Aynuitak Huskokampi Aomarepu アイヌ語古記録データベース Early Records Database of the Ainu Language

蝦夷方言藻汐草

えぞほうげん もしおぐさ · Ezo hōgen moshiogusa · 上原熊次郎・阿部長三郎 · 1792 · Lexicon · Place names · Characters · Catalogue record

Composition, transmission and study of the yukar

The compilation and surviving copies of Moshiogusa, followed by the study, transcription, reconstruction and translation of its closing yukar.

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  1. Composition (inferred)

    Composition

    Compilation of Moshiogusa

    Moshiogusa is thought to have been compiled by Uehara Kumajirō in 1792. Tangiku Itsuji (2021) dates the printed edition to 1804. The narrator of the closing epic is unknown. Tangiku 2021, pp. 2, 30 ↧

  2. Preface date

    Publication

    A printed copy with an 1804 preface

    Waseda University Library’s one-volume copy (ホ02 05038) has a preface dated 1804. The catalogue credits Uehara as interpreter and Abe as administrator, and describes the work as a retitling of Ezo hōgen, with its postface dated 1792. Waseda catalogue, catalogue record ↧

  3. Publication

    Bibliographical study

    Kindaichi on authorship and editions

    Kindaichi Kyōsuke examined authorship and editions in his study of Uehara and his writings. As quoted by Tomomi Satō (2007), he drew on the one-volume copy’s postface to identify Uehara’s and Abe’s involvement, and inferred its priority from the clarity of its printing. Kindaichi 1913 — catalogue, 藝文 4-10 (continuation) ↧; Tomomi Satō 2007, pp. 157–159 ↧

  4. Publication

    Kana transcription

    Yamamoto Tasuke and Yamamoto Fumitoshi: Ainu Mosiri 4

    According to Tangiku Itsuji (2021), Ainu Mosiri 4 printed the complete epic in its original kana spelling, without a Japanese translation. It appears on pp. 90–99 of the 1998 Kushiro Ainu Bunka Konwakai reprint. Tangiku 2021, p. 2, note 1 ↧

  5. Publication

    Facsimile

    Kokushokankōkai facsimile

    Kokushokankōkai published a facsimile of Moshiogusa in its Ainu-language source series. Tangiku Itsuji later used it as the base text for his edition of the closing epic. Kokushokankōkai 1972, catalogue record ↧; Tangiku 2021, p. 30 ↧

  6. Publication

    Bibliographical study

    Tanaka Satoko and Sasaki Toshikazu on printed variants

    Their study distinguished two forms within the one-volume edition. Satō (2007) checked these observations against identifiable library copies. The essay was also collected as chapter 12 of Sasaki’s Ainu-shi no jidai e (2013). Tomomi Satō 2007, pp. 167–168, §2.5 ↧; Sasaki 2013 — contents, contents, chapter 12 ↧

  7. Publication

    Edition of a related text

    Tomomi Satō’s edition of Ezo chiyaranke narabini jōruri kotoba

    Tomomi Satō edited three texts using the Kindaichi copy of a former Shōkōkan manuscript, collated with the University of Tokyo’s Nanki copy. He supplied kana, reconstructed Ainu in Roman script and literal Japanese translations. Text 2 parallels Moshiogusa’s charanke speech; Satō inferred a shared manuscript lineage. Text 3, Ezo jōruri, is a separate epic set in Ishikari. Tomomi Satō 2003, pp. 33–35; text 3, pp. 42–48 ↧

  8. Publication

    Bibliographical study

    Tomomi Satō on one-volume copies

    Tomomi Satō described one-volume copies at Hakodate and Tomakomai, examining misprints, ink loss, insect damage and textual variants. His examples include characters that are unclear in one-volume copies yet legible in two-volume copies, documenting differences in printing condition and text. Tomomi Satō 2007, pp. 160–169 ↧

  9. Publication

    Kana transcription

    Facsimile and transcription of the Mori-family manuscript

    Hokkaido University’s Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies published a facsimile, transcription and commentary for a manuscript identified by Honda Yūko at Kisakata in September 2003. Sasaki Toshikazu and Tanimoto Akihisa edited the volume, with commentary by Honda and Saitō Kazuki. Preserved by the Mori family, whose members served as interpreters at Futoro, it contains vocabulary and examples absent from the print. Tangiku Itsuji consulted its variants when editing the epic. Mori manuscript edition 2013, catalogue record; 300 pp. ↧; Tanimoto & Sasaki 2018, pp. 41–43 ↧; Tangiku 2021, pp. 30–31 ↧

  10. Report publication

    Archival lead

    A report on Chiri Mashiho’s handwritten copy

    In a 2014 account of the Hokkaido University Library collection, Inoue Takaaki illustrated a copy of Ezo hōgen moshiogusa handwritten and bound by Chiri Mashiho. It contains detailed annotations in red pencil and other media. Inoue 2014, p. 7 ↧

  11. Publication

    Collation, reconstruction and translation

    Tangiku Itsuji’s 546-line reconstruction and provisional translation

    Using the 1972 facsimile as his base text, with Hakodate images and Kisakata variants, Tangiku supplied kana, reconstructed Ainu and a provisional translation. “Ruwesaniunkur epic” is his supplied title. The report was published in 2021 for the 2020 fiscal-year project. Tangiku 2021, pp. 3, 30, 34–77; colophon ↧

  12. Publication

    Edition of a related text

    Tomomi Satō’s Handbook appendix

    Chapter 3’s appendix presents an excerpt from Ezo jōruri, the Shōkōkan epic edited by Tomomi Satō in 2003, with kana, morphological glosses and an English translation. The chapter also discusses the ceremonial speech preserved in the same document, which corresponds to Moshiogusa’s charanke. Tomomi Satō 2022, pp. 89–95, appendix ↧

  13. Publication

    Translation history

    Miki Sato on Uehara’s translations

    Miki Sato examined Uehara Kumajirō’s work as an interpreter and translator. Table 1 compares the epic’s opening kana, Uehara’s Chinese-character glosses and Tangiku Itsuji’s reconstruction and Japanese translation, alongside a literal romanization of the kana and English renderings. Miki Sato 2023, pp. 154–156, especially table 1, p. 155 ↧

Comparing copies to read the text

Tomomi Satō (2007) compares the voicing mark in ビヱー “to grow fat” (19 verso) across copies. The mark is illegible in the Hakodate copy and the 1972 facsimile, yet clear in Kobe University’s two-volume copy. Collation recovers details of the writing that are obscured in individual copies. Tomomi Satō 2007, pp. 168–169, §2.6 ↧

Connections with Ezo chiyaranke narabini jōruri kotoba

The ceremonial speech in text 2 of Ezo chiyaranke narabini jōruri kotoba closely parallels Moshiogusa’s charanke. Text 3, Ezo jōruri, is an epic set in Ishikari and narrated by a person raised by an elder brother. Tomomi Satō (2003) identifies the correspondence in text 2 and reports finding no related material for texts 1 and 3. Tomomi Satō 2003, p. 34; pp. 42–48 ↧; Tomomi Satō 2022, pp. 89–90 ↧

Transcription, reconstruction and translation

The closing epic has 546 lines, with Japanese glosses in the original covering the first 51. Ainu Mosiri 4 printed the complete kana text. Tangiku Itsuji (2021) collated copies and presented the kana alongside reconstructed Ainu in Roman script and a provisional Japanese translation. Tangiku 2021, pp. 2–3, 30 ↧

Bibliography and access

Page citations follow each publication’s printed pagination. PDF links open the cited passage.

  1. 阿部長三郎 · 上原熊次郎 (1804). 藻汐草. 早稲田大学図書館古典籍総合データベース、ホ02 05038
  2. 金田一京助 (1913). 蝦夷語学の鼻祖上原熊次郎と其著述（承前）. 藝文（京都文学会）4-10: 67–93。国文学研究資料館論文データベース掲載書誌。
  3. 上原熊次郎 (1972). 藻汐草. 国書刊行会、アイヌ語資料叢書。NDL書誌ID 000001271767。
  4. 佐藤知己 (2003-02-28). 彰考館旧蔵アイヌ語テキスト「蝦夷チヤランケ並浄瑠理言」について. 北海道大学文学研究科紀要 109: 31–58
  5. 佐藤知己 (2007). 『藻汐草』の「一冊本」について. 北海道大学文学研究科紀要 121: 157–170
  6. 成田修一 (2010). 嘉永七年のアイヌ語について. 二松学舎大学東アジア学術総合研究所集刊 40: 25–69· Vocabulary tables, comparisons and page citations
  7. 北海道大学アイヌ・先住民研究センター古文書プロジェクト (2013-03). にかほ市象潟郷土資料館所蔵 森家旧蔵「蝦夷方言藻汐草 全」翻刻・解題. 北海道大学アイヌ・先住民研究センター、古文書プロジェクト報告書、300頁。NDL書誌ID 024530167。
  8. 佐々木利和 (2013). アイヌ史の時代へ―余瀝抄. 北海道大学出版会。第12章「近世アイヌ語資料について―とくに『もしほ草』をめぐって」（田中聖子との共著、初出1985）。
  9. 井上高聡 (2014-08-01). 先人未踏の分野で独自の境地―知里真志保文庫―. 「よりよい生活と平和のために」353号、7頁。「図書館へ行こう」第13回。
  10. 谷本晃久 · 佐々木利和 (2018-09-20). 歴史学（古文書プロジェクト報告）. 『アイヌ・先住民研究センターの10年―2007～2017』北海道大学アイヌ・先住民研究センターブックレット10、39頁以降（象潟本：41–43頁）。
  11. 丹菊逸治 (2021-03-25). 18世紀アイヌ押韻文―ルウェサニウンクㇽ叙事詩その頭脚韻と不完全韻. 2020年度科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書、77頁。
  12. Tomomi Satō (2022). Major old documents of Ainu and some problems in the historical study of Ainu. In Anna Bugaeva (ed.), Handbook of the Ainu Language, chapter 3, pp. 79–98. De Gruyter Mouton.
  13. Miki Sato (2023). Ezo-tsūji (Japanese–Ainu Interpreters) in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: The Case of Uehara Kumajirō. In Mino Saito and Miki Sato (eds.), Tsūji, Interpreters in and Around Early Modern Japan, chapter 7, pp. 141–166. Palgrave Macmillan.