著者

萩原 進

出版者

法政大学経済学部学会

雑誌

経済志林 (ISSN:00229741)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.76, no.3, pp.175-194,図版2p, 2009-03

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One of Ichiyo Higuchi's early short novels, Umoregi, portrays the tragic life of a Satsuma potter. The protagonist, Raizo Irie, dreams of becoming a great Satsuma potter, but is too poor to build a pottery atelier. He is a dreamer, who will never earn profits from pottery, so his sister Ocho supports him by working as a maid. One day, Raizo is lucky to meet a wealthy sponsor who was a fellow potter during their apprenticeship. Ocho falls in love with this sponsor. Raizo finally succeeds in creating an excellent Satsuma piece. However, he discovers that the true intent of the sponsor is to make Ocho into a prostitute to get money, and he smashes the Satsuma pottery into pieces. This article analyzes this novel by casting light on Satsuma pottery in the Meiji period.