The man who portrayed the dream of Edo: Ihara Saikaku, a mirror

The man who portrayed the dream of Edo: the mirror known as Ihara Saikaku

In a quiet tea room, I happened to pick up an old book. Inside was a book filled with the laughter, tears, and desires of the townspeople of Edo.
The man who held that brush was a man named Ihara Saikaku.

His stories are a mix of glamour and sadness, humor and truth.
It's as if the bustling sounds of the city are brought to life on the paper.
This time, I would like to trace the life and works of Saikaku and think about the "power of stories" for us living in the modern era.

What kind of person was Saikaku?

Ihara Saikaku was born in Osaka in 1642.
His real name was Hirayama Togo, but he later took on the name Ihara Saikaku.
He originally became famous as a haikai poet, a poet who wrote haiku and linked verse.

Particularly famous is the event called "Yakazu Haikai" held in 1680.
This was a competition to see who could compose the most haiku, and Saikaku wrote over 2,300 haiku in one day and night, breaking the record at the time.
This feat earned him the nickname "the demon of haiku."

However, Saikaku later left the world of haiku and turned his attention to the world of narrative literature.
He chose a new genre called "Ukiyozoshi."
It was a revolutionary form of literature at the time, depicting the lives and emotions of townspeople rather than samurai or aristocrats.

The world of masterpieces

Saikaku's Ukiyo-zoshi are filled with a sense of realism that makes you feel as if you are walking through the streets of Edo.
Here are some of his masterpieces.

"Amorous Man" was his debut work in the Ukiyo-zoshi genre and is one of his most famous works.
The protagonist, Senosuke, discovered love at the age of seven and had relationships with 3,754 women before becoming a monk at the age of sixty, making this a true Edo love story.
Of course, these figures are exaggerated, but they strongly reflect people's views on love at the time and their aspirations for a free and unrestrained lifestyle.

"Nihon Eitaigura" depicts the successes and failures of merchants and the human drama surrounding money.
Morals such as "frugality is a virtue" and "trust is the key to business" are naturally woven into the story, and it is filled with wisdom that is relevant to modern business books.

"Society's Calculations" is a collection of short stories set at the end of the year.
Some people are running away from debt collectors, some are busy preparing for the New Year, and some are excited or depressed as they try their luck at the beginning of the year.
Each story is filled with the shrewdness and humor of the common people.
It has a familiarity that makes you feel as if you are looking at a modern-day end-of-year scene.

Why Saikaku now?

Saikaku's works are not simply classical literature.
What he portrayed was the "true feelings of human beings" that can be empathized with regardless of time or social status.
They worry about love, they run into financial difficulties, they dream, they fail, and yet they continue to live.
There is something that this kind of human behavior can relate to us in the Reiwa era.

Saikaku's brushwork also has a playful quality.
He enveloped the suffering and contradictions of life in humor and satire, leaving his readers laughing and enlightened.
This is a sensibility that resonates with the "humor in silence" and "stories in the margins" that WABISUKE values.

Through his stories, Saikaku continued to ask, "What is a human being?" and "What does it mean to live?"
This question transcends time and still resonates with us today.

Learning from Saikaku: The power of stories

Saikaku's stories portray human beings in a way that is never one-sided.
Good people and bad people, successful people and losers, all are characters on the stage called "Ukiyo."
He didn't condemn anyone, but simply looked at them calmly but warmly.

His gaze is like a mirror.
By reading Saikaku's stories, we are forced to confront our own desires, weaknesses, and hopes.
It gives us time for deep reflection that modern social media and news don't provide.

Saikaku's works are also appealing for their linguistic rhythm and narrative style.
His writing style is light and witty, yet somehow tinged with melancholy.
It is a technique that is also relevant to modern copywriting and storytelling, and there is much we can learn from it when we write.

Conclusion: Living in the Present with Saikaku

During the Edo period, Ihara Saikaku lifted up the voiceless voices of the common people and preserved them in the form of stories.
His work continues to resonate with us even after more than 300 years.

This is because what he painted was "human beings" themselves.
Something that remains constant in changing times.
It is the image of human beings who laugh, cry, love, and struggle to survive.

WABISUKE aims to create "poetic, practical, and timeless stories."
One of the origins of this may be found in the writings of Ihara Saikaku.