| Popis: |
When the four volumes of the Book of the Way of Incense (Kōdōsho) in the collection of the Mito City Museum were shown to the public for the first time in 1992, Akiyama Takashi contributed the introductory essay for the occasion. In this essay, Akiyama expressed doubts on the theory endorsed so far by Nishiyama Matsunosuke in his Iemoto seido no kenkyū（Research on the iemoto system）published in 1982 by Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, although he fell short of producing evidence against it. Nishiyama had stated that inside the domain of Mito, approximately the same territory as today’s Ibaraki prefecture, in regard to new disciples for the Shino School of incense “not even one was to be found for the entire period [of the Mito feudal domain]. It is thus conceivable that the way of incense was not accepted by the milieu in the Mito domain that developed Mitogaku”.In our research, drafted by three authors, we thoroughly examined the four volumes of the Book of the Way of Incense, consisting of Mito-shi hakuzō Kōnoki-jo (Introduction to Ko-awase, an incense matching game- Mito City Museum), Mito-shi hakuzō Kotokumikō (The earlier ten kinds of kumikō - Mito City Museum), Mito-shi hakuzō Hachikumikō (The eight kinds of kumikō- Mito City Museum) and Kōdō meikan (Compendium of the Way of Incense). While taking into account the previous studies by Midorikawa Fumiko and others, we also considered the historical documents of the Mito domain, with the purpose of investigate the relations between the domain of Mito and the way of incense in the early modern era (1603-1867).On one hand, we proceeded to reprint and revise the four original volumes of the Mito City Museum, adding explanatory notes, a translation into modern Japanese and related essays. The book we are currently writing with these contents will be entitled Kinseishoki no Kō-bunka (The culture of the incense in the early modern period) and its publication is planned for March 2020. It intends to clarify the culture of the incense in Kyoto (cultural capital) and in Mito (province) in the early modern period, from the year 1603 to the year 1700.On the other hand, in the present paper titled The incense tradition in the Mito domain we have broadened the outlook to the whole early modern period and considered the above-mentioned theory by Nishiyama.Consequently, it came to light that the first daimyō (feudal lord) of the Mito domain Tokugawa Yorifusa was enthusiastic about the way of incense, wrote a book himself on the subject and presented it to the Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Furthermore, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the second daimyō of the Mito domain, presented the Emperor Go-sai with the book Fusō-shūyōshū, while both the fourth daimyō Munetaka and the eight daimyō Narinobu showed interest in the art of incense. The analysis of the documents also revealed that two vassals of Yorifusa, Okajima Matayuki and Iio Biku were practicing and researching the way of incense, proving that the tradition of incense continued until the latter part of the Edo period.However, regarding the way of incense in the Mito domain there are still aspects needing further investigation, which prevent us to reach a full clarification of the matter. Therefore, we are hereby releasing our findings in the form of research notes. |
