Akahon can refer to the early literary medium that circulated in Edo-period (1603–1867) Japan, circa 1661–1748,[1] to the akahon manga that was the dominant form of literary entertainment in Japan during the post-WWII period around 1946 to 1950[2] or to the compilation of past exam papers that aid university applicants in their academic preparation.
[6] Since juku are relatively expensive, students looking for extra study materials use akahon as a way of improving their knowledge for the fiercely competitive exams.
books, which were a collection of akahon and other objects that were found sealed in a wooden statue of Bodhisattva Jizo, as a memorial offering by a merchant father to his deceased son.
[4] Scholars speculate on the reasons why akahon gradually replaced akakobon, with theories spanning from greater commercial viability as a book of bigger format to accommodating more visual-verbal content.
One theory involves the etymology of the Chinese character for grass which has a secondary meaning of "crude", or "coarse", which describes many adults' opinion of kusazōshi at the time as a crass medium that adversely affected the juvenile audience.
These texts were targeted at more mature audiences and their subject matter reflects this fact, as they covered the darker side of the human condition, such as mortality, infidelity, horror or hopelessness.
Many kusazōshi publishers would adapt and abbreviate the main messages from the otogi-zōshi, preserving the essence of the storyline and morals but presenting their own interpretations of them.
In this way, kusazōshi can be seen as a type of social commentary in the way that it re-interpreted the Muromachi-period classics, as it reveals an insight into how society viewed the themes presented in these works.
Kyokutei Bakin disagreed with the division of Japanese literature into colour coded genres and instead, sought to differentiate Edo fiction into the categories of akahon, yomihon, chubon and sharebon.
For example, the term sharebon can be translated roughly to mean "fashionable humour,"[9] and focuses primarily on the pleasure quarters of Kyoto.
Yomihon was a text type that, unlike akahon, did not rely heavily on illustrations to entertain its audience and instead, used its characters and the moral situations in which they found themselves entangled in to deliver moralistic lessons to readers.
He published kibyōshi rather than akahon, but the didactic content was more or less indistinguishable and in some instances, readers could be forgiven for assuming that he republished his father's work, just with a yellow rather than a red cover.
In another scene from Princess Hachikazuki, the queen is shown bestowing jewels upon the head of her daughter on her deathbed and covering them with a large bowl.
In this scene, he is depicted releasing two mandarin ducks from captivity, who reveal that they are actually a samurai married couple who were transformed by a jealous villain.
[11] This genre aimed to bridge the gap between education and entertainment for Japanese children, with limited success, due to a lack of public support of the manga.