On the First Sino-Japanese War, illustrated by Kiyochika

Shina Taiji: Nihon Ryūkōbushi (Popular Japanese Songs on the Extermination of China)

Shina Taiji: Nihon Ryūkōbushi ["Popular Japanese Songs on the Extermination of China"]

Koppi, Dōjin [Nishimori, Takeki] [text by]; [Kobayashi], Kiyochika [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Fusōdō, Meiji 27 [1894].

 

A book of humorous folk songs on the First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895), written by the novelist, poet, and Maru Maru Chi ...

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Poems in various styles on the Russo-Japanese War

Shinsaku Dodoitsu: Rokoku Seibatsu (New Dodoitsu Poems on the Crushing Defeat of Russia)

Shinsaku Dodoitsu: Rokoku Seibatsu ["New Dodoitsu Poems on the Crushing Defeat of Russia"] 

Kinryū, Sanjin, Suzuki, Kōhachi [edited by].

Tōkyō: Ōkawaya Shoten, Meiji 37 [1904].

 

A collection of dodoitsu, kyōku, kyōka, haiku, kappore, and other poems published in support of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The work was pu ...

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A story of greed, illustrated by Kyōsai

Shinsei Tobi Dango (Consultation with a Beautiful Rabbit: A New System)

Shinsei Tobi Dango ["Consultation with a Beautiful Rabbit: A New System"]

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

[Tōkyō]: Yamazakiya Seishichi, Meiji 6 [1873]. 

 

A story about greed, featuring the characters Yokuno Fuzakō (a human), Saitoriya Butaroku (a pig), a dog, and a rabbit. The satire attacks the greed of the pa ...

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An early illustrated edition of Taishokan

Taishokan (The Great Woven Cap)

Taishokan ["The Great Woven Cap"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early Edo period (1600-1700)?].

 

The jō (first) volume (presumably of a jōge (two-volume) set) of an illustrated edition of Taishokan, one of the most popular kōwakamai ballad drama pieces of the Edo period. The Library of Congress provides the following descriptio ...

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Satoka yoi Ōpira no sakae: uosei hatsumono (Villages and houses on night duty and Ōpira`s honour: the first catch of milt)

The battle of an eggplant and a bonito over a potato-courtesan

Satoka yoi Ōpira no sakae: uosei hatsumono ["Villages and houses on night duty and Ōpira's honour: the first catch of milt"]

Torii, Kiyonaga [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō): Okumuraya, An'ei 6 (1777)].

 

A kibyōshi illustrated by famous artist Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815) on the tale of a battle (instigated by a feud between a bonito and an eggpla ...

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Cocktails: methods of mixing liquor

The first cocktail book printed in Japan

Kokutēru: kongōshu chōgōhō ["Cocktails: methods of mixing liquor"]

Akiyama, Tokuzō [compiled by].

Tōkyō: Akiyama Ryōri Kenkyūjo, Shōwa 4 [1929]. Fourth edition.

 

The first cocktail book published in Japan, with several original recipes inspired by Japanese themes. The novel and Japanese TV drama "The Emperor's Cook" was based on the life of the au ...

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Inscribed by Greey to Mrs. Fenollosa, with an Original Sketch

The Golden Lotus and Other Legends of Japan

Greey, Edward [written and with covers designed and drawn by].

Boston : Lee and Shepard, 1883. First edition.

 

A first edition copy of Greey's 'The Golden Lotus', inscribed by him to Mrs. (Lizzie) Fenollosa (dated 1882, before the official publication of the book). Ernest Fenollosa taught political economy and philosophy at the Imperial University ...

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A Complete Ten Volume Set on the Satsuma Rebellion

The Seinan War, from Beginning to End

"西南戦争始終"

Shōzaburō, Maeda [edited by]; Utagawa, Yoshikage [illustrated by].

Ōsaka: Maeda Kihē, Meiji 10 [1877].

 

A complete set of ten illustrated books on the Satsuma Rebellion (also known as the Seinan War), a battle between samurai and the new imperial government which took place from January to September, 1877, culminating in the elimination of th ...

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A famous Chinese parable, skilfully woodblock printed by master craftsmen

The Ten Bulls

The Ten Bulls 

Matsumura, K. [Kaiseki] [compiled by]; Wadagaki, K. [Kenzō] [translated by]; Saito, Shoshyu [Saitō, Shōshū] [illustrated by]; Okura, H. [Hanbē] [blocks cut by]; Nishimura, K. [Kumakichi] [hand-printed by].  

Tōkyō: Sakura-Shobo, Taishō 3 [1914].

 

A delightful little book of Zen poems with skilfully woodblock-printed illustrati ...

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A response to Fukuzawa Yukichi's Katawa Musume

Tōsei Rikō Musume (A Clever Woman of the Present Day)

Tōsei Rikō Musume ["A Clever Woman of the Present Day"]

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

Tōkyō: Yamaguchiya Tōbē, [Meiji 6 (1873)].

 

A response to Fukuzawa Yukichi's Katawa Musume (1872), Tōsei Rikō Musume is one of the earliest works Mantei Ōga and Kawanabe Kyōsai produced together in this ephe ...

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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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