hanashibon　噺本

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Also written 咄本 or 話本. Lit. storybooks. Collections of humorous short stories and anecdotes popular during the Edo period. The stories were based on the everyday life of townspeople in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, and used a lot of wordplay. These books of stories are closely related to the oral tradition of humorous tales rakugo 落語. Hanashibon contained several short stories while *kokkeibon 滑稽本 (humorous book), contained only one story. Early hanashibon of the early 17c were Mino books, minobon 美濃本, approximately 200 x 280mm and made of folded Mino paper *minogami 美濃紙, or hanshi books hanshibon 半紙本, which were often produced from sheets of *hanshi 半紙 paper and were, on the average, 165 x 235mm. In the 1770's, they became smaller about the size of *chuuhon 中本 (half-size minobon) or *sharebon 洒落本 (half-size hanshibon). The oldest example is from the Genna 元和 era (1615-24) GIGEN YOUKISHUU 戯言養気集. This was followed by the KINOU WA KYOU NO MONOGATARI 昨日は今日の物語 (きのふはけふの物語), a Kan'ei 寛永 era (1624-44) book printed with movable wooden type, and the 1628 woodblock printed book, SEISUISHOU 醒睡笑 by Anrakuan Sakuden 安楽庵策伝 (1554-1642). Sakuden is known as the originator of the hanashibon. The golden age of hanashibon in Edo was thought to be the latter half of the 18c. Hanashibon were close to the kyouka 狂歌, senryuu 川柳 and *kibyoushi 黄表紙 of the period. The earliest example of the woodblock printed illustration is found in the 1671 SHIKATABANASHI 私可多咄 by the literati Nakagawa Kiun 中川喜雲 (1636-1705), with illustrations by Hishikawa Moromobu 菱川師宣 (?-1694). Numerous *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists illustrated these books, including the artists of the *Toriiha 鳥居派, Kitaoha 北尾派, as well as Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 (1753-1806). Late Edo period hanashibon were in kibyoushi style or *goukan 合巻 style even in terms of their illustrations. However, the hanashibon are thought to have become rather coarse in the early 19c, and finally disappeared in the last years of the Edo period.

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