Edokko

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Ichikawa VI. as Sukeroku
Edokko film with the famous singer Hibari Misora (1955)

Edokko ( Japanese 江 戸 っ 子 , 江 戸 っ 児 , literally: "Child from Edo") referred to a resident of the royal seat of the shogun Edo (today Tokyo ), who was born and raised there in at least the third generation.

description

When Tokugawa Ieyasu expanded his residence in Edo after the seizure of power and then all daimyō were obliged to maintain city residences under the sankin kōtai , workers, craftsmen and traders were needed in large numbers. In the Kyōhō period (1716–36) the number of “townspeople” ( chōnin ) had reached half a million. (In addition, there was another half a million sword nobility.) The proportion of "real Edokko" ( 生 粋 の 江 戸 っ 子 , kissui no Edokko ) was only 10%. And so the term was first mentioned in a Senryū verse in 1771 : Edokko no waranji o haku rangashisa ( 江 戸 ッ 子 の わ ら ん じ を は く ら ん が し さ ) describes the "excitement / noise of the Edokko when putting on the straw sandals [after the drinking binge, before the trip] ”.

Living together in a small space in the big city not only gave rise to a dialect of its own, but also developed its own forms of behavior, e.g. B. in dealing with money. In particular the craftsmen, fishmongers, house painters ( sakan ), the (often tattooed) firefighters on the fire front ( tobi no mono ), the merchants said of themselves “We are the Edokko” ( 俺 た ち ゃ 江 戸 っ 子 だ , ore-tacha Edokko there ).

The historian and specialist for the Edo period Nishiyama Matsunosuke (1912–2012) gives the characteristics of an Edokko in idioms (which exist in different variants) as follows:

  1. "Seeing the roof decorations of the Edo Castle wash with (precious) tap water." ( 江 戸 城 の 鯱 を み て 水道 の 水 で 洗 い 上 げ る , Edo-jō no shachi o mite, suidō no mizu de araiageru ).
  2. “Don't hang on to money! Always spend it on the best, the latest. ”( 金 離 れ が よ い , Kanebanare ga yoi ).
  3. "Growing up pampered under the nurse's parasol." ( 乳母 日 傘 で の 高級 な 育 ち , Onba hikasa deno kōkyū na sodachi ).
  4. “Really grew up in Edo, a real Edokko.” ( 江 戸 生 粋 の 生 え 抜 き , Edo kissui no haenuki ).

The main characteristics are likely to be iki - such as joy of life - and hari - such as perseverance. Santō Kyōden u. a. go into their books on the Edokko and its way of life, at the latest in the Bunsei period (1818-30) it was part of the "Greater Edo culture" ( Ō-Edo bunka ). This culture was typical of Edo and differed significantly from the fine way of life in the imperial city of Kyoto and the money-conscious in Osaka .

The hero Hanakawado Sukeroku in the Kabuki -Stück Sukeroku yukari Edo zakura from the series Kabuki no jūhachi-ban represents a typical Edokko. The popular one-act plays in Yoshiwara , where Sukeroku, campaigning for the courtesan Agemaki, at the end against rich, malicious patron Ikyu interspersed. In addition to kabuki, Yoshiwara, sumo and the great festivals of the shrines, the Matsuri , the annual large fireworks display over the water, were part of the Edokko lifestyle.

When Edo became Tokyo at the beginning of the Meiji period , there were attempts to preserve the Edokko; In 1899 a newspaper even appeared under this name. But with the merging of the estates to form a modern unitary society, the concept has changed from a way of life to a name tag that every Tokyo citizen can infect. The real Edokko lives on in kabuki and period films ( Jidai-geki ), of course.

Idioms

  • 江 戸 っ 子 は 五月 の 鯉 の 吹 流 し , Edokko wa satsuki no koi fukinagashi - "The Edokko is, like the Koi Nobori in May, an inflated carp: big mouth and nothing behind it."
  • 江 戸 っ 子 は 宵 越 し の 銭 は 使 わ ぬ , Edokko wa yoigoshi no zeni tsukawanu - "The Edokko doesn't have a penny left for the next day."
  • 江 戸 者 の 生 ま れ 損 な い 金 を 溜 む , Edomono no umare zokonai kane o tamu - "The Edomono (in contrast to the Edokko) has the innate bad quality of accumulating money."

literature

  • A. Halford, G. Halford: The Kabuki Handbook . Tuttle, 1956, ISBN 0-8048-0332-3 .
  • M. Nishiyama: Edo Culture. Trans. U. ed. by Gerald Croemer. University of Hawai'i Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8248-1736-2 , p. 41 ff.
  • M. Nishiyama, M. Takeuchi: Edo sambyaku-nen (2). Edokko no seitai ( 江 戸 三 百年 2 江 戸 ッ 子 の 生態 ). Kodansha, 1975, ISBN 4-06-115816-3 , p. 202 ff.
  • M. Nishiyama, S. Ogi: Edo sambyaku-nen (3). Edo kara Tōkyō e ( 江 戸 三 百年 3 江 戸 か ら 東京 へ ). Kodansha, 1975, ISBN 4-06-115817-1 .
  • Eiji Orii: Kurashi no Naka no kotowaza jiten ( 暮 ら し の 中 の こ と わ ざ 辞典 ). 3. Edition. Shueisha, 1965, ISBN 4-08-400123-6 .