[Title illegible]

[Zenpachi (original illustrations by)].

[Ōsaka?: Hiyoshi Nobuhisa?, ca. mid to late Edo period (19th century?)].

Eshingyō, also known as mekurashinkyō, mekurakyō, and hannya eshingyō, are woodblock-printed copies of the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyō) produced for illiterate people. The illustrations provide vocal cues to the ...

[An untitled Edo period eshingyō]

[Zenpachi (original illustrations by)].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. mid Edo period (18th century?)].

Eshingyō, also known as mekurashinkyō, mekurakyō, and hannya eshingyō, are woodblock-printed copies of the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyō) produced for illiterate people. The illustrations provide vocal cues to the  ...

Ataru Taishō Roku-nen Shichi-gatsu Kyōgen Sujigaki ["Sellout July 1917 Kyōgen: Play Scenario"] [with] Taishō Roku-nen Ku-gatsu Kyōgen Sujigaki ["September 1917 Kyōgen: Play Scenario"]

Kawatake, Mokuami [text by].

Kyōbashi, [Tōkyō]: Kamijō Minoji, Taishō 6 [1917].

Two sujigaki scenario-books for kyōgen kabuki performances staged in 1917 by the Ichimura-za t ...

Baka no Daimyōyaku ["The Idiot's Great Wonder Drug"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Shōsetsusha Shorin, Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al.], [Meiji 7 (1874)] - Meiji 12 [1879].

A complete set of three Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi on the story of a quack doctor who invents a wonder drug that makes idiots s ...

1.

Bandō Shichi-eishi ["The Seven Great Samurai of Bandō"]

Jippensha, Ikku [text by]; Katsukawa, Shuntei [illustrated by].

[Edo?: Enomotoya Kichibē, preface dated Kansei 13 (1801)]. 

An incomplete copy of this little-known work by the famous author Jippensha Ikku (1765-1831). The leaves are numbered 5, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The first leaf ( ...

Bojutsu Yumemonogatari ["Dream Story of 1838"]

Takano, Chōei [work by]; [Takizawa (copied by)?].

[Japan, ca. late Edo period (1840-60s?)].

In Tenpō 8 (1837), the American trading ship the Morrison, captained by Charles King, was met with cannon fire upon its arrival in Japan. Japan was still officially closed to other countries in the 1830s, so this w ...

Bunmei Kaika Tōke Hyakunin Isshu ["The Advance of Civilisation: Child's Play, One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets"]

Fusō, Kan [selections by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Shinsaibashi, [Ōsaka]: Itamiya Zenbē ... [and 12 others], [Meiji 6 (1873)]. 

A comical anthology of one hundred poems and illustrations on the social and ...

Bunsen gafu ["Bunsen's painting manual"]

Seki, Bunsen [illustrated by].

[Ōsaka]: Kawachiya Kihē, Ansei 2 [1855]. 

The nihen (second selection) of Seki Bunsen's painting manual, featuring illustrations of landscapes, people, mythological figures, birds and flowers. This copy has been woodblock-printed in more subdued tones than other Meiji ...

Chie no Hakari ["The Scales of Wisdom"]

Mantei, Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Kobayashi [Tsuruya] Kiemon ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874].

A set of three Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi issues, complete, on the perceived superiority of (Western) academic knowledge and the true superiority of the wisdom earned in labour-based work. ...

Chūrui Daigiron ["The Insects' Great Debate"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrations by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Shōsetsusha Shorin, Yamazakiya Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874]. 

In this Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi, the Dragon King issues a wooden placard ordering the insects of his domain to rank their own value, stating t ...

Dai-hiden Hakusajin-shū ["Collection of People of the White Sand: Extremely Secret Transmissions"]; Hisho Yōketsu ["Key Points of Secret Volumes"]; Haikai Shinshinshiki ["New Forms of Haikai"]

[Matsuo, Bashō (attributed to)]; Morikawa, Kyoriku [original text by]; [Yūsetsuan, Kōmyō (hand-copied by)?].

Danjo Dōkenron ["On Equal Rights for Men and Women"]

Miru [Mill, John Stuart] [original text by]; Fukamauchi, Motoi [translated by].

Tōkyō: Yamanaka Ichibē, Meiji 11 [1878].

The first Japanese translation of John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women (first published in London in 1869), containing the first two chapters of Mill's acclaimed text. ...

Dōjo Hayagakumon ["Fast Learning for Young Girls"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Shōsetsusha Shorin, Yamazaki Seishichi, Ryōkodō ... [et al.], Meiji 8 [1875]. 

The first issue (of two) of one of Ōga's works recording the author's conservative rebuttal to the image of gender equality ...

Dōka kokoro no sugatami ["Moral poems: mirror of the soul"]

Kasetsu Dōnin [Sangoen], Tsukimaro [text by]; Hori, Genpo [illustrated by].

[Kyōto]: Ryūshiken, Kōbuntei, Kōshōkan, [preface dated Kaei 2 (1849)].

A collection of dōka (didactic poems presenting lessons on life through a Buddhist lens) presented by Sangoen Tsukimaro (Hori Genpo), released ab ...

Dōka kokoro no utsushi-e ["Moral poems: reflections of the soul"]

[Sangoen, Tsukimaro (text by); Hori, Genpo (illustrated by)].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, preface dated Bunsei 10 (1827)]. 

A collection of dōka (didactic poems presenting lessons on life through a Buddhist lens) and illustrations mainly based on the Japanese and Chinese character f ...

Dokuhin Benran ["Guide to Poisonous Things"] = Poisonous Plants: I. Collection

Ono, Motoyoshi [selections by]; Murayama, Tokujun [proofread by]; Mogami, Kōkichi [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Ono Motoyoshi, Meiji 11 [1878].

The first collection (of two) of Ono Motoyoshi's privately published guide to poisonous plants native to Japan. The volume features c ...

[Ehon tatsu no miyako ("Picture book of the dragon's capital")]

[Saitō, Senzan (illustrated by)].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Meiwa period to An'ei period (1760-70s)?].

An early children's book on the Japanese version of the "Heart of the Monkey" legend, set in the underwater world of Princess Oto of the Dragon Palace. It seems that thi ...

英和四書：別冊 大學・中庸 英文 全 [Eiwa Shisho: Bessatsu Daigaku, Chūyō, Eibun, Zen, “Four Books of the Chinese Classics Translated into English”]

[Confucius; Zisi (original texts by)]; Legge, James [translated by]; Imamura, N[agayoshi] [revised and translated into Japanese by].

Tōkyō: Z.P. Maruya & Co., Meiji 18 [1885]. "New edition".

Jame ...

Eiwa Tsūshin ["English-Japanese Transmissions"]

[Creator unidentified].

Asakusa, [Tōkyō]: Seyama Sakichi, Meiji 20 [1888].

A small copperplate-printed book of English words with diagrams, meanings, and pronunciations in Japanese. Because of the lack of visibility of the page numbers, it is difficult to determine if the work is complete. The first page, ...

Eshi Zōshi ["The Story of a Painter"]

[Creator unidentified].

Edo [Tōkyō]: Nakaya Tokubē [distributed by], [ca. Kaei period (1849)?]. 

A printed edition of the story of a poor painter, based on a medieval picture scroll. The original scroll is currently housed by the Museum of the Imperial Collections in Tokyo and was once believed to have been paint ...

[Title unidentified]

[Author/s unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1840-60s?)].

A collection of short stories, probably humorous, presented as vocal recitations. The index lists eight of the ten songs or recitations included in the volume as kae-uta, lyrics to be sung to the melody of a well-known song instead of the song ...

Gesaku shisho Kyōden yoshi ["Professor Santō's frivolous four books"]

Santō, Kyōden [text by]].

Kyōbashi, [Tōkyō]: Suzuki Kinjirō, Meiji 18 [1885].

A Meiji edition of Santō Kyōden's comedic adaptation of the classical Chinese Four Books, illustrated with five full-page and two double-page images. The text is a parody by Santō Kyōden of Ke ...

Gibun kihan: haikan hikkei ["Examples of humorous writing: an essential manual of folk rumours"] 

Okamoto, Takejirō [edited by]; Suita, Dōshi [inspected by]; [Tsukioka], Yoshitoshi [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Katō Shōshichi, Meiji 16 [1883].

A collection of around eighty examples of humorous advertisements for restaurants, shops, and various products ...

Gokuraku Dōchu-zue ["Illustrations of the Roads to Heaven and Hell"]

Ōno, Kōtarō [edited by].

Tōkyō: Ōno Kōtarō, Meiji 31 [1898].

A guidebook describing the roads, places, and significant landmarks on the course of the soul to Buddhist Hell or Heaven, offered together with the one-leaf print Seija Ryōdō Reikon no Yukue Zukai Setsumei ("Explanation of the ...

Hamaogishū ["Collection of Seashore Reeds"]

Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

[Japan: publisher unidentified], Meiji 18 [1885].

A short selection of poems accompanied by one woodblock-printed karazuri (blind-embossed) frontispiece signed and stamped in the block by Kyōsai. The collection of poems (probably privately printed by those in the ...

Shinpan Hauta Yosebon ["A Storyteller's Book of Hauta Songs, Newly Published"]

[Sanyūtei, Enba (text by)?]; Ichiensai [Utagawa], Kunimaro [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1840s?)].

A collection of short poems on love, illustrated by Kunimaro. The hauta poems or songs are presented as quotations from courtesans and ...

"趣味のコクテール"

Momose, Susumu [text by].

Tōkyō : Kinseidō , Shōwa 8 [1933]. 

One of the earliest Japanese cocktail books, containing information on the history of cocktails, notes on mixing liquors, illustrations of implements used in bartending, and, of course, many cocktail recipes.

Original boards, minor wear to spine. ...

Hōgaku kyōka kōkyōshū ["The sun collection of donated kyōka"]

Garyōen, Umemaro [selections by]; Go [Totoya], Hokkei, Aoigaoka, Keisei [illustrated by]. 

[Edo (Tōkyō)?]: Shunyūtei, Bunsei 13 [1830]. 

A compilation of kyōka by various poets selected (or judged) by Garyōen Umemaro (1793-1859?), illustrated with a frontispiece by Totoya Hokkei ...

Hōnen Gokoku Matsuri: Rikai Shinbun ["A Five-Grain Festival for the Abundant Harvest: Understandings of the New Culture"]

Mantei, Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Kobayashi Kiemon, Meiji 5 [1872] - [Meiji 6 (1873)]. 

One of the earliest Kyōsai-Ōga novels, on the importance of agriculture. Steele (2010) notes that ...

Kokkei Retsuden ["Biographies of Jesters"]

[Sima, Qian (original text by)]; Hamamura, Zōroku II [owned and/or copied by].

[Hyōgo?], Kansei 12 [1800]. Manuscript, on woodblockprinted stationery.

A kanbun rendering in manuscript of Guji Liezhuan ("The Biographies of Jesters"), volume 126 of the Shiji ("Records of the Grand Historian") by Sima Qian (c. 145-8 ...

Miyako fūzoku kewaiden ["Cosmetic customs of the capital"]

Sayama, Hanshichimaru [text by]; Hayami, Shungyōsai [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, preface dated Bunka 10 (1813)].

A complete set of Japan's most famous beauty manual, featuring tips on makeup, grooming, haircare, hairstyles, skincare, fashion, hygiene, gait, posture, and ot ...

Jiyū no Kotowari ["The Logic of Liberty"] = On Liberty

Mill, John Stuart [original text by]; Nakamura, Keitarō [Masanao] [translated by]; E.W.C. [Clark, Edward Warren] [preface by].

Suruga, Shizuoka: Kihira Ken'ichirō, Meiji Mizunoesaru [1872].

The first full Japanese translation of John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (originally published in London in ...

Jurin Shomoku ["Catalogue of Works from the Ranks of Confucian Scholars"] 

[Compiler unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji to Taishō period (1880-1910s)?]. In manuscript.

A manuscript catalogue listing texts composed or edited by Japanese Confucian and Neo-Confucian philosophers including but not limited to Hayashi Razan (Dōshun, 1583-1657), Hayashi Gahō ( ...

Jūshi Keisei Hara-no-uchi ["Inside the Guts of Fourteen Bombshell Beauties"]

Shiba, Zenkō [text by]; [Kitao, Shigemasa (illustrated by)]. 

[Tōri Abura-chō (Edo): Senkakudō, Kansei 5 (1793)].

A scarce medical-themed kibyōshi with eye-catching illustrations by Kitao Shigemasa. The description below of the work is provided by Hisa Kuriyama in Compara ...

Kaigai Hiyō Shūbunshū ["Foreign Secrets Collected and Reported"]

Shibukawa, Rokuzō ... [et al.] [original works by]; [Asano, Miyoshi (transcribed by)?].

[Nōshū, Iwate, ca. Kaei 7 (1854)]. Manuscript.

A compilation of records of letters and essays regarding attempts by Russia, the Netherlands, and North America to open Japan to trade. The index lists eig ...

Kaika Shindai Toppyō Shiwa ["Outrageous Poems and Stories: New Titles for a Civilised Age"]

Ryūsuitei, Tanekiyo [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Ryūshindō ... [et al.], Meiji 13 [1880]. 

A complete set of this collection of humorous poems illustrated with comical and risqué scenes by Kyōsai. The books are d ...

Kanegura Sandaiki ["Three Generations of Treasuries"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Yamazakiya Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874].

Three Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound in one, complete, on a family's economic struggles revolving around their pawnshop Iseya. The title of the moralistic work on t ...

Katsuron Gakumon Suzume ["A Vigorous Debate by the Sparrows of Learning"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Ōju Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Murakami Jūzō, Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al], Meiji 8 [1875]. 

The first issue (of three), in two parts, of Ōga's response to Fukuzawa Yukichi's famous work Gakumon no Susume ...

Kingyoku shinseki: San'yō, Shōzan, Tōko ["Precious true autographs of San'yō, Shōzan, and Tōko"]

Shikano, Shirō [edited by]; Yamamoto, Yoshitoshi [biographies by].

Tōkyō: Ryōzan Shokakuzō; Shikano Shirō, Meiji 13 [1880].

An album of woodblock-printed examples of the handwriting and name seals of the artist and poet Rai San'yō (1780-1 ...

Kishō Shinbun ["Journal of Collected Laughter"]

Hashizume [Baitei], Kinzō [Kinga] [edited by]; Ōju [Tsukioka], Yoshitoshi [illustrated by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Kishōsha, [Meiji 8 (1875)]. 

Issues three, four, and seven of this scarce zasshi produced by the novelist Baitei Kinga and artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Issue three is titled Karikashi Mondō ("Questi ...

Kisō Tenrai ["Inspired and Bizarre Ideas"]

Miyatake, Gaikotsu [edited by]; [Kitagawa], Utamarō, Hishikawa, Moronobu ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

Ōsaka: Miyatake Gaikotsu, Gazoku Bunko, Meiji 43 [1910].

An album of highly entertaining, if perplexing, illustrations produced by the oft-incarcerated journalist and author Miyatake Gaikotsu (1867-1955). A n ...

 Kita Amerika-koku-sen Torai ["On the Arrival of Ships from the Country of North America"]

[Scribe unidentified].

[Japan], Kōka 3 [1846]. Handwritten.

A manuscript record of the arrival of the American East India Squadron warships Columbus and Vincennes captained by James Biddle in Edo Bay in 1846. Biddle's request that Japan open to trade wit ...

Kuang Shi Tu Shuo ["An Illustrated Explanation of Ore"]

Fu, Lanya [Fryer, John] [text by].

[China: publisher unidentified], Guāngxù 10 [1884].

A text on ore/natural rocks in Chinese by British missionary John Fryer (1839–1928). The work includes numerous in-text diagrams of typical shapes of rocks and crystals, and was probably produced wit ...

Kyōjin Bikkuribako ["The Prideful Person's Box of Inevitable Fear"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Shōsetsusha Shorin, Yamazakiya Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874]. 

The first fascicle of a three-issue series produced by Ōga and Kyōsai. The two other issues in the series, Bikkuri Ch� ...

Light in darkness = Anchū no kōmyō

Loomis, Henry, Yoshimasu, Takasaburō [text by].

Yokohama: Beikoku Seisho Kaisha, Meiji 39 [1906].

A pamphlet recounting the story of Yoshimasu Takasaburō's conversion to Christianity, by Henry Loomis (1839-1920), a Presbyterian missionary from the US working in Japan. The short work shows through correspondences how ...

Magobē Kakkeiron ["Magobē the Manager"]; Kyōjin Bikkuribako ["The Prideful Person's Box of Inevitable Fear"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7-8 [1874-1875].

Two Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound together by an ex-owner. The first issue in the volume, Magobē Kakkeiron, ...

Mahometto-den ["A Biography of Muhammad"]

[Prideaux, Humphrey (original text by)]; Hayashi, Tadasu [translated by].

Tōkyō: Higashi Kan'ichi, Meiji 9 [1876].

The first biography of the Prophet Muhammad published in Japanese. The translator, diplomat Hayashi Tadasu (1850-1913), studied at University College School and King's College London between 18 ...

Makuragoto yume no kayoiji ["Bedside koto: the passage of dreams"]

Ryūtei, Senka [text by]; Ryūtei, Tanehiko [proofread by]; Utagawa, Sadahide [illustrated by].

Edo [Tokyo]: Tsuruya Kiemon, Tenpo 6 [1835]. 

The first volume of a "moral story whose plot is taken from the traditions of China and Japan" (S. Yoshitake, "Notes on Japanese Literature", Bu ...

Manpō Eitai Shin-zassho: Nihon-zu-iri ["New Miscellany of Countless Eternal Treasures, with a Map of Japan"]

[Tokanshi (selections by)?].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Bunka 8 (1811)].

This encyclopedic sheet, woodblock-printed on both sides, provides astrological, historical, and geographical information about Japan to the reader. The sheet could be ...

Minken Hizakurige ["A Journey Through Civil Rights"]

Seizaburō, Kida [text by]; Suita, Dōshi [Tajima, Shōji] [preface by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Kinkōdō, Meiji 15 [1882]. 

The first series (all published) of this work satirising the political debate around civil rights and democracy (the Jiyū Minken Undō (Freedom an ...