The Positions of Author, Editor and Reader in the Early Edo period : A Discussion Centered on Asai Ryoi the Author, and Kono Michikiyo the Editor(<The Special Issue>The Author as Media)

Abstract

The factual report of the Great Fire of Meireki in Edo was what the readers of the time most wanted to possess. The editor Kono Michikiyo responded to their needs by asking Asai Ryoi, one of the most popular writers of the day, to write Musashiabumi, the report on the calamitous effects of the fire, and Edo Meishoki, a guidebook to the city of Edo whose outlook was drastically altered. Kono Michikiyo also attempted to publish Shinpan Bushu Edo no Zu, (a map of the city of Edo) after the great fire, to sell these three books in a set.