Takizawa Bakin

Takizawa Bakin (4 July 1767 – 1 December 1848) was born Takizawa Okikuni and is best known by his pen name Kyokutei Bakin. Modern scholars usually call him Kyokutei Bakin or simply Bakin. He is widely considered the foremost Japanese novelist of the early 19th century. Bakin came from a low-ranking samurai family and was the third son to survive childhood. After losing many relatives, he gave up his samurai status, married a merchant’s widow, and lived as a commoner in Edo. Although he always hoped to restore his family’s samurai standing, he made a living by writing prolifically in the gesaku style—mostly didactic historical romances. His most famous works include *Nansō satomi hakkenden* (The Chronicles of the Eight Dog Heroes of the Satomi Clan of Nansō), which runs to 106 books, and *Chinsetsu yumiharizuki* (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon). Over his lifetime, he produced more than 200 works, among them literary critiques, diaries, and historical novels.

**Life and career**

**Family and early life** Bakin was born in Edo (now Tokyo) on 4 July 1767, the fifth son of Bunkurō Omon and Takizawa Okiyoshi. Two older brothers had died in infancy. His father, Okiyoshi, served the shōgun’s retainer Matsudaira Nobutsuna until 1751, when he left that lord and entered the service of Matsuzawa Bunkurō. While with Bunkurō, Okiyoshi was adopted into the family and married Bunkurō’s adopted daughter, Omon. In 1760, after Okiyoshi’s successor was dismissed for embezzlement, he returned to serve the Matsudaira family. Okiyoshi was a heavy drinker but devoted to classical Chinese scholarship, especially military texts. He was a diligent samurai, but gout struck him in 1773, and he died in 1775. His death led the Matsudaira clan to halve the Takizawa stipend, beginning the family’s decline. Omon is described as a good mother and loyal wife. The family lived in the Matsudaira mansion until they gradually left Matsudaira Nobunari’s service, a process completed in 1780. Omon’s eldest son, Rabun (1759–1798), was the only child not born on the Matsudaira estate; he served the family until becoming a rōnin in 1776. His departure forced Omon and her remaining children—Bakin and his younger sisters Ohisa (born 1771) and Okiku (born 1774)—into a much smaller home. To ease the financial strain, Bakin’s older brother Keichū (1765–1786) was adopted out, and at age nine Bakin was named head of the family. When Rabun found new employment in 1778, Omon pretended to be ill in order to move in with him. There she became malnourished and died on 1 August 1785. Bakin served the Matsudaira lord’s grandson until 1780, when at age 14 he declared himself a rōnin, leaving behind a haiku: “Chilled by winter winds / I have decided / To journey with the gods.” Rabun secured a position for him in 1781, the longest Bakin would hold, but he left in 1784 out of dissatisfaction. He then lived briefly with Keichū, until Keichū’s lord died and discharged him from service in 1785. Keichū found another post for Bakin, but the young samurai stayed less than a year. Keichū himself died unattended in September 1786. This death humbled Bakin, who fell ill in 1788. He left his samurai post and moved in with Rabun, who had spent most of his savings on medicine. This was Bakin’s last period of samurai service. He studied medicine but found it uncomfortable, then tried work as a comic poet, fortuneteller, comedian, and Confucian scholar. His turning point came in 1790, when he approached the successful author Santō Kyōden for help publishing his first work, *Tsukaihatashite nibu kyogen* (尽用而二分狂言). In 1798 Rabun died of dysentery, leaving Bakin the sole male heir of the Takizawa line. He swore to restore the family. Rabun’s two daughters had died of illness in infancy.

**Life as an author** *Tsukaihatashite nibu kyogen* was published in 1791 under the pen name “Daiei Sanjin, Disciple of Kyoden.” This first book already had the didactic tone Bakin would carry through most of his later works. That choice served him well, because the Kansei Reforms of 1790 had changed both literature and the laws around it. Bakin avoided the punishments that fell on contemporaries such as Shikitei Sanba, Jippensha Ikku, and his friend and patron Santō Kyōden. He chose to stay silent on any controversies in his writings. Kyōden’s humiliation affected Bakin deeply. Kyōden asked Bakin to ghostwrite two works when deadlines approached: *Tatsunomiyako namagusa hachinoki* and *Jitsugo-kyō osana kōshaku*. Bakin wrote them, Kyōden copied them, and they were sent for publishing. In 1792 the name “Bakin” appeared in a published work for the first time. In 1793, mainly for financial reasons, Bakin married Aida Ohyaku, a widow who owned a footwear shop. The couple had four children: three daughters—Osaki (1794–1854), Oyū (born 1796), and Okuwa (born 1800)—and one son, Sōhaku (1798–1835). Bakin helped run the shop until his mother-in-law died in 1795, after which he had more time to write regularly. In 1796 he published his first yomihon, *Takao senjimon* (高尾船字文), and his works spread to Kyoto and Osaka, earning him nationwide acclaim. Eleven other works appeared in 1797, and he maintained a pace of about ten books per year until 1802. When he wrote a story he did not enjoy, he signed it “Kairaishi, disciple of Kyokutei Bakin,” which led other aspiring authors to seek him out.