The was a pre-modern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese literary genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

. Plots revolved around humor and entertainment at the pleasure quarters

Red-light district

A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...

. It is a sub-genre of gesaku

Gesaku

is an alternative style, genre or school of Japanese literature. In the simplest contemporary sense, any literary work of a playful, mocking, joking, silly or frivolous nature may be called Gesaku. Unlike predecessors in the literary field, Gesaku writers did not strive for beauty and perfect...

.

Characteristics

As a sub-genre of gesaku, humor was a major aspect to each story. "The sharebon described the manners, language, and clothes of the men who frequented the licensed quarters and were adept in their ritualized etiquette." Often these men would attempt to flaunt their knowledge, only to be wrong and ridiculed by the courtesans.

Developments

The sharebon genre existed between the 1720s and 1840s, lasting more than a hundred years. This interval is commonly divided into three stages: early, middle and late.

Early

The early period existed between the 1720s and the 1760s.

The earliest text belonging to the genre is identified as , which was written in 1728. It establishes the traditional form and style of the genre.

A number of important texts were published in the following decades, developing the genre: (1757): Buddha

Buddha

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

, Confucius

Confucius

Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

, and Laozi

Laozi

Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...

 all go to a brothel in Ōsaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. (1770) (1770): a man and his son visit Yoshiwara

Yoshiwara

Yoshiwara was a famous Akasen district in Edo, present-day Tōkyō, Japan.In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka. To counter this, an order of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate restricted prostitution to...

. The man attempts to flaunt his knowledge of the latest fashions and trends, but is wrong and ridiculed by courtesans. The naive son receives better treatment.

Yūshi Hōgen became the basic model for future novels.

Middle

The middle period existed between the 1770s and the 1780s.

The genre reached peak popularity. Authors experimented with new locations, characters, and types of humor.

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 :...

, "the leading writer of fiction at the end of the eighteenth century", wrote the "best sharebon". He wrote a number of important novels, including: (1785) (1787) (1790) (1791) (1791) (1791)

In 1790, the Kansei Reforms

Kansei Reforms

The were a series of reactionary policy changes and edicts which were intended to cure a range of perceived problems which had developed in mid-18th century Tokugawa Japan....

, led by Matsudaira Sadanobu

Matsudaira Sadanobu

Japanese daimyo of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief senior councilor of the Tokugawa Shogunate, from 1787 to 1793....

, introduced strict censorship and penalties for "frivolous books". Both Santō Kyōden and Tsutaya Jūzaburō

Tsutaya Juzaburo

was the founder and head of the Tsutaya publishing house in Edo period Japan, which produced the ukiyo-e woodblock print works of many of the period's most famous artists, along with illustrated books...

, the leading publisher of the time, were punished for their work on sharebon.

Late

The late period existed between the 1790s and the 1840s.

Following the Kansei Reforms, the sharebon genre went into decline. There were few new developments, and most new books were imitations of Kyōden's earlier works. Authors such as had a little success in continuing the genre. However, it eventually "[...] gave way to the ninjōbon

Ninjobon

The is a pre-modern Japanese literary genre. Novels focused on young love and were generally aimed to attract female readers. It is a sub-genre of gesaku and succeeds the earlier sharebon and kokkeibon genres.-Developments:...

in response to popular demand for sustained stories with greater depth of character [...]"