Kamo no Mabuchi
Kamono Mabuchi (Japanese: 賀茂真淵; 24 April 1697-27 November 1769) was a Japanese poet and philologist of the Edo period.
Mabuchi conducted research into the spirit of ancient Japan through his studies of the Manyoshu and other works of ancient literature. A disciple of Kada no Azumamaro, Mabuchi is regarded as one of the four greats of Kokugaku.
Mabuchi’s works include commentaries on the Manyoshu, norito (Shinto prayers), kagura (Shinto dances), the Tale of Genji, the meaning of poems, and other ancient works and their themes.
His disciples included Motoori Norinaga, Arakida Hisaoyu, Kato Chikage, Murata Harumi, Katori Tahiko, Hanawa Hokiichi, Uchiyama Matatsu, and Kurita Hijimaro.
Life
Mabuchi was born in 1697, the third son of the Hamamatsu Shinto priest Okabe Masanobu. The Okabe were a lower branch of the famous Kamo Shrine in Kyoto. In 1722 Mabuchi joined a poetry reading party at the Sugiura and met Kada no Azumamaro, who was an eminent scholar of Japanese classical culture and a tanka poet.
In 1728 Mabuchi attended a lecture “Hyakunin Isshu (The Hundred Poems by One Hundred)” by Sugiura Kuniakira, a disciple of Kada no Azumamaro. Shortly afterwards, Mabuchi moved to Kyoto and became an earnest disciple of Kada no Azumamaro. Mabuchi devoted himself to his studies and became a teacher of “Hyakunin Isshu.” Following the master’s death in 1736, Mabuchi moved to Edo (now known as Tokyo). Kada no Arimaro, a nephew and adopted son of Kada no Aumamaro, took care Mabuchi. In those days Kada no Arimaro was an important scholar for the Tokugawa Shogunate, serving under Tayasu Munetake, the 8th Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune’s second son. Tayasu had his own theories about classical literature and wanted to revive the Japanese classics. However, Tayasu and Kada no Arimaro argued about the theory of Kokugaku. They could not resolve the argument, and finally Tayasu asked Mabuchi to give his opinion. Tayasu hired Mabuchi to replace Kada no Arimaro and Mabuchi remained in this post for 15 years.
In 1760 Mabuchi, now 64 years old, retired from his post in the government. As an independent Kokugaku scholar and Japanese poet, he taught numerous disciples. In 1763 Mabuchi made a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine in Mie prefecture. On the way to Ise he spent the night at a hotel, where the young scholar Motoori Norinaga sought him out. Their encounter, which lasted only a few hours, marked a turning point for the Kokugaku movement. Though Mabuchi was a famous and high-ranking scholar, he was very humble. He sensed a spark of genius in this country youth. This was the only occasion on which Norinaga was taught directly by Mabuchi, and this single night of discussion later became known as “the night in Matsuzaka.” (Matsuzaka was Motoori Norinaga’s home town.) Motoori became a disciple of Mabuchi and one of the leading scholars of the Kokugaku movement.
A commemorative marker stands at the site of Mabuchi’s residence in Edo (Hisamatsu-cho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo). His grave can be found in the Tokaiji cemetery in Shinagawa Ward. A museum stands beside the house where he was born in Hamamatsu (Higashi-Iba, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka).
See also
Template:Japan-bio-stub
ja:賀茂真淵
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