Английская Википедия:Akahon
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Italic title Шаблон:Infobox literary genre Шаблон:Transliteration can refer to the early literary medium that circulated in Edo-period (1603–1867) Japan, circa 1661–1748,[1] to the Шаблон:Transliteration manga that was the dominant form of literary entertainment in Japan during the post-WWII period around 1946 to 1950[2] or to the compilation of past exam papers that aid university applicants in their academic preparation. Early akahon were softcover booklets featuring woodblock printed illustrations.[3] Шаблон:Transliteration belonged to a family of coloured books named Шаблон:Transliteration, which were colour coded by genre. Шаблон:Transliteration were distinguished from other Шаблон:Transliteration by its red cover and coverage of less mature subject matters such as children's tales, fairy tales and folk legends.[4] Шаблон:Transliteration were the primary type of book in the Шаблон:Transliteration style, meaning that in many cases, it was the first interaction with the world of literature for many Japanese children, so publishers would use plentiful illustrations and simple entertaining plots as the focal points to capture the attention of the young Japanese readership.
The more modern Шаблон:Transliteration manga shared the signature red covers with the early Шаблон:Transliteration but its content differed due to the advent of the printing press and the influence of foreign media. Шаблон:Transliteration manga featured bold colours and well known characters, as disregard to copyright laws was a defining feature of this genre, with authors often blatantly basing their novels off of well-known American characters, such as Disney's Three Little Pigs and Betty Boop.[5]
The compilation of university exam paper that is named Шаблон:Transliteration is mostly used by university applicants to prepare for their university admission exams. Шаблон:Transliteration are typically divided into the different universities they contain the past papers for, with sections in the books further divided into the different test subjects, such as Mathematics, English Studies, Japanese, etc. Many students attend Шаблон:Transliteration, in conjunction with using the Шаблон:Transliteration resource to familiarise themselves with both the exam format and the content.[6] Since Шаблон:Transliteration are relatively expensive, students looking for extra study materials use Шаблон:Transliteration as a way of improving their knowledge for the fiercely competitive exams. Шаблон:Transliteration can be bought online as well as in many Japanese bookstores.
Historical origin
Much of the understanding of early Шаблон:Transliteration is dependent upon historical discoveries of these text types. A well-known example of one of these discoveries are Chokuro'sШаблон:Who books, which were a collection of Шаблон:Transliteration and other objects that were found sealed in a wooden statue of Bodhisattva Jizo, as a memorial offering by a merchant father to his deceased son.[1] This discovery provided insights about the role of Шаблон:Transliteration in Edo, such as the range of subject matters that were deemed appropriate for merchant class boys and reinforced the notion that the primary purpose of akahon were to "entertain, rather than to inculcate or instruct".[1]
Шаблон:Transliteration were preceded by Шаблон:Transliteration ("mini reds") which had the same red cover and similar contents but measured only Шаблон:Convert.[4] Scholars speculate on the reasons why Шаблон:Transliteration gradually replaced Шаблон:Transliteration, with theories spanning from greater commercial viability as a book of bigger format to accommodating more visual-verbal content. An Шаблон:Transliteration was typically just 10 pages long, though often, groups of up to 3 Шаблон:Transliteration were collated and bound together with string.
Slowly, Шаблон:Transliteration would be overshadowed by emerging literary mediums, such as manga. However, Шаблон:Transliteration cemented its place in Edo-Japan literature, as it was grouped together with other notable text types of kabuki and Шаблон:Transliteration to be coined with the term Шаблон:Transliteration that was seen to be "fashionable literature for a metropolitan audience."[7]
Шаблон:Transliteration
Шаблон:Nihongo3 was the family of children's books to which Шаблон:Transliteration belonged. There are several explanations for why they are named "grass books." One theory involves the etymology of the Chinese character for grass which has a secondary meaning of "crude", or "coarse", which describes many adults' opinion of Шаблон:Transliteration at the time as a crass medium that adversely affected the juvenile audience. Another theory is that Шаблон:Transliteration relates to the "grass style" of calligraphy with which the tales are inscribed.[8] Other examples of Шаблон:Transliteration include Шаблон:Transliteration ('blue book'), Шаблон:Transliteration ('yellow book') and Шаблон:Transliteration ('black book'). Out of these three texts, Шаблон:Transliteration is most notable, as many sources believe that modern manga was a direct descendant of the books with yellow covers. These texts were targeted at more mature audiences and their subject matter reflects this fact, as they covered the darker side of the human condition, such as mortality, infidelity, horror or hopelessness. Although the illustrations still occupied a central position, there was notably a greater didactic presence in these more mature Шаблон:Transliteration texts and there would often be a philosophical moral to the story subscribing to the ideals of Confucianism or Buddhism, that led academics to conclude that an ulterior motive of Шаблон:Transliteration was in the education of Japanese children.[4] Soon after, Шаблон:Transliteration publishers started to lengthen the structure of their stories, incorporating complex heroes and expansive plotlines such that the resultant work had the length of multiple standard Шаблон:Transliteration leaflets, necessitating the coinage of the new term Шаблон:Transliteration, meaning "bound volumes".[8]
A common source of literary inspiration of Шаблон:Transliteration were the Шаблон:Transliteration of the 17th century. Many Шаблон:Transliteration publishers would adapt and abbreviate the main messages from the Шаблон:Transliteration, preserving the essence of the storyline and morals but presenting their own interpretations of them. In this way, Шаблон:Transliteration can be seen as a type of social commentary in the way that it re-interpreted the Muromachi-period classics, as it reveals an insight into how society viewed the themes presented in these works.[3]
However, other sources seek to categorize the Edo narrative in a different manner. Kyokutei Bakin disagreed with the division of Japanese literature into colour coded genres and instead, sought to differentiate Edo fiction into the categories of Шаблон:Transliteration, Шаблон:Transliteration, Шаблон:Transliteration and Шаблон:Transliteration. Unlike the Шаблон:Transliteration, these texts were differentiated by their genre, rather than the maturity level of the audience. For example, the term Шаблон:Transliteration can be translated roughly to mean "fashionable humour,"[9] and focuses primarily on the pleasure quarters of Kyoto. The text type is distinguishable by the strong presence of an authorial voice which conveys concern for readership and acts as the benchmark upon which expectations of social and behavioural norms are created, the abrogations of which create humour. Шаблон:Transliteration was a text type that, unlike Шаблон:Transliteration, did not rely heavily on illustrations to entertain its audience and instead, used its characters and the moral situations in which they found themselves entangled in to deliver moralistic lessons to readers.
Notable Шаблон:Transliteration
An early publisher of many Шаблон:Transliteration was Urokogataya Magobei, who is known for having published the Шаблон:Transliteration texts of Bunta the Salt Seller and the Princess Hachikazuki. A common theme of these works is that they are concise reproductions of other prominent works in Edo at the time. It must be noted that Magobei did not produce exclusively using the Шаблон:Transliteration medium. His works range from the Шаблон:Transliteration format to Шаблон:Transliteration formats. Publishers would factor in the type of content they were producing, the length of the overall books and also the amount of illustrations they would incorporate in their work in order to choose the colour of the book and thus give the reader a preliminary expectation of the content they would find between the covers. Magobei's second son, Nishimuraya Yohachi, continued his father's legacy, albeit in a different art form. He published Шаблон:Transliteration rather than Шаблон:Transliteration, but the didactic content was more or less indistinguishable and in some instances, readers could be forgiven for assuming that he republished his father's work, just with a yellow rather than a red cover.[3]
The Old Yarn of Peach Boy is an example of an Шаблон:Transliteration that is attributed to the artist Nishimura Shigenobu. In the story, there is a scene of a woman kneeling by the bank of a river and floating towards her is a peach, from which will emerge the titular protagonist of the story.[4] The dominant presence of the illustrations compared to the sparse text is characteristic of the akahon text type. In another scene from Princess Hachikazuki, the queen is shown bestowing jewels upon the head of her daughter on her deathbed and covering them with a large bowl. After the queen dies and the princess attempts to remove the bowl from her head, she discovers that it is stuck fast, giving rise to her name, which translates to "Princess who wears a Bowl on her Head".
In Bunta the Salt Seller, although the story's protagonist, Bunta, is a poor man, who peddles the salt he dries from his local river, his luck changes due to his good deeds. In this scene, he is depicted releasing two mandarin ducks from captivity, who reveal that they are actually a samurai married couple who were transformed by a jealous villain. The samurai proceed to assist Bunta, reversing his fortunes.
Шаблон:Transliteration manga
Шаблон:Transliteration inspired the contemporary form of media known as manga from its entertainment centered content to its many genre. In fact, early forms of manga were known as "Шаблон:Transliteration manga," despite the loss of its signature red cover.[10] However, the transition from Шаблон:Transliteration to manga faced societal and political headwinds. After World War II, Japanese society shunned Шаблон:Transliteration as a vulgar medium that negatively influenced Japanese youths with violent and erotic themes.[10] These themes are present in the manga categories of Шаблон:Transliteration and Шаблон:Transliteration manga today, although societal values have shifted such that these manga are now appraised on their entertainment value. A common criticism of Шаблон:Transliteration manga was that they were designed to entice children into paying for them and that they had no real substantive value. Holmberg sums up this view by asserting that for Шаблон:Transliteration manga, "content was an afterthought".[5] In this comparison of the cover of an Шаблон:Transliteration manga and its contents, it is evident that the vibrant colour scheme and art design of the cover were not representative of the contents of the manga.
In response to the negative public perception of Шаблон:Transliteration manga, a new genre of educational manga, known as Шаблон:Transliteration, developed.[11] This genre aimed to bridge the gap between education and entertainment for Japanese children, with limited success, due to a lack of public support of the manga. This is most likely due to the conflict between the didactic nature of these manga and the preconceived notion that manga should be enjoyed entirely for its creative and entertaining appeal.Шаблон:Cn
Шаблон:Transliteration manga naturally gravitated towards the rental book genre, known as Шаблон:Transliteration. Consumers were enabled to borrow titles for a small fee from local shops, which can be seen as a "precursor of modern libraries".[12] Postwar Шаблон:Transliteration manga was available in a number of different avenues; from the aforementioned rental book stores, in candy stores, on the streets by peddlers or from a subscription with Tokyo-based magazines, which were typically issued monthly.
A successful genre of Шаблон:Transliteration manga was war manga, focusing on past historical periods. Printed media as a medium was limited in its timeliness; commentary on current issues was better suited to the evolving television medium. In response to the growing viewership of television sets, publishers set out to develop their readerships by carving out their own niche; Шаблон:Transliteration focusing on past historical periods in a documentary style. This approach was successful; Шаблон:Transliteration manga had devised a way to compete and keep up with the fast pace of television broadcasts.[13] Not only did this configuration and retelling of past historical periods have a commercial success, it was also important for the Japanese people culturally. Facing an uncertain future following the Second World War, the Japanese people found pride in the retelling of their national past, using Шаблон:Transliteration and other such mediums to paint images of heroic fighter plane pilots and war heroes. This positive reconfiguration served both as a memento of those that gave their lives for the nation and as a positive role model for Japanese youth moving forward into that uncertain future.[13]
References
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 3,2 Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 4,3 Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ 8,0 8,1 Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ 10,0 10,1 Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite journal
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ 13,0 13,1 Шаблон:Cite journal
