[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 ...

Ōsaka: [Yamakichi?], ca. early Meiji period (1870-90s)].

A set of three paper templates for cutting materials to make tabi socks or jika-tabi (shoe-like tabi), woodblock-printed with instructions. The templates have been sewn together and may have been sold as a set in this format.

Three templates, sewn together, with an accompanying hand-inscribed ...

[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 ...

Rokusan Shingaku no Zu [Illustration of the Six-Three Study of the Mind]

Hanamata, Yoshitarō [edited by].

Kanda, [Tōkyō]: Hanamata Yoshitarō, Meiji 19 [1886].

This informational sheet tells the reader how to identify weak points on their body using a series of calculations involving their age and the numbers one to nine (each used to re ...

Rondon tsūshin: shin inyō hakase ["London news: new yin-and-yang professor"] in Bungei kurabu ["Literature club"]

Conan Doyle, Arthur [original text by]; Hara, Hōitsuan [translated by].

Tōkyō: Hakubunkan, Meiji 33 [1900].

An issue of Bungei Kurabu ("Literature Club") featuring an early translation of Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, one of the ...

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 ...

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 six of Sakigake magazine, featuring two pages of designs in colour (possibly printed with a mixture of woodblocks and lithography) and eight page ...

Seiro Kinen ["Commemoration of the Attack on Russia"]

[Hamada], Josen [signed by].

[Japan, ca. 1904-1905]. In manuscript.

A political scene featuring the traditional Japanese fairytale characters Momotaro ("Peach Boy") and friends (a dog, monkey, and pheasant) storming into battle against Russian soldiers. The scroll was probably painted during or shortly ...

 Seirō Mutamagawa ["Six Jewel Rivers in the Pleasure Quarters"]

Kikukawa, Eizan [illustrated by].

[Japan: Yamamotoya Heikichi, ca. Edo period (1814-17?)].

Tsutanosuke of the Aka-Tsutaya is depicted in this scarce nishiki-e by Kikukawa Eizan (1787-1867). This work is part of a series in which Eizan represents Yoshiwara courtesans as the six Tamagawa ...

Seiyō Bunkenroku ["Record of Things Seen and Heard about the West"]

Murata, Fumio [compiled by].

Hiroshima: Izutsuya Shōjirō, Meiji 2-4 [1869-1871].

A complete set of this illustrated record of the history, politics, society, government, geography, and customs of Britain. The compiler, Murata Fumio (1836-1891), is better known as Nomura Fumio, the journa ...

西洋四書：英漢對譯 大學
[Seiyō Shisho: Eikan Taiyaku, Daigaku, “The Western Four Classics: an English-Chinese Parallel Translation of 'The Great Learning'”]

[Confucius (original text by)]; Rejji, Zēmusu [Legge, James (English translation by)]; Seki, Yoshitaka [Japanese "translation" by].

Tōkyō: Yamatoya Kihē, Meiji 5 [1872]. 

T ...

占景盤図式 [Senkeiban Zushiki, “Illustrations of Tray-Landscapes”]

Suminoe, Buzen [bonkei created by]; Suminoe, Aizan [compiled and edited by]; Nagayama, Kōin ... [et al.] [illustrated by]; Tadataka, Katsu [preface by].

Kyōto: Namariya Yasubē; Edo [Tōkyō]: Tsuruya Kiemon; Ōsaka: Kawachiya Tasuke ... [and 3 others], Bunsei 9 [1826].

A complet ...

Shārokku Hōmuzu no omoide ["The memoirs of Sherlock Holmes"] [with] Shārokku Hōmuzu: saigo no aisatsu ["His last bow"] [and] Shārokku Hōmuzu no eichi ["The intellect of Sherlock Holmes"] 

Doyle, Arthur Conan [original text by]; Nobuhara, Ken [translated by]. 

Tōkyō: Shinchōsha, Shōwa 36 [1961]. 

Three books of Sherlock Holmes adventure ...

Shimeizukushi Sugoroku ["A Game Board of Various Papers"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Tōkyō]: Isetatsu, [ca. early to mid Shōwa period (1930-50s)?].

A Shōwa period edition of this illustrated game about papermaking and Japanese paper types. The original edition is thought to have been produced between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Each panel depicts ...

Shin'an Nankyoku tanken hikōki sugoroku ["Antarctic expedition by plane: a newly devised game-sheet"]

Akashi, Akako [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Jitsugyō no Nihonsha, Meiji 44 [1911]. 

A game-sheet published during the golden era of Antarctic exploration. In the game, four players race to the South Pole, travelling through various countries including ...

Shina Taiji: Nihon Ryūkōbushi ["Popular Japanese Songs on the Extermination of China"]

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

Tōkyō: Fusōdō, Meiji 27 [1894].

A book of humorous folk songs on the First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895), written by the novelist, poet, and Maru Maru Chi ...

Shinpan Katsura-e ["Illustrations of Wigs, Newly Published"]

[Utagawa], Yoshikazu [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Shiba Sen'ichi, Kaei 6 [1853].

A colour woodblock-printed omocha-e (toy print) featuring illustrations of six kabuki actors (including one onnagata actor) and 38 wigs to be cut out and placed on the actors' heads for amusement. Each wi ...

Shinpan kawari utsushi-e ["Changing magic lantern pictures: newly carved"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. mid to late Meiji period (1880-90s)?].

A set of six pochibukuro (mini-envelopes) from the Meiji period featuring shikake-e (movable illustrations). Each pochibukuro has inside it a small print that can be slid upwards to ch ...

新板おもちやづくし [Shinpan Omocha-Zukushi, “A Newly Printed Assortment of Toys”]

Kamiyama, Seishichi [illustrated by].

Shintomichō, [Tōkyō]: Kamiyama Seishichi, Meiji 17 [1884].

An omocha-e toy print featuring an assortment of tiny games, probably for children to cut out and play (or pretend to play) with. The games include a "Fifty-Three Stati ...

Shinsaku Dodoitsu: Rokoku Seibatsu ["New Dodoitsu Poems on the Crushing Defeat of Russia"] 

Kinryū, Sanjin, Suzuki, Kōhachi [edited by].

Tōkyō: Ōkawaya Shoten, Meiji 37 [1904].

A collection of dodoitsu, kyōku, kyōka, haiku, kappore, and other poems published in support of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The work was pu ...

Shinsen Jinbutsu: Orikata Tehon Chūshingura, Jūichi-dan ["New Selection of Figures: Models of Paper Folding for the Eleven Acts of the Chūshingura"]; Chūshingura Orikata Denjū-gaki ["Instructions on How to Fold the Chūshingura"]

[Tsuyama, Yūzō (attributed to)].

Ōsaka: Konomura Hikosuke, [ca. Meiji period (1870-1890s)]. 

A set of two sheets prov ...

Shinshiki Sanpō: Kuku no Fuda ["Nine-Nine Cards: A New Method of Arithmetic"]

[Tsurumine, Shigenobu (devised by)].

Nagoya: Tōhekidō, Bunsei 9 [1826].

A folded sheet of instructions for performing calculations using kuku ("nine-nine") cards, together with thirty cards. A relative of the Chinese multiplication table, this kuku method was created to help pe ...

Shōmon Jittetsu ["The Ten Eminent Disciples of Bashō"]

[Creator's name illegible].

[Japan: creator illegible, ca. early Shōwa period (1930-40s?)].

A set of woodblock-printed matchbox-sized labels featuring portraits of the ten most highly acclaimed pupils of the famed poet Matsuo Bashō, together with examples of their poetry. The disciples are (left to ...

Shunkyō harimaze sugoroku ["A game sheet of miscellaneous scraps: the enjoyments of spring"]

Ichiryūsai, Hiroshige [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō): Hiranoya, ca. Bunkyū period (1860s)?].

A colour woodblock-printed sugoroku game sheet designed to resemble a folding screen (byōbu). The byōbu features decorative fans with haiku poems and illustrations o ...

Nichiei Hakurankai Kenbutsu: Sekai Isshū Sugoroku [Sightseeing at the Japan–British Exhibition: Game of a Trip Around the World]

Nakamura, Fusetsu [created by]; Maeda, Mokuhō [calligraphy by].

Tōkyō: Asahi Shinbun, Meiji 43 [1911].

A new year's supplement produced by the Asahi Shinbun newspaper to commemmorate the 1910 JapanBritish Exhibition. ...

[Six printed items relating to Japan]

[Various illustrators].

[Japan and Germany: various publishers, mid-Edo period to early Meiji period (1669-1840s?)].

Six printed items available as a set, including four Japanese copperplate-printed leaves (including three mounted on card), one copperplate-printed leaf from Montanus (showing Hirado), and one pocket-siz ...

Sōsaku hanga to hanga no tsukurikata = How to make prints: drawn, blok-cut [sic] & printed by author

Tohary, Kogan [Tobari, Kogan] [text and illustrations by].

Tōkyō: Hangasha, Taishō 11 [1922]. Later printing.

A scarce copy of this valuable resource on the process of woodblock printing by the sculptor and sōsaku hanga artist Tobari Kogan (1882-1927). ...

Souvenir and programme of the visit of Prince Fushimi to England

[Author unidentified].

London: Burgess William & Co., [ca. 1907].

A crepe-paper poster detailing Prince Fushimi Sadanaru's itinerary for his 1907 trip to England and Scotland. The poster features a colour woodblock-printed floral frame and movable-type printed text. Although the state ...

Paris: P. Gayda, 1903.

A souvenir for a fête celebrating Franco-Italian relations, on crêped paper and with decorative margins woodblock-printed in Japan. The margins - four humorous "comic strips" read right to left and top to bottom - feature what appear to be sisters having their ponytails tied together by a child, a man falling for a child's prank and ...

Tagoto-hime, Jiraiya ["Tagoto-hime and Jiraiya"]

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

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Ebisuya, [1852].

A colourful depiction by Toyokuni III (Utagawa Kunisada) of Jiraiya (probably played by Ichikawa Danjuro VIII) and Princess Tagoto (probably Iwai Kumesaburo III) from the play Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari. The pattern on Princess Tagot ...

Takanawa Ushimachi oborozuki no kei ["Hazy moonlight at Ushimachi, Takanawa"]

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 steam train passing through Ushimachi, Takanawa. Shadows of passengers adorn the carriages ...

Tegarabanashi ["Bragging"]

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

Tōkyō: Matsuki Heikichi, Meiji 28 [1895].

A fūshiga picturing a man bragging about his heroic deeds in the Sino-Japanese War, from Kiyochika's Hyakusen Hyakushō: Shakai Gentō ("Magic Lantern of Society: One Hundred Victories, One Hundred Lau ...

Tennen Hyakkaku ["Tennen's Hundred Cranes"]

Kaigai, Tennen [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 34 [1901].

The third and last volume of Kaigai Tennen's Tennen Hyakkaku, featuring twenty woodblock-printed illustrations of cranes in various styles. The illustrations feature the use of metallic pigments and printing techniques including kira ...

Kedamono Shiyo Shoku-zukushi ["The Various Jobs of Beasts"]

[Utagawa], Koyoshimori [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Jōkin [Jōshūya Kinzō], Keiō 3 [1867].

A satirical giga print on the daily jobs of animals by ...

[The "Demon Queller" Shōki, with Two Quelled Demons]

Sōsai [Tomioka], Eisen [signed by].

[Japan, ca. Meiji period (1880-1890s?)]. In manuscript.

An expressive painting of Shōki (Zhong Kui), "the Demon Queller", accompanied by two house-broken demons. Shōki has sheathed his famous sword. One demon seems to carry a box, the other two rolls of paper (?). The ...

Kokutēru: kongōshu chōgōhō ["Cocktails: methods of mixing liquor"]

Akiyama, Tokuzō [compiled by].

Tōkyō: Akiyama Ryōri Kenkyūjo, Shōwa 4 [1929]. Fourth edition.

The first cocktail book published in Japan, with several original recipes inspired by Japanese themes. The novel and Japanese TV drama "The Emperor's Cook" was based on the life of the au ...

Musume no Hitokoroshi ["The Murderous Girl"]

[Author/s unidentified].

Morioka, Iwate: Sō Suekichi, Meiji 25 [1892].

A counting song in twenty verses about Ohana-san, a murderous girl who prowled the Hibara Pass in Yonezawa. An example of a kazoe-uta from the mid Meiji period, probably kappazuri (stencil) printed.

One volume, presumed ...

"鏡山舊錦画"

[Yō, Yōtai (original text by)].

[Ōsaka: Ono'oka Jinzaburō, ca. 1900-20s?].

In The Women's Chushingura, a play first performed in 1782, the heroine Ohatsu, the loyal maidservant of the middle-rank lady-inwaiting Onoe, takes revenge on Iwafuji, the senior lady-in-waiting, for causing the suicide of Onoe. Rebecca Corbett notes that the pl ...

Berlin: Julius Rosenthal Filiale, 1892.

A crêped poster for a series of events, including an operetta, ballet, and music, at the Unter den Linden theatre, with decorative margins woodblockprinted in Japan and text printed with movable type in Berlin. The events were directed by Alois and Rudolf Ronacher, and featured "The World in Illustrations and Dance", with ima ...

[Three postcards designed to commemorate a track-andfield event]

[Illustrator/s unidentified].

[Kanazawa]: Shikō Rikakai, [ca. 1925].

Three abstract postcards designed by the physical science club of the Shikōtō Gakkō high school to commemorate a track-and-field event. The high school was founded in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in 1887, and was known fo ...

[Three scrolls, featuring Jurōjin and cranes] 

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. late Edo period (1800-1830s?)]. In manuscript.

A triptych featuring Jurōjin, the God of Longevity and one of the Seven Gods of Fortune, and cranes with bamboo (left) and pine branches (right). The presence of the cranes, which according to Japanese mythology may liv ...

[Three woodblocks] 

[Komatsuya (one block-face illustrated by)?].

[Japan: publishers unidentified, ca. Edo to Meiji period (1750-1910s)?].

A collection of three woodblocks used for printing in the Edo and Meiji periods. The earliest woodblock features an illustration on one side and part of another work on the other. The latter, evidently an earlier w ...

Shin'an Kyōiku Kuku Garuta ["New Ideas for Education: Multiplication Table Cards"]

[Creator unidentified]. 

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Meiji period (1900-1910s)?]. 

Two uncut kappazuri (stencil-printed) sheets of educational playing cards for school-age children. The number in the top right of each picture card is the answer to ...