was the most oft-used penname of Ōta Tan, a late Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 Japanese poet and fiction writer. He wrote primarily in the comedic forms of kyōshi

Kyoshi

is a form of Japanese poetry using only Chinese characters which was popular around 1770-1800. Kyōshi avoids typical poetic forms, and often includes humorous expressions and puns on alternate readings or meanings of the same characters....

, derived from comic Chinese verse, and kyōka, derived from waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

poetry. His pennames also include Yomo no Akara, Yomo Sanjin, Kyōkaen, and Shokusanjin (蜀山人).

Born into a lower-status samurai family in Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

, Nampo served the shogunate in various ways throughout his life. He began his literary career as a student of Chinese Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 writings, and adapted traditional Chinese comic verse (called kyōshi in Japanese), under the mentorship of playwright Hiraga Gennai

Hiraga Gennai

was an Edo period Japanese pharmacologist, student of Rangaku, physician, author, painter and inventor who is well known for his Erekiteru , Kandankei and Kakanpu...

, to daily life in Edo. His first collection of work was called Neboke sensei bunshū, or the Literary Works of Master Groggy.

Nampo soon began to write kyōka, comic waka verses, as well. His popularity grew in the 1760s and 1770s, as a result of his down-to-earth subject matter and unabashed style. During this time he also wrote a number of works of popular literature, and edited a collection of comic verses called Manzai kyōkashū, which truly cemented his position as a central literary figure of his time.

For political reasons, he was forced to abandon his writings for a time in the 1780s. He committed himself for several years to shogunal duties, but eventually returned to poetry.

Nampo also collaborated with many different artists such as Hokusai

Hokusai

was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...

, Eishi, Hokuba, Sakai Hōitsu

Sakai Hoitsu

was a Japanese painter of the Rimpa school. He is famous for reviving the style and popularity of Ogata Kōrin, and for creating a number of reproductions of Kōrin's work.-Family background:...

 and many others. Many paintings bears his original calligraphy and poem, he also worked together with artists in making prints, surimono and ehon. Nampo made calligrphies (calligraphy

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

) mainly in the tanzaku and kakemono

Kakemono

A , more commonly referred to as a , is a Japanese scroll painting or calligraphy mounted usually with silk fabric edges on a flexible backing, so that it can be rolled for storage....

 format. He also produced paintings; these are now extremely rare.

The most famous of Nampo’s paintings are in the album Shokusanjin ennyo meisekishu (A collection of Shokusanjin memorabilia)The album consists of 41 double pages of letters, paintings, fan paintings, sketches, and poems; ink and colour on paper and silk. The album size is 15 x 9in. (40 x 24 cm.). Date;1804. All of the works bears Nampo’s writing. Some works was coproduced and inscribed by other gifted people. The inscribed works includes examples by the kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 actor Ichikawa Danjūrō V

Ichikawa Danjuro V

Ichikawa Danjūrō V , also known as Ichikawa Ebizō, was one of the most famous and popular Kabuki actors of all time. Throughout his career, Danjūrō would hold some of the highest ranks in the hyōbanki, an annual Edo publications which evaluated actors and performances...

, the geisha

Geisha

, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...

 Katsu

Katsu

Katsu may refer to:*Katsu , a type of shout used in Chán and Zen Buddhism, as well as in the martial arts*Katsu , from Central Pennsylvania*KATSU!, manga by Mitsuru Adachi*Tonkatsu, Japanese pork dish*Katsudon, bowl of rice with tonkatsu...

, the courtesan

Courtesan

A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

 Nareginu, the kyoka master Shikatsube Magao, the novelist Santō Kyōden

Santo Kyoden

was a Japanese poet, writer and artist in the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He is the brother of Santō Kyōzan.- Life :...

, and the kanshi

Kanshi

Kanshi may refer to:* Kanshi , Chinese poetry written by Japanese* Kanshi, Fujian, a city in China....

 (Chinese-style verse) poets Kikuchi Gozan and Okubo Shibutsu.There are paintings by the ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e

' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...

 artists Hokusai

Hokusai

was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...

 and Hokuba in the album.A further two fan paintings, one with a Chinese-style landscape by Haruki Nanmei (1795–1878) and a playful image of the Chinese poet Li Bai

Li Bai

Li Bai , also known in the West by various other transliterations, especially Li Po, was a major Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty poetry period. He has been regarded as one of the greatest poets in China's Tang period, which is often called China's "golden age" of poetry. Around a thousand existing...

 in his cups by Unshitsu Dojin, shows Shokusanjin's links to the more aloft of the literati artists.

The album is a fascinating compendium of material documenting the interaction between prominent members of literary, theatre, and art circles of the day. Shokusanjin as Nampo signs himself here produced two small sketches which were mounted into the album. The first sketch is of a Geisha

Geisha

, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...

 and the other of an Oiran

Oiran

were courtesans in Japan. The oiran were considered a type of "woman of pleasure" or prostitute. However, they are distinguished from the yūjo in that they were entertainers, and many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts...

(courtesan).

The album is in the Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, ex. provenance; Azabu Museum and Anders Rikardson Collection.

In many reference works Ōta Nampo’s name has the alternative westernized spelling Ōta Nanpo.