2nd Move: People

There were many sugoroku games created during the Edo period that featured well-known people, including kabuki actors, who were among the most popular celebrities of the day, and other famous people as well as historical and literary figures.
In fact, just looking at those featured in sugoroku provides clues about the era. There are many who are well-known even today but were portrayed then in ways that are different from how they are presented now. Let’s take a look at how some of these characters were depicted in sugoroku.

Kabuki Actors

Kabuki actors were so popular that an enormous number of sugoroku were produced featuring their likenesses. In some cases, the characters from kabuki plays were portrayed with the faces of the actors who played the roles.
In this respect, there are some similarities with ukiyo-e. But unlike ukiyo-e, which usually depicted only one and at most no more than a few actors at a time, sugoroku always depicts several kabuki actors together, and kabuki fans enjoyed being able to see all the popular actors presented together in one place.

Yakusha sugoroku (Kabuki actors)

The instructions in the middle of this sugoroku board says that it “depicts all the popular plays, regardless of the ranks of the actors” for “children who love watching kabuki.”
The game starts with squares featuring illustrations of the curtain and other stage equipment as well as the actor’s dressing room, but continues with squares of actors in the roles for which they are best known. At the finish line at the top of the board BANDO Mitsugoro, ICHIKAWA Danjuro, and ONOE Kikugoro are depicted.
The illustration below is from the top center of the board and depicts Ichikawa Danjuro in the play Shibaraku (stop a moment), which is considered one of the juhachiban (eighteen greatest plays) of kabuki. Here you can see his characteristic sidelocks as well as chikara gami (white paper, considered a symbol of power), eboshi (a traditional style of elongated, black hat), red sujiguma (striped makeup) on his face, and a costume bearing the Ichikawa family emblem, called Mimasu.

Bushi (Warriors)

Sugoroku boards featuring bushi and other heroic figures were also popular, not surprisingly especially with boys. In many cases, a considerable knowledge of historical literature was needed to be able to understand the content of Edo-period sugoroku. In this respect, sugoroku might have been used as teaching materials, with which children could learn while playing.

Bugei tatsujin sugoroku (Masters of martial arts)

This sugoroku featuring masters of martial arts includes a brief description of each individual. Although most of the people depicted here are master swordsmen, there are also some known for their prowess with a bow or spear. Rather than portraying the characters based on historical fact alone, these descriptions included elements of folklore and fanciful storytelling.
Martial artists who are still well known today include Edo-period swordsmen MIYAMOTO Musashi, SASAKI Ganryu (also known as Sasaki Kojiro), who fought a duel with Musashi on Ganryu Island, and TSUKAHARA Bokuden, a swordsman of the late Muromachi period.
The square at the top right of the board depicts Miyamoto Musashi, who is described as “A resident of Buzen* and master of the two-sword school, who defeated KAWADA Mokuzaemon and honed his skills while travelling around Japan. He later bested Ganryu in a duel, after which his name became widely known throughout Japan.” The second square from the left in the second row from the top is Sasaki Ganryu, who is “A resident of Higo in Kumamoto and a master swordsman who fought Musashi and whose name is now known on Ganryu Island.”

*Buzen Province, the area of the present-day Fukuoka Prefecture and Oita Prefecture.

Eiyu genpei meisho sugoroku (Great commanders of the Genji and Heike clans)

On this particular board, the military commanders of the Minamoto clan are depicted in the upper part, while those of the Heike clan are in the lower part, which seems to indicate how people at that time viewed the two clans. Although this particular game was named Genpei (for both the Minamoto and Heike clans), in addition to the commanders of these clans there are those from other historical eras such as SAKANOUE no Tamuramaro and KUSUNOKI Masashige.
This board also has a square featuring the Onna shogun (female warrior) Tomoe Gozen, who is the only woman included in the game. She was a concubine of KISO Yoshinaka, who is said to have fought bravely with him on the battlefield.

Eiyu zoroi iroha sugoroku (Lineup of heroes)

This sugoroku board has squares depicted as iroha karuta* cards, each of which contains a picture of a historical hero, including military commanders from the Heian to the Sengoku period as well as the legendary sumo wrestler NOMI no Sukune, who is mentioned in the Chronicles of Japan, and Shunkan, a Japanese monk who was exiled to Kikai-ga-shima in Kagoshima Prefecture at the end of the Heian period. The starting line shows warriors taking the field and the finish line shows a victorious commander being rewarded for his service.
Each square depicts a person whose name starts with the hiragana character encircled in the upper corner. The players move to squares as indicated by smaller encircled hiragana characters. Modifiers are sometimes prefixed to the personal names in order to conform to the iroha pattern. For example, the ka square depicts “Kai no Shingen.” Kai is the name of Shingen’s home province, in modern day Yamanashi Prefecture.

*A card game usually comprising 47 reading cards and 47 picture cards, representing the 47 syllables of the hiragana syllabary.

Women

Sugoroku with pictures of women were most likely intended to be played by girls. In this section will look at one of the many sugoroku games that feature female characters. These characters provides us with a glimpse of the things that were considered feminine virtues and help illustrate the differences between how women were regarded by society then and now.

Kenretsu teifu honcho misao sugoroku (Intelligent and virtuous women of Japan)

The starting line in this sugoroku has a scene of children reading books, while the finish line depicts Empress Jingu, who ruled Japan during the first half of the third century A.D. This sugoroku includes historical persons like MURASAKI Shikibu and ONO no Komachi as well as fictional characters like Sayohime, Murasaki, and Terita hime.
Occupying a square in the upper right of the board is Ototachibana-hime, who accompanied her husband, Prince Yamatotakeru, during his conquest of the east. This picture captures the scene in which she sacrifices herself to the sea in order to calm a savage sea.

Literature

More and more people began to read literature during the latter half of the Edo period, as witnessed by the large number of sugoroku that featured characters from literary works. There are so many sugoroku featuring content from epic-length novels that it is quite likely some of them were essentially used as digest editions.

Suikoden goketsu sugoroku (Water Margin, or Heroes of the Marsh)

This sugoroku features characters from the classic novel from Ming China, Water Margin (or Heroes of the Marsh), which tells the story of how 108 outlaws band together on Mount Liang but later go their separate ways or die fighting their enemies. This sugoroku is based on a 70-chapter edition that tells the first half of the story and was quite popular in Edo. Each square is numbered to provide the outline of the story. The starting line depicts the beginning of the story and Celestial Master Zhang, while the finish line shows the outlaws gathered on Mount Liang.
Once it became popular in Japan, Water Margin had a tremendous influence on Edo-period literature. After it was translated into Japanese as Tsuzoku chugi suikoden by OKAJIMA Kanzan, it was adapted by other authors to Japanese settings, such as Honcho suikoden, written by TAKEBE Ayatari in 1757, and Chushin suikoden, written by SANTO Kyoden in 1801.

Shinpan seichu gishiden sugoroku (The Forty-Seven Ronin)

This sugoroku features characters from the bunraku puppet play Kanadehon chushingura, which is based on the Ako vendetta, otherwise known as the “forty-seven ronin.” Kanadehon chushingura was a popular play for both puppet plays and Kabuki theater, and there were also many sugoroku made based on the forty-seven ronin. Each of the forty-seven ronin are depicted in the 47 squares between the starting and the finish line. In addition, the starting line features OBOSHI Yuranosuke, chief retainer, and the finish line shows Yuranosuke and his son OBOSHI Rikiya Yoshikane together.
The square in the bottom-left corner features HAYANO Kanpei Yoshitoshi, a character from a famous side story of chushingura, called Okaru and Kanpei. He is not dressed for battle, because he committed seppuku before the attack. A player loses a turn if he or she lands on this square.

Shinpan Hyakunin isshu mubeyama sugoroku

This sugoroku features the one hundred poets of the Ogura Hyakunin isshu, with Emperor Tenji at the starting line and FUJIWARA no Teika in his Mt. Ogura villa at the finish line. The one hundred poets and their poetry are listed in the same order as selected by Fujiwara no Teika. Both sugoroku and Hyakunin isshu are favorite pastimes during the New Year’s holidays, so combining them together is sure to put a sparkle in anyone’s New Year’s celebrations.
During the Edo period, there were many picture books published to help people read classic literary works such as Hyakunin isshu, Genji monogatari (tale of Genji), or Taiheiki, and many sugoroku were created on these same subjects. One of the most popular introductions to classical waka poetry was the Hyakunin isshu.

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3rd Move: Social Customs