"健胃強神　古加葡萄酒"

Yokohama: Meiji-ya, Meiji 27 [1894].

Tonic Coca Wine was a popular drink in Europe in the late 19th century, and, as can be seen from the images of medals in the illustration above, won numerous awards at expositions. The concoction is advertised here as a French-made must-have for the healthconscious buyer: a "strengthener of the entire sys ...

Tōsei Karitaku Saiken Kagami ["Mirror of a Guide to Temporary Lodgings"]

Chōkarō [Ochiai/Utagawa], Yoshiiku [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: [Ōtaya] Takichi, Bunkyū 2 [1862].

A woodblock print featuring an illustration of a courtesan and child and a ranking of courtesans of the Nakagawa pleasure house, designed by Ochiai (Utagawa) Yoshiiku (1833-1904). Ka ...

[Two untitled photographs]

[Photographers unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji era (1880-1900s)?].

A set of two photographs of Japanese photography studios located in Nagasaki and Kobe. One of the photos shows the Nagasaki main street shopfronts of "Tamemasa, Dealer in Photographs", "S. Shinowara, Photographer", "Sato, General ... [illegible] Curio Dealer..., ...

[Japan, Shōwa 12 (1936)?]. Manuscript.

A letter in morse code to a Mr. Shimizu Ichirō of Mie Prefecture. The content is unknown, but the sender seems to have been a field army soldier fighting in the Second SinoJapanese War.

Two manuscript leaves with original opened envelope, lightly stained. 22.7 x 17.3 cm.

[Untitled album of copperplate-printed illustrations]

[Compiler unidentified]. 

[Japan: publisher/s unidentified, ca. late Meiji period (1905-1915?)].

An album of 86 tipped-in copperplate-printed illustrations of famous locations around Japan. Many of the landscapes, among them Mt. Fuji, Kamakura, and Nara, are provided with captions and rendered ...

[Untitled album of surimono] 

[Utagawa], Kunisada, [Shibata], Zeshin ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Japan, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1820-70s?)]. 

An album featuring 34 tipped-in surimono (privately commissioned woodblock prints) produced in the Edo and Meiji periods. The examples include poetry-themed haikai surimono illustrated with ...

[Untitled book of hand-sewn amulets]

[Creator unidentified]. 

[Japan, ca. late Edo period (1800-60s?)].

A small but lovingly assembled book of 25 hand-sewn semamori designs. Semamori or semon ("back crests" or "back-protectors") are designs traditionally sewn into children's kimono to prevent the soul from leaving the body or evil spirits from att ...

[Untitled collection of six uchiwa-e]

Suzuki, Kiitsu, [Shibata], Zeshin, [Takahashi], Ōshin [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1850-70s?)].

A collection of six woodblock-printed uchiwa-e (fan prints) featuring seasonal plants and flowers including irises, maple leaves, and gourds. The prints featuring iris ...

[Untitled fan print]

[Kamisaka], Sekka [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1920-40s)?]. 

A fan-shaped woodblock print featuring a spool of (silk) thread, a silk moth, three silkworm cocoons, and mulberry leaves, designed by the acclaimed Neo-Rinpa artist Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942). 

&n ...

[Untitled surimono depicting Urashima Tarō and a turtle]

Yanagawa, [Shigenobu] [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Meiji to Taishō period (1890-1920s)?].

A Meiji to Taishō-era printing of this shikishi-ban surimono illustrated by Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787-1832), one of Katsushika Hokusai's pupils. The charming woodblock print, pa ...

Usokurabe mitate hyōbanki

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (mid-19th century)].

A mitate hyōbanki or banzuke of oft-used lies. The 'winners' of the ranking are "the young person who says they hate women" and "the old person who says they want to die quickly" - these people are presumably accused of telling ...

Bertrand [illustrated by].

[Spain: publisher unidentified, ca. 1876].

A Western interpretation of famed publisher Tsuruya Kiemon's bookstore in Tōriaburachō, based on an illustration of the same shop from the multivolume Edo Meisho Zue (ca.1834).

One loose leaf, possibly removed from a book by a previous owner. Light discolouration to&nbs ...

"Yamadenai yama, kawadenai kawa: mitate sumo"

Nanritei [created by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (mid-19th century)].

A ranking of words and names (often those of brands) ending with yama ("mountain") that are not themselves the names of mountains, and the same for rivers (kawa). Nanritei (1782-1860) was a yomihon and gesaku author ...

Yukihisa Isobe Exhibition

Isobe, Yukihisa [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Tokyo Gallery, 1964.

A catalogue from an exhibition of works by Yukihisa Isobe (1935-) held in Tokyo in April of 1964. The card folder features four panels (three on the recto, one on the verso) that open to reveal scenes on loosely inserted cards. The cards can be removed from the outer ...

[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 ...

Nihonbashi, Tōkyō, and other locations : Maruya Shōten, Kawashima Shōten ... [et al.], ca. early 1900s.

A collection of six sample booklets containing a total of 128 tipped-in squares of beautiful real Japanese fabrics. These folding booklets would have been shown by scroll-mounters to customers, who would then pick fabrics to be used in the mountings of their scroll ...

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 examples do n ...

[Japan, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1850-1870s)].

Semon ("back crests"), also known as semamori ("back-protectors" or "back amulets"), were designs sewn into children's kimono to prevent evil spirits from attacking them from behind or to prevent the soul from leaving the body. These two books feature a total of 76 designs hand-sewn through the paper with threa ...

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-three Stations o ...

[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 ...

[A kabuki-themed haikai surimono]

[Shibata], Zeshin [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, Meiji 14 [1881].

A surimono by acclaimed artist Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) featuring poems by kabuki actors and illustrated with an actor surrounded by wigs. The surimono was produced to celebrate the name-change (shūmei) of the actor Sawamura Hyakunosuke ...

[A manuscript report of the death of Uheiji]

Uno, Niemon, Ōwaki, Giuemon ... [et al.] [addressed to].

[Usuki, Bungo Province (current-day Ōita Prefecture)], Kyōhō 11 [1726]. Manuscript.

A document addressed to local officials of the Usuki clan in Bungo Province reporting that Uheiji, the son of Shio (a daughter of "Jirōemon" captured in Kanbun 7 (1667) for ...

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 ...

[Untitled Greeting Card]

[Minister of Communications].

Tōkyō: [Ministry of Communications], 1917.

An illustrated card in French from "Le Ministre des Communications du Japon", wishing the unidentified receiver a H ...

[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 ...

Edo no Hana Ofude Hansan Shinju Kudoki ["Edo's Flowers Ofude and Hanzan: Oral Recitation of a Double Suicide"]

[Sugioka (illustrated by)?].

Bakuro-chō, [Tōkyō]: Yoshidaya Shōkichi, [ca. late Edo period (1840-60s)?].

A short song in which two lovers from different social strata make a suicide pact, believing their love to be forbidden, but are saved by ...

[An album of match labels]

Oda, Shūichi ... [et al] [commissioned by].

[Japan: privately published, ca. Shōwa 2-10 (1927-35)].

An album of tipped-in match labels produced in the 1920s and '30s when Japan's match label-collecting fad was at its peak. Most of the labels are woodblock-printed and have been produced in themed sets showcasing foreign t ...

The Hansei Zasshi: A Monthly Magazine, Vol. XIII., No. 1.

[Tsukioka], Kōgyo [illustrated by]; Inouye, Tetsusiro, Takakusu, J., Wadagaki, K., Fukuchi, M. [with contributions by].

Tokyo: The Hansei Zasshi Office, Meiji 30 [1898].

An issue of the Hansei Zasshi, "a monthly magazine in English, edited by Japanese". The editors pledge in their foreword to "repre ...

[An unidentified woodblock-printed book of moji-e]

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. mid Edo period (1680-1780s)?].

An unidentified woodblock-printed book of seventeen moji-e ("character-pictures") featuring animals. The hiragana characters hidden in each illustration also appear next to each figure, providing the name of the ...

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 collection of kibyōshi title panels]

Kyokutei, Bakin, Jippensha, Ikku, Santō, Kyōden ... [et al.] [original works authored by]; Katsukawa, Shuntei, Utagawa, Toyohiro ... [et al] [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Tsuruya Kiemon, Tsutaya Jūzaburō, Nishimura Yohachi ... [et al], [ca. mid-Edo period (1790-1830s?)].

A collection of 27 woodblock-pri ...

[An untitled folding object]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji period (1870-1910s?)].

An unusual folding object with eight small opening pockets or compartments, two slightly larger pockets, and one large pocket. An intriguing origami-adjacent object made for play or perhaps for storing small items.

One folding object, c ...

[Untitled kuchi-e print]

Sensai [Kobayashi], Eikō [illustrated by].

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

A 'collage' kuchi-e (frontispiece) by Sensai Eikō (1868-1933), feat ...

[An untitled set of fan designs] 

Inouye, Toshio [produced by].

Kyōto: Toshio Inouye, [ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1900-20s)?].

A set of six hand-painted drafts for fan designs produced by "Toshio Inouye" of Kyoto (probably a fan shop or design studio). Four of the designs have been painted on fabric that is mounted on paper. The o ...

[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 ...

Ansei San Heishin-reki ["Calendar for Ansei Three"]

[Creator unidentified].

Yamada, Watarai-gun, Ise: Yamaguchi Ubē, Ansei 2 [1855]. 

An Isegoyomi calendar for Ansei 3 (1856) produced in deluxe navy wrappers decorated in a gold pigment with auspicious symbols including cranes and turtles. Isegoyomi calendars were produced in and around Ise Shrine by ...

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 ...

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 ...

Baren 

Yamada, Sadatoshi, Ōki, Reiko, Kobayashi, Yoshito, Tanaka, Michio ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Okayama: Okayama Bijutsu Dōkōkai Hanga Sākuru], 1959-[1961?]. 

Issues six, eight, nine, and twelve of Baren, an obscure magazine created by (and produced for) members of the Okayama Art Lovers' Printing Circle. Issue six features ten hand- ...

[Japan: maker unidentified, ca. mid-Meiji period (1880-1900)].

A paper envelope used as packaging for "Best Sugar", a product from an unknown manufacturer. The illustration has been woodblock-printed and the Japanese characters lithographically-printed. The use of Roman characters was considered a popular and stylish addition to advertisements in the Meiji period.

Bikō zukan ["A mirror of beautiful crafts"]

Hasegawa, Keika [illustrated by]. 

Ōsaka: Aoki Tsunesaburō (Aoki Sūzandō), Meiji 27 [1894].

A complete two-volume set of colour woodblock-printed patterns designed by the painter Hasegawa Keika (act. 1892-1905). The one hundred patterns included would presumably have been designed for textiles and hand-craf ...

Bukkuman = Bookman

Tosho Kenkyūkai [produced by].

Tōkyō: Tosho Kenkyūkai, Shōwa 3 [1928].

The November 1928 issue (volume 2, issue 11) of Bookman, a monthly magazine for book lovers advertised as the "Ministry of Home Affairs monthly report on the delivery of books". Aside from numerous essays on books and authors, this issue features an illustration see ...

Yūshū sakuhinshū ["Collection of outstanding works"] = Carton

Hashimoto, Chūgo [photography and printing by].

[Ishikawa]: Ishikawa Kenritsu Kōgyō Gakkō, [preface dated 1926].

A set of 156 photographic plates of textile, furniture, and ceramic designs from across the world. According to the preface, the headmaster of the industrial school that produc ...

Cirque Soulie = Surie ["Circus Soulie"]

Chōkōrō [Utagawa], Yoshiharu [illustrated by]. 

Bakurochō, [Tōkyō]: Yamaguchiya Tōbē, Meiji 5 [1872]. 

An ehon banzuke (illustrated program or playbill) for the misemono (exhibition/carnival) by the French equestrian circus Cirque Soulie. The circus, which performed at nine locations in Japan between Meiji ...

[Collection of ephemera on female sumo wrestlers]

[Various creators].

[Japan, ca. Meiji to early Shōwa period (1880-1930s?)].

An archive relating to the activities of female sumo wrestlers in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Women were banned by the government from sumo wrestling in 1926 despite centuries of participating in the sport. The ban on wom ...

[Collection of fourteen prints]

Sekino, Jun'ichirō, Azechi, Umetarō ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Yokohama]: Chikuhōdō, [ca. late Shōwa period (1980-90s?)].

A set of fourteen woodblock-printed designs in a variety of styles by Japanese artists including (but not limited to) Mabuchi Tōru (1920-1994), Maeda Masao (1904-1974), Sekino Jun'ichirō (191 ...