Shamisen sekai no zu ["Illustration of the Shamisen World"]

[Utagawa], Yoshifuji [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1860s)?].

This aizuri-e (indigo-printed illustration) designed by Yoshifuji (1828-1887), a pupil of Kuniyoshi, shows an oiran viewing a globe of the Shamisen Sekai ("Shamisen World"). Each country or provin ...

Shichifukujin ["Seven Lucky Gods"]

Kiyama, Shōzan [produced by].

[Japan: Kiyama Shōzan, ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1920-30s)?].

A set of seven woodblock-printed match labels featuring the Seven Lucky Gods - Ebisu, Daikokuten, Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Hotei, Fukurokuju, and Jurōjin. The text on each card records the name Kiyama - the individual who pr ...

Shijō Taiheiyō Ryokō ["A Trip to the Pacific on Paper"]

Gunji, Jirōmasa [handwritten by].

[Japan, ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1940-1950s?)]. In manuscript.

A draft of an article for All Women (Ōru Josei) magazine handwritten by author and lyricist Gunji Jirōmasa (1905-1973). In the article, the author takes the role of a guide, leading the readers (whic ...

Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki ["The Moon of Affinity: New Lyrics"]

[Illustrator and author unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Keiō 4 (1868)].

Kawaraban were woodblock-printed gossip and news sheets produced illicitly in the Edo period for the consumption of laypeople. Publishers who dared print kawaraban on political topics were at a particular ...

Shinpan Ji-amari Shin-monku [New Ji-amari Phrases, Newly Published]

[Creator/s unidentified].

Iigura Shinmachi, [Tōkyō]: Fukudaya Kichigorō, [ca. Bunka 7 (1810)?].

Two issues of humorous phrases and jokes, boundin one. Ji-amari refers to poetic compositions in which the typical number of syllables is exceeded. The word monku has an unfortunate plethora of ...

Shinpan Katsura-tsuke [Stick-on Wigs, Newly Produced]

[Takeda], Ikumaru [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: To [Yamaguchiya Tōbē], [Meiji 4 (1871)].

A toy print (omocha-e) designed with cut-out wigs to be arranged interchangeably on the heads of the three kabuki actors depicted below. From left to right, the figures are captioned Kanjaku, Shikan, and Sans ...

Shinpan Kuchikara Dehaudai Oshiegusa [Teachings on Whatever Comes to Mind, Newly Produced]

Hyakunokuchi, [Nukemaru?] [edited by]. 

Kyōto: Akitaya Tōroku, [ca. Tenpo period (1830-1845)?].

A comical print recording a wave of unsolicited advice ("teachings") on men and women from a rambling author, pictured yawning on the right. In the lower section of t ...

Shinsei Yochi Zenzu [Newly-Produced Map of the Earth]

Mitsukuri, Shōgo [created by]; Ōtsuki, Bankei [preface by].

[Japan: s.n.], Kōka Gannen [1844].

A woodblock-printed world map in handscroll format produced by the schol ...

Shiroto Jōjuri Shikata Mitate: Chūshingura Nanatsume Monku ["Methods of Jōjuri Amateurs: Seven Phrases from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers"]

[Creator unidentified].

Teramachi, [Kyōto]: Kashiwaya Sōshichi, [ca. late Edo period (1830-40s)?].

A woodblock-printed sheet of words and phrases, often humorous, used by amateur players in jōjuri (puppet) theatre. ...

Shōbatsu Tenkarafuru ["Reward and Punishment: Fall from Heaven"]; Bikkuri Chōmen-bako ["The Surprise Box of Punishment"]

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

Tōkyō: Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 8 [1875].

Two Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound together by an ex-owner. The title of the first issue in the volume ...

松竹映画シナリオ 惜春鳥

Kinoshita, Keisuke [screenplay and direction by].

Tōkyō: Eiga Taimususha, Shōwa 34 [1959]. First edition. 

A highly illustrated booklet on Kinoshita Keisuke’s film Sekishunchō, or Farewell to Spring. The film, released in 1959, is frequently referred to as the first LGBTQI+ themed film produced in Japan due to the close emo ...

Shochū O-utagai ["Summer Greetings"]

Oda, [Hidekazu] [produced by].

[Tōkyō]: Oda [Hidekazu], Shōwa 8 [1933].

A set of twelve woodblock-printed matchbox-sized cards featuring fans illustrated with summer flowers. The text on each card records the name Oda - the individual who produced the set for an unidentified group of matchbox card enthusiasts. Oda' ...

Dōgu-zukushi Sucharakapokupoku Yoshikonobushi ["Various Tools, Gobbledygook Yoshikono Ballads"]

[Author/s unidentified].

Hacchōbori, [Tōkyō]: [Rōben?], [ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?].

A short collection of humorous songs on themes including alcohol, counting money, oiran, and the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Susan Miyo Asai notes in Nōmai Dance Drama: ...

Shinpan Geisha Hauta ["Geishas' Short Songs, Newly Published"] 

[Creator/s unidentified]. 

[Japan: Kikuyama, ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?]. 

A collection of ten short hauta songs popular with geisha, who often performed such ditties in the pleasure quarters. The booklet is a prime example of comical street literature of the Edo period ...

Shōwa Bijo Sugata Kurabe: Benisomezuki, Shūsho [Competing Beauties of the Shōwa Era: The Eighth Month, Lingering Heat]

[Watanabe], Ikuharu [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early Shōwa period (1927-1930?)].

A beautiful woman attempts to keep cool in this attractive dai-ōban print by Watanabe Ikuharu (1895–1975). The beauty holds ...

Shukka Hōkoku ["Shipping Report"]

[Tomimura Naokichi Shōten (commissioned by)].

Tōkyō: Tomimura Naokichi Shōten, [ca. Meiji period (1870-90s?)].

A woodblock used at the Nihonbashi-based firm Tomimura Naokichi Shōten to print shipping forms. Although illegible, the item being sent (possibly a gathering of fabric) must have been shipped often by the compa ...

Shuzenji Onsen Meishoki ["Famous Places in Shuzenji Onsen"]

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

[Shizuoka]: Gotō Senzō, Meiji 13 [1880]. 

One of the few non-satirical works Ōga and Kyōsai produced together, Shuzenji Onsen Meishoki is an illustrated guidebook to Shuzenji Onsen in Izu, Shikuoka Prefecture. ...

"武村式安全搾乳・哺乳兼用器"

Ōsaka: Takemura Shōkai, [ca. late Meiji period (1890-1910s?)].

An advertisement for breast-pumps made by Ōsaka-based company Takemura Shōkai, featuring a photograph of a woman using the device.

One card, photograph tipped-in. Mild foxing, corners lightly bumped, small tear to photo. 19.5 x 13.3 cm.

Tanemaki Gonbē no Atotsugi: Tarobē Mizukakeron ["Tarobē the Waterer, Successor of Gonbē the Sower"]

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

Tōkyō: Yamazakiya Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874].

The middle fascicle of a three-issue parody of a family history produced by Ōga and Kyōsai - Gonbē Tanemakiron ("Gonb ...

Tenth Annual Exhibition: Contemporary Lithographs, Serigraphs, Stencils, Intaglio, Combined Medium, Concrete, Iron and Woodblock Prints

College Women's Association of Japan [produced by].

Tokyo: College Women's Association of Japan, 1965.

A catalogue for the tenth annual print exhibition organized by the College Women's Association of ...

Tsutamoyō Chizome no Goshuin ["The Ivy-Patterned Blood-Stained Seal"]

[Kawatake, Shinshichi III (original play by)].

Shintomi-machi, [Tōkyō]: Shintomiza, Taishō 3 [1914].

A shibai banzuke playbill for a performance of the nanshokuthemed kabuki play Tsutamoyō Chizome no Goshuin at the Shintomi-za theatre, Tōkyō, at 3 p.m. on October 8, 1914. Four vignette ...

[Three illustrated envelopes]

[Ogawa, Usen (original designs by)].

[Kyōto]: Kineya: Kyō-tsukushiya, [ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1930-40s)?].

Three woodblock-printed envelopes based on designs by Ogawa Usen (1868-1938). The leftmost illustration seems to depict a person dancing with a fan at night in front of a large statue of a religious or historical ...

Timetable: Royal Netherlands-Indian Airways, K.N.I.L.M.

[Statement of responsibility unidentified]; Ludberg [illustrated by]

Batavia: Royal Netherlands-Indian Airways, [1933]. 

A timetable of flights between Batavia, Bandoeng, Semarang, Sourabaja, Palembang, Pakanbaroe, Medan, Singapore, and Alorstar, produced by Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luch ...

Tōkaidō gojūsan-tsugi ["The fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō"] 

Ichiryūsai [Utagawa], Hiroshige [illustrated by].

[Japan, ca. late Taishō to early Shōwa period (1920-30s)?]. 

A set of colour woodblock-printed pochi-bukuro (mini-envelopes) featuring adaptations of Utagawa Hiroshige's Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō series of ukiyo-e p ...

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.

Uchiwa Shiire-dokoro Tamanoi Mise-ita [Tamanoi Fan Shop Display]

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Japan]: Tamanoi, [ca. Meiji period (1870s-1890s?)].

A tatebanko (or kumiage-e), a type of toy print (omocha-e) in which the illustrations are designed to be cut out and assembled, depicting the goods and interior of Tamanoi, a fan shop and the publisher of th ...

[Untitled advertisement for Kyōryūsha]

Ryūtei, Tanehiko [text by]; [Nagai], Sogaku [calligraphy by]; [Ogata], Gekkō, [Inano], Toshitsune, [Takimura], Hirokata [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Kyōryūsha, Meiji 18 [1885]. 

A colour woodblock-printed advertisement for the Tokyo publisher Kyōryūsha, with text by acclaimed author Ryūtei Tanehiko and illustrat ...

[Untitled album of calligraphy samples]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji 13 (1880)]. In manuscript.

An album of tipped-in calligraphy samples prepared for books, advertisements, frames, seals, talismans, and related ephemera. Each example is neatly and professionally brushed on extremely thin paper, likely intended to be pasted onto wood ...

[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 match labels]

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

[Japan: privately published, ca. Shōwa 2-15 (1927-1940)].

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 ...

[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 kabuki print]

Ichiyūsai [Utagawa], Kuniyoshi [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Jōkin [Jōshūya Kinzō], [ca. 1847-1853]. 

A vivid colour woodblock-printed ōban yoko-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting characters from the kabuki play Shibaraku (or a work derived from it). The composition is dominated by the dramatic kumadori makeup and the promin ...

[Untitled photograph of the premises of "T.I. Yonemitsu, Jeweler & Watchmaker"]

[Photographer unidentified].

[Vancouver: studio unidentified, ca. 1930-40s].

A curious photograph of the owner, cigarette in hand, and premises at 220 Main Street, Vancouver, of the Japanese watchmaker and jeweler T.I. Yonemitsu. An advertisement for "Big Ben: rings on ...

[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 ...

Yūsai Gafu [Yūsai's Painting Album]

Nakabayashi, Chikutō [illustrated by].

Kōto [Kyōto]: Hishiya Magobē, Kōka 3 [1846].

One of several distinct works published under the title Yūsai Gafu during the late Edo period, this album was illustrated by Nakabayashi Chikutō (1776–1853), one of the foremost painters of the Japanese literati (Nanga) tradi ...

[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 ...