Lit. Shank's Mare. A ribald classic by Jippensha Ikku 十返舎一九 (1765-1831) tracing the adventures of the two bumpkins Yajirobē 彌次郎兵衛and Kitahachi 北八 as they journey around Japan. Published in numerous installments between 1802 and 1822, this definitive work of the *kokkeibon 滑稽本 (comical book), genre describes countless locales where the "lustful, unscrupulous but somehow lovable heroes" run afoul of local customs with comic results. The first series Tōkaidōchū hizakurige 東海道中膝栗毛, published from 1802 to 1809, follows Yajirobē and Kitahachi's exploits along the highway from Edo to Kyoto and Osaka (see *Tōkaidō gojūsantsugi 東海道五十三次), while the second series Zoku-hizakurige 続膝栗毛, 1810-22, includes volumes on the Kiso highway (Kiso kaidō 木曾街道) as well as pilgrimages to Konpiragū 金比羅宮 and to Miyajima 宮島. In 1814 Ikku added an introduction to the whole series, filling in the lives of his heroes. The best loved episodes -- the two men scalding themselves in an old-fashioned bath at an inn in Odawara 小田原, Yajirobē being bit by a turtle in Mishima 三島, frightened by the ghostly appearance of a robe yukata 浴衣 drying at Hamamatsu 浜松, and getting stuck in a hole in the pillar at the Hōkōji 方広寺 Daibustuden 大仏殿, Kyoto -- were illustrated by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists, most notably Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (also known as Andō 安藤 Hiroshige, 1797-1858).