵語りと物語り イメージ・リーディング叢書. Heibonsha, 1990.
Ishikawa Tōru 石川透. Nara ehon emaki no seisei 奈良絵本・絵巻の生成. Miyai Shoten, 2003.

2. Specifications for Illustrations: The Genji-e
How the Genji Monogatari was received
It is disgraceful to compose poetry without knowing about the Genji
源氏見ざる歌詠みは遺恨の事なり- Fujiwara no Shunzei’s comment during his judgment of the 600-round poetry contest.
Its influence spread beyond waka poetry to renga and haikai. During the Edo period, poets,
primarily from the Teimon school, produced annotative commentaries, prose, as well as digests
known as kōgaisho 梗概書 (e.g. Yamamoto Shunshō’s Eiri Genji Monogatari, Ryūho
Nonoguchi’s Jūjō Genji).
Genji-e 源氏絵
The Genji-e are illustrated versions of the Genji Monogatari 源氏物語 (a Heian-period ōchōmonogatari 王朝物語). Narrowly defined, this term refers to the multicoloured woodblock prints(nishiki-e 錦絵) of the Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji 偐紫田舎源氏, a late-Edo period parody of
the Genji Monogatari by Ryūtei Tanehiko.
Few pre-Kamakura Genji-e remain extant. Those from the Muromachi period sometimes comewith a set of instructions on how to select scenes and draw the selected scenes.
Consequently, the illustrations became formularised.

The Genji Monogatari Gajō (Senshu University edition)
The Genji Monogatari Gajō is an illustrated version of the Genji Monogatari. It has three parts.
Each part has 20 pairs of a kotobagaki and illustration, representing scenes from the narrative.
On each page, the right side contains excerpted prose or waka verse, while the left side contains
an illustration corresponding to the excerpt. On the upper-right section is a strip of paper bearing

the title of the picture, the author name, and the title of the kotobagaki. Many of the illustrations
were copied from illustrations in Nonoguch Ryūho’s Jūjō Genji. The kotobagaki texts werejointly written by ten prominent poets. The illustrator is unknown but was probably a machi-eshi.

Jūjō GenjiThe Jūjō Genji is a kōgaisho digest of the Genji Monogatari by the poet Nonoguchi Ryūho. Thiswork proved popular and inspired the Osana Genji おさな源氏 (Kamigata print). The OsanaGenji was subsequently reprinted in Edo as the Shōkai print. The illustrator of the Shōkai print
was Hishikawa Moronobu. The illustrations were adapted in the 1675 Tsuruya edition of theGenji Kokagami.
Illustrations taken from a scene, differing from that in the Jūjō Genji:
The Oak Tree (kashiwa), Prince Niou (Niou-no-miya), the Trefoil Knots (agemaki), the Ivy(yadogiri)
Illustrations whose interpretations differ from that in the Jūjō Genji:
The First Warbler (hatsune), Evening Mist (yūgiri), Bamboo River (takekawa)
Illustrations taken from a source other than the Jūjō Genji:
Firefly (hotaru)
Illustrations whose source is unknown:
Early Spring Greens (wakana) Part 2Sources

Akiyama Terukazu 秋山光和. Ōchō kaiga no tanjō: “Genji Monogatari Emaki” o megutte 王朝絵画の誕
生 「源氏物語絵巻」をめぐって. Chuōkōronsha, 1968.
Akiyama Ken 秋山虔, Taguchi Eiichi 田口榮一 (eds.). Gōka Genji-e no sekai: Genji Monogatari 豪華源
氏絵の世界 源氏物語. Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1988.
Katagiri Yayoi 片桐弥生. “Bijutsushi ni okeru Genji Monogatari: Genji-e no bamen sentaku to zuyō nomondai o chūshin ni” 美術史における源氏物語―源氏絵の場面選択と図様の問題を中心に―. In
Genji Monogatari kenkyū shūsei, dai jūyon maki: Genji Monogatari kyōjushi 源氏物語研究集成 第十四巻 源氏物語享受史, ed. Masuda Shigeo. Kazama Shobō, 2000.
Yoshida Kōichi 吉田幸一. Eiirihon Genji Monogatari kō: Nihon shoshigaku taikei gojūsan 絵入本源氏物語考 日本書誌学大系 五十三. Seishōdō Shoten, 1987.
Shimizu Fukuko 清水婦久子. Genji Monogatari Hanpon 源氏物語版本の研究. Izumi Shoten, 2003.

3. Increasing Narrative Variation: TheKowata Kitsune
The Kowata Kitsune: Synopsis
Kishiyu is a vixen who dwells in Kowata, a locality in the province of Yamashiro. One day,
Kishiyu spies Lieutenant-General Sanmi. Assuming the guise of a beautiful human woman,
Kishiyu becomes romantically involved with him. The couple begets a child. On the child’s third
birthday, the child is given a dog as a present. Terrified of the dog, Kishiyu flees Sanmi’s
residence and builds a hermitage in Sagano plain. There, she devotes herself to Buddhist ascetic
practices.

The Kowata Kitsune: Transmission
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Handwritten edition (scroll), held by the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale ‘Guiseppe
Tucci’
Two copies of a handwritten edition, both held by Masao Okami
Eight fragmentary emaki sheets, held by the Kumon Museum of Children’s Ukiyo-e
Two copies of a handwritten edition, both held by the Jissen Women’s University Library
Two copies of a handwritten edition, both held by Gensei Tokue
One copy of a handwritten book, held by the National Archives of Japan (work of BokkaiSanpitsu, vol. 46)
Two copies of a printed edition, part of the Shibukawa otogi bunko series

Only the Tokue edition contains an episode in which Kishiyu desires to view blooming wisteria
in Kowata. For the scene where Kishiyu transforms into a beautiful human woman, theillustration depicts wisteria instead of algae. This is a later interpolation; it precludes theinterpretation that the vixen transformed herself by placing algae upon her head.
Gachū kotoba 画中詞
Gachū kotoba is text that appears in emaki and ehon. The text may describe what is happening in
the picture, state the names of the depicted characters, or convey other information.
SourcesTokue Gensei 徳江元正. “Shibukawa-ban izen: ‘Kowata Kitsune’ no baai, 1 渋川版以前―「木幡狐」の場合―. Bungaku 文学 12 (1976).
Tokue Gensei. “Otogi-zōshi ‘Kowata Kitsune’ geinōshiteki kōsatsu” 御伽草子『木幡狐』藝能史的考察.
In Muromachi geinōshi ronkō. Miyai Shoten, 1984.

2020/9/20