About This Book
Volumes 21 and 22 of the 25 volume illustrated novel (kusazōshi 草双紙) Warabeuta myōmyō guruma, originally published between 1855 and 1871 by the Edo/Tokyo publisher Tsutaya Kichizō of the firm Kōeidō.1 While volumes 21 and 22 were originally issued in 1867 (see below "Publication Dates"), this collection's edition was likely issued in 1874, based upon the dated (Meiji 7) advertisement page following each volume, as shown below.
Commonly translated as The Wheel of Causation, the story revolves around "the romantic adventures of Princess Uzuki and the hero Shidoroku."2 While written for the masses, the heavily illustrated kusazōshi have been called "a crucial element in the production of modern literary idiom" and "a unique form of verbal-visual art" deserving "to be treated as a national cultural heritage."3
Authors and Illustrators
Multiple authors and illustrators are credited with creating the various volumes of the 25 volume set. This collections volumes, 21 and 22, are signed by Ryūtei Tanehiko II 柳亭種彥 2世 (aka Ryūtei Senka 笠亭仙果, c. 1806-1868) a disciple of Ryūtei Tanehiko I (1783-1842).4 Other writers listed by Waseda University Library and the National Institute for Japanese Literature are Ryūkatei Tanekazu 柳下亭種員 (1807-1858), volumes 1-8 and Santei Shunba 三亭春馬 (active 1852-1864)5, volumes 9-13. Ryūtei Tanehiko II is credited with authoring volumes 14 to 25. The writer of volume 25, the final volume, is unknown.
Publication Dates
Notes: As listed by the National Institute of Japanese Literature http://dbrec.nijl.ac.jp/KTG_W_66002 and in Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium, Andreas Marks, Hotei Publishing, 2011, p. 325-327.Volume 1 and 2 - Ansei 2 (1855)
Volume 3 - Ansei 3 (1856)
Volume 4 and 5 - Ansei 4 (1857)
Volumes 6 and 7 - Ansei 5 (1858)
Volumes 8 and 9 - Ansei 6 (1859)
Volumes 10 and 11 - Man'en 1 (1860)
Volumes 12, 13, 14 and 16 - Bunkyū 1 (1861)
Volumes 14, 15 and 16 - Bunkyū 2 (1862)
Volumes 17 and 18 - Genji 1 (March 1864-April 1865)
Volume 19 - Keiō 1 (year began May 1, 1865)
Volume 20 - Keiō 2 (1866)
Volumes 21 and 22 - Keiō 3 (year began February 13, 1867)
Volumes 17 and 18 - Genji 1 (March 1864-April 1865)
Volume 19 - Keiō 1 (year began May 1, 1865)
Volume 20 - Keiō 2 (1866)
Volumes 21 and 22 - Keiō 3 (year began February 13, 1867)
Volume 23 - Meiji 1 (1868)
Volumes 24 and 25 - Meiji 4 (1871)
2 website of San Diego Museum of Art curator's note http://collection.sdmart.org/Obj22286?sid=6177&x=51616
3 "Eyes of the Heart: Illustration and the Visual Imagination in Modern Japanese Literature" [a dissertation], Pedro Thiago Ramos Bassoe, University of California, Berkeley, 2018, p. 1 https://escholarship.org/content/qt0777d5sv/qt0777d5sv.pdf
4 As Ryūtei Senka, who also called himself Ryūtei Tanehiko II, signed his name as 柳亭種彥作 Ryūtei Tanehiko saku, some sources credit authorship to Ryūtei Tanehiko I (1783-1842), although long dead.
5 Santei Shunba's death is sometimes given as 1851, which is likely incorrect as the volumes he is credited with authoring were published from 1859 to 1861. [for examples, see websites of Yale University Library https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2068193 and Waseda University Library https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/he13/he13_01181/index.html
The Complete Volumes 21 and 22 of Warabeuta myōmyō guruma
Myōmyō guruma 21, 2
right page: frontispiece
Myōmyō guruma 21, 1
left page: preface
signed ?草人 柳亭種彥 (old man? Tanehiko)
dated Keiō 3 (1867)
top margin:寅二改
Keiō 2, 2nd month (February 1866)
date-aratame censor seal
Myōmyō guruma 21, 3
Myōmyō guruma 21, 8
Myōmyō guruma 21, 6
Myōmyō guruma 21, 9
right page: frontispiece
Myōmyō guruma 21, 2with signatures of writer and artist柳亭種彥作 Ryūtei Tanehiko saku梅朝楼國貞画 Baichōrō Kunisada galeft page: page 11
明治七年甲戌春陽開板標目 (1874)
followed by listed worksand name and address of publisher蔦屋吉蔵板 南伝馬町壹丁目
Tsutaya Kichizō han Kyōbashi Nantenmachō 1 chōme
right page: frontispiece
Myōmyō guruma 22, 1
left page: preface
signed ?草人 柳亭種彥 (old man? Tanehiko)
dated Keiō 3 (1867)
top margin:寅二改
Keiō 2, 2nd month (February 1866)
date-aratame censor seal
Myōmyō guruma 22, 2with signatures of writer and artist柳亭種彥作 Ryūtei Tanehiko saku梅朝楼國貞画 Baichōrō Kunisada galeft page: page 11
明治七年甲戌春陽開板標目 (1874)
followed by listed worksand name and address of publisher蔦屋吉蔵板 南伝馬町壹丁目
Tsutaya Kichizō han Kyōbashi Nantenmachō 1 chōme
Book Details
| IHL Catalog | #2007 |
| Title or Description | Warabeuta myōmyō guruma, 21編 22編 童謡妙々車 [童謡妙妙車; 童歌妙々車; 童唄妙々車] (ワラベウタ ミョウミョウグルマ; わらべうたみょうみょうぐるま) The Wheel of Causation, Volumes 21 and 22 (also seen translated as The Wheels of Wonder; Miraculous Wheel of Wonders; A Children’s Song: The Miraculous Wheel of Wonders) |
| Artist | Utagawa Kunisada II (1823-1880); author: Ryūtei Senka 笠亭仙果 (c. 1806 - 1868) signing as Ryūtei Tanehiko [second generation] 柳亭種彦 2世 |
| Signature |   appearing as part of illustration on final page of volume 1, part 1 appearing on frontispieces for part 2 of volumes 21 and 22柳亭種彥作 Ryūtei Tanehiko saku 梅朝楼國貞画 Baichōrō Kunisada ga  Cartouche appearing on final page of text of volumes 21 and 22 top: 種彥著 book (writer), Tanehiko cho bottom: 國貞画 illustrator (artist), Kunisada ga |
| Seal | |
| Publication Date | 1876 (originally 1867) date appearing on last page of each volume which is an advertisement for the publisher's woodblock printed books available in Meiji 7 (1876)  明治七年甲戌春陽開板標目  date and aratame (censor seal) appearing on the first page of text of each volume and indicating the date when approval was given by the government censor 寅二改 Keiō 2, 2nd month (February 1866)  date appearing on each preface:慶應三年卯春首發版 published Keiō 3 (1867), 2nd lunar month |
| Edition | later edition |
| Publisher | Tsutaya Kichizō 蔦屋吉蔵 (firm: Kōeidō 紅英堂) [Marks: pub. ref. 554]  publisher's name and address appearing on the last page of both volumes 蔦屋吉蔵板 南伝馬町壹丁目 Tsutaya Kichizō han Kyōbashi Nantenmachō 1 chōme [address] |
| Carver | |
| Printer | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | good |
| Condition | good |
| Miscellaneous | unread mark stamped twice on each title page to the first and second parts of volumes 21 and 22  unread mark in square followed by characters 塩幸 |
| Genre | kusazōshi; ehon 絵本 |
| Format | fukurotoji (“bound-pocket” or “pouch” binding) |
| H x W Paper | overall book dimensions H x W x D: 11 15/16 x 8 5/16 x 7/16 in. (30.3 x 21.1 x 1.1 cm) |
| H x W Image | area defined by black border of each illustration: 6 15/16 x 5 1/4 in. (17.6 x 13.3 cm) approx. |
| Collections This Book | collections holding this edition - none collection's holding other editions - Yale University Library Call Number YAJ 6b19; Waseda University Library volumes 1, 2-22 Call No. ヘ13 03750, volumes 1, 2-18 Call No. ヘ13 01181 |
| Reference Literature | |
7/24/2021 created
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