Background
Shido Ken was born in 1681, Kyoto, Japan. Was said to have been a son of a farmer.
Shido Ken was born in 1681, Kyoto, Japan. Was said to have been a son of a farmer.
Called Sannosuke as a boy, he became an acolyte at the Chisokuin Temple, Nara (1692). Was expelled from the temple for disgraceful conduct (1716) when he was over 40 years old. Lived in Honjo, in downtown Edo as a lending library keeper.
At the time, Reizen, a kodan (feudal romance) raconteur, was attracting crowds of listeners in the compound of the Kannon Temple in Asakusa. Shido-Ken followed his example and started telling gundan at the same place.
For more than 20 years, he was an attraction of Asakusa.