Haru no gyokushō ["Spring's excellent compositions"]

[Creator unidentified]. 

[Ōsaka?: Murakami-ten?, Meiji 44 (1911)?]. 

An unrecorded book of thirty-three designs for New Year's postcards and twelve postcard-sized illustrations in a nanga style. A printed note at the beginning of the book suggests the work was published in Meiji 44 by t ...

Hikobae ["Root sprouts"]

Ōta, Saburō [illustrated by].

Tōkyō: Seibidō , Meiji 44 [1911].

An album featuring a three-page preface by the artist and seventy full-page illustrations in a variety of media, including half-tones and lithographs, on a variety of papers, several tipped-in. The illustrator, Ōta Saburō (1884-1969, sometimes referred to as Ōta Sa ...

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 ...

Ishō Sekai ["World of designs"]

[Sawa], Kyūkō ... [et al.] [illustrated by]; Watanabe, Takijirō [woodblocks cut by].

Tōkyō: Seibikai, Meiji 34 [1901].

Issue 5 of the magazine Ishō Sekai, published by the Seibikai ("The Exquisite Beauty Association"). The eighteen textile designs included were provided by members of the Seibikai, and the woodblocks we ...

Jūjun kagetsuchō ["One-hundred-day album of flowers and the moon"]

Mutō, Inazō [edited by]; Rai, Kyōhei [compiled by]; Aoki, Mokubei, Oda, Kaisen, Uragami, Shunkin, Rai, Sanyō, Ema, Saikō, Nakabayashi, Chikutō, Ōkura, Ryuzan, Yoshida, Shūran, Nukina, Kaioku ... [et al.] [with contributions by].

Ōsaka: Shikada Seishichi, Shunsōdō [printing blocks owned by], Meiji ...

Kiyoki ["Purity"]

Tabata, Seikō, Yoshī, Seisen, Yamada, Seikyo [edited by].

Kyōto: Gōmei Gaisha Unsōdō, Meiji 40 [1907].

The first volume (all published) of the little-known Unsōdō publication Kiyoki. The large format volume features fifty colour woodblock-printed designs for kimono, presumably by the editors Tabata Seikō, Yoshī Seisen, and Yamada Seikyo ...

Kokon moyō-shū: musō kōeki monchō ["Collection of ancient and modern designs: patterns to gain unparalleled profits"]

Murakami, Masatake [edited by].

Ōsaka: Maekawa Zenbē, Meiji 18 [1885].

A copperplate-engraved textbook on design, featuring ten pages of colour designs (the colours possibly woodblock-printed), the rest monochrome. Perhaps intended as a ma ...

Kyōka Zuan ["Designs from the Capital"]

Hasegawa, Keika, Furuya, Kōrin [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 31-38 [1898-1905]. 

A complete collection of stunning textile designs by Hasegawa Keika (act. 1892-1905) and Furuya Kōrin (1875–1910). The creative illustrations, many of which reimagine traditional Japanese moti ...

Kyōto zuan ["Kyoto designs"] 

Okada, Shikō, Shimomura, Gyokukō [edited by]; 

Kyōto: Kyōto Zuan Zasshi Hakkō-bu, Meiji 43 [1910]. 

Issues 60, 62, and 63 of series 5 of the magazine Kyōto Zuan. Each issue features colourful patterns (some lithographic), monochrome collotype illustrations, and articles on design by contributors. 

& ...

Moyō gajō ["Album of patterns"]

[Artist unidentified].

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

An album of fourteen colour woodblock-printed patterns. Six of the patterns feature multiple colours; the remaining eight are single-colour prints. It is possible the prints were removed from a larger volume and bound in handmad ...

Odamaki ["Columbine"] 

Dai Nihon Zuan Kyōkai Henshūbu [edited by], Ogiwara, Kunizō [editors represented by]; Komuro, Shinzō [essay by].

Kyōto: Gōmei Gaisha Unsōdō, Meiji 40 [1907].

One of the scarcest zuan ("design") publications on zuan pedagogy. The album features eight designs selected from illustrations exhibited by the Industrial Design Dep ...

Tomon hyakka ["One hundred flowers of patterns from the capital"]

Adachi, Mahaya [Shinsoku] [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Bunsekidō Kitamura Shirobē, Meiji 24 [1891].

A two-volume set of motifs of animals, plants, flowers, and landscapes inspired by traditional Japanese patterns. The artist, Adachi Mahaya, was originally an engraver of menuki, decorative metal ...

Orimono shō-e ["Textile designs"] 

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. late Meiji period (1900-10s)]. In manuscript.

An album of over 400 tipped-in textile designs by an unidentified artist. The designs feature flowers, plants, people, landscapes, animals, fans, butterflies, ships, and a variety of other objects. Several feature images of sol ...

Kuretake ["Henon bamboo"]

Ochiai, Naobumi [preface by]; [Ichida, Yaichirō (created and published by)].

[Kyōto: Ichida Shōten, (Meiji 35 (1902))].

An album of woodblock-printed textile designs, probably produced as a catalogue for the publisher: clothing and textile firm Ichida Shōten. The designs are remarkably detailed, and many depict landscapes and use ...

Chiyogami Monyō Hyakushu: Shiki Banshō [“One Hundred Types of Chiyogami Patterns: All Four Seasons”]

Yoshimoto, Kanon [edited by]. 

Kyōto: Shūkōsha, Shōwa 47 [1972].

An album of over 290 tipped-in examples of woodblock-printed and stencil-printed papers from the Edo to Shōwa periods. The majority of the papers are chiyogami, but examples ...

Fuyumono ishō-zukushi ["Various winter clothes"]

Ichibaisai [Morikawa] [Utagawa], Chikashige [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Tsuji Kame [Tsunajima Kamekichi], Meiji gannen [1868].

A colourful woodblock print of patterns for winter clothing, probably designed to be cut and folded into some unknown 3D form. The artist, Utagawa Chikashige, was a pupil of Kun ...

Reishin Gajō ["Album of Beautiful New Illustrations"]

Matsui, Yūkoku, [Furuya, Kōrin] [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Honda Ichijirō, Honda Shoten, Meiji 33 [1900].

A complete two-volume set of colour woodblock-printed designs by the little-known artist Matsui Yūkoku (fl. 1900s, sometimes read Matsui Yoshitani). The set contains a total of 51 illustrations, 5 ...

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 ...

Seihō Ippinshū ["A Collection of Masterpieces by Seihō"]

Takeuchi, Seihō [illustrated by]

Kyōto: Unsōdō, Shōwa 12 [1937]. 

The first series, featuring 31 prints, of Seihō Ippinshū, a collection of designs by the highly acclaimed nihonga painter Takeuchi Seihō (1864-1942). Produced by Unsōdō under Seihō's supervision just a few years before the a ...

Shima to kasuri ["Stripe and splash patterns"]

Furuya, Setsuzan [illustrated by]. 

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 38 [1905]. 

The first ('upper') volume of the first series of Shima to kasuri, illustrated by Furuya Setsuzan (active 1905-6). The work was published in two series, with two volumes in each series. This first pa ...

Shima to kasuri ["Stripe and splash patterns"]

Asano, Kokō [illustrated by]. 

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 38 [1905]. 

The first ('upper') volume of the second series of Shima to kasuri, featuring 56 creative patterns of flags, boats, vegetables, brushes, tennis racquets, dragonflies, fans, billiard balls and cues, rulers ...

Shimashima ["Stripe patterns"]

Furuya, Kōrin [illustrated by]. 

Kyōto: Yamada Naosaburō, Gōmei Gaisha Unsōdō, Meiji 39 [1906]. 

A complete set of over two hundred stripe-based patterns by the artist Furuya Kōrin (1875–1910), a student of Kamisaka Sekka (1866–1942, the designer of Kokkei zuan). While at first glance the patterns may no ...

Shin zuan ["New designs"]

Kamisaka, Sekka, Kaigai, Tennen ... [et al.] [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Gonikai Kyōto Zuan-bu, Meiji 30 [1897]. 

Issue One of the magazine Shin zuan, featuring ten full-page colour woodblock-printed patterns of plants, flowers, and landscapes. The magazine was published by the Gonikai, a group of Kyoto-based design enthusiasts. ...

Shin zuan ["New designs"]

Kamisaka, Sekka, Kaigai, Tennen ... [et al.] [illustrated by]; Nakayasu, Shinzaburō [edited by].

Kyōto: Fujī Magobē, Meiji 25 [1892]. 

Issue Nine of Shin zuan, featuring twelve full-page colour woodblock-printed patterns, mainly of plants and flowers. Each artist's name is recorded on each print's verso. Artists ...

Shūshū ["Collection"]

Hirō Shōeidō Ishō-bu [edited by].

Kyōto: Hirō Shōeidō, Shōwa 5 [1930]. 

Volume five of an interesting series of albums featuring colour woodblock-printed mini-envelopes (pochibukuro). The set was published between Taishō 13 (1924) and Shōwa 5 (1930) and was probably produced by the publisher/editor Hirō Shōeidō to promote the c ...

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). ...

Tama Kagami ["Mirror of Treasures"]

Kobayashi, Gyokunen [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Fujisawa Shuppanbu, Meiji 34 [1901].

A complete two-volume set of colour woodblock-printed designs by the highly skilled but little-known graphic designer Kobayashi Gyokunen. Each volume includes one fold-out woodblock-printed frontispiece and twenty-five single-page colour wo ...

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" ...

Harada, Takeyoshi.

Oosakimaci, Ebaragun, Tokio : Redaktejo Sekaigo Soin, 1913-1914. 

Two issues, December 1913 (number 26) and May 1914 (number 31), of the journal `Orienta Azio`. `Orienta Azio`, printed in Esperanto and Japanese, was published monthly between 1911 and 1916 in Tokyo by the Sekaigo Shoin run by Hara ...

Watanabe, Kazan ... [et al.][illustrated by].

[Tōkyō?] : Nippon Yūsen Kaisha, 1928.

Two colour woodblock-printed one-leaf menus from the S.S. Hakozaki Maru and the Taiyō Maru. The menu from the S.S. Hakozaki Maru (Commander T. Sekine) is dated Thursday, 2nd August, 1928, and the Taiyo Maru menu is dated Sunday, January 29th, 1928. Both sh ...

Yachigusa ["Sundry herbs"]

Ueno, Seikō [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Honda Unkindō, Meiji 34 [1901].

Volume two of Yachigusa, featuring thirty haori designs by Ueno Seikō. The work uses printing and carving techniques including sabibori (a carving technique used to produce an effect mimicking brushstrokes), kirazuri (printing with mica), bokashi (gradation), ka ...

Yachigusa ["Sundry herbs"]

Ueno, Seikō [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Honda Unkindō, Meiji 34 [1901].

Volume one of Yachigusa, featuring thirty kimono designs by Ueno Seikō. A plethora of printing and carving techniques have been used, including sabibori (a carving technique used to produce an effect mimicking brushstrokes), kirazuri (printing with mica), and bo ...

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 ...