was a Japanese artist, writer, and the owner of a tobacco shop during the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He began his professional career illustrating the works of others before writing his own Kibyà Âshi and Sharebon, which marked his importance in the history of manga. Within his works, Kyà Âden often included references to his shop to increase sales. Kyà Âden's works were affected by the shifting publication laws of the Kansei Reforms, which aimed to punish writers and their publishers for writings related to the Yoshiwara and other things that were deemed to be "harmful to society" at the time by the Tokugawa Bakufu. As a result of his punishment in 1791, Kyà Âden shifted his writings to the more didactic Yomihon. During the 1790s, Santà  Kyà Âden became a household name, and one of his works could sell as many as 10,000 copies, numbers that were previously unheard of for the time.
Santà  Kyà Âden was born in Fukagawa, Edo (now Tokyo). The Iwase family, into which he was born, were pawnbrokers. Kyà Âden was the oldest of four siblings. He had one younger brother, Iwase Momoki (岩ç¬ ç¾樹), who later became a famous writer under the name Santà  Kyà Âzan. Kyà Âden also had two younger sisters named Kinu and Yone. His name as a child was Jintarà Â.
He first began his studies at the age of nine by reading kusazà Âshi, specifically aohon "blue books", kurobon "black books", and akahon "red books", and also by copying the works of other authors.
While Kyà Âden was beginning his studies, he was gifted a desk by his father, Denzaemon, which he would continue to use until he died.
Ukiyo-e
Kyà Âden began his career by studying ukiyo-e or woodblock prints, which typically depicted "the floating world" of the Yoshiwara under Kitao Shigemasa (Ã¥ÂÂå°¾ éÂÂæ¿), and began illustrating kibyà Âshi under the pseudonym Kitao Masanobu (Ã¥ÂÂå°¾ æ¿寠). He began his professional career by illustrating the works of other authors.
His visual artwork is held in several museums, including the Harvard Art Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chazen Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Kibyà Âshi
In the 1780s, he began writing kibyà Âshi or "yellow-covered" picture books under the name Santà  Kyà Âden. Several of these works are written by Santà  Kyà Âden and illustrated by Kitao Masanobu. His works gained popularity in 1785. One of his most popular works during this time was Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki, or "Playboy, Grilled Edo Style" or "Playboy, a la Edo." In this work, the main character, Enjirà Â, is drawn with a pig's nose that became a distinctive feature of Kyà Âden's illustrations. It is commonly referred to as the "Kyà Âden nose." Kyà Âden often depicts himself and his tobacco shop in his works. At the end of Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki, it turns out that Enjirà  commissioned Kyà Âden to write his story. Kyà Âden wrote thirteen kibyà Âshi in 1793. Kyà Âden continued to write kibyà Âshi until the eventual decline of the genre due to censorship laws during the Kansei Reforms.
Sharebon
Kyà Âden's first sharebon or "book of manners" was published in 1785. Sharebon acted as guidebooks for how to act in the Yoshiwara. In 1789, Kyà Âden was punished for his illustrations in Koku bykau mizukagami by Ishibe Kinko. This work displeased authorities and resulted in Kyà Âden being fined for his illustrations. Following his punishment, Kyà Âden continued to illustrate, but only his own works. This was not the only punishment Kyà Âden faced as two years later, Kyà Âden was handcuffed for fifty days because of three sharebon he wrote. Although there are disagreements as to what the government had an issue with. David Atherton, assistant Professor of East Asian languages and civilizations at Harvard University, in his essay The Author as Protagonist claims that the works were "deemed to contain indecent material" and Kyà Âden's punishment reflected a "moral connection between author and book that differentiated his position from the others that were punished." During the Kansei Reforms, the bakufu tried to hold artists and publishers accountable for works that they considered to be "harmful to society" for various reasons, such as depicting the Yoshiwara. It is believed that his punishment was used to make an example out of him and to scare off smaller, less famous writers from writing offending material. Adam Kern, professor of Japanese literature and visual culture at the University of Wisconsin, in his extensive thesis, Blowing Smoke: Tobacco pouches, literary squibs, and authorial puffery in the pictorial comic fiction, argues that Kyà Âden was punished not because of the material present within Kyà Âden's sharebon, but because of a technicality. Due to the nature of these types of works, writers and publishers would often omit their names. During the Kansei Reforms, however, writers and publishers were required to display their names on the cover of the book, something which Kyà Âden and had failed to do with the three offending sharebon. However, these rules were rarely enforced and thus inconsistent as a result.
Kyà Âden was not the only one punished, however, Kyà Âden's father was also reprimanded. The two censors who had approved the books were not only fined, but they were also banished from Edo. The publisher of Kyà Âden's three offending works, Tsutaya Jà «zaburà  (also commonly referred to as Tsutaju), had half of his assets seized by the government as Kyà Âden's works violated publishing edicts during the Kansei Reforms. Immediately following his punishment, Tsutaju issued a public apology and admitted that he pressured Kyà Âden into releasing those works. Kyà Âden himself was hesitant in releasing the work due to the contents. It would seem that Kyà Âden was trying to avoid punishment, as the punishment he faced two years ago was still fresh in his mind. In Tsutaju's preface, majime naru kojo to Kyà Âden's Hakoiri musume men'ya ningyo, Tsutaju also implied that this incident deeply upset Kyà Âden to the point where he wanted to take a temporary break from writing. Ironically, this caused sales of Kyà Âden's works to increase because rumors spread that Kyà Âden was never going to write again, and Tsutaju capitalized on these rumors by reissuing second editions of Kyà Âden's most popular kibyoshi. As a result, Kyà Âden stopped writing gesaku or "playful writings" shortly thereafter.
Yomihon
Following his punishment in 1791, Kyà Âden shifted to yomihon or "books for reading." Yomihon are known for being large scale and for being more dramatic and didactic rather than episodic and humorous like many of the works Kyà Âden had previously written. Kyà Âden's first yomihon was Tzuzoku Taiseiden or the "Popular Biography of Confucius." In the autumn of that year, Kyokutei Bakin, who would later go on to write Nansà  Satomi Hakkenden, or "Tale of Eight Dogs," was made Kyà Âden's apprentice.
Overall career
It is estimated that over the course of Kyà Âden's career, Kyà Âden was involved in approximately 200 unique pieces. He is estimated to have written 125 of them himself. Although this number may be bloated because reissues may be included as well. The way in which Kyà Âden was paid for his writings was different from the way in which other writers at the time were paid. Most authors of the time were paid a "nominal fee" if their works were to gain popularity, but Kyà Âden was paid "regularly on a manuscript-for-fee basis." The problem with this, however, was that when Tsutaju reissued second editions of Kyà Âden's most famous works, he did not get paid for those, because he was only paid for the manuscript. Adam Kern argues that most of the writers during this time were more concerned with establishing themselves as an identifiable brand first and then writing derivative literature. Within his works, Kyà Âden would present the image he wanted his readers to have of him as a writer. He would describe in detail the struggles he faced, such as struggling to meet deadlines and trying to constantly produce new writings for his publishers. There is great contention as to whether pieces written by Kyà Âden and other writers were plagiarized; however, Kern argues that it was conventional at the time for works to be derivative and that Kyà Âden "appreciated this predicament, reveled in it, and even flaunted it in his kibyà Âshi."
Advertisements and Promotions
Kyà Âden was not only an established author. Kyà Âden was also the owner of a successful tobacco shop named "Kyà Âya Denzà Â's Shop" that opened in the autumn of 1793 in Ginza. One way Kyà Âden was able to increase sales was by placing advertisements for his shop within his writings. Although this is common practice today, this was a new development in Japan at the time. In order for Kyà Âden to differentiate that from his writing, he would put a box around his advertisements and announce, "this is an advertisement." Even his pseudonym, Santà  Kyà Âden, contains a reference to the location of his tobacco shop. To means "to the East" of san, "the mountains," in kyà  or "Kyà Âbashi." Den is a reference to his status as a merchant named "Denzaburo."
Kyà Âden was also able to capitalize on his celebrity status to draw customers to his shop. As Adam Kern states, "most denizens of Edo in late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Japan would have recognized the Kyà Âden name as that of the best-selling author of numerous genres of light fiction." This is why Kyà Âden made sure to establish himself as a brand before he opened his shop so that people would be drawn to the shop to have a chance of meeting "Japan's first celebrity writer." However, it seems that Kyà Âden left the day-to-day activities to his father while he would lock himself in his office on the second floor to continue writing.
Kyà Âden faced competition two years after he opened his shop as other shops began making knock-offs of his tobacco pouches. One of the ways Kyà Âden was able to keep customers from visiting his cheaper competitors was through his use of advertisements. In response to his competitorsâ knock-offs of his products, Kyà Âden began giving out handbills with rebuses, or puzzles where words are represented through both pictures and letters. However, it is reported by contemporaries that his profits were not actually increased by the use of these handbills and that, for Kyà Âden, merchandising was a hobby. What makes Kyà Âden's advertisements stand out from others at the time is a strategy he employs called mitate or "double seeing." Just reading through his advertisement, would make it seem no different from any other advertisement today as it consists of honorific language to address new and old, and any potential customers, and explains what new items he has in stock. However, in Japanese, one of his advertisements reads "announcing [the goods] on sale this weekend" (kono setsu uridashi mà Âshi sà Ârà Â). The word mà Âshi is a formal way of expressing the speaker's respect for the listener. However, Kyà Âden uses mitate in his illustration by having the phrase "mà Âshi mà Âshi" or "hey there!" being said by a streetwalker to potential customers. Charlotte Eubanks, a professor of comparative literature, Japanese, and Asian studies at Penn State University, argues in her article Visual vernacular: rebus, reading and urban culture in early modern Japan that in setting up his advertisements this way Kyà Âden "takes the distant and makes it close, turning the pandering tone of the business solicitation into a shared joke, bringing the niceties of language down to street level, and asserting the novel appeal of the vulgar." In juxtaposing these two ideas together, Kyà Âden is able to take what would've been a straightforward and plain advertisement and turn it into something more memorable and do so in a way that would appeal to common folk at the time. In Japanese, there were two terms used to describe "high" and "low" writings, those being "ga" and "zoku." Kyà Âden's advertisement employs mitate by combining the higher, more formal language with the lower, less refined streetwalker. The rebus was also a way for Kyà Âden to get around censorship laws enacted during the Kansei Reforms.
Goods at his shop
The goods that were sold at Kyà Âden's tobacco shop include tobacco pipes, smoke pouches, and other smoking related goods. However, his store also sold other things that aren't smoking related. He also sold a "cure-all pill" called tokushogan and "reader's pills." These "reading pills" became a mainstay of his shop. Kyà Âden also sold paper products.
It is believed that Santà  Kyà Âden had first visited the Yoshiwara, or Red-light district, sometime between 1776 and 1780. Because the Yoshiwara was separated from the rest of Edo by one entrance/exit, the Yoshiwara developed its own customs, language, traditions, and fashion, which artists and writers alike used as a backdrop for their works. Kyà Âden was one writer and artist who drew heavily on the Yoshiwara, for inspiration within his works. He would often depict contemporary courtesans in both his illustrations and in his writings. He also frequented the Yoshiwara, and it was in the red-light district where Kyà Âden met both of his wives. Kyà Âden was one of the few men of the time who was able to achieve the status of tsà «. According to Sumie Jones, a professor of East Asian Languages and cultures at Indiana University, tsà « were men "who were regarded as true Edokko" (natives of Edo) who "displayed their style and wealth as clients at Yoshiwara and other pleasure districts." For the average man during the Tokugawa period, tsà « was an unattainable example set for men in the pleasure quarters. Men who tried to reach this standard but failed are commonly referred to as a "half-baked" tsà «.
Yoshiwara in his works
One of Kitao Masanobu's most enduring illustrations is his Shin bijin awase jihitsu no kagami, or "The New Beauties' Competition (of Yoshiwara)." This work features illustrations of fourteen real, famous courtesans and poems they composed. While this isn't anything impressive today, the idea of "affixing a courtesan's name to her portrait" was a recent innovation, according to Adam Kern. On top of this, Kern also states that it seems that collecting courtesans autographs had become a "fashionable hobby" of the time and the letters within Kyà Âden's work had become one of the "most sought-after" mementos of the Yoshiwara. The reason this became so sought-after is because this is something the average person at the time would not have been able to afford and this would allow them to experience it as well.
Another instance where Kyà Âden references the Yoshiwara is in his kibyà Âshi Edo umare no kabayaki. Within his work, the main character Enjirà  pays off many different people, including news criers and numerous Geisha to try and spread the word that he is a tsà «. However, no one in the story believes his silly antics. He frequently visits the Yoshiwara and commissions many courtesans to pretend to fall in love with him, but none of them actually do so. At the end of this story, Enjirà  commissions his favorite courtesan, Ukina, to pretend to commit a lovers suicide as that was common in stories, but rarely ever happened in real life. The ending of the story is similar to what happened in Kyà Âden's own life, as Enjirà  winds up marrying Ukina and living happily together.
Kyà Âden's first marriage
Santà  Kyà Âden's first marriage was to Okiku (or Kikuzono) in February 1790. According to Jane Devitt, professor of Japan/Australia relations at the University of Melbourne, Kyà Âden "married Okiku who completed her indenture at the Ogiya in the Yoshiwara in the winter of 1789." Prior to their marriage in 1786, Kyà Âden began referring to Okiku by name within his works which he continued to do up until Okiku's death. It is estimated that in 1790, when they got married, Okiku was somewhere between the ages of twenty-six to twenty-nine. However, their marriage, was short-lived, as not even four years after their marriage Okiku died. There are varying accounts as to the cause of her death. Devitt claims her death was caused by a blood clot, but, Adam Kern claims she had a stroke and that is it not known if the stroke was caused by a blood clot or by trauma. It is believed that Okiku passed on in late 1793 and because he was still grieving, Kyà Âden didn't publish anything in 1795 (he had published works in 1794, but it is believed that he had already finished working on them prior to her death.). Kyokutei Bakin wrote about Kyà Âden's experience leading up to Okiku's death. According to Bakin, Kyà Âden was unable to bear seeing his wife in pain and so he instead spent his days at the Yoshiwara where he eventually met his second wife. The is debate as to whether Kyà Âden was a faithful husband, but as Devitt claims whether he was or wasn't he "did not marry again for seven years." According to Bakin, Okiku wasn't the prettiest woman, but she was a "model wife." After their marriage, Kyà Âden had depicted Okiku not as a courtesan, but as his wife and according to Kern "every source indicates [their marriage] was a blithe union."
Kyà Âden's second marriage
It is believed that in 1797, or sometime around then, Kyà Âden met his second wife, Tamanoi, who later goes by the name Yuri. At the time, Kyà Âden was forty and Yuri is estimated to have been about twenty-three. She achieved the level of heyamochi, meaning that she had her own room, and she was just below the highest ranking of tayà «. According to Bakin in Iwademo no ki, during Yuri's last three years at the Yoshiwara, she hardly had any other customers besides Kyà Âden. Adam Kern argues this is because "they grew increasingly familiar, to the point that she declined to see other customers." Unlike Okiku, though, Yuri had not yet completed her indenture, so Kyà Âden paid a sum of twenty ryà  to redeem her. Kyà Âden not only married Yuri, but he also adopted her younger sister, who he gave the name Tsuru. Bakin claims that Kyà Âden had originally planned on adopting Yuri's younger brother, but he died at the age of twenty. Similar to Okiku, Yuri also made a smooth transition from courtesan to wife. However, their marriage was also cut short, but this time by Kyà Âden's death.
Before Santà  Kyà Âden's death, Kyà Âden had been complaining of chest pains. The chest pains began in either 1813 or 1814, and Kyà Âden complained of the pain when he would go on walks. Kyà Âden remained indoors until his chest pain was lessened in the summer of 1815. Kyà Âden then met with several of his friends and attended various gatherings. In July 1816, Kyà Âden died. Kyokutei Bakin claims that Kyà Âden overworked himself to death. However, Mizuno Minoru, a researcher of early modern Japanese literature, claims that Kyà Âden died of a heart attack. There are also disagreements on the events leading up to Kyà Âden's death. One retelling is that Kyà Âden was engaged in an argument when his anger overcame him. The second is that Kyà Âden stayed up late drinking alcohol with his brother and two other poets, and his overexhaustion caught up with him. He was buried in the Eko-in cemetery.
Tobacco shop and Yuri
Following Kyà Âden's death, Yuri, Kyà Âden's second wife, struggled to keep Kyà Âden's tobacco shop afloat. Kyà Âden's brother Kyà Âzan moved into Kyà Âden's house to help her run the business, but according to him and Bakin, Yuri was "maddened with grief." Her condition seemed to deteriorate further after Kyà Âzan moved in. Bakin stated that the way in which she spoke and behaved was strange. This continued until her death in February 1818. Bakin blamed part of this on Kyà Âzan, claiming that he drove her to insanity, and he also blamed Kyà Âzan for squandering the rest of Kyà Âden's assets from his tobacco shop.
Post-death popularity
Kyà Âden remained somewhat popular immediately after his death. Kyà Âden's continued popularity can be seen through the numerous biographies written about him. The first of these was Iwademo no ki by Kyokutei Bakin in 1819. The second is Santà  Kyà Âden ichidaiki, but the author is unknown, and this was published in 1834. Also in 1834, Kyà Âden was listed as one of the "six immortals" of gesaku by Bokusentei Yukimaro. For the next hundred years, interest in Kyà Âden and in gesaku declined. There were a few exemptions, such as Santà  Kyà Âden in 1916 by Miyatake Gaikotsu and Koike Tà Âgorà Â's Santà  Kyà Âden no kenkyu in 1935.
Kibyà Âshi
Sharebon
Yomihon
Historical Works
It was common for authors and illustrators to write and illustrate under a number of different aliases depending on what genre they were writing. Santà  Kyà Âden was one such writer and illustrator that used a host of different names.