Ninjōbon
Open-knowledge reference entry
The ninjōbon (人情本) is a pre-modern Japanese literary genre. Founded and developed in the early nineteenth century, this style of books derived from the early sharebon and kokkeibon genres and is a subgenre of gesaku. Ninjōbon was one of many genres in the Edo period of Japanese literature. Coming from the genre of “books of manners”, ninjōbon works were commonly referred to as “sentimental books”. A big difference between these “sentimental books”, often referred to as “weeping books”, and their predecessors –books of manners – ninjōbon focused more on erotic relationships and featured illustrations and vibrant covers. This style of novels focused on young love and were generally aimed to attract female readers; some common plot points and themes were love, suicide, relationships, family, etc. According to the book, An Edo Anthology, “’Sentimental books’ became the first full-fledged realistic novels complete with descriptive passages” (Jones and Watanabe, 2013).
Developments
Although little information is available about the first ninjobon, the ninjōbon genre begins around 1819 with Akegarasu Nochi no Masayume (明烏後正夢) by Ryūtei Rijō and Seidan Mine Hatsuhana (清談峰初花) by Jippensha Ikku as early examples of the genre.
The genre reached its peak in the 1830s. Much of this was due to works of Tamenaga Shunsui beginning with Shunshoku Umegoyomi (春色梅児誉美) in 1832.
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