The Salt Merchant Bunshō (Bunshō no sōshi) is one of 26 sixteenth-to-eighteenth century Nara ehon in the collection of the Museum Angewandte Kunst. The illustrated manuscripts typically feature popular short stories known as “companion tales” (otogizōshi) from the Muromachi period (1336–1573). Written mostly in syllabary, with only a few Chinese characters, and rich in imagery, they were accessible to a wide readership. They were popular as dowry gifts for brides, among other things.

The story of the salt merchant Bunshō is exemplary of the social upheavals of the Edo period (1603–1868). The period’s lack of major military conflicts allowed merchants, who had previously been at the bottom of the social hierarchy, to increasingly become the most powerful economic class. Bunshō is a simple salt boiler who, through his industriousness, gradually succeeds in growing into a wealthy salt merchant. He also has two daughters, whose beauty causes quite a stir. One day, a high-ranking courtier from Kyōto travels to the distant coastal town where the Bunshōs live and immediately falls in love with the older daughter. With the father’s consent, he takes her as his wife. Soon after traveling back to Kyoto with her, the emperor himself takes a liking to the younger of the two beautiful daughters and makes her his concubine. Bunshō himself is then appointed as the new prime minister in the capital. This rags-to-riches fairy tale became one of the most popular Nara ehon tales and was particularly popular to read at the New Year due to its auspicious success story.