[Untitled woodblock print]

[Artist unidentified].

Tōkyō: Shibakawado, [ca. Taishō period (1910-20s)?].

A woodblock-printed leaf featuring two designs for Christmas and New Years’ greeting cards. The cards may have been produced for Japanese people to send to English-speaking friends, or as souvenirs for foreign tourists to send back to friends in the ...

"滑稽 笑袋"

Murata, Tamesaburō [text by].

Tōkyō: Hakkōdō, Meiji 27 [1894].

A woodblock-printed collection of amusing mistakes and misheard words. The compilation, publication of which was certified by the Home Ministry, is almost entirely in katakana.

One leaf, complete. Creases, light foxing, marks, small hole and sticker removal. 24 ...

[A collection of 39 fans]

Kamisaka, Sekka, Tomioka, Tessai, Takeuchi, Seihō .. [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Kyōto?: publisher/s unidentified, ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1910-1920s?)].

A beautifully preserved collection of 39 eye-catching sensu fans featuring designs based on fruits, flowers, landscapes, people, and animals, by acclaimed artists i ...

[Japan: publisher and creator unidentified, ca. early to mid Meiji period (1870-90s)].

A collection of fabric representations (oshi-e (押絵)) of characters from ukiyo-e. The title slips and lines of characters' clothes appear to have been cut out from woodblock-prints and laid onto various pasted-down fabrics to bring the characters to life. Some sections of the figur ...

Naimono-zukushi ["A Compilation of Things That Aren't"]

[Author/s unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1820-50s?)].

A "collection of things that aren't"; each line of text ends with nai, a negative form of a verb or an auxiliary verb and adjective indicating the lack or non-existence of something. For example, one lin ...

Goshinpatsu Hitotsutose-bushi ["Military Departure: A Hitotsutose Song"]

[Author/s unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Meiji period (1890-1910s?)].

A hitotsutose counting song in twenty verses on a military campaign, possibly printed around the time of the First Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War. Hitotsutose was a type of kazo ...

[Fabric Fragment].

[Designer unidentified].

[Japan: manufacturer unidentified, ca. Meiji period (1868-1912)?].

A cutting of fabric embroidered with a bird's-eye image of people dancing on a bridge. The fragmen ...

[Fabric fragment]

[Designer unidentified].

[Japan: manufacturer unidentified, ca. Meiji period (1868-1912)?].

A cutting of fabric embroidered with clouds, pine trees, waves, and foreign ships. The fragment, which ...

[A large woodblock used for printing medical advertisements]

[Creator unidentified].

Mino-no-kuni [Gifu]: [manufacturer unidentified, ca. late Edo period (18th to mid-19th century)?].

A large woodblock used around the late Edo period for printing advertisements for taidoku medicine. Taidoku (literally "inherent poison" (i.e. a disease believed to have been ...

[A Meiji era photograph of Japanese police graduating from an English language class]

[Photographer unidentified].

[Japan: studio unidentified], 1906.

A photograph produced during the Meiji era. The handwritten caption reads (in English) "June 28, 1906. Graduating ceremony of English student [sic] of police". Two foreign women and one foreign man are pictu ...

Shujū Gi wo Mamorite Nan wo Manukaru ["A Master and Servant Observe Obedience to Their Duties and a Disaster is Averted"]

Ōju [Mizuno], Toshikata [illustrated by]; [Tominaga], Toshichika [corrected by].

Tōkyō: Tsuji Keiji: Fukyū sha, Meiji 21 [1888]. "Later printing".

Kōfu sake wo tachite issei no kuwauju to naru ["To become a world-famous scholar after renouncing alcohol"]

[Kobayashi], Toshikazu [illustrated by]; [Tominaga], Toshichika [corrected by].

Tōkyō: Tsuji Keiji: Fukyū sha, Meiji 21 [1888]. "Later printing".

&n ...

[Kitao, Masayoshi ... (et al.) (illustrated by)].

[Tōkyō]: Sekaidō, [ca. mid-Shōwa period (1930-50s)?].

A collection of four postcards introducing famous places in Tokyo, featuring an illustration of a shop selling ezōshi (illustrated books), nishiki-e (ukiyo-e prints), hanging scrolls, and other items in Asakusa's Nakamise shopping street. ...

Odoke Jitsugokyō: irozato machijū anazukushi, shohen ["A witty Jitsugokyō: all sorts of tales from around the pleasure quarters, first part"]

[Author unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified], Tenpō 2 [1831].

The Jitsugokyō ("Teachings of the words of truth") was a textbook on morality used for learning kanji and kanbun (literary Sinitic) at terakoya ...

[Set of movable type]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji period (1870-90s?)]. 

A small set of hand-cut wooden movable type, probably produced in the Meiji period. The faces of the ninety pieces measure approximately 6 x 6 mm, and all depict kanji characters. The wooden tray is thought to be original. The type was probably used to print books or ...

亜墨利加國蒸氣車往来 [Amerika-koku Jōkisha Ōrai, “The Transit of an American Steam Locomotive”]

Issen [Utagawa], Yoshikazu [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō: Maruya Jinpachi, Bunkyū Gannen (1861)].

This eye-catching triptych of an American "steam train" is believed to be based on an image of the Japanese embassy arriving in 1860 in Washington, D.C., f ...

"亞墨利加洲内華盛頓府之景 銅板之寫生"

Issen [Utagawa], Yoshikazu [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: Maruya Jinpachi, [ca. Bunkyū Gannen (1861)].

A decidedly European depiction of Washington, purportedly based on an (asyet unidentified) copperplate engraving. A scarce aizuri-e of a foreign scene by Utagawa Yoshikazu (active ca. 1850–70), a pupil of Kuniyoshi (1 ...

Amijima Shinjū: Koharu Jihē ["The Love Suicide at Amijima: Koharu and Jihē"]

Shōrin, Hakuchi [performed by]; Namiue, Gisa[burō] [transcribed by]; Suzuki, Anjirō [edited by]; Toyohara, Kunichika [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Yamato Shinbunsha, Meiji 30 [1897].

A complete transcription in four issues of a performance by professional storyteller Shōrin Hakuchi (1 ...

[Untitled obi]

[(Japan?): maker unidentified, ca. Shōwa period (20th century)].

A Shōwa period obi featuring multiple gold and silver book wrappers with elaborate patterns.

One obi. Light blue-grey underside. Approximately 434 x 31 cm.

Tsūzoku Isoppu Monogatari, dai hachi-gō-bu-zu [“Aesop's Fables: illustration of number eight”]

Yamamoto, Ryūdō [illustrated by].

Kanda, [Tōkyō]: Takekawa Seikichi, Meiji 10 [1877].

An unrecorded triptych by Yamamoto Ryūdō (1845-1913), a pupil of Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), of a story from Aesop's Fables. The triptych was produ ...

[An untitled album of woodblock-printed illustrations]

Taki, Katei, [Fukushima], Chikaharu, [Fukushima], Ryūho, [Shibata], Zeshin, [Satake], Eiko, [Tōdō], Ryōun, Rinsei, Zuika [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early Meiji period (1860-70s?)].

An untitled album of ten colour woodblockprinted illustrations of plants, flowers, animals, p ...

[An untitled collection of twenty-three kamon and katagami stencils]

[Creator/s unidentified]. 

[Japan: creator unidentified, ca. late Edo to late Meiji period (1850-1900s)?].

A collection of beautiful hand-cut stencils for textile dyeing. Most of the stencils feature kamon (circular family crests) and would have been used on the back panel of coats. ...

[An untitled egoyomi tanzaku album]

Shimomura, Kanzan, Takeuchi, Seihō, Taniguchi, Kōkyō ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Meiji 42 (1909)].

A daishō egoyomi (pictorial calendar) for 1910, featuring twelve poetry-slip (tanzaku) sized leaves, one for each month of the year, illustrated by the artists Shimomura Kanzan (1 ...

[An untitled set of Japanese photographs]

[Photographer/s unidentified]. 

[Japan: publisher/studio unidentified, ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1910-30s?)].

A complete set of souvenir photographs of Japan. The set is more adventurous than typical landscape-centric sets, focusing on the occupations and amusements of the common people. Highlights inc ...

[A Sugoroku Game Featuring Various Animals]

Kokunimasa [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Fukuda Kumajirō, Meiji 27 [1894].

A paper sugoroku game illustrated with various animals, by Kokunimasa. Kokunimasa was almost certainly Utagawa Kunimasa V (years of birth and death undetermined), who used the name Baidō Kokunimasa between 1889 and 1896. Many animals foreig ...

[An untitled surimono featuring poems by kabuki actors]

[Hasegawa], Sadanobu [II] [illustrated by]; Fukusuke, Tokizō, Danjurō ... [et al.] [poems by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early Meiji period (1870-80s?)].

A surimono (woodblock-printed leaf) featuring twentytwo poems, seemingly all by kabuki actors, and an illustration of a flaming jewel by ...

[An untitled work based on the Kachikachi-yama folktale]

Kobayashi, Kiyochika [signature and seal of].

[Japan, ca. mid-Meiji period (1870-1900s?)]. In manuscript.

A playful hand-painted fan paper with a signature and seal attributed to the ukiyo-e artist Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915). The design is based on the folktale Kachikachi-yama and shows a tanuki ...

Asakusa Kinryuzan Kaminarimon [Kaminarimon at Kinryūsan Temple, Asakusa]

[Hasegawa], Konobu [illustrated by].

Ōsaka: Tanaka Yasu [Yasujirō], [ca. Meiji 10 (1878)]. 

Determined temple-goers hold their umbrellas aloft as they fight their way through the crowded Kaminarimon in Asakusa on a rainy night. Senshafuda (votive slips) have been paste ...

Atagoyama no Zu ["View from Mt. Atago"]

Kobayashi, Kiyochika [illustrated by].

Ryōgoku, [Tōkyō]: Matsuki Heikichi, Meiji 11 [1878].

A colour woodblock-printed illustration designed by the artist Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) of the view of Tōkyō from Mt. Atago. Kiyochika's characteristic use of shadows and areas of flat colour creates an image resona ...

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 ...

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. ...

Chinbun Kanbun ["Curious Pieces of Nonsense News"]

[Suzuki, Rainosuke (illustrated by)?].

Ōsaka: Wataya Kihē, Meiji 10 [1877]. 

Issues 1-8 of this scarce Ōsaka-based periodical, bound and sold by the publisher in one volume. The bizarre cover illustration features electric cables (to which eyes and many ears are attached), a tanuki riding a stag, a fo ...

Chinshō Shinshi ["New Magazine of Rare Laughs"]

Noda, Chiaki [Takashimaya, Tōu] [edited by]; [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Kaichinsha, Meiji 11 [1878]. 

Issue two of the comical magazine Chinshō Shinshi, featuring a woodblock-printed upper wrapper in a toba-e style by Kyōsai. The illustration depicts the "Three Laughing Men at Tiger Broo ...

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 ...

[Collection of 39 set designs]

[Oda, Otoya ... (et al.) (illustrated by)?].

[Japan, ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1930-70s)?]. In manuscript.

A collection of 39 set designs for performances of Japanese plays, painted in watercolours on high-quality art paper. The stage designer Oda Otoya (1921-2006) may have been responsible for the majority of the illust ...

"大しんぱん 大笑歌仙合 やさことば"

[Creator unidentified].

Gion, [Kyōto]: Yamasa, [ca. Edo period (early 19th century)].

A woodblock-printed collection of risqué poems, mostly about courtesans, published in the entertainment district of Kyōto in the early 19th century. The publisher, Yamasa, also produced kappazuri prints designed by Urakusai Nagahide in ...

Ōji Seishi-Gaisha Ryakuzu ["Diagram of the Ōji Paper Company"]

Ōsai [Utagawa], Fusatane [Murai, Shizuma] [illustrated by]. 

Asakusa, [Tōkyō]: Tsunashima Kamekichi, Meiji 10 [1877].

A copperplate-printed diagram of the different stages of papermaking at the Ōji Paper Company. The illustration depicts the paper mill the company built in 1875 i ...

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 ...

Dōke kyōga-zukushi ["A collection of humorous caricatures"]

[Artist unidentified].

[Tōkyō-fu: Kogaya Kotsugorō, Meiji 8 (1875)].

A colour woodblock-printed montage of six humorous scenes, featuring women selling hot beans, a trapped oni (ogre) in postage-stamp patterned robes, a Japanese man winning a game of igo ('Go') against a Chinese man, ...

Edo Ryōgoku suzumi no zu ["Cooling off at Ryōgoku in Edo"]

[Kikukawa], Eizan [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Kawaguchi [Kawaguchiya Uhē], [Bunka 8 (1811)]. 

The rightmost print only of a triptych depicting a busy night scene at Ryōgoku Bridge in Tokyo. Eizan (1787-1867) studied both Kanō school and Shijō school painting styles and designed many bijin ...

Erokan jidai no uta: Nikkatsu eiga shudaika ["Song for the age of erotic senses: theme of the Nikkatsu film"]

Itō, Kazuo [lyrics by]; Matsudaira, Nobuhiro [composed by]; Matsubara, Chikashi, Satō, Tokitarō [arranged by]; [Saitō], Kazō [illustrated by].

Tōkyō : Bikutā Shuppansha, Shōwa 5 [1930].

A harmonica score for the theme song of the film Musume ...

Shinpan Irozato Ken'uta Ukarebushi ["Red-light District Fist-songs, Newly Published"]

[Author/s unidentified].

Ryōgoku, [Tōkyō]: Azumaya Denzō, [ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?].

Judging from the title and wrapper illustration, the content of this utahon is either humorous or humorous and risqué. According to Matthew Shores in A Critical Study o ...

Okada Domain, [Okayama]: Shichiya Kojimaya, Kyōho 17 [1732].

Four woodblock-printed hansatsu, feudal scrip used in the place of legal tender. These ginsatsu ("silver notes") each represent one monme (3.75g) of silver, and were issued in Kyōho 17 (1732).

Four leaves, printed on both sides. Wear, light soiling, creases. Each leaf measures 19.7 × ...

[Four single-leaf advertisements]

Saitō, Moemon ... [et al.] [text by]; [Kobayashi], Kiyochika ... [et al.] [illustrations by].

[Japan: Kitagawaya, Gusokuya, ca. late Meiji period (1880-1900s)?].

A set of hikifuda (advertisements) produced for the bookseller Kitagawaya (Saitō Moemon) and the jihon doiya Gusokuya Kahei. The single print produced for Gusoku ...

[Koshōtei, Sanjin (edited by).

Kyōto: Maria Gabō, ca. early Shōwa period (1920-30s)].

Four colour woodblock-printed reproductions of book-envelopes and wrappers of kusazōshi books, affixed at the edges to make one large leaf. The illustrations are probably from Sōshi Monyōshū (草紙文様集), a collection published in the early Shōwa period by Maria Gabō.

& ...

[Four untitled woodblock prints from Sekka's Ashide-e]

[Kamisaka, Sekka (illustrated by)].

[Kyōto: Kamisaka Yoshiaki, Shōwa 19 (1944)]. 

Four (of six) ashide-e designed by Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942), from Ashide-e: Sekka Isaku ("Ashide Illustrations: Posthumous Works by Sekka"). Sekka intended the six prints in Ashide-e to be used as a secon ...

福引口訛絵 [Fukubiki Kuchinamari-e, “A Lottery Illustration of Provincialisms”]

Nagoya, Aichi: Tsukamoto Sutesaburō, [ca. Meiji 37 (1904)].

This print depicting famous figures of the early 1900s may have been used as a paper "board" game for gambling. The illustration uses a bright red pigment characteristic of Meiji period prints and features mil ...

Fūryū Itsutsu Karigane ["The Refined Karigane Five"]

Gototei [Utagawa], Kunisada [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: Izumi Ichi [Izumiya Ichibē], [ca. Bunsei 11 - Tenpō 2 (1828-1831)]. 

A complete pentatych by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III, 1786-1865) featuring five beautiful women as the Itsutsu Karigane - the "five karigane blood-brothers" or the "Karigan ...

Fūryū mongata kiriyō ["Elegant crest-shaped cuttings"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Tōkyō: Zenba Dankyō, Meiji 27 (1894)?].

Four booklets on cutting kamon (crests) from folded paper, bound in one. Monkiri ("crest-cuttings") could be made by cutting out a desired template from issues such as these, laying it on top of a piece of paper which had already been fol ...