Paper short abstract:

In the early Edo era the “Eight Views” (hakkei) topos provided a fresh approach to engaging with the Tale of Genji. This paper explores, with particular attention to the use of paratexts, how an initially elite calligraphic and decorative exercise was later adapted for use in popular print series.

Paper long abstract:

The establishment of the standard set of waka poetry topics known as “Eight Views of Ōmi” (Ōmi hakkei) around the start of the Edo period, although with roots going back to the 13th century, laid the foundation for a later tradition of richly varied and imaginative remakings, variations, and parodies in the world of popular woodblock prints, peaking in the first half of the 19th century but continuing into the 20th. The program of eight familiar topics, fixed but always open to some reinterpration--very often through the substitution of a different location or other modifier in place of “Ōmi”--evidently proved appealing to both publishers and consumers of popular prints, producing a corpus that gives scholars today insight into the interaction between primary visual subjects and the various paratextual elements that accompany many such prints.

One adaptation of the “Eight Views” substitutes Genji monogatari for Ōmi, matching the eight standard topics with appropriate excerpts of chapters from the great classic tale. Initially this Genji hakkei seems to have been a text-only work, with the earliest known example in the hand of Emperor Higashiyama (1675-1710). It soon became an established subject for calligraphy and painting, with illustrated versions (as emaki picture scrolls) dating back to the early 18th century. This intersection of the convenient hakkei program and the rich story world of Genji monogatari eventually caught the attention of woodblock printmakers catering to the popular market. In this paper I examine some of the resulting sets of prints, especially those by Chōbunsai Eishi (1756-1829) and Kikukawa Eizan (1787-1867): through analysis of the use of various paratextual elements in the establishment of the topics, I argue that the appropriation of Genji monogatari they afford compares favorably with that performed in the elite emaki and manuscript versions.