Nishikawa Sukenobu: One Hundred Women, Two Stories, and a Reconsideration

摘要

In 1911 the journalist and fierce enemy of censorship, Miyatake Gaikotsu宮武外骨 (1867–1955), rescued some old references about the publicationban, in 1723, of a purportedly erotic sequel to the book Hyakunin joro shinasadame, by the famous Kyoto artist Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671–1750).1 osereferences apparently turn this book into one of the first and rare examples ofdirect Edo period prohibition of sexually explicit material. Miyatake exploressome other important cases in his Hikka shi 筆禍史.2 Yet, despite the manyyears that have passed since 1911, until now this particular episode has beendismissed, probably because of issues with credibility regarding Miyatakehimself and the uncertainties about the existence of copies of the erotic bookin question.However, is Miyatake’s argument really so baseless? What are the sourcesthat Miyatake uses in his attempt to historicize the censorship of publicationsin Japan? Is it possible to find suitable candidates occupying the same positionas that “erotic book”? Can we discern reasons behind control of this typeof production, and, particularly, this specific book? What peculiarities couldthis material have had to provoke such a strong reaction on the part of bakufucensorship authorities? is article will examine those sources and will searchfor clues which offer insight into the case, taking advantage of the extant copiesof Sukenobu’s books now in various shunga collections. Our main interestis to ascertain the core causes of bakufu reaction against Sukenobu, his editorHachimonjiya, and his erotic book (shunpon 春本) production.