[Andreas Kronborg Danielsen]

Dear PMJS members,

I am working on a translation of a series of gōkan, and I have two mystery characters appearing on two pages.

First some background info: 
The text is written in 1839 and the author likes giving hints about who some unnamed character might be. For instance, a character called Suribaritarō suddenly appears after seven years, and the text just calls him a "samurai", but the little mark on his kimono that usually tells the name of the character, just says す. It is not until much later that it is revealed who he is.

This brings me to the first mystery character. Based on his clothes (he is the only character who wears striped clothes) and some contextual clues, it is most likely a man named 稲作 (いねさく) but the text calls him 町人 (ちやうにん). He is sailing on a boat and passes another mystery character (Suribaritarō) but then he disappears from the story for three books.

The second character has no role in the text and he sits with his back turned. There are many other characters on the page, but they are all accounted for.
The situation is that a guy is at a brothel with his friend, and he has hired geiko and a 幇間 (houkan) to entertain them, and they are having a good time. 

I suspect it is the 幇間, but the kanji makes no sense at all. It looks like it says 橘 on the left and then 七+分 on the right, but I really have no idea.

Thanks in advance!

Andreas Danielsen

[Andreas Kronborg Danielsen]

I just realized that my previous email was missing a topic line, and the main question was omitted.

The topic should be "Identifying two mystery kanji from late Edo gokan" and the main question is as the title suggests - to identify the two kanji that I attached to the email.

I apologize for the oversight.

Andreas Danielsen

[PMJS Moderation Team]

Posted on behalf of Hyeonjin Schubert at the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago.

 

 

Greetings from the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago (CEAS)! 

 

Just a friendly reminder regarding the  CALL FOR NOMINATIONS for The William F. Sibley Memorial Subvention Award for Japanese Translation. 

   

This annual competition, coordinated by the Committee on Japanese Studies of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago, honors the legacy of William F. Sibley, Associate Professor Emeritus in East Asian Languages & Civilizations and scholar and translator of Japanese literature.  In keeping with Sibley’s lifelong devotion to translation and to the place of literature in the classroom, the award provides up to $3,000 as a publishing subvention for translations of Japanese literature into English.  

 

Eligible translations include, but are not limited to, poetry, fiction, short stories, compositions, literary criticism, and essays.  New translations of works previously translated are acceptable.  Subvention funds will be paid directly to publishers.  Nominations will only be accepted from presses that have previously published Japanese literature in translation. 

Below and attached you will find a flyer for the Award.  The deadline for nominations from publishers is Saturday, April 1, 2023. 

 

Full details and nomination instructions can be found on the CEAS website: 

 

https://ceas.uchicago.edu/content/william-f-sibley-memorial-subvention-award-japanese-translation  

 

Please feel free to circulate this announcement widely to colleagues.  Any questions about the award or nomination process can be directed to east...@uchicago.edu. 

 

 

Hyeonjin Schubert

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한국어/English

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Center for East Asian Studies

University of Chicago

 

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[GUELBERG Niels]

Dear Andreas,

the first character looks like 「壕」＝ごう、ほり. 

The second maay be a name of the artist:  「春橋」

See the folllowing page:

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%9D%E5%B7%9D%E6%98%A5%E6%A9%8B

Niels

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差出人: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> が Andreas Kronborg Danielsen <andreaskronb...@gmail.com> の代理で送信
送信日時: 2023年2月9日 14:42
宛先: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
件名: [PMJS]

 

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[Andreas Kronborg Danielsen]

Dear Niels,

Thank you for your reply.
I also considered that it might be the name of the artist Utagawa Kunisada (he is listed as the artist under the name Kochoro Kunisada 香蝶楼国貞) but it just doesn't fit no matter how I look at it. 
I asked someone who works with calligraphy and premodern calligraphy, and he insisted that the first character is most likely 紫, but it still fits in nowhere. 

Might be best to find someone who is an expert on Utagawa who might be more familiar with his brushwork when it comes to kanji.

Andreas

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