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The Ansei Edo earthquake (Ansei Edo jishin<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u5b89\u653f\u6c5f\u6238\u5730\u9707) shook the de facto capital of Tokugawa Japan around 10:00 PM on November 11, 1855. However, the people of the time used a lunar calendar. So in their view, the earthquake struck on the second day of the tenth month. This timing was significant because a widely-known aspect of popular religion held that the major deities all gathered in Izumo (in western Japan) for a meeting during the tenth month, leaving behind lesser deities to fill in.<\/p>\r\n Estimates of the magnitude (M) of this earthquake are 6.9-7.0, and it did not produce a tsunami. Damage was severe in some areas and light in others, and the casualty rates varied similarly. The main determinate of the severity of ground motion was the nature of the soil base. Places that had once been swamps or other bodies of water but had been recently filled in collapsed dramatically, destroying structures and causing many casualties. For the most part, these severely shaken areas were the residences of elites or were associated with elites. Especially significant was the destruction in \u201cDaimyo Lane\u201d (damy\u014d k\u014dji<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u5927\u540d\u5c0f\u8def), the location of major\u00a0<\/span>fudai<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>daimyo mansions and several major bakufu organs of government just below Edo castle. In 1600, this area had been Hibiya Inlet, part of the sea, before being filled in to create prime real estate. Also hard hit was the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters, a famous playground for the wealthy. Recently-built offshore artillery batteries (daiba<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u53f0\u5834), an obvious symbol of shogunal power, all collapsed or were severely damaged.<\/p>\r\n Deaths for civilian and military personnel totaled 8,000-10,000, and they were concentrated in the severely damaged areas. Outside of these areas, including most commoner neighborhoods, casualties and damage were light. This uneven pattern of destruction is one reason that so many of the earthquake prints from this event seem playful or irreverent in tone. Popular culture in Edo already had this tendency, and for many of Edo\u2019s ordinary denizens, the earthquake was a source of potential windfall profits. This potential for profit was especially apparent among skilled workers in the construction trades such as carpenters, roofers, and plasterers, and among merchants who dealt in supplies needed for rebuilding. For example, November 1855 was a good time to be a lumber wholesaler in Edo. Even many unskilled laborers, however, were able to find work at higher wages than usual, and government relief was fast and generous in this earthquake.<\/p>\r\n Because of the near total destruction of the Yoshiwara area, the bakufu authorized the opening of numerous temporary brothels around Edo. Many earthquake prints used these places as their setting and often depicted newly-rich construction workers spending money there. Overall prints from the Ansei Edo earthquake tended to interpret the significance of the event as a cosmically ordained shakeup of society such that money flowed from the coffers of the rich (daimyo and wealthy merchants) into the hands of hardworking laborers. The usual term for this redistribution of wealth in the context of the Ansei Edo earthquake was\u00a0<\/span>yonaoshi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u4e16\u76f4\u3057, literally \u201crectification of society.\u201d This term might have other meanings, for example redress of peasant grievances, in other late Tokugawa era contexts.<\/p>\r\n Many earthquake prints feature some form of a catfish (namazu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u9bf0) and therefore the genre is typically called catfish prints (namazue<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u9bf0\u7d75), even though some individual prints lack a catfish. Note that \u201cNamazu\u201d is not really a proper noun, even though it appears that way in some of the print descriptions. Its use as a proper noun in these descriptions refers to the folk belief that a large stone, the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u8981\u77f3 at the Kashima Shrine \u9e7f\u5cf6\u795e\u5bae to the northeast of Edo, pins down a giant subterranean catfish. The Kashima deity resides at the shrine and pushes down on the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>to ensure that the catfish cannot move. During the tenth month, however, because he was absent for the meeting of deities at Izumo, the catfish shook off the foundation stone, moved around, and caused the earthquake.<\/p>\r\n Many catfish prints reply in this basic folk image of the catfish pinned down by the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>Catfish functioned as a visually striking and usefully malleable symbol of earthquakes in general, and of the Ansei Edo earthquake in particular. Even in today\u2019s Japan, earthquake warning signs in public places sometimes feature an image of a catfish.<\/p>\r\n It is important to note however, that most denizens of Edo understood this scenario as metaphoric. Earthquakes were understood as the result of an imbalance in yin (cool) and yang (hot) energy. When too much yang energy built up within the earth and sought to escape upward, an earthquake could result, especially in the case of clay soil. Catfish were a widely-recognized symbol of earthquakes, but it is unlikely that many, if any, residents of Edo in 1855 thought that catfish, large or small, actually caused earthquakes.<\/p>\r\n By 1855, residents of Edo had long been accustomed to broadside prints that commented on the state of society and recent events. There was a censorship system in place, but by coding messages in one or more layers of symbolism and by making use of plays on words, it was possible to produce prints whose messages would have been censored if stated baldly. In other words, the people of Edo were well practiced in reading coded messages, and it is this phenomenon that makes the catfish prints so interesting. In the guise of reporting on the earthquake, they serve as a window through which to glimpse Edo society.<\/p>\r\n Contrast the catfish prints with disaster prints 7, 9, and 10 in the UBC Open Collections\u00a0[<\/span>Figures 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3]<\/strong>. These three prints are attempts realistically to depict the horrors of the 1896 Meiji Sanriku tsunami. This tsunami devastated the Sanriku coast (approximately the same area devastated in 2011), killing over 20,000. These prints succeed in conveying some sense of the disaster, but there is little to analyze about them beyond certain technical features. The 1855 catfish prints, by contrast, are rich in symbolic social commentary, often in multiple layers.<\/p>\r\n \r\n In the paragraphs below, I discuss the majority of the catfish prints in the UBC Open Collections. For ease of identification, prints are listed by the number in the collection, and titled using the bracketed description from the web site, even if that description contains errors.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_169\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"] Figure 2<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>reveals important points about the social dynamics of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake. The basic image is that of an anthropomorphic catfish, in disguise, visiting or passing by a brothel, while the courtesans and customers attack him. The superficial point is that the catfish caused the earthquake and thus is worthy of animosity or retribution for the damage he has inflicted on society.<\/p>\r\n The name of the brothel is Kannazukiya \u795e\u7121\u6708\u5c4b, a reference to the tenth lunar month, known as Kannazuki or Kannaizuki (month of no deities). During this month, the major deities around Japan travel to Izumo for a conference, leaving lesser deities temporarily in charge. In the Edo area, Kashima left the less competent Ebisu in charge of protecting the city against earthquakes, thus making possible the earthquake that struck on the night of the second day of that month. The reference to Kannazuki might also function to suggest that this catfish is not the proper object of blame.<\/p>\r\n The catfish himself protests his beating, starting with the statement \u201cIs it possible that a catfish like me has the power to cause the event of the night of the second day?\u201d The catfish goes on to remind the crowd that the earthquake resulted in this karitaku<\/em> (temporary brothel established in the wake of the earthquake) and the money circulating through it.<\/p>\r\n Notice the man at the bottom left with black trousers and a brick-like pattern on his blue jacket. He is a skilled construction worker, someone who stands to profit greatly from the rebuilding. Instead of assaulting the catfish, he seeks to restrain the crowd, saying \u201cThanks to that guy, some good things have happened. Don\u2019t treat him so roughly!\u201d<\/p>\r\n This print is a good example of the general tendency to interpret the Ansei Edo earthquake as an instance of yo-naoshi<\/em> \u4e16\u76f4\u3057. The meaning of this term can differ from one context to another. In connection with this earthquake, it indicated a transfer of wealth from elite merchants and from daimyo into the hands of laborers, especially skilled construction workers. Many prints depicted these workers as spending their windfall profits in brothels.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_170\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"] Despite the description, the print in\u00a0Figure 3<\/strong> is from 1855. The reason for the 1835 date is that the text mentions a Chinese earthquake from that year as an example of the phenomenon of a flash of light shooting up into the sky and traveling north to south in connection with an earthquake. It goes on to explain that in the Ansei Edo earthquake, a ray of light shot from the vicinity of the pagoda at Sens\u014dji \u6d45\u8349\u5bfa, traveling in a southward direction. The text provides a detailed explanation of this phenomenon, relying on the\u00a0Classic of Changes<\/em>\u00a0(C.\u00a0Yijjing;<\/em>\u00a0J.\u00a0Ekiky\u014d<\/em>\u00a0\u6613\u7d4c). The visual image is an imaginary close-up depiction of a \u201cshining object\u201d (hikarimono<\/em>\u00a0\u5149\u7269) associated with earthquakes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_172\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"] The catfish prints of 1855 often depicted society as divided into economic winners and losers vis-\u00e0-vis the earthquake. Here in Figure 4<\/strong>, wealthy merchants, Yoshiwara courtesans, Shinto and Buddhist priests, among others, attack the earthquake catfish. A construction worker and a roof tile seller (in black) are trying to restrain the crowd and save their friend the catfish.<\/p>\r\n This print also indulges in parody. At the bottom right is a monkey and a gourd, which is iconography from a different genre of popular prints, \u014ctsue<\/em> \u5927\u6d25\u7d75. In that genre, a monkey uses a gourd to suppress a catfish. Here, the monkey has drank the liquor in the gourd and is passed out on the ground drunk. The text includes a parody of the song Kimigayo<\/em> \u541b\u304c\u4ee3.<\/p>\r\n Located on swampy ground, the Yoshiwara red light district went up in flames as a result of the earthquake, with great loss of life. Soon thereafter, the bakufu authorized the establishment of numerous temporary brothels throughout Edo. The earthquake thus devastated a well-known playground for the wealthy, transforming it into local establishments patronized mainly by the newly-rich construction workers\u2014at least according to popular depictions at the time.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_171\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"] Kanameishi<\/em> \u8981\u77f3 is sometimes translated as Foundation Stone. There are several kanameishi<\/em> in shrines around Japan, but the one in the Kashima Shrine is most famous and appears in the 1855 prints, as in Figure 5<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n The stone firmly planted in place, as in this print, is a symbol of clam and stability. The stone ajar, pushed over, or in the air (in some other prints) is a sign that the forces of disorder temporarily reign supreme. This print appears to be a retrospective on the recent earthquake. The text includes the perspectives of nine different groups: the elderly, carpenters, young courtesans, pottery merchants, geisha,<\/em> Yoshiwara employees, a courageous person (who prays that there not be another earthquake), physicians, and \u201clogical people\u201d (rikutsumono<\/em>), who are aware that praying to a stone is strange (fushigi).<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_176\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"275\"] The carpenter wants finally to be able to finish his vastly increased workload, the young courtesan hopes to be able to watch a play in the future, and the overworked physician wants his overly large number of patients to heal quickly. In general, there is a widespread desire to return to the ordinary rhythms of life.<\/p>\r\n This complex print in Figure 6<\/strong> depicts people seeking the prosperity that became apparent in the wake of the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake. Notice several points. First, catfish do not have blowholes. Second the blowhole of whales is located atop their heads, not in the middle of their bodies.<\/p>\r\n Next, notice the text. To read easily the text intermingled with the gold coins apparently spewing from this large black sea creature requires turning the print upside down. Doing so causes the stream of water to look like a mountain. The upside-down text amidst the gold coins is \u5927\u56fd\u306e\u3064\u3061\u3001\u3046\u3054\u304b\u3057\u3066\u3001\u5e02\u4e2d\u3078\u3001\u5b9d\u306e\u5c71\u3092\u3001\u3064\u3080\u305d\u3001\u3081\u3067\u305f\u304d. Its basic meaning is \u201cThe soil of the great country moves, piling up a mountain of treasure in the midst of the city. Auspicious.\u201d The first phrase, daikoku no tsuchi<\/em> is the same pronunciation as \u5927\u9ed2\u306e\u69cc, the magic mallet of the deity Daikoku, whose name literally means \u201cbig black.\u201d Moreover, Daikoku and his coin-spewing mallet appear in other catfish prints, as we will see. In other words, there are multiple ways to view and interpret this print.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_177\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"206\"] And there is yet another \u201cbig black\u201d in it, the \u201cblack ships\u201d that had recently visited Edo (1853 and 1854). \u201cBlack ship\u201d was a common term at the time for steamships, and popular prints often depicted them as looking like giant sea monsters. Several prints and other earthquake commentary link the 1855 earthquake with Matthew Perry\u2019s naval and diplomatic expeditions of 1853 and 1854, and other events of this tumultuous historical era. Notice that the coins are flowing from the place where the smokestack of a steamship would be located. This big black whale-catfish-steamship hybrid, although ominous in appearance, is potentially a source of great wealth. That is why the people in the foreground are beckoning it to come closer. The name of the print is \u014c-Edo no furui<\/em> (The shaking of greater Edo), which resonates with all the possible symbolism in the print.<\/p>\r\n It may seem odd to regard a major earthquake and the visit of Matthew Perry\u2019s fleet as beneficial events. However, casualties in the earthquake were light overall, and they were concentrated in several elite neighborhoods. From the standpoint of ordinary denizens of Edo, the earthquake, while terrifying, was a source of windfall profit both in the form of generous government relief and in higher wages even for unskilled laborers during the rebuilding. Similarly, although Perry\u2019s visit was jarring for the government, it tended to be fascinating for ordinary people. Moreover, there were many in Edo who thought that increased trade with new countries, via their city, could be a source of wealth, as it had been for Nagasaki.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_178\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"195\"] This description is somewhat peculiar, but like most catfish prints,\u00a0Figure 7<\/strong> contains multiple messages and symbols. We could call this print transitional. Prints in the immediate wake of the earthquake tended to feature a large, menacing catfish, with the Kashima deity gone (off to his meeting at Izumo) or rushing back to Edo to try to restore order. Moreover, the\u00a0kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0is typically missing or dislodged in early prints, and if depicted, it tends to be very small. Later prints emphasize windfall profits for members of the construction trades and typically feature anthropomorphic catfish similar in size to humans.<\/p>\r\n In this print Kashima is in the process of bringing the violent giant catfish back under control. An old association of Kashima was with swords, and in this and other prints, Kashima\u2019s sword substitutes for the kanameishi.<\/em> The short text in the middle is a song: \u201cThanks to the water deity\u2019s revelation, our lives are saved. We are happy to visit houses of prostitution!\u201d From above, Daikoku (big black), the deity discussed previously, carries a great sack of wealth and dispenses gold coins from his magic mallet. Energetic-looking construction workers eagerly scoop them up.<\/p>\r\n Here in Figure 8<\/strong>, anthropomorphic catfish perform the song \u201cEarthquake Suchyaraka-bushi\u201d in an irreverent parody. The catfish are dressed as fire fighters, and their water barrel is labeled \u201cKashima-ch\u014d\u201d (Kashima lies to the northeast of Edo). Suchyaraka-bushi<\/em> was a popular song from the Kabuki stage. In the earthquake version, the first half of each line describes a situation and the last half indicates the location of the person or people in question.<\/p>\r\n One line of the song reads, \u201cRemained too long and could not get out\u2014in the storehouse.\u201d In other words, wealthy people were prone to linger too long trying to save their valuables, even at the risk of their lives. Another line reads, \u201cRunning outside naked\u2014in the bath.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_179\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"] The print in\u00a0Figure 9<\/strong> is similar to that found in Figure 5. In it Kashima has just returned from his meeting in Izumo, has suppressed the giant catfish, and his workers are putting the final touches on replacing the\u00a0kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0securely atop the catfish. The crowd consists of people sleeping out in the open for fear of aftershocks. Kashima assures them that the aftershocks will decrease now that he is back in control of the situation and that it is safe to return home. The people explain their earthquake experiences and their hopes for future calm.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_180\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"183\"] The text in\u00a0Figure 10<\/strong> compares the forces of shaking, fire, and rainstorms. The father looking on while drinking\u00a0sake<\/em>\u00a0brings to mind the stereotypical list at that time of the four things everyone fears: earthquakes, thunder, fire, and fathers. The final lines of text make reference to carpenters charging high rates, thus causing \u201cthe gradual rectification of society\u201d (dandan yo ga naori<\/em>\u00a0\u6bb5\u3005\u4e16\u304c\u76f4\u308a) as they accumulate money.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_181\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"375\"] Figure 11<\/strong>\u00a0leverages iconography from the genre of popular prints from the Lake Biwa region known as \u014ctsue<\/em>\u00a0\u5927\u6d25\u7d75. In that genre, a monkey suppresses a catfish with a gourd (typically indicating flood control). Here, the monkey is fast asleep\u2014or perhaps dead. Otherwise, the print bears some similarity to the previous one (number 32, page 18) in that the catfish, the\u00a0kanameishi<\/em>-as-stone-warrior, and the actor in the upper right corner are playing a fist game. The thunder deity is trying to escape the scene, apparently with a pilfered courtesan\u2019s shamisen.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_182\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"375\"] Notice also the father figure in the background of\u00a0Figure 12<\/strong>, thus creating the earthquakes, fires, thunder, and father set of things that everyone fears, which the text also mentions. Many catfish prints took inspiration from the Kabuki stage, and this one is based on\u00a0Shibaraku.<\/em> In the print, fire corresponds to the bombastic hero Kamakura Gongor\u014d Kagemasa, the catfish is the sly Namazu-b\u014dzu (bald-headed, i.e., catfish-headed priest), and thunder appears as \u201cEarthquake thunder\u201d in the parody script. Incidentally, it was common to associate earthquakes and thunder at the time, because earthquakes were generally regarded as the same phenomenon as thunder, but occurring under the ground. Moreover, earthquakes were typically thought to occur along with thunder and lightning.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_183\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"] Originally written for the puppet theatre, Gosho Zakura Horikawa youchi<\/em>\u00a0\u5fa1\u6240\u685c\u5800\u5ddd\u591c\u8a0e was later adopted to the Kabuki stage. In\u00a0Figure 13<\/strong> the play has transformed into an earthquake version, with catfish standing in for the Benkei J\u014dshi scene. The title of the original drama refers to a night attack, and likewise, the Ansei Edo earthquake struck at night.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n Figure 14<\/strong>\u00a0is based on the Yukashita (below the floor) scene from the Kabuki drama Meiboku sendai hagi<\/em>\u00a0\u4f3d\u7f85\u5148\u4ee3\u8429. In the original, the scene involves Arajishi Otokunosuke wounding a large rat, which escapes and re-emerges as the arch villain Nikki Danj\u014d. In the print, Arajishi transforms into Araishi Kanamenosuke \u8352\u77f3\u8981\u4e4b\u52a9, that is, the Kashima deity, and the rat has become a gourd.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_185\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"] This very interesting print in\u00a0Figure 15<\/strong> is much more than the description suggests. First, it shows members of the construction trades preparing mochi<\/em> (rice cakes) that a catfish is about to eat. In this general way, it indicates the gratitude of the members of the construction trade for the earthquake, which has been so profitable for them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n However, this catfish print is based on an earlier print seen below in Figure 16<\/strong> that was sufficiently subversive that its maker, Utagawa Yoshitora, was sentenced to a short period of house arrest. The print, made during the 1830s or 40s (the precise date is uncertain) is D\u014dke musha miyo no wakamochi<\/em> \u9053\u5916\u6b66\u8005\u5fa1\u4ee3\u306e\u82e5\u9905.<\/p>\r\n The print features Oda Nobunaga and Akechi Mitsuhide pounding the rice into dough, Toyotomi Hideyoshi making the dough into mochi,<\/em> and Tokugawa Ieyasu relaxing and eating the product of the labor of the others. In other words, the print could be interpreted as belittling Tokugawa Ieyasu\u2019s accomplishment in forging a unified Japan.<\/p>\r\n Catfish prints are all anonymous, and they were all technically illegal. After approximately two months, the bakufu was able bring sufficient enforcement pressure to bear in shutting down any further production of catfish prints, although by then, many thousand were in circulation. This print is one of several that make clear the mildly subversive potential of some catfish prints. Although ostensibly about the earthquake, many prints commented, often critically or irreverently, on different aspects of society. These prints were able to flourish for so long because the Edo authorities were busy dealing with more pressing problems in the wake of the earthquake.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_186\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"] The title of the print in\u00a0Figure 17\u00a0<\/strong>is \u014ctsu burebushi<\/em>\u00a0\u5927\u6d25\u3076\u308c\u3076\u3057 (\u014ctsu shaking song), which is a play on the title of the popular song\u00a0\u014ctsue bushi<\/em>\u00a0\u5927\u6d25\u7d75\u7bc0. The text in the print keeps the same phrasing as the song, replacing the original lyrics with descriptions of the earthquake and its aftermath.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n Figure 18<\/strong>\u00a0is the left page of a two-page print entitled\u00a0Yomunasake ukiyo arisama<\/em>\u00a0\u591c\u7121\u60c5\u6d6e\u4e16\u6709\u69d8, which is a play on the title of the Kabuki drama\u00a0Yowanasake ukina no yokogushi<\/em>\u00a0\u4e0e\u8a71\u60c5\u6d6e\u540d\u6a2a\u6adb. The print depicts the Genjidana \u6e90\u6c0f\u5e97 scene. On the missing (right) page is the Kashima deity, derived from Tazaemon (manager of a successful, large shop) in the original. Yosabur\u014d (a young man living a debauched lifestyle) in the original is the standing catfish in the half of the print depicted here. K\u014dmori Yasu (Yasu-the-bat), a man with a tattoo of a bat on his cheek, is the seated catfish. This print is yet another example of taking famous Kabuki scenes and refitting them with earthquake-themed text and images.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n For a detailed study of the Ansei Edo earthquake, including a detailed discussion of the points in the above paragraphs and a lengthy bibliography of Japanese works, see Gregory Smits, Seismic Japan: The Long History and Continuing Legacy of the Ansei Edo Earthquake\u00a0<\/em>(Honolulu: University of Hawai\u02bbi Press, 2013).<\/p>\r\n Ruth Ludwin and Gregory Smits, \u201cFolklore and Earthquakes: Native American Oral Traditions from Cascadia Compared with Written Traditions from Japan.\u201d In L. Piccardi and W. B. Masse, eds., Myth and Geology<\/em> (London: Geological Society of London, 2007): 67-94.<\/p>\r\n Cornelis Ouwehand, Namazu-e and Their Themes: An Interpretative Approach to Some Aspects of Japanese Folk Religion<\/em>(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1964). This study has relatively little to say about the namazue<\/em> themselves and is instead a thick description of the matrix of folk beliefs in which the namazue<\/em> were embedded.<\/p>\r\n Gregory Smits, \u201cConduits of Power: What the Origins of Japan\u2019s Earthquake Catfish Reveal about Religious Geography,<\/a>\u201d Japan Review<\/em>, Vol. 24 (2012): 41-65. This article is in part an update of Ouwehand\u2019s work cited above.<\/p>\r\n _____, \u201cNamazu-e: Catfish Prints of 1855,\u201d Andon\u00a0<\/em>(Publication of the Society for Japanese Arts), Vol. 86 (2009): 35-46.<\/p>\r\n _____, \u201cShaking Up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Picture Prints,\u201d Journal of Social History,<\/em> 39.4 (Summer, 2006): 1045-1077.<\/p>\r\n _____, \u201cWarding off Calamity in Japan: A Comparison of the 1855 Catfish Prints and the 1862 Measles Prints,\u201d East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine,<\/em> No. 30 (2009): 9-31.<\/p>\r\n The most important reference for catfish prints in Japanese is<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Miyata Noboru \u5bae\u7530\u767b and Takada Mamoru \u9ad8\u7530\u885b, eds. Namazue: Shinsai to Nihon bunka<\/em> \u9bf0\u7d75\uff1a\u9707\u707d\u3068\u65e5\u672c\u6587\u5316 (Ribun shuppan, 1995).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":" Gregory Smits<\/strong> | Pennsylvania State University<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Ansei Edo earthquake (Ansei Edo jishin<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u5b89\u653f\u6c5f\u6238\u5730\u9707) shook the de facto capital of Tokugawa Japan around 10:00 PM on November 11, 1855. However, the people of the time used a lunar calendar. So in their view, the earthquake struck on the second day of the tenth month. This timing was significant because a widely-known aspect of popular religion held that the major deities all gathered in Izumo (in western Japan) for a meeting during the tenth month, leaving behind lesser deities to fill in.<\/p>\n Estimates of the magnitude (M) of this earthquake are 6.9-7.0, and it did not produce a tsunami. Damage was severe in some areas and light in others, and the casualty rates varied similarly. The main determinate of the severity of ground motion was the nature of the soil base. Places that had once been swamps or other bodies of water but had been recently filled in collapsed dramatically, destroying structures and causing many casualties. For the most part, these severely shaken areas were the residences of elites or were associated with elites. Especially significant was the destruction in \u201cDaimyo Lane\u201d (damy\u014d k\u014dji<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u5927\u540d\u5c0f\u8def), the location of major\u00a0<\/span>fudai<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>daimyo mansions and several major bakufu organs of government just below Edo castle. In 1600, this area had been Hibiya Inlet, part of the sea, before being filled in to create prime real estate. Also hard hit was the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters, a famous playground for the wealthy. Recently-built offshore artillery batteries (daiba<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u53f0\u5834), an obvious symbol of shogunal power, all collapsed or were severely damaged.<\/p>\n Deaths for civilian and military personnel totaled 8,000-10,000, and they were concentrated in the severely damaged areas. Outside of these areas, including most commoner neighborhoods, casualties and damage were light. This uneven pattern of destruction is one reason that so many of the earthquake prints from this event seem playful or irreverent in tone. Popular culture in Edo already had this tendency, and for many of Edo\u2019s ordinary denizens, the earthquake was a source of potential windfall profits. This potential for profit was especially apparent among skilled workers in the construction trades such as carpenters, roofers, and plasterers, and among merchants who dealt in supplies needed for rebuilding. For example, November 1855 was a good time to be a lumber wholesaler in Edo. Even many unskilled laborers, however, were able to find work at higher wages than usual, and government relief was fast and generous in this earthquake.<\/p>\n Because of the near total destruction of the Yoshiwara area, the bakufu authorized the opening of numerous temporary brothels around Edo. Many earthquake prints used these places as their setting and often depicted newly-rich construction workers spending money there. Overall prints from the Ansei Edo earthquake tended to interpret the significance of the event as a cosmically ordained shakeup of society such that money flowed from the coffers of the rich (daimyo and wealthy merchants) into the hands of hardworking laborers. The usual term for this redistribution of wealth in the context of the Ansei Edo earthquake was\u00a0<\/span>yonaoshi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u4e16\u76f4\u3057, literally \u201crectification of society.\u201d This term might have other meanings, for example redress of peasant grievances, in other late Tokugawa era contexts.<\/p>\n Many earthquake prints feature some form of a catfish (namazu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u9bf0) and therefore the genre is typically called catfish prints (namazue<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u9bf0\u7d75), even though some individual prints lack a catfish. Note that \u201cNamazu\u201d is not really a proper noun, even though it appears that way in some of the print descriptions. Its use as a proper noun in these descriptions refers to the folk belief that a large stone, the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u8981\u77f3 at the Kashima Shrine \u9e7f\u5cf6\u795e\u5bae to the northeast of Edo, pins down a giant subterranean catfish. The Kashima deity resides at the shrine and pushes down on the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>to ensure that the catfish cannot move. During the tenth month, however, because he was absent for the meeting of deities at Izumo, the catfish shook off the foundation stone, moved around, and caused the earthquake.<\/p>\n Many catfish prints reply in this basic folk image of the catfish pinned down by the\u00a0<\/span>kanameishi.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>Catfish functioned as a visually striking and usefully malleable symbol of earthquakes in general, and of the Ansei Edo earthquake in particular. Even in today\u2019s Japan, earthquake warning signs in public places sometimes feature an image of a catfish.<\/p>\n It is important to note however, that most denizens of Edo understood this scenario as metaphoric. Earthquakes were understood as the result of an imbalance in yin (cool) and yang (hot) energy. When too much yang energy built up within the earth and sought to escape upward, an earthquake could result, especially in the case of clay soil. Catfish were a widely-recognized symbol of earthquakes, but it is unlikely that many, if any, residents of Edo in 1855 thought that catfish, large or small, actually caused earthquakes.<\/p>\n By 1855, residents of Edo had long been accustomed to broadside prints that commented on the state of society and recent events. There was a censorship system in place, but by coding messages in one or more layers of symbolism and by making use of plays on words, it was possible to produce prints whose messages would have been censored if stated baldly. In other words, the people of Edo were well practiced in reading coded messages, and it is this phenomenon that makes the catfish prints so interesting. In the guise of reporting on the earthquake, they serve as a window through which to glimpse Edo society.<\/p>\n Contrast the catfish prints with disaster prints 7, 9, and 10 in the UBC Open Collections\u00a0[<\/span>Figures 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3]<\/strong>. These three prints are attempts realistically to depict the horrors of the 1896 Meiji Sanriku tsunami. This tsunami devastated the Sanriku coast (approximately the same area devastated in 2011), killing over 20,000. These prints succeed in conveying some sense of the disaster, but there is little to analyze about them beyond certain technical features. The 1855 catfish prints, by contrast, are rich in symbolic social commentary, often in multiple layers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the paragraphs below, I discuss the majority of the catfish prints in the UBC Open Collections. For ease of identification, prints are listed by the number in the collection, and titled using the bracketed description from the web site, even if that description contains errors.<\/p>\n<\/a> Figure 1.1.<\/strong> UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 7.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1136\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"198\"]<\/a> Figure 1.2.<\/strong> UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 9.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1173\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"198\"]<\/a> Figure 1.3.<\/strong> UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 10.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/a> Figure 2<\/strong>. \u201cPeople attacking a Namazu, a giant catfish, for causing earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 1.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 3.<\/strong> \u201cStory of a mega earthquake that destroyed temples and pagodas, 1835.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 3.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 4.<\/strong> \u201cA giant catfish being punished for causing earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 6.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 5<\/strong>. \u201cPeople praying to the Kaname-ishi rock, which pins down a giant catfish and prevents it from moving and causing earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 5.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 6<\/strong>. \u201cPeople attempting to capture Namazu, the giant catfish believed to cause earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 13.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 7<\/strong>. \u201cDaikokuten, a god of wealth, throws money to people below while Nanazu, a giant catfish, is held down by Kashima\/Takemikazuch[i], a god of thunder and swords.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 14.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 8<\/strong>. \u201cSong lyrics about Namazu, the giant catfish who causes earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 15.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 9<\/strong>. \u201cPeople praying at the Kaname-ishi rock, in hopes it would prevent earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 17.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 10<\/strong>. \u201cBeings representing earthquakes (the catfish), fire, and thunderstorms play a game of \u201cJishin Ken\u201d (earthquake fists), a game similar to rock-paper-scissors, while a stern father looks on.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 18.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 11<\/strong>. \u201cA catfish does something evil to a monkey, while a god of thunderstorms and others watch.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 21.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 12<\/strong>. \u201cRepresentatives of earthquakes, fires, and thunderstorms in a theatrical setting.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 23.[\/caption]\r\n<\/a> Figure 13.<\/strong> \u201cPlay script regarding Earthquakes, Namazu, and other catfish.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 27.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_184\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"]<\/a> Figure 14.<\/strong> \u201cPlay script featuring Namazu, a giant catfish, and Kashima, a god of thunder and swords.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 28.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/a> Figure 15.<\/strong> \u201cSong lyrics attempting to ward off earthquakes caused by catfish.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 29.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_168\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"]<\/a> Figure 16. <\/strong>Utagawa Yoshitora, \u201cD\u014dke musha miyo no wakamochi \u9053\u5916\u6b66\u8005\u5fa1\u4ee3\u306e\u82e5\u9905.\u201d<\/em> Source: National Diet Library.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/a> Figure 17.<\/strong> \u201cSong to ward off earthquakes caused by catfish.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 32.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_187\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"290\"]<\/a> Figure 18.<\/strong> \u201cSong lyrics about Namazu, the giant catfish who causes earthquakes.\u201d Source: UBC Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, QE537.2 J3 D57 1800z. Page 33.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nFurther Reading<\/strong><\/h5>\r\n
The Ansei Edo Earthquake and Catfish Prints<\/h1>\n
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