About This Book
The first and last book of volume 1 of the 3 volume set (a total of 9 books) comprising the illustrated novel Mushirobata gunma no inanaki (which has been translated as "Strawmat Flags and Neighing Horses of Gunma") by the gesaku writer Saikaen Ryūkō (1857-1902)1 and illustrated by Utagawa Kunimasa IV (1848-1920), under his gō (art name) Baidō Kunimasa.This 1881 work of popular fiction was based on the 1871 uprising by some 150 villages, in what was then Nakano and Gunma prefectures, against high taxes, rising prices and the collapse of the local silk trade, attributed to a local official. The three day uprising saw wide-spread destruction in the prefectural capital, attacks on property of rich commoners and the murder of two government officials. Government troops were quickly sent in to restore order and twenty-eight participants were executed and many more imprisoned.2
Mushirobata in the title is a reference to the strawmat banners used to display demands during peasant uprisings and inanaki is a reference to the common grounds used for horse fodder, which were being taxed by the new government. The novel opens with the hero Monya Mashio 真塩紋弥 presenting the peasant demands in the form of a letter of grievance (歎願書) to the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the prefecture, as Mashio's wife looks on along with Gunma's chief of police.
1 Saikaen Ryūkō 彩霞園柳香 also went by the name Saiga Ryūkō 雑賀柳香.
2 For a detailed account of the Nakano Uprising see Even the Gods Rebel: The Peasants of Takaino and the 1871 Nakano Uprising in Japan, Seluk Esenbel, The Association for Asian Studies: Ann Arbor, 1998. 
The three books comprising volume 1
This collection is missing the middle book 中 of the volume
First and Last Books of Volume 3 (all pages)
note: pages are displayed from right to left in Japanese book orderVolume 1, Book 1
click on any image to enlarge
森群馬太書記官 (Chief Cabinet Secretary Mori Gunma)
頑丈総代真塩紋弥 (Stalwart representative Monya Mashio)
石川群馬四等警部 Ishikawa Gunma Police Inspector
page 9
Volume 1, Book 3
click on any image to enlarge
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2137 and #2138 |
| Title (Description) | Mushirobata Gunma no inanaki 蓆簱群馬嘶 初編 上 下 Strawmat Flags and Neighing Horses of Gunma, first volume, first and third books (also seen translated as The Neighing of the Horse Herd) |
| Artist | Utagawa Kunimasa IV (1848-1920) |
| Signature |   artist's and author's names as they appear on the last page, page 10, of the third bookleft: Baidō Kunimasa ga 梅堂国政画 (drawn by Baidō Kunimasa) right: Saikaen Ryūkō cho 彩霞園柳香著 (written by Saikaen Ryūkō) |
| Seal | |
| Publication Date | April 1881 (明治14年4月) |
| Publisher | Tsujiokaya Bunsuke (Kinshōdō) 辻岡屋文助 金松堂  publisher's "bun" 文 seal followed by: 書肆地本 問屋 金松堂 辻岡屋文助 (publisher's Tokyo address appears to the right of their name) [Marks: pub. ref. 548; seal not shown] |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | excellent |
| Genre | e-hon |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | |
| H x W Paper | 6 15/16 x 4 1/2 in. (17.6 x 11.4 cm) dimensions of each page |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Berkeley Library, University of California East Asian Rare A516.3; National Institute for Japanese Literature 早稲田大学図書館・柳田文庫／A 530; Waseda University Library Call No. 文庫11 A0531 |
8/31/2021 created
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