Ishō Sekai ["World of designs"]

Yokota, Hankichi [proofread by]; Sawa, Kyūkō ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: Seibikai, [Meiji 34 (1901)].

Issue two of the magazine Ishō Sekai, published by the Seibikai ("The Exquisite Beauty Association"). The thirteen textile designs (over fifteen pages) included were provided by members of the Seibikai. The use ...

[Japan]: H. Ahrens & Co., [ca. 1870-1910].

A piece of packaging for 'Turkey red' (a colour used to dye cotton fabrics) with a lithographic label tipped-in. H. Ahrens & Co. was a German trading company based in Tōkyō with branches in Yokohama and Kōbe. John Orr Ewing & Co. was the name of a prominent Turkey red firm in Scotland.

O ...

Joreishiki no Zu ["Illustrations of Ladies' Etiquette"] 

[Yasui], Kotō [illustrated by].

Nihonbashi, [Tōkyō]: Matsuno Yonejirō, Meiji 28 [1895].

A colour woodblock-printed album of scenes of elegant Japanese ladies engaging in traditionally appropriate pastimes and ceremonies. The fourteen scenes spread over eight leaves picture women exchanging N ...

Kaichū Jūhō ["Important Treasures, Pocket-Sized"]

[Creator/s unidentified]. 

Ōsaka: Honya Kitarō, [ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1840-60s)?].

A portable booklet of charts and volvelles used in astrology for fortune-telling, featuring six woodblock-printed panels. Three of the panels feature intact volvelles used to quickly determine days and ...

Kaika jinkōki ["The enlightenment Jinkōki"]

Takahashi, Takematsu [text by].

Tōkyō: Shōgikudō, [ca. Meiji 18 (1885)].

A short book on the use of the abacus (soroban) in mathematical calculations. The Jinkōki, a text authored by Yoshida Mitsuyoshi (1598-1672, also Kōyū) in the early seventeenth century and acknowledged in the title of this work, is the ol ...

Kaiunbashi Daiichi Ginkō ["Kaiunbashi Bridge and the First National Bank"]

Kobayashi, Kiyochika [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early to mid-twentieth century?]. 

A later printing or re-carved edition of arguably Kiyochika's most famous work: a snowy scene featuring the First National Bank and Kaiunbashi Bridge in Tokyo. A se ...

Shibata, Shūzō.

Edo [Tōkyō] : Shunsōdō, [Kaei 6 (1853)].

A guidebook of place names from around the world, recorded as "the first dictionary of place names [published in Japan]".¹ The author, Shibata Shūzō (1820–1859), was the son of a dried fish seller who lived on Sado Island in his early years. He enjoyed drawing pictures and maps of his local surr ...

Kanadehon Chūshingura, Dai-Kudanme ["The Treasury of Loyal Retainers: Act Nine"]

Kōchōrō [Utagawa], Kunisada [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Yorozuya Kichibē, [ca. Edo period (1830-40s?)].

A scene from Act 9 of Kanadehon Chūshingura, one of Japan's most popular plays, illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III, 1786–1864). The work seems ...

Kanzeon Reigenki Hyakuban Mokuroku ["Record of the Miracles of Kannon: Index of the One Hundred Pilgrimage Sites"]

Ōju Mantei, Ōga [text by]; [Utagawa], Toyokuni [III], [Utagawa], Hiroshige [II] [illustrated by]. 

[Edo (Tōkyō): Nanden Nisanshō, Ansei 6 (1859)]. 

The index print for a series of nishiki-e listing one hundred temples from three pil ...

Kappa Sōden Kyūrizukai ["A Kappa's Talks on Science: How to Use Cucumbers"]

Kanagaki, Robun [text by]; [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Edo [Tōkyō]: Bankyūkaku, [preface dated Meiji 5 (1872), but printed Meiji 15 (1882)]. 

Issues six and seven of Kokkei Zansai Bukuro ("A Collection of Humorous Leftovers"), containing the full text of t ...

Kiso Kaidō Rokujūkyū-tsugi ["Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Road"]

[Keisai], Eisen, [Utagawa], Hiroshige [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Shin'eidō, Taishō 10 [1921].

A Taishō era set of reduced-size woodblock-printed reproductions of Eisen and Hiroshige's famous Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō series originally published between 1835 and 1837. ...

木曽路之山川
[Kisoji no Yamakawa, “Mountain River on the Kiso Road”]

[Utagawa], Hiroshige I [illustrated by].

[Japan: unidentified publisher, ca. early to mid-20th century].

A set of three unused postcards delicately woodblock-printed with Hiroshige's famous illustration of the snowy Kiso Valley. Originally printed in 1857, Mountain River o ...

Kokkei Ō-A Gaikō Chizu = A Humorous Diplomatic Atlas of Europe and Asia

Nishida, Suketarō [text by]; Ohara, Kisaburō [envisaged by]; Nakamura, Shingo [supervised by].

Ishikawa: Nishida Suketarō, Meiji 37 [1904]. Third edition.

A satirical map produced in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The work shows Russia as a giant octopus whose tentacl ...

Kōkoku ["Advertisement"]

[Company name illegible].

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

A woodblock-printed advertisement for bunshi (文紙), described in the document as "various [blank] documents for transactions [financial, legal, or otherwise] made between people". The firm offers these printed documents at a ...

"皇国雷名の諸君見立力競"

[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, cel ...

Kudanzaka Satsuki no yoru ["A night in May at Kudanzaka Hill"]

Kobayashi, Kiyochika [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early to mid-twentieth century?]. 

A later printing or re-carved edition of Kiyochika's illustration of a rainy night at Kudanzaka. Figures seem to disappear off the edge of the world as they descend the steps i ...

Kyū no tsukihi: shinpan hanji-e ["Days of the old (lunar) calendar: new edition puzzle-picture"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, Meiji 22 (1889)?]. 

Egoyomi ("picture-calendars") or Nanbu goyomi ("Nanbu calendars") were originally produced in the Edo period for illiterate people and grew in popularity as privately printed New ...

Majinai Hyakkajo ["One Hundred Charms"] 

[Author/s and illustrator/s unidentified].

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

A collection of one hundred spells (majinai), "revised and reprinted", for medical ailments like toothache, earache, chilblains, colds, seasickness, burns, and insect and dog bites. Other charms address ...

Manji ["Quicksand"]

Tanizaki, Junichirō [text by]; Nakagawa, Shūzō [binding designed by].

Tōkyō: Kaizōsha, Shōwa 6 [1931]. First complete (or "book") edition.

Manji, by the author and Nobel Prize in Literature nominee Junichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965), is a novel that delves into the complex feelings of love and betrayal experienced by the narrator Sonoko re ...

Manpō Eitai Shin-zassho: Nihon-zu-iri; Saigō Chōhōki ["New Miscellany of Countless Eternal Treasures, with a Map of Japan; Useful Record of Year Names"] 

[Tokanshi (selections by)?].

Edo [Tōkyō]: Tsubameya Yashichi, [ca. mid to late Edo period (1750-1770s)?]. 

An encyclopaedic sheet, woodblock-printed on both sides, providing astrological, histor ...

[Untitled Programme/Menu]

[Japan: publisher unidentified], 1923.

A programme and menu for a US-Japan themed celebration, in French. The embossed naval crest on the upper section of the card implies the event was held on a ship.

Mitate Hakkei: Yashima Sekishō ["Selection for the Eight Views: Evening Glow at Yashima"]

Ichiyusai [Utagawa], Kuniyoshi [illustrated by].

[Shibamishima-cho, (Tokyo)]: Wakasaya, [1846].

An unusual triptych from Kuniyoshi's Selection for the Eight Views series, featuring a scene from the Battle of Yashima of the warrior monk Benkei peering through ...

Miuchi-zoroi ["Collection of Beauties"]

Kikukawa, Eizan [illustrated by].

[Japan: Iwatoya Kisaburō, ca. Edo period (1800-20s)].

A courtesan adjusts her tortoiseshell hair ornaments in a pocket mirror, tissues tucked under her chin. This print seems to be from a different series than Eizan's similarly named Shoshoku Miuchi-zoroi and Fūryū Miuc ...

Muyōsei ["The Six Personalities"] 

[Utagawa], Toyokuni [III] [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō: Ibasen, Kaei 6 (1853)].

A complete set of uchiwa-e (fan prints) illustrated by Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) for the publisher and fan shop Ibasen (founded 1590). Each beautiful woman in this series represents one of the six days from the traditional Japanese fortune-te ...

Nanakorobi Yaoki Kaiun Sugoroku ["The Vicissitudes of Life: Game-Sheet of Fortune and Success"] 

Takabatake, Kashō [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late 20th century?]. 

A reproduction, possibly from the late 20th century, of a Taishō-era period "game of life" sugoroku, sealed in its original plastic wrapper and with its orig ...

Naniwa Shinbun ["News from Naniwa"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: printing house unidentified, ca. early Meiji period (1860-80s)?].

A double-sided woodblock used to print a twenty-verse hitotsutose counting song. Hitotsutose was a type of kazoe-uta counting poem popular from the Meiji to early Shōwa period. Hitotsutose sheets printed by woodblocks such a ...

Nankyoku he Itta Neko no Hanashi [The Tale of the Cat who Went to Antarctica]

Koide, Shōgo [adapted by]; Watabe, Kikuji [binding designed by]; [Carroll, Ruth (illustrated by)].

Tōkyō: Dōwa Shunjūsha, Shōwa 17 [1942]. First edition.

An adaptation of Ruth and Latrobe Carroll's Luck of the Roll and Go (first published New York: Macmillan Co., 1935). The ...

Natsu no Sugatami ["Full-Length Mirror of Summer's Beauty"]

Nagata, Sobu [edited by]. 

Nagoya: Fusō Shinbunsha, Meiji 30 [1897]. 

A supplement published to commemorate the 3000th issue of the Nagoya-based newspaper Fusō Shinbun. The booklet adapts the popular Sanjūni Mensō ("Thirty-Two Amusing Expressions") trope and was probably inspired ...

Natsu-matsuri Ikiji no Edokko [Summer Festival Spirit of the Edoites]

[Utagawa], Toyokuni [III] [illustrated by]. 

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: [Ōta] Takichi, [1858].

The rōnin Issun Tokubē (left) fights fishmonger (and accidental murderer) Danshichi Kurobē (right) in this dramatic scene from the kabuki Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada I ...

"新形友禅模様"

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Tōkyō]: Shiseidō, [ca. 1900-1920s].

A chiyogami paper illustrated with a design for yūzen dyeing of waves, flowers, and shallow sake cups marked with the character 壽 ("lucky"), woodblock-printed with a metallic pigment.

One leaf, complete. Browned, light creases, a few bumps to extremities ...

Nigatsu Yōka Kinshō no Hito Uke ni Iri ["February 8th, Luck to Those Born Under the Metal Element"]

[Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by].

Nihonbashi, [Tōkyō]: Takekawa Seikichi, [ca. Meiji period (1875-1890)?]. 

Uke-e - lucky prints - were presents sent to people entering their year of luck (whether a year was lucky for an individual was divined using ...

Seiyō Chie Ita Zukai Tsuketaru Zu Tehon = Ninety New Moveable Puzzles

Itabe, Masashichi [translated by].

Ōsaka: [Kanshōdō], Meiji 10 [1877].

An illustrated introduction to Western-style movable puzzles for Japanes ...

"和洋奇人傳 初編"

Jōno, Takashige [text by], Ochiai [Utagawa], Yoshiiku [illustrations by].

Tōkyō : Sanshobō , Meiji 5 [1872].

An international take on the kijinden ("eccentric figures" or "extraordinary figures") genre, featuring portraits and brief biographies of a total of 37 Japanese and Western figures, including Alexis de Tocqueville, John Britto ...

Luchon: Sarthe, [ca. 1909].

An advertisement for the Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese wares of antiquities dealer M. Armand Loge, who is known to have published a catalogue of East Asian art objects including carved woods, bronzes, weapons, ivories, netzuke, lacquers, and inrō from the Collection Rabeuf in 1909. The name Tagawa-ya in the bottom left of the print is proba ...

Ōmi hakkei ["Eight views of Ōmi"]

[Artist unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1840-70s)?].

A set of eight woodblock-printed nishiki-e featuring the famed Eight views of Ōmi (Ōmi hakkei). The prints use the same circular theme, decorative circular border, and poems employed by Utagawa Toyohiro in his Eight view ...

Koronbisu Denki ["A Biography of Columbus"]

Hirooka, Haruki [Torajirō] [translated by].

[Kumamoto?]: Seiunrō, Meiji 3 [1870].

A scarce early-Meiji text on Christopher Columbus, with two woodblock-printed illustrat ...

Ikoku monogatari: Nakanohama Manjirō ["Story of a foreign country: Nakanohama Manjirō"]

[Author unidentified]; [Kashii, Masateru (hand-copied by)].

[Japan], Kaei 5 [1852]. Manuscript.

A manuscript recounting the experiences of the Japanese boy Manjirō (later known as Nakanohama Manjirō, John Manjirō, and John Mung). In 1841, fourteen-year-old Manjirō was s ...

Jintai Mondō ["Questions and Answers About the Human Body"]

Shirotani, Ken [text by]; Nakayama, Chikakazu [proofread by].

Kyōto: Murakami Kanbē , Meiji 9 [1876].

An introductory text to the human body, presumably for schoolage students. The work includes several colour woodblockprinted vignettes of body parts and an illustration of English sign language ...

Otoshidama ["New Year's Gift"]

Yamada, Jinzō [edited by].

Nagoya: Shōeidō, Meiji 26 [1893]. 

A large hikifuda (advertisement) produced for Hayashi Shinbun-ho, a shipping company based in Hamamatsu that also produced newspapers and magazines. The hikifuda is presented as an otoshidama (New Year's gift), presumably in an attempt to encourage mor ...

[Collection of Oshi-e Templates]

[Creator unidentified]. 

[Japan, ca. early to mid-Meiji period (1860-1880s)?]. 

A collection of 157 envelopes housing paper templates used to make oshi-e (raised pictures made with padded cloth). The templates would have been affixed to thick cloth, which would then have been cut to the same size as the paper. The ...

[Untitled Collection of Match Labels]

[Japan: various publishers, ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1910-30s)].

A collection of over five hundred Japanese product labels from the 1920s and 1930s, tipped-in to a photograph album. Most of the labels ar ...

[Japan: publishers unidentified, ca. Edo period (19th century)].

A collection of twenty woodblockprinted mamori, woodblock-printed paper amulets usually sold at temples and shrines. Most of the amulets record what the buyer will be protected from, and several are enclosed in woodblockprinted 'envelopes'.

Twenty paper amulets. Creases, mark ...

[Japan]: Shimomura, [ca. late Meiji to Taishō period (1900-20s)?].

An unusual image possibly featuring the son of the photographer.

One card, photograph tipped-in. Scrapes, light foxing, a few marks. 24.2 x 18.3 cm.

[Untitled Collection of Photographs]

[Photographer unidentified].

Esashi, Hokkaidō: Asakura Shashinkan, [ca. Shōwa 11 (1936)].

A collection of 24 photographs capturing various groups that travelled to Esashi, Hokk ...

Ukiyo no Nami Yume no Uranai ["A Dream Omen of the Floating World"]

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Edo (Tōkyō)?: publisher unidentified, ca. Bunkyū 3 (1863)].

A comical fūshi-e featuring people whose businesses ha ...

Renpō Shōritsu ["Commercial Law of the Federation"]

[Parsons, Theophilus (original text by)]; Fujita, Kuni [translated by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]; Katsu, Kaishū [preliminary calligraphy by].

Tōkyō: Kinokuniya Saisuke ... [et al.], Meiji 6-7 [1873-1874]. 

A complete two-volume set of Fujita Kuni's translation of a work by the ...

Rinhyō nishiki-shū ["Collection of brocade matchbox labels"]

[Kitagawa], Utamarō, [Utagawa], Toyokuni ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

Tōkyō & Ōsaka: Oda ... [et al.], [ca. early Shōwa period (1930s)].

An album of over 1,300 matchbox labels, mostly woodblock-printed, produced in Japan around the 1930s. The labels, which have been produced in themed sets ...

Ryōgoku-bashi ["Ryōgoku Bridge"]

Ichiyūsai [Utagawa], Kuniyoshi [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Edo Matsu [Edoya Matsugorō], [ca. late Bunka to early Bunsei era (1810-20s)?]. 

A somewhat roughly dressed woman peers over her shoulder at a small dog, Ryōgoku Bridge appearing in the aizuri fan-shaped cartouche in the background. The print is from a see ...

Ryū Eifuku no Hitoshinan ["Liu Yongfu Deep in Thought"] 

[Kobayashi], Kiyochika [illustrated by]; Koppi, Dōjin [Nishimori, Takeki] [text by].

Tōkyō: Matsuki Heikichi, Meiji 28 [1895].

A fūshiga depicting Liu Yongfu, commander of the Black Flag Army, considering his troops' next move, from Kiyochika's Hyakusen Hyakushō: Shakai Gentō ("Magic L ...

Sakigake ["The Forerunner"]

Kaneko, Kinji, Kamisaka, Sekka, Taniguchi, Kōkyō [advised by]; Furuya, Kōrin [firm headed by]; Kawanabe, Kokichi [edited by].

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Kaiseisha, Meiji 34 [1901].

Issue eleven of Sakigake magazine, featuring two pages of designs in colour (possibly printed with a mixture of lithography and halftoning) and eight p ...