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Paper short abstract:

This paper will consider the work of a Satsuma kokugaku scholar, Shirao Kunihashira (1762-1821), who studied various dimensions of regional life, including agricultural products, ancient tombs, and folklore. It will mainly focus on Shizu no odamaki (1812), a collection of tales and anecdotes.

Paper long abstract:

Shirao Kunihashira (1762-1821) is a kokugaku scholar in the service of Satsuma lords at the turn of the 18th century. In the course of his career, during which he served in turn as a spear instructor, medicinal garden attendant, archivist and high magistrate, he compiled several texts by Shimazu Shigehide’s order. He is best known today for his contribution to the encyclopedia of natural resources, Seikei zusetsu (Illustrated Catalogue of Creation), of which he wrote the first volumes dedicated to agricultural life, rites, and techniques. But his output also includes studies on the ancient tombs of Satsuma, research on regional geography, and collections of anecdotes and tales. His approach to scholarship is characterized by a combination of philological investigation, fieldwork, and descriptive drawings.

In this paper, I will focus on Shizu no odamaki (Hemp yarn for a humble cloth), a manuscript completed in 1812 which gathers 60 tales and anecdotes from local folklore. According to the author’s preface, his purpose is to inform his lord and patron (Shimazu Shigehide or Narioki) about the customs, manners, oral traditions, and remarkable stories concerning the common people of his country, knowing that a ruler cannot have his eyes everywhere around and that his own officials are reluctant to tell him everything out of fear. I will thus try to understand the relationship between the scholar and the mighty, and to shed light on the issues at stake in the production of regional knowledge.