Morisada manko

• Japanese: 守貞謾稿 (Morisada mankou)

Morisada mankô is a series of writings by the Osaka merchant Kitagawa Morisada describing a variety of aspects of 19th century urban life. He originally completed the text in 34 volumes in 1853, but added additional sections later.

The thirty-four volumes include sections on men's and women's clothing, everyday objects, types of stores and businesses, architectural elements, foods and drinks, entertainments, geography, currency, and modes of transport, among other themes, with each section further sub-divided into brief descriptions of individual items, ranging from half a page to several pages, often accompanied by illustrations.

The text was formally published in 1908 under the title Ruijû kinsei fûzoku shi (roughly, "writings on early modern folk culture, organized by topic"). It was later republished, perhaps multiple times, with one edition, edited by Asakura Haruhiko and Kashikawa Shûichi, being issued by Tôkyôdô publishers in 1992. A version adapting the text into more modern Japanese, by Usami Hideki, was also published by Iwanami Bunko in 1996.

References

• "Morisada mankô," Digital Daijisen, Shôgakkan.
• Asakura Hidehiko and Kashikawa Shûichi (eds.), Morisada mankô, Tokyo: Tokyodo shuppan (1992). Five vols.
• Usami Hideki (ed.), Kinsei fûzoku shi, Tokyo: Iwanami bunko (1996). Five vols.