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 ...

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 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 ...

[Title unidentified]

[Artist unidentified].

[Tōkyō: Chūō Hyōron-sha, ca. mid-Shōwa period (1950-60s?)].

A small printing block for a strip comic that probably appeared in a publication by the Chuō Hyōron-sha (the Chuo University Review), as this company name is inscribed on the side of the block. The strip seems to show a man being thrown out of an o ...

Tōshitsu ["Ceramics and Lacquerware"]

Nakamura, Shūho [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Gōmei Gaisha Unsōdō, Meiji 43 [1910].

An album of twenty double-page spreads of colour woodblock-printed designs for ceramics and lacquerware, by Nakamura Shūho. Shūho is described in the preface as a "graduate of the design department of the Kyoto School of Arts and Crafts" ...

Tsuki to Supponchi ["The Moon and a Supponchi"]

Shinoda, Kyūjirō [edited by]; Mantei, Ōga, Kanagaki, Robun, Baitei, Kinga ... [et al.] [supplemented by], Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai, Tsukioka, Yoshitoshi ... [et al.] [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Kōshūsha, Meiji 11-12 [1878-1879].

Issues 1 to 20 of Tsuki to Supponchi, a satirical newspaper edited by Shin ...

Tsūzoku Isoppu Monogatari ["Aesop's Popular Fables"]

Aesop [original fables by]; Watanabe, Tazunu [translated by]; Fujisawa, Bainan, Sakaki, Kōson, Kawanabe, Kyōsai, [Tenniel, Sir John], [Wolf, Joseph] [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Watanabe Tazunu [printing blocks owned by], Yamashiroya Sahē [distributed by], Meiji 5-6 [1872-1873].

The most widely kn ...

[Two albums of woodblock-printed ephemera]

[Illustrators unidentified].

[Tōkyō: Miyake Mokuhan Surisakuho, ca. mid-Shōwa period (1950s)].

Two albums of tipped-in ephemera, including menus, invitations, advertisements, and New Year's cards, woodblock printed for a range of Tokyo-based clients by the Miyake Woodblock Printing Store. Several prints provid ...

[Two kamishimo jackets and two pairs of kamishimo trousers]

[Creator/s unidentified].

[Japan, ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1900-30s)?].

Kamishimo garments, ceremonial or formal wear for men, were used predominantly by samurai in the Edo period, but continue to be used in Japan to this day for special occasions. This collection includes two naga-ka ...

[Untitled folding object]

[Creator unidentified].

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

An unusual folding object with small opening pockets or compartments, constructed from a colour woodblock-printed omocha-e toy print. Genjikō (Genji Incense) patterns appear on the inner panels of the object and on the eri collar of the elegant woman adorning the fro ...

[Untitled kimono featuring lobsters]

[Creator unidentified].

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

A stunning uchikake or kaidori - kimono worn over a kosode or furisode by a bride on her wedding day - patterned with Ise-ebi (Japanese spiny lobsters). The lining of the uchikake is made from red and pink fabrics, the latter patt ...

[Untitled print]

Hisashi [illustrated by].

[Japan, ca. late Taishō to early Shōwa period (1920-1930s)?].

A print - probably a halftone - featuring an elegant Japanese woman playing cards. She sports a modern hairstyle, ruby red lips, and an obi that sparkles with a silver pigment. The artist's name, Hisashi, is printed in the upper left corner. 

[Untitled scroll of feather patterns]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. mid to late Edo period (1800-1840s)?]. In manuscript.

A handscroll recording 42 types of feathers used in arrow-making. Each illustration is captioned with a number and the name of the pattern depicted. Most of the feathers used in arrow-making in Japan were taken from birds of prey, ...

[Untitled set of fan designs]

[Suzuki], Kason, [Takeuchi], Seihō ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

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

A set of 21 designs for fan papers, with illustrations by artists including Suzuki Kason ("Kwasson") and Takeuchi Seihō. Some fans have been woodblock printed, others lithographical ...

[Untitled set of printing blocks]

[Creators unidentified].

[Japan, ca. late Edo to early Shōwa period (1860-1930s?)].

An assortment of wooden and metal printing blocks and pieces of type produced in Japan. Most of the wooden blocks feature advertisements for sake and hemp, and seem to have been produced in Yashū, Tochigi Prefecture. The metal blocks, on t ...

[Untitled set of scrolls featuring a dragon and a tiger]

Shōseki, Sanjin [Kose, Shōseki] [signed by].

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

A dynamic rendering of a traditional tiger and dragon pairing. The tiger crouches on rocks surrounding a river while the dragon flies above tumultuous waves through menacing clouds. Just as the body o ...

[Untitled surimono]

Ka'an [Kita], Busei [signed and sealed in the block by].

[Edo (Tōkyō), ca. late Edo period (1840-50s)].

A flower emerges from a hanging ceramic vase laid on the ground. Ka'an (Kita) Busei (1776-1857) was a nanga painter born in Edo. He studied under Tani Bunchō and was a friend of Watanabe Kazan, Kyokutei Bakin, Kuwagata Keisai ...

[Untitled surimono]

[Sōen], Kabocha [signed and sealed by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)], Tenpo Mizunoetatsu [1832]. 

Courtiers, two of whom are pictured holding a tray of mochi balls, gather around a fire on a chilly night. Harvested rice is pictured in the background. The artist, Kabocha (1777-1846), is also known as Sōen. 

One ōbōsho s ...

Ushiya Zōdan Aguranabe: Ichimei Doronken ["Beef-Shop Small-Talk: Cross-Legged (at a Beef) Pot"]

Kanagaki, Robun [text by]; Ikkeisai [Utagawa], Yoshiiku [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Seishidō, [preface dated Meiji 4 (1871)]. 

The shohen (first series) of Robun's famous satire on the perceived sophistication of Western customs. In the work, he ri ...

Usumurasaki Genji no Somewake ["Dyeing of the Lilac Genji"]

[Toyohara], Kunichika [illustrated by]; Ōta, Komakichi [printing blocks cut by].

Fukagawa Takabashi (Edo): Etsuka, Bunkyū 2 [1862].

A fascinating triptych featuring characters from The Tale of Genji examining a newly purchased sugoroku game sheet based on famous kabuki actors. Searches for the ti ...

Yaso Taiji Baka Shinnyū ["Extermination of the Christians: Infiltration of the Idiots"]

Kato, Tomisaburō [edited by].

Ōsaka: Katō Tomisaburō, Meiji 14 [1881]. "New edition".

A mitate banzuke (sheet that ranks people and behaviours in a parody of a sumo ranking sheet) listing the behaviours of Japanese Christians the compiler considers "idiotic". While th ...

[London] : Ye Sette, 1892. 

The menu of the ‘Japanese Night’ dinner held in 1892 by members of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes (an English club of bibliophiles founded by bookdealer Bernard Quaritch in 1878) and attended by many members of the Japan Society. The night is known to have been attended by, amongst others, Narinori Okoshi, Cap ...

Zensei Meigi-zoroi ["Full Cast of the Most Popular Geisha"] 

Chōkarō [Utagawa], Yoshiiku [illustrated by].

[Tōkyō]: Iseki [Iseya Kihē], [Meiji 2 (1869)]. 

A colourful woodblock print of elegant geisha and their attendants playing cards, from the Zensei Meigi-zoroi series by Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833-1904).

One leaf, woodblock- ...