EIRI HACHIKAZUKI 絵入はちかづき

EIRI HACHIKAZUKI 絵入はちかづき [Princess Bowl-on-Head].

Two double & three single-page woodcuts. 10.5; 10 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. decorated semi-stiff wrappers (somewhat wormed), title-slips, new stitching. [Japan]: from colophon: November 1676.

A finely illustrated early edition of Hachikazuki, a beloved “Cinderella” short story in the otogi zōshi 御伽草子 (fairy-tale book) genre, dating from the Muromachi era (1392-1573). This story, one of the most famous of the genre, also belongs to a group of stories known as mamako mono 継子もの (stepchild stories), which portray a stepmother’s cruelty toward her stepchild, usually a girl, and the latter’s ultimate good fortune resulting, in most cases, from her marriage. The story has been translated into German and English. We find no copy of this edition in WorldCat.

“The story is short and concentrates on the main events in the life of its female protagonist. It begins by briefly introducing her parents, who long to have a child. In response to their ardent prayers before the image of Kannon at the Hase temple, they are blessed with a daughter. Without any mention of the girl’s childhood, the story moves on to the next important event, the death of her mother, who, just before she breathes her last, places a box on her daughter’s head and covers it with a bowl, which becomes firmly attached to the poor girl’s head. Her father remarries, and because his new wife hates the girl, he is forced to expel his daughter from the home. Hachikazuki, as she is now called, tries to commit suicide by drowning in a river, but does not succeed because the bowl brings her to the surface…

“In her subsequent wanderings, Hachikazuki attracts the eye of a middle-captain and becomes the fire-tender of the bath in his house. The family’s fourth son, Saishō, notices the girl and falls in love with her in spite of her affliction. When he demonstrates that his love for her is greater than his family ties, the bowl falls off, revealing not only her beauty but its contents of riches. Events now rapidly turn in the girl’s favor. After a contest in which she proves herself to be superior in all respects to the wives of the other three sons, she marries Saishō, who, although the youngest, is made his father’s heir, and the couple live happily together. The story ends with a moving scene in which the girl and her father are reunited.”–Chigusa Steven, “Hachikazuki. A Muromachi Short Story” in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Autumn 1977), pp. 306-07 (& see the whole of this fine article, which includes a translation of the story).

This story was printed several times in the 17th century. Our edition contains two double-page and three single-page woodcuts, three of which depict the princess with her bowl attached.

Fresh copy. Some mostly marginal worming. Preserved in a chitsu.