A complete gōkan set illustrated by Kunisada, featuring skull motifs

Tsuru no Chitose: Soga no Kadomatsu [Thousand Years of the Crane: Kadomatsu of Soga]

Tsuru no Chitose: Soga no Kadomatsu ["Thousand Years of the Crane: Kadomatsu of Soga"]

Katsu, Genzō, Takeshiba, Tōji [text by]; Kawatake, Kisui [concept by]; Utagawa, Kunisada [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Kōeidō, Genji 2 [1865].

 

A gōkan on the story of the dangerous but chivalrous man Nozarashi Kosuke, illustrated by Kunisada. The original story, insp ...

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The most widely known Japanese version of the Aesopica

Tsūzoku Isoppu Monogatari (Aesop's Popular Fables)

Tsūzoku Isoppu Monogatari ["Aesop's Popular Fables"]

Aesop [original fables by]; Watanabe, Tazunu [translated by]; Fujisawa, Bainan, Sakaki, Kōson, Kawanabe, Kyōsai, [Tenniel, Sir John], [Wolf, Joseph] [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Watanabe Tazunu [printing blocks owned by], Yamashiroya Sahē [distributed by], Meiji 5-6 [1872-1873].

 

The most widely kn ...

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Zoomorphic creatures by Yoshitora, inspired by Kyōden

Ujō Zatsuwa: Yume no Megane (Chitchat of Sentient Beings: The Glasses of Dreams)

Ujō Zatsuwa: Yume no Megane ["Chitchat of Sentient Beings: The Glasses of Dreams"]

Hyōhyōtei, Sennari [text by]; Utagawa, Yoshitora [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified], Kaei 6 [1853]. 

 

A playful gōkan inspired by Santō Kyōden's Harasuji Ōmuseki (1830-40s), Ujō Zatsuwa is a collaboration by the little-known kyōka and gesaku author Hy� ...

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A high-quality reproduction of a Sanjūrokkasen album

Untitled sanjūrokkasen album

[Untitled sanjūrokkasen album]

[Shōkadō, Shōjo (original illustrations by)?].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1930-50s)?]. 

 

An album of illustrations of the sanjūrokkasen ("Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry") and calligraphic renderings of poems by the poets - probably a high quality reproduction of an album hand-paint ...

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Robun's famous satire on Western customs

Ushiya Zōdan Aguranabe: Ichimei Doronken (Beef-Shop Small-Talk: Cross-Legged (at a Beef) Pot)

Ushiya Zōdan Aguranabe: Ichimei Doronken ["Beef-Shop Small-Talk: Cross-Legged (at a Beef) Pot"]

Kanagaki, Robun [text by]; Ikkeisai [Utagawa], Yoshiiku [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Seishidō, [preface dated Meiji 4 (1871)]. 

 

The shohen (first series) of Robun's famous satire on the perceived sophistication of Western customs. In the work, he ri ...

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An introduction to must-know words in romaji and kanji

Wayō Jikon Burui (Classes of Mixed Japanese and Western Characters)

Wayō Jikon Burui ["Classes of Mixed Japanese and Western Characters"]

Miki, Kōsai [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Hōzandō, Meiji Mizunoesaru [1872].

An illustrated encyclopedia in kanji and romanised Japanese, with definitions in mixed kana and kanji. The volume was compiled and presumably illustrated by Miki Kōsai (1830-1884), also known as Utagawa Yoshimori I. Books, fu ...

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