is a Japanese novel written by

Shikitei Sanba , better known by his pen name , was a Japanese comic writer of the Edo period. Major works *''Ukiyoburo'' *''Ukiyodoko'' References

1776 births 1822 deaths Japanese writers of the Edo period {{Japan-writer-stub ...

between 1809 and 1813. It belongs to the

kokkeibon The was a genre and type of early modern Japanese novel. It came into being late in the Edo period during the 19th century. As a genre, it depicted the comical behavior occurring in commoners' daily lives. The ''kokkeibon'' genre is the successo ...

genre, of which it is one of the masterpieces.

''Ukiyoburo'' (Ukiyo Bath) depicts the humor of daily life and culture through the conversations of customers at the

public bath Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

. It contains illustrations from Utagawa Kuninao and

Kitao Shigemasa was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist from Edo. He was one of the leading printmakers of his day, but his works have been slightly obscure. He is noted for images of beautiful women ('' bijinga''). He was taught by Shigenaga and has been referred to a ...

(credited as Kitagawa Yoshimaru). Shikitei notes that his inspiration to base the story at a public bath was due to Santō Kyōden's (1802) and a

rakugo is a form of ''yose'', which is itself a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on a raised platform, a . Using only a and a as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long ...

performance by Sanshōtei Karaku. The text is composed of four parts contained within nine volumes: *Part 1: "Men's Bath", published in 1809 *Part 2: "Women's Bath", published in 1810 *Part 3: "Omissions from the Women's Bath", published in 1812 *Part 4: "Men's Bath Continued", published in 1813 There were advertisements for parts 5, 6, and 7, but they were never written.

Linguistics

Shikitei was particularly careful in noting a number of linguistic characteristics. In part two, a woman speaking the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

and a woman speaking the

Tokyo dialect The Tokyo dialect () is a variety of Japanese language spoken in modern Tokyo. As a whole, it is generally considered to be Standard Japanese, though specific aspects of slang or pronunciation can vary by area and social class. Overview Tr ...

talk. The Kansai woman notes that Tōkyō speakers de- labialize to . In addition, Tōkyō speakers have a tendency to confuse and . In addition, Shikitei creates an orthography which he calls "white voicing" to distinguish medial from . He also uses the

Handakuten The , colloquially , is a diacritic most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced, for instance, on sounds that have undergone rendaku (sequential voicing). The , co ...

mark with the s-character to express sa, tse, tsoNakata (1972: 243)

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Scans
of manuscript,

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

Library Kokkeibon Edo-period works {{japan-lit-stub

Contents

Linguistics

Notes

References

External links