"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 ...

Yizhi Tu [Enhanced Intelligence Diagrams]

Tong, Xiegeng [created by].

[China]: Hulin Ren shi, Qing Guangxu 4 nian [1878].

A scarce first edition of this two-volume Chinese collection of yizhi tu puzzles devised by Tong Xiegeng. While the typical tangram puzzle uses seven pieces, Tong Xiegeng's puzzle uses fifteen pieces, several of which are curved, re ...

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 ...

[Zuan Fukusa Awase (Design Combinations for Fukusa)] 

Kajita, Hanko, Kawabata, Gyokushō ... [et al.] [illustrated by]; [Nagai, Sogaku, Kubota, Beisen (edited by)]. 

[Tōkyō: Ōkura Shōten, Meiji 27 (1894)]. 

A curated album of colour woodblock-printed designs for tea ceremony fukusa, assembled from two volumes of Zuan fukusa awase. In the tea ...

[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 ...

[Sansui Ryakugashiki (Guide to Drawing Landscapes Simply)] 

[Kuwagata], Keisai [Kitao, Masayoshi; Keisai, Masayoshi] [illustrated by]. 

Naniwa [Ōsaka]: Fukusada Tōhē, Bunka 10 [1813]. 

A scarce edition of Keisai's "guide to drawing landscapes simply". In Sansui Ryakugashiki, renowned artist Keisai Masayoshi (1764-1824, also known as Kita ...

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 ...

"油町製本菜種黄表紙"

Ryūtei, Senka [Tanehiko II] [text by]; Utagawa, Sadahide [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: Tsuruya Kiemon, Tenpō 5 [1834].

A gōkan about which no research in Japanese or English has been located, but which may revolve around bookbinding or publishing. The publisher, Tsuruya Kiemon, was based in Tōriaburachō, the well-known "book street" me ...

[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 ...

[A child's jinbaori coat decorated with peaches and crests]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Edo period (17th to mid-19th century)?].

A child's decorative surcoat or overcoat for use outdoors, with kamon crests sewn on the back. The cute peach design on the front alludes to the popular tale of Momotaro, and this design and the jacket's size ...

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 collection of practice paintings by a student artist]

[Illustrator unidentified].

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

A collection of 29 leaves of paintings of animals and people produced by a burgeoning artist for practice. The paintings are largely copied from artworks by notable artists including Miyagawa Chōshun (1682-1752) and Iwa ...

A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft: So Farre Forth as it is Reuealed in the Scriptures, and Manifest by True Experience

Perkins, William (framed and delivered by); Pickering, Thomas (published by).

[Cambridge]: Printed by Cantrell Legge, Printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge, 1609.

Written by English Puritan theologian William Perkins as a& ...

[An untitled manuscript on the Tokugawa administration]

[Author unidentified].

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

A manuscript on the Tokugawa shogunate's civil government system, previously owned by or prepared for the diplomat and eventual British Consul-General John Carey Hall (1844-1921). Hall, who was born in Northern Ireland, came ...

A walk through Japan, 1877

Goff, Lieutenant-Colonel [Robert Charles] [text by].

London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, 1878.

A privately published record of an 1877 trip through Japan by Lieutenant-Colonel Go ...

Yoshū Mame Tengoku ["Foreign Liquor Heaven"]

Yoshū Mame Tengoku Henshū-bu [text by]; Yanagihara, Ryō hei [dust jackets designed by].

Tōkyō : Santorī, Shōwa 42-45 [1967-70].

A complete 36-volume set of the Yoshū Mame Tengoku series published by Suntory. The set of miniature books includes photographer Akiyama Shōtarō's Bijo Tori Monogatari ("A ...

[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 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 ...

Ranjin Tokoromi Gachirin Shinzu ["True Image of the Moon, as Observed by the Dutch"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. mid to late Edo period (18th century to early 19th century)]. Manuscript on paper, mounted on fabric scroll.

A fanciful rendering of the face of the moon, complete with Western ships and explanatory text purporting that 'Westerners&# ...

[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 ...

[Untitled Album of the Activities of the Washi Research Institute)]

[Uemura, Rokurō (compiled by)].

[Japan, ca. mid-Shōwa period (1950s)].

A scrapbook of tipped-in photographs and fabric samples compiled by Uemura Rokurō, a renowned researcher of dyeing and weaving. The scrapbook includes pictures of Dr. Hans Drissler (who founded the Japan Paper Import Co ...

[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 ...

[An Edo period omikuji box]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: workshop unidentified, ca. mid to late Edo period (1700-1850s?)].

A lacquer box used for omikuji fortune telling, hand-crafted in the Edo period. Omikuji boxes, typically used at temples and shrines, contain bamboo strips, each of which is captioned by hand with a different 'level' of luck ...

[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 ...

[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 ...

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 ...

Bankoku Meisho-zue: Sekai Ryokō = Illustrated Guide Book for Travellers Round the World

Aoki, Tsunesaburō [edited by].

Ōsaka: Aoki Tsunesaburō, Meiji 18-19 [1885-1886].

A seven-volume set of copperplate-printed guidebooks for countries around the world. While the books focus on famous landmarks and iconic locations, information on and illustrations of hist ...

[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.

Bojutsu Yumemonogatari ["Dream Story of 1838"]

Takano, Chōei [work by]; [Takizawa (copied by)?].

[Japan, ca. late Edo period (1840-60s?)].

In Tenpō 8 (1837), the American trading ship the Morrison, captained by Charles King, was met with cannon fire upon its arrival in Japan. Japan was still officially closed to other countries in the 1830s, so this w ...

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 ...

"親爺教育: ジグスとマギー, 第一輯"

McManus, George [created by].

Tōkyō : Asahi Shinbunsha, [Taishō 13 (1924)].

The first Japanese language collection of Bringing Up Father cartoons by American illustrator George McManus. Another collection (believed to be the last collection published in Japanese) was produced the following year. The book includes a pream ...

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 ...

Collection de Pelliot, Manuscrits de Touen-houang

[Transcriber/s and annotator/s unidentified].

[S.l.: s.n., ca. early 20th century].

Possibly a typescript draft of the catalogue of the Pelliot Collection of Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Uighur fragments and manuscripts discovered in China's Dunhuang caves (or 'Mogao Grottoes') by the French ...

[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 ...

[Collection of gōkan envelopes] 

[Utagawa], Kunisada, [Utagawa], Toyokuni ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Japan: various publishers, ca. late Edo period (1850-60s)?]. 

A collection of 56 colour woodblock-printed fukuro (envelopes) produced for gōkan (illustrated serial novels). The majority of the fukuro in this collection were created for the no ...

[Collection of wooden movable type]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji period (1860-1910s)?]. 

A collection of 243 pieces of wooden movable type hand-cut with katakana and kanji characters. The type, which is housed in a contemporary (but presumed non-original) box, is in three distinct sizes: 13 pieces measure approximately 1.4 (length) x 1.4 ...

"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 ...

Kaigai Jinbutsushū

Nagata, Nankei [text by]; Ikkōsai [Utagawa, Yoshimori] [illustrations by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, preface dated Kaei 7 (1854)].

An album of people and traditional clothing from 42 countries around the world, with brief descriptions of the customs and geography of each country. The set was published as a revised edition of Nishi ...

Lyon: G. Véronnet, [ca. 1880s].

An advertisement for a theatrical event in Lyon featuring the Mysterious Men, Miss Nelly, Sir Robertson, and Doctor Méphisto, on flat (non-crêped) paper with decorative margins printed in Japan. The illustration features a woman and a child looking up at two cranes while an elderly man ties his shoelaces, missing the sig ...

Dai San-kai Kozeni-shū ["Third Collection of Ancient Coins"]

Shunka [produced by].

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

A set of twelve woodblock-printed match labels featuring types of ginban - Japanese silver coins used in the Edo period. The text on each card records the year the coin was minted and/or the name of the type of ...

Dai-shin-kufū Zenmai Mawari Kage Tōrō [Grand New Ingenuity: A Spring-Wound Shadow Lantern] 

[Creator unidentified].

Horikawa, [Kyōto]: Wakuji, [ca. late Edo period to early Meiji period (1850-70s?)]. 

An instruction sheet for building a karakuri ningyō - a doll or puppet designed to move using a mechanism but appear as if it is moving independen ...