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What do you read "Yomieai"?

I read "Egoyomi". If you change it to the current kanji, it is "picture calendar".

This is a calendar of the Edo period. In the Edo period, it was a lunar calendar. The big moon is the 30th and the small moon is the 29th. Moreover, it was complicated to match the actual season once every 2 or 3 years to 13 months. The moon of the moon of the moon changes every year, so a calendar was needed to know it.

It became popular to sneak a large moon in the picture and exchange a picture calendar like a mystery solving. In Meiwa 2 (1765), a contest for the picture calendar was held, and the picture calendar was very popular. While competing for beautiful works, Harunobu Suzuki presented a multi-colored picture calendar, and "Nishiki-e" was born.

The yokan wrapped in bamboo skin is also a picture calendar, so you can see the large moon. It can be seen from the paper lowered on the foothold that it was "Tenmei 7 (1787) year old". It seems that Yokan was sometimes used in the unyear calendar because the yokan is used with the letters of Yokan. There is a letter "Large" on the short side of the left of the yokan. Do you know that "positive (1), 4, 9" is hidden from the right on the top, and "10, 7, 12" is hidden on the front side? It is a picture calendar that shows the great moon of 1787.

Why is yokan placed on such a fine table?

"New Board Oedo Specialties Soroku" Tokyo Metropolitan Library Digital Archive

It is Soroku, a collection of Edo specialties from Kaei 5 (1852). "Nihonbashi Uoichi" in the lower right appears, and the top-left dressed girls enjoying books and ukiyo-e are rising. On the way, "Chomyoji Sakura Mochi", which is still open on Mukaijima, appears as "Sumida River Sakura Mochi", and there is also "Yaozen", which was known for luxury restaurants.

Among them, there is a yokan similar to the one introduced in the picture calendar at the beginning. Let's enlarge it.

“Shinita Oedo Specialty Soroku” (partially expanded) Tokyo Metropolitan Library Digital Archive

Two men bowed in front of the big kagami mochi with the title "Suzuki Yakan". It will be a New Year's greeting depending on the situation. There is a long and elongated "Yakan" on a platform with feet similar to the picture calendar between the two. You can imagine that Suzuki's yokan is a luxury item used for advances. The yokan in the picture calendar is wrapped in bamboo skin, but this looks like it is in a folding box. Did you use a folding box for the official gift?

"Edogiri-ezu Nihonbashi Kita Kanda Hamacho-ezu" (expanded store name, added bridge name) National Diet Library Digital Collection

"Suzuki Yakan" is a shop called "Suzuki Echigo" of the Shogunate's purveyor on Honmachi 1-chome on the map. It is also introduced in "Edo Specialty Poetry" as "Yokan ringing in the world". You can see that it was a famous store.

"Kanazawa Tango" located near Motoishicho 2-chome near Suzuki Echigo is also a purveyor of the Shogunate. I also made yokan, but my best specialty was Arihira sugar. It seems that it was a shop that mainly made wonderfully crafted sweets for offerings. There are the following episodes about the yokan of those two stores.

This is the story of the Tenmei era (1781-1788). When a samurai was promoted, he learned the customs and served his colleagues in cooking. In accordance with the advice of the instructor, we prepared dishes at famous restaurants, but the pockets have become quite stricter. So, even though it was designated as "Suzuki Echigo Yokan", one of the people offered a reasonable "Kanazawa Tango Yokan" than Suzuki Echigo, isn't this a Suzuki Echigo Yokan? I realized it. "Yokan's eyes are rough," he said, "Yokan's eyes are rough. Echigo Suzuki would be smoother and not like this." I blamed it. It is said that the promoted samurai and the instructor who set up the entertainment seat were sorry for sitting under the ground.

This is often cited as a story that praises the greatness of the taste that understands the difference between yokan, and a story that shows the deliciousness of Echigo Suzuki's yokan. However, for Tango Kanazawa, who was a purveyor of the Shogunate, it would have been a great inconvenience to make such a comparison.

Yokan is a thick soup with Chinese "yokan" meat "Atsumono" yokan. That kan is the proverb of "spraying the earnings in the kan (Atsumono)".

During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, Zen monks told Japan, but sheep did not exist in Japan, and Zen monks were prohibited from eating meat, so kneading vegetable ingredients and steaming them to make meat and fish shapes and use them as a soup. Was.

At the beginning of the tea ceremony, it began to be served as confectionery using only steamed ingredients.

Today, when it comes to yokan, I generally imagine kenyokan. However, for a long time, yokan was steamed yokan. It was only after the agar was formed during the Manji period (1658-1661) that kenyokan was made. At first, the agar was only made and used like a kudzu cut. It will be about 100 years later that Nenyokan will be born. After that, Nenyokan became very popular.

The yokan in the picture calendar at the beginning is Tenmei era 7 (1787). Nerenyokan is a popular era. The calendar needs to be familiar to everyone, so it's no wonder to use trendy sweets. Therefore, "Yokan in the picture calendar" is thought to be "Nenyokan".

By the way, the problem is the yokan of the story of Echigo Suzuki and Tango Kanazawa, which is the story of the Tenmei era (1781-1788) at the same time as the picture calendar. In terms of time, the same yokan as the picture calendar is popular. In addition, what about "Nenyokan", which is characterized by smoothness because the expression of a person who noticed that it was not after Suzu Kigoshi and suspected was different? I think so.

However, the introduction of Echigo Suzuki in "Edo Specialty Poetry" states, "At that time, a new place made at that time, it sounds in Yokan Tenka because of the old days." "New" means that it has been newly made, so it will be "Nenyokan". "Reliant on the old" means "Ryokan" that has been around for a long time. Therefore, Echigo Suzuki means "squealing to the world" with traditional "Ryokan" rather than the new product "Ryokan".

If Echigo Suzuki was famous for its traditional steamed yokan than the traditional yokan, which was popular at the time, it may be called "yokan". Well, where will you be?

Both Echigo Suzuki and Tango Kanazawa went out of business after the Meiji Restoration. It is said that both were purveyors of the Shogunate and that they lost their use, and that they hated the store's reputation.

Suzuki Echigo has disappeared, but those who trained in Suzuki Echigo and received the last name of "Suzuki" and "Three scales' business crest" opened a store in Toyama in Keio 2 (1866), and still inherit the tradition of Nenyokan You are. Click here for the homepage of "Suzukitei".

Kanazawa Tango flourished the most during the 100 years of Tenpo since the Kyoho era, and in addition to the main store in Honishi-cho, three branches in Nihonbashi. It seems that there were 5 stores in Uenohirokoji. Like Suzuki Echigo, it closes with the Meiji Restoration, but the 11th generation Sanemon Kanazawa opened a beer shop in Shimbashi Minamikin Rokucho in 1875 and released "Sakurada Beer" in Meiji 12 (1879) and gained popularity. Was.

[References]

"How to enjoy Japanese sweets" Soko Suzuki Shinchosha

"Japanese sweets asking people, land and history" Hisae Nakashima Shibata Shoten

"Edo Confectionery Pattern" Kanazawa Fuichi Ao Frogbo