Kyokutei Bakin



Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) was a late Japanese Edo period gesaku author best known for works such as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki. Born as Takizawa Okikuni (滝沢興邦), he wrote under the pen name Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) which is a pun as the kanji may also be read as Kuruwa de Makoto meaning a man who is truly devoted to the courtesans of the pleasure districts. Later in life he took the first name of Toku (解). Modern scholarship generally refers to him as Takizawa Bakin, a combination of his surname and pen name, or just as Bakin.

Born in Edo (present day Tokyo) on 4 July 1767, Bakin was the fifth son of Omon and Okiyoshi, his father and a samurai in the service of one of the Shogun's retainers Matsudaira Nobunari. Two of his older brothers died in infancy while the other two, Rabun (1759–1798) and Keichū (1765–1786) played pivotal roles in Bakin's life. His younger sister Ohisa was born in 1771 and Okiku in 1774.

In his diaries, Bakin wrote that his father, a heavy drinker, was highly devoted to scholarship and the classics, diligent in his work as a samurai. He died when Bakin was only nine years old in 1775, having aggravated his gout through drinking. Bakin's family stipend was soon reduced by half and in December of the following year, Rabun gave up his devotion to the Matsudaira in favor of living as a rōnin. Bakin and his family were forced into a much smaller dwelling as a result.

Eventually Rabun received a new post and in 1778 Bakin's mother pretended to be sick in order to move in with him. Bakin had been placed in service of the Matsudaira lord's grandson, but was treated cruelly and ran away when only 14 in 1780. He left the following haiku as a note explaining his reasons for leaving:


 * こがらしに
 * 思い立ちけり
 * 神の旅


 * Chilled by winter winds
 * I have decided
 * To journey with the gods.

"The Eight Dog Chronicle" took 28 years to complete, and Bakin had grown blind and lost his wife and son in the meantime. The final parts of the novel were dictated to his daughter-in-law. Although he was born of lower samurai birth, Bakin renounced his status to become a writer. His works center on samurai themes, including loyalty and family honor, as well as Confucianism, bushido and Buddhist philosophy. Nansō Satomi Hakkenden has been adapted many times, but is best known in the West as the anime OVA The Hakkenden.

His Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (The Crescent Moon, 1811) was adapted for the Kabuki stage by Yukio Mishima.

A wonderful series of ukiyo-e containing 50 pictures depicting characters from Nanso Satomi Hakkenden and featuring leading kabuki actors was created by Utagawa Kunisada II. These prints were published in the early 1850s by Tsutaya Kichizo.

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