일본 근세시대 재해 문예와 재해 피해자 - 『무사시아부미(むさしあぶみ)』 를 중심으로 -

Abstract

In this article, I analyse the disastrous situation of the great fire of Meireki and its victims, as described in Ry?i Asai’s Musashiabumi and argue that the literary works of the time featured the socially vulnerable people. Early modern Japan saw the emergence of literary works which minutely recorded the date and time of fire, the location, and the extent of damage, owing to the development of publishing culture. It should not go unnoticed that these literary works describe the disastrous situation surrounding discriminated people who suffered disasters in early modern Japan. Also, the latter volume of Musashiabumi introduces the social relief measures for those affected by the great fire of Meireki. Still, although these measures were effective for restoring the functions of the societies and cities, no concrete measures were presented for the socially vulnerable people, who were more seriously affected by the disaster. This point would be important when we consider the literary works in early modern Japan which featured the discriminated people under the disastrous situations.