Research
Noh and the business world of the Meiji and Taishō eras as seen in the diary of Yasukawa Keiichirō
Leader: SUGIYAMA Minako
Member: HIBINO Toshinobu
YASUKAWA Keiichirō (1849–1934), a businessman/politician born into a samurai family serving the Fukuoka clan (northern Kyūshū), studied utai with HŌSHŌ Kurō Tomoharu and NOGUCHI Kanesuke, and kotsuzumi with MISU Kingo and MISU Heiji. He was associated with the Noh performer UMEZU Shien and the samurai/politician KURODA Nagatomo. Leading members of the financial circles of Meiji and later eras often took a strong interest in Noh, as a means of acquiring the cultural capital necessary to function as a member of high society. We surmise that Yasukawa became more deeply associated with Noh as his social influence grew.
This project involves a detailed analysis of entries concerning Noh in Yasukawa Keiichirō’s diary (5 vols.), held by the Kitakyūshū Museum of Natural History and Human History. We aim to explore how the patronage of the head of a regional business enterprise influenced the Noh worlds of both national and regional centers at this time, by reading the entries in his diary against various contemporary materials. Topics covered include his lessons, his visits to the Noh theatre, his performances, the society he cultivated through his Noh contacts, organizations set up by people taking Noh lessons in Fukuoka, the invitation of Noh instructors from national centers, and his training of his relatives. Through this research, we hope to shed light on changes in the support base for Noh in the modern era.
Research Results
In this project, We tried analyzing entries in his diary of 1929-1934(now preparing for pubulishing as 5th volume), and read １−４ volumes again and made a list of 1722 entries as Excel date. And we tried grouping these entries to several categories：instructors, club, promotion, organization of Noh club in Fukuoka.
Through this research, we get some information. For example, the amount of entries concerning Noh varied from period to period. Especially in his diary of 1916-1920, we mostly could not read description of his Noh activity. It must be because he diversified his business in those years. About instructions, NOGUCHI Kanesuke: Noh actor of the Hosho school was the instructor whom YASUKAWA Keiichiro had a deep master-and-pupil relationship. After 1925, in response to the request of people taking Noh lessons in Fukuoka, Keichiro organized Kanesuke’s lesson in Fukuoka, and he also enjoyed kanesuke’s lessons in Fukuoka immediately before his death in 1934. We have not confirmed how he contributed to the advancement of Noh as a wealthy business person, but known that he had relationship with IKEUCHI Nobuyoshi. In 1922, YASUKAWA Keichiro retired from his business. After his retirement, he was hard at Noh club activities in Fukuoka, and after 1930, he presides Fukuoka Hoshokai.
YASUKAWA Keichiro‘s diary brings us a lot of information about his contemporary trend of the Noh in Fukuoka and tells us eloquently the significance of the Noh for the leader in local area of the business world. We plan to write articles on YASUKAWA Keichiro’s involvement with the Noh in the modern era from the product of this research.
2015年度
杉山未菜子
（展示）福岡市博物館 企画展示「たのしい狂言面入門」開催（6月30日～8月30日）、同解説リーフレット執筆
（口頭報告）平成24〜26年科学研究費補助金（基盤研究（C））「近代日本における企業家の社会史 —政治・経済・文化—」の後継的研究プロジェクト（※）準備会議（8月24日 於：福岡市博物館講座室３）で、日記の記述について口頭報告
