Kusazōshi
| Kusazōshi | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Woodblock-printed illustrated literature |
| Cultural origins | Edo and early Meiji Japan |
| Subgenres | |
| Akahon (赤本), aohon (青本), kurohon (黒本), kibyōshi (黄表紙), gōkan (合巻) | |
| Related genres | |
| Gesaku (戯作) | |
Kusazōshi (草双紙) is a term that covers various genres of popular woodblock-printed illustrated literature during the Japanese Edo period (1600–1868) and early Meiji era. These works were published in the city of Edo (now Tokyo).
In its broadest sense, kusazōshi includes several genres primarily labelled according the colour of their covers:
- red books (赤本, akahon), aimed at boys and considered vulgar
- blue-green books (青本, aohon), containing summaries of plays, histories, and legends
- black books (黒本, kurohon), "stories adapted from popular dramas, the adventures of folk heroes, great battles, miracles, and tales from Buddhist and Shinto literature"
- vivid yellow covers (黄表紙, kibyōshi)
- and pleasure scrolls (合巻, gōkan), which despite the name were bound, printed books, initially focused on sexual content until the shogunate passed laws restricting explicit materials.
In the narrow sense, kusazōshi may refer specifically to gōkan. Kusazōshi belong to the group of works of popular fiction known as gesaku (戯作).