EDO PERIOD (EARLY 18TH CENTURY)

The term Nara ehon or Nara-e hon was coined in the late nineteenth century in order to create a venerable ancestry for the genre to which it refers, but as defined by Watson, Nara ehon are 'manuscript books of novels and stories . . . illustrated with page-size paintings in styles ranging from the crudest imitation of Muromachi scroll-painting to a confident miniaturist manner of consistent quality . . . [responding] to decorative and popular trends which are dominant . . . from the late 16th to the early 18th century . . .' The present set corresponds to Watson's Groups IV and V. Group IV, Realism and Genre, is characterised by ' . . . Kano-style rocks and trees with figure scenes of middle class and artisan life'. Group V, Tosa-Like Miniaturist, is not sharply distinguished from Group IV but obviously has more of the characteristics of the Tosa school, although often with Kano elements too, as in this case. Among the examples cited by Watson are a Heiji monogatari and a Hogen monogatari, 'typical of the vast production, in which the sets of books, handsomely boxed, sometimes amount to several score'.1

Believed to have been originally written by an anonymous monk during the Kamakura period, Soga monogatari [The tale of the Soga brothers] has appeared in countless different guises over the last seven centuries. The plot concerns the revenge of the brothers Soga Sukenari (1172-1193) and Soga Tokimune (1174-1193) on Kudo Suketsune, who had murdered their father in 1177 and taken the boys' mother as his wife. Although young, the brothers determined to take their revenge but were frustrated by the fact that Suketsune enjoyed the support of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the newly-installed shogun, who bore a grudge against the Soga clan for its failure to embrace his cause during his long struggle against the Taira clan. Despite this disadvantage, the boys eventually accomplished their mission, but in keeping with the Japanese tradition of 'the nobility of failure'2 they both forfeited their own lives, the first during the final attack on Suketsune and the second by judicial execution, despite Yoritomo's initial tendency towards leniency.

The outstanding set of forty-seven Nara ehon of Kowakamai narratives, sold in these Rooms on 19 June 2002 (Lot 71) included nine volumes (one missing) devoted to various aspects of the Soga cycle, all of them also featuring in the present, set and including the following episodes:

Genbuku Soga [The Sogas' coming of age]: Tokimune, who has been sent to become a monk, meets his father's murderer when the latter visits his temple as a member of the shogun's retinue. Suketsune tries to win the boy's favour by presenting him with a sword which Tokimune will eventually use to kill him. In the second part of this episode Tokimune abandons his priestly avocation and, having rejoined his brother, undergoes the genbuku [coming of age] ceremony.

Wada sakamori [The feast for Wada]: The brothers plan to kill Suketsune during a hunt organised by the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo at the foot of Mount Fuji. Sukenari bids farewell to his lover Tora, but his plans are interrupted when Wada Yoshimori, Lord of Sagami, pays a formal call on her father and a great feast is held. Following a breach of courtesy a fight breaks out between Sukenari and Asahina, the strongest of Wada's men. In the nick of time Tokimune comes to the rescue and, in the ensuing struggle, escapes from the gigantic Asahina by an abrupt movement in which the lower part of his armour is torn away. This episode later became a favourite theme of the kabuki theatre.

Kosode Soga [The Soga and the kimono]: Tokimune is reconciled with his mother, who had previously attempted to foil the revenge plot, and departs with his brother for Mount Fuji.

Tsurugi sandan [The praising of the swords}: The abbot of the temple in Hakone where Tokimune was brought up presents each of the brothers with swords and explains the illustrious pedigree of the two blades. The first was used by an earlier warrior, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Raiko), to slay the Shutendoji monster, while the latter was presented to the temple by none other than the great Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Youchi Soga [The night attack of the Soga]: Having identified the correct tent and found Suketsune asleep, Tokimune is about to strike off his head when Sukenari warns him of the impropriety of slaying a sleeping enemy. Suketsune is woken by the ensuing commotion and immediately killed.

Jubangiri [The tenth cut]: The brothers kill nine of Suketsune's men but a tenth man kills Sukenari. Yoritomo wishes to takes pity on Tokimune and appoint him one of his vassals, but Tokimune, who has lost all will to live following his brother's death, is eventually put to death. A temple is erected to the boys' memory at the foot of Mount Fuji.3


1 William Watson, 'Nara-e-hon', in William Watson (ed.), Artistic Personality and Decorative Style in Japanese Art, (London: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1977), pp. 121-164.

2 Ivan Morris, The Nobility of Failure (London: Secker & Warburg, 1975), passim.

3 For detailed plot summaries of these various episodes, see Roland Schneider, Kowakamai: Sprache und Stil einer mittelalterlichen japanischen Rezitationskunst (Hamburg: Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens, 1968), pp. 66- 79.