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

US$300.00

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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 Year's gifts. Typically, months in the calendars are indicated by numbers on dice and the Zodiac animals are used to indicate the first days of the months. Months with 31 days are listed underneath a large sword, and months with fewer days are recorded under a small sword. The central panel underneath the title suggests the year this particular calendar represents: Meiji 22 (an eye (目) = me, a koto bridge (柱 (琴柱)) = ji, two masu = nijū, two dots on a die = ni). The calendar also indicates the dates of important annual events. The images here are not strictly moji-e; rather, they represent a mix of rebuses, logograms, and ideographs. The fact that the calendar is presented as a hanji-e ("puzzle-picture") in the title suggests the drift of the genre of egoyomi from practical to playful.

One woodblock-printed leaf, complete. Light discolouration, fading, creases. 29.4 x 22.2 cm. 

Kyū no tsukihi: shinpan hanji-e (Days of the old (lunar) calendar: new edition puzzle-picture)
Price: $300.00 (USD)