ABSTRACT
Yanagawa Shunsan also wrote a work in one stringbound volume entitled Yokohama hanjō ki (Chronicle of the Prosperity of Yokohama). On the title page, it reads: ‘Proofread by ‘Kikka senkaku’ (Hermit of the Haze), printed by the Bakuten Bookstore.’ There are also introductory poems by ‘Taihei isshi’ (Retiree in Peace) and ‘Nishikitani rōjin’ (Old Man of the Gilded Valley). When we move into the actual work itself, it reads at the start: ‘Written by the Old Man of the Gilded Valley and proofread by the Retiree in Peace.’ Apparently, because it was a comic work, he used kana in it. Although the date of publication is no where to be found, it seems to have been written in the Bunkyū period. According to Osatake, this volume, as well as such works as Tenshōsha kaiwa (Conversations at the Tenkōsha), 1 which was a record of friendly chats at the Yanagawa mansion, were part of a group that was given the name ‘Kikka rōshin rokurokubu shū’ (New collection 66 of the Tower of Haze), all generally from the Bunkyū era. In his chronological biography of Yanagawa, Osatake thus claims Tenshōsha kaiwa to be a work of Bunkyū 1 (1861).
