Takehisa, Yumeji, and others [illustrations by].

[Japan] : Senow, Symphony ... et al., Taishō to early Shōwa period [1920-30s].

A collection of 47 pieces of sheet music published in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. Sheet music published during this period in Japan is known for its beautiful Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs, and these exa ...

Hiroshige, Andō ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Japan : publisher not identified, ca. 1920-40s].

A collection of seven colour woodblock-printed chirimen-e (crêpe-paper illustrations) printed in the Taishō to early Shōwa period, possibly earlier. The collection includes two large reproduced illustrations from Hiroshige's ‘Fifty-t ...

Ca. late Taishō to early Shōwa period [1920-40s].

A collection of beautiful stencils for dyeing patterns onto ‘happi’ [traditional Japanese straight-sleeved coats] and/or ‘haori’ [formal coats]. Most of the stencils feature ‘kamon’ [circular family crests], and would have been used for the back panel of such coa ...

[Ca. 1923-1930].

A collection of two letters and two postcards from Edmund Blunden to English bookseller J.S. Billingham, along with four postcards from Blunden's Japanese students to the same bookseller, and two blank postcards sent to Billingham by Blunden. Blunden was the Professor of English at the University of Tokyo from 1924 to 1927, and the letters and postcar ...

[Nara : Kōfukuji?, ca. Kamakura period (1185–1333)?].

A cutting presumed to have been taken from a Kamakura period Kasuga edition of the Dai Hannya-kyō (or Dai-Hannya Haramitta-kyō (Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra)). The ex-owner has added a tipped-in description reading simply “Kamakura Period, Cutting from a Kasuga Edition of the Dai Han ...

Yokoyama, Ryōhachi [illustrated by].

Kyōbashi, Tōkyō : Yokoyama Ryōhachi, Meiji 18 [1885].

A woodblock print of popular sokuhatsu hairstyles for women. Sokuhatsu, a hairstyle consisting of a bun or knot tied at the back of the head, was popular in Japan in the Meiji era. The brightly coloured print makes several references to "English Knot ...

[Illustrator not identified].

[Japan : (publisher not identified), ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1810-1870s)?].

A woodblock carved on both sides used to print a fukubiki lottery game. Fukubiki was a "popular pastime involving the drawing of lots or some similar method to win prizes".¹ This particular woodblock would have been used for a fukubiki game ca ...

Baidō [created and illustrated by].

Tōkyō : Maki Kinnosuke, Fukagawaya, Meiji 26 [1893]. 

A colour woodblock-printed triptych kirikumitoro-e (‘cut-out-and-build lantern’) of Fukushima Yasumasa's solo espionage expedition across two continents. Kirikumitoro-e, also known as tatebanko or kumiage-e, are i ...

Nan'yō Keizai Kenkyūjo.

Tōkyō : Nan'yō Keizai Kenkyūjo, Shōwa 19 [1944].

A booklet in Japanese listing famous Australians and Australian residents, including convicts, explorers, artists, Royal Navy officers, geographers, and naturalists. The figures included are, in order, William Dampier, S ...

Mizushima, Kōyō (Isaiah) [edited by].

Tōkyō : Seikyō Honkai Henshūjo, Meiji 39 [1906]. First edition.

A document printed to commemorate a celebration by the congregation of the Japanese Orthodox Church for the 25th anniversary of Bishop Nikolai Kasatkin (1836–1912) and his elevation to Archbishop of All Japan by t ...

[Katsushika?], Masahisa [illustrated by].

Tōkyō : [publisher illegible], Meiji 15 [1882].

An engrossing triptych featuring over three hundred famous people engaged in bouts of kubihiki. Kubihiki was a Japanese game in which a looped string was placed around the necks of two people and a trial of strength would ensue. In this work, celebrities, almost all ...

[Illustrator not identified].

[Japan : Sanden Denki Shōkai, ca. late Meiji period (1903-1907)].

A lithographically printed advertisement for Dr. Sanden's ‘Herculex’ electric belt, a device supposed to give vitality and restorative powers to those who wore it. The Sanden Electric Company, founded by Albert T. Sanden in America in 1885, opened i ...

[Yanagawa, Shunsan].

Tōkyō : Yamatoya Kihē, [ca. Meiji 2 (1869)].

A woodblock-printed booklet published to help Japanese readers understand ‘western time’ and the reading of western clock faces. The change in Japan from the old lunar calendar to the Gregorian calendar was made in November of Meiji 5 (1872), and this accordion-folding boo ...

Kobayashi, Eijirō [Ikuhide].

Bakurochō, [Tōkyō] : Higuchi Gintarō, Meiji 14 [1881].

A woodblock-printed omocha-e (toy print) featuring a mixture of silhouettes of people, monsters, and spirits. There are 47 silhouettes in total, including those of two rokurokubi (monsters with long necks), a kasa-obake (umbrella spirit), a monster whose oi ...

[Illustrator not identified].

[Tōkyō : Tsujikame-ban, ca. early to mid Meiji period (1875-1895)].

An utsushi-e (projection picture) of 53 silhouettes of people and animals. People in varying professions are pictured, including a jinrikisha (cart-puller), a samurai, and a walking salesman. Children and a variety of animals are also featured, as is a woman ...

Utagawa, Yoshitora [illustrated by].

Tōkyō : Fujiokaya Keijirō, ca. Ganji Gannen [1864].

A colour woodblock-printed yokohama-e of the travelling troupe of American Richard Risley Carlisle performing in Yokohama. The troupe, comprising ten equestrian performers and eight horses along with Risley himself, arrived in Yokohama on the 6th of March, 1864. ...

Watanabe, Kazan ... [et al.][illustrated by].

[Tōkyō?] : Nippon Yūsen Kaisha, 1928.

Two colour woodblock-printed one-leaf menus from the S.S. Hakozaki Maru and the Taiyō Maru. The menu from the S.S. Hakozaki Maru (Commander T. Sekine) is dated Thursday, 2nd August, 1928, and the Taiyo Maru menu is dated Sunday, January ...

[Creator not identified].

Kyōbashi, [Tōkyō] : Yabuya Kawashima Fusumagamiten, Taishō 15 [1926].

A catalogue of 26 Canadian wallpaper samples published by Yabuya Kawashima Fusumagamiten, a company predominantly known for selling fusuma (Japanese sliding screen) papers. A number is printed on the verso of each decorative sample, and a price list ...

[London] : Ye Sette, 1892. 

The menu of the ‘Japanese Night’ dinner held in 1892 by members of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes (an English club of bibliophiles founded by bookdealer Bernard Quaritch in 1878) and attended by many members of the Japan Society. The night is known to have been attended by, amongst others, Narinori Okoshi, Cap ...

Ikkadō, Hansui [created by]; Hasegawa, Sadanobu [illustrated by].

[Ōsaka? : Kawachiya Sasuke?, ca. Bunkyū 2-4 (1862-64)].

Three uncut woodblock prints for the wrappers and first few pages of three Yoshiko no Bushi songbooks, or kayōshū. Hasegawa Sadanobu (1809-1879), the artist of these prints, is known to have produced wrappers for numero ...