琉球浄瑠璃 / A Ballad-Drama of Ryūkyū

Written by Matsuyama Denjūrō. Self-published by Irohaya in 1889. The title on the front cover is Ryukyu Jōruri, however, the title on the first page is "Kushi no waka aji" (The Young Lord of Kushi). Bimyōsai shujin (Yamada Bimyō), a novelist and a poet who supported the Genbun itchi tai (the unification of the written and spoken language) wrote the preface. According to the explanatory notes of this book, the author valued "Kushi no waka aji" as one of five great Kumiodori and he decided to experiment with translating that work into the spoken language, annotating words and adding commentary on the work. The place of "Kushi no waka aji" as an object of historical research needs more consideration; nevertheless, this is the first annotated version of a Kumiodori play written for a Japanese mainland audience, and is thus an epoch-making work. The author, Matsuyama was from Fukushima. His pen names included Matsuyama Iroha and Irohaya. In addition to this work, he also wrote some books about child education.(Updated on November 4, 2022)