Tsutaya Jūzaburō (; 13 February 1750 – 31 May 1797) was the founder and head of the Tsutaya publishing house in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and produced illustrated books and

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

woodblock prints of many of the period's most famous artists. Tsutaya's is the best-remembered name of all ukiyo-e publishers. He is also known as Tsuta-Jū and Jūzaburō I. Tsutaya set up his shop in 1774 and began by publishing guides to the

Yoshiwara was a famous ( red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shim ...

pleasure quarters. By 1776 he was publishing print series, and went on to publish some of the best-known artists of the late 1700s. He is best remembered for his association with

Utamaro was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''Bijin-ga, bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produ ...

and as the sole publisher of

Sharaku was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, known for his portraits of kabuki actors. Neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known. His active career as a woodblock artist spanned ten months; his prolific work met disapprova ...

. "Tsutaya" is not a true surname, but a ''

yagō , literally meaning "house name", is a term applied in traditional Japanese culture to Japanese name, names passed down within a guild, studio, or other circumstance other than blood relations. The term is synonymous with and . The term most ofte ...

'' "shop name" that translates as "Ivy Shop". The publisher used a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

of ivy leaves under a stylized

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

as a publisher's mark.

Life and career

Jūzaburō's father is believed to have been a member of the Maruyama clan and a worker in

's pleasure district. Born in Yoshiwara, Jūzaburō was adopted into the Kitagawa family and given the name "Tsutaya" after the shop name of one of the Kitagawa's

tea house A teahouse or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only ser ...

s. Tsutaya opened his publishing business in Shinyoshiwara Gojukkendō Higashigawa in Edo in 1774 and began publishing with a volume of illustrations of Yoshiwara beauties by Kitao Shigemasa called ''Hitome Senbon'' (''"Thousands at a Glance"''); Tsutaya's other early publications were also guides to the pleasure quarters. With the publisher Urokogataya, Tsutaya co-published the ''Yoshiwara Saiken'' (''"Guide to Yoshiwara"'') from around 1774–75, and published it solo from 1776 to 1836 with illustrations by such artists as

Katsukawa Shunshō Shunshō Katsukawa (; 1726 – 19 January 1793) was a Japanese painter and printmaker in the ''ukiyo-e'' style, and the leading artist of the Katsukawa school. Shunshō studied under Miyagawa Shunsui, son and student of Miyagawa Chōshun, bo ...

. Also from 1776 Tsutaya began publishing books of

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

poetry, ''

sharebon , which can be roughly translated as "book of manners", was a pre-modern Japanese literary genre, produced during the middle of the Edo period from the 1720s all the way to the end of the 18th century. Plots almost invariably took place in the Yos ...

'' books, and ''

ehon is the Japanese term for picture books. It may be applied in the general sense, or may refer specifically to a type of woodblock printed illustrated volume published in the Edo period (1603–1867). The first were religious items with images ...

'' picture books, and with publisher Nishimura Yohachi, Tsutaya co-published his first print series in 1776: Koryūsai's ''Hinagata Wakana no Hatsumoyō'' (''"Models for Fashion: New Designs as Fresh Young Leaves"''). Tsutaya did not continue with the series, though, and Nishimura finished publishing it alone in 1781. In 1783, he began publishing ''

kibyōshi is a Genre literature, genre of produced during the middle of the Edo period (1603–1867), from 1775 to the early 19th century. Physically identifiable by their yellow-backed covers, were typically printed in 10-page volumes, many spanning tw ...

'' by the famous writer Hōseidō Kisanji, marking the beginning of his popularity and success. He soon expanded into books of '' kyōka'' (comic waka poetry). He moved his shop to

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, which sprung up around the bridge of the same name that has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...

Tōriaburachō Minamigawa in 1783. The same year, he took over the publishing house of Maruya Kohei, and began publishing

the same year. Over the course of his career, Tsutaya discovered and supported artists and writers such as

, Bakin,

Jippensha Ikku was the pen name of Shigeta Sadakazu (重田貞一), a Japanese writer active during the late Edo period of Japan. He was among the most prolific writers of the late Edo period — between 1795 and 1801 he wrote a minimum of twenty novel ...

, and

Santō Kyōden was a Japanese people, Japanese Poet, artist, writer, and the owner of a tobacco shop during the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He began his professional career illustrating the works of others before writ ...

, producing thousands of prints based on the artists' designs, printing the writers' books, encouraging these creative talents, and serving as their patron and mentor. Though he enjoyed great contemporary success and profits for his publications, his fame today likely derives more from his ability to discover and nurture great talents. Without his efforts, many of the period's most famous and talented artists and writers may not have ever emerged. The

Kansei Reforms was a after ''Tenmei'' and before '' Kyōwa''. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1789 : The new era name of '' Kansei'' (meaning "Tolerant Government" or "Broad-m ...

, instituted from 1787 to 1793, brought strict censorship and strict penalties. In 1791 Santō Kyōden was placed under house arrest in shackles, and Tsutaya was forced to pay a large monetary penalty for publishing his politically volatile works. For a period of ten months in 1794–1795, he printed and edited the entire work of the great artist Sharaku, to great contemporary success and profits. As Sharaku's identity remains a subject of debate, some scholars claim he and Jūzaburō may have been the same person, although this is unlikely. Tsutaya died at the age of 48 in 1797. Some sources claim the cause to have been

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhalese phrase (bæri bæri, “I canno ...

. His business continued under his chief clerk Yūsuke, who took on the name Jūzaburō II; production became sporadic from the 1810s, and appears to have ceased by the early 1850s.

Legacy

Tsutaya is the best-remembered ukiyo-e print publisher, largely due to his promotion of Utamaro and as the sole publisher of Sharaku. Richard Lane called him "the greatest of the print publishers". Lane, Richard. ''Images from the Floating World.'' Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky, 1978. p. 127. Tsutaya was well known for his ''kyōka'' poetry, which he wrote under the pseudonym Tsuta no Karamaru. He lodged writers and artists in his home, including Kyokutei Bakin, Santō Kyōden, and Utamaro, the last of whom still lived there at the time of Tsutaya's death. His portrait appeared in at least five books during his lifetime, and his shop appeared in 1799 in Hokusai's ''Ehon Azuma Asobi'' (''"Picture Book of the Pleasure Spots of the Eastern Capital"''). His work is held in the collection of the

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

References

Works cited

* * Lane, Richard. (1978). ''Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OCLC 5246796
* * Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsutaya, Juzaburo Ukiyo-e Japanese publishers (people) Japanese merchants Japanese editors 1750 births 1797 deaths 18th-century Japanese businesspeople 18th-century merchants

Life and career

Legacy

See also

References

Works cited