Ishikawa Masamochi


Ishikawa Masamochi was a Japanese kokugaku scholar, kyōka poet and writer of yomihon of the late Edo period.

Biography

Ishikawa Masamochi was born Nukaya Shichihē. According to the autobiographical Rokujuen Jihitsu Kirekiroku, he was born on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of Hōreki 3 according to the traditional Japanese calendar.
He was the eighth child of the, Edo innkeeper Nukaya Shichihē, better known as the ukiyo-e master Ishikawa Toyonobu. His mother was Toyonobu's second wife, the younger sister of his first wife. According to Masamochi's autobiographical Towazu-gatari, all of the children of his father's first wife died young.
He died on the 24th day of the third month of Bunsei 13. He was buried in the Kaya-dera in Asakusa. His grave still exists, but the grave marker was destroyed in a fire.

Names

Masamochi's real birth name was Nukaya Shichihē. In his childhood he was known by the name Kiyonosuke. He changed his name to Ishikawa Gorobē at one point.
His courtesy name was Shisō. His kyōmei was Yadoya Meshimori, a reference to his family business as innkeepers. He used numerous art names, including Rokujuen, Gorō Sannin, Gyakuryo Shujin and Gajutsusai.
His posthumous dharma name is Rokuju-in Daiyo Gorō Kyoshi.

Writings

Scholarly works

Perhaps because of his father's connections in the world of art and culture, Masamochi first began his Japanese studies under and Chinese studies under Furuya Sekiyō.
As a kokugaku scholar, his main research interest was The Tale of Genji, on which he regularly lectured. These lectures formed the basis of his commentary, Genchū Yoteki, and his gago dictionary Gagen Shūran.

Poetry

He first took up kyōka composition under, but in 1783 became a disciple of Yomo no Akara. The same year, his kyōka appeared in Kyōka-shi Saiken as those of a disciple of Fuguri Tsurikata, and in Kyōka Shittariburi as those of a disciple of Yomo no Akara.

Works cited