Oshiegusa Yoshiwara Suzume ["The Lesson of the Yoshiwara Sparrow"]

[Sakurada, Jisuke I (original text by)].

Kobunachō, [Tōkyō]: Igaya Kan'emon, [ca. mid Edo period (1800-30s)?]

A nagauta shōhon (booklet of lyrics for a "long song" dance-drama) for a performance of Oshiegusa Yoshiwara Suzume, a composition which likened courtesans to caged sparrows and ...

[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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

[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.

Nemuke-zamashi Hitori-tanoshimi Hitotsutose-bushi ["Hitotsutose Songs to Enjoy Alone and to Shake Off Sleepiness"]

[Satō, Tomochika (text by)?].

Sakata, [Yamagata?]: [Satō Tomochika?], [ca. late Edo period (1820-50s)?].

A hitotsutose counting song in twenty verses with strong Buddhist overtones. While the theme seems unusual, as counting songs were usual ...

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

[Kawanabe, Kyōsai (attributed to)].

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

A comical fūshi-e featuring people whose busin ...

Tōkyō: Mizuno Shōten, [ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1910-30s)?].

An advertisement for "Pyramid Best" cameras.

One leaf. Creases, paper lightly browned. 19.2 x 14.4 cm.

Reihō Mankintan ["Sacred Tiger Balm"]

Ise, [Japan]: Noma Inaba-en, [ca. mid-Edo period (17th to 19th century)].

An advertisement or set of instructions for the Noma family brand's Reiho Mankintan, a famous cure-all popular as a souvenir from Ise in the Edo period. The print is designed to look like a leaf from a book, as is apparent from the hanshin title colu ...

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 ...

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 ...

[Untitled Collection]

[Japan: various publishers, ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1900-1940s)?].

A collection of fourteen labels and advertisements for products including matches, medicine, toys, food, silk, and so on, from the early twentieth ...

Sasei haiga ["Poems and illustrations by Sasei"]

Uzuki, Sasei [text and illustrations by].

Tōkyō: Uzuki Sasei, Shōwa 15 [1940].

A loose-leaf album authored, illustrated, and privately published by Uzuki Sasei (active ca. 1920-40s). The album features one woodblockprinted preface, one page of tips for painting haiga (simple illustrations to accompany haiku ...

Seiei ["Essence"] 

Ueno, Seikō ... [et al.]; Yamada, Naosaburō [edited by].

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

Issue 14 of the design periodical Seiei produced by the famed Kyoto ...

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 ...

Seijin Kimotsubushi: Kengu Shinbun ["The Thunderstruck Sage: The New Culture of the Wise and the Foolish"]

Mantei, Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Eikyū Bunko, Yamamoto Heikichi ... [et al.], [preface dated Meiji 5 (1872)].

The first series (all published) of a Kyōsai-Ōga work on one of Ōga's favourite themes - ...

Seirō Hankatsū ["Poseur of the Bordellos"] 

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrations by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Kōbundō ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874]. 

Three issues, complete, of this satire set in Yoshiwara after the implementation of the Meiji 5 (1872) ordinance liberating all geisha and courtesans. Hankatsū (半化通) plays on the id ...

Seiyō komamono nokorazu ["Unexcelled Western sundries"]

Kanbe, Senzō [produced by].

Kanda, [Tōkyō]: Shinseidō, [ca. Meiji 20s (1887-97)].

A flyer printed around the end of the nineteenth century for Shinseidō (or Shinshōdō), a Western sundries shop in Kanda, Tōkyō. The illustration on the right side of the flyer, which is probably woodblock-printed, shows ...

Sentakusho yori Nomishirami Kadomo he Onmōshi-idashi no Koto narabi ni Mushi Sanka Nakama yori Sentakujo he Negai Izuru Koto ["A Formal Statement from a Laundry to Fleas, Lice, and Mosquitoes, together with a Humble Request from the Three Groups of Insects to the Laundry"] 

[Matsuda, Yasuke (original text by)]. 

Hacchōbori, [Edo (Tōkyō)]: Kyōya Sōbē, [ca. late Edo peri ...

Seru shiori ["Guidebook to seru fabric"]

[Ichida, Yaichirō].

Tokyo: Y. Ichida & Co., [ca. early Taishō period (1910-20s)?].

This 'guidebook' produced by Y. Ichida & Co. introduces the firm's factory in monochrome photographic illustrations, the majority of which show the machinery used to manufacture seru. The word seru derives fro ...

Shamisen sekai no zu ["Illustration of the Shamisen World"]

[Utagawa], Yoshifuji [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1860s)?].

This aizuri-e (indigo-printed illustration) designed by Yoshifuji (1828-1887), a pupil of Kuniyoshi, shows an oiran viewing a globe of the Shamisen Sekai ("Shamisen World"). Each country or provin ...

Shichifukujin ["Seven Lucky Gods"]

Kiyama, Shōzan [produced by].

[Japan: Kiyama Shōzan, ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1920-30s)?].

A set of seven woodblock-printed match labels featuring the Seven Lucky Gods - Ebisu, Daikokuten, Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Hotei, Fukurokuju, and Jurōjin. The text on each card records the name Kiyama - the individual who pr ...

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 ...

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. ...

Shinmonku Yukari no Tsuki ["The Moon of Affinity: New Lyrics"]

[Illustrator and author unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Keiō 4 (1868)].

Kawaraban were woodblock-printed gossip and news sheets produced illicitly in the Edo period for the consumption of laypeople. Publishers who dared print kawaraban on political topics were at a particular ...

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 Otoshibanashi ["Amusing Stories, Newly Published"]

[Creator/s unidentified].

[Japan: publisher/s unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?].

Two issues of short amusing tales and jokes produced in the late Edo period by an unidentified publisher. The issues, which have been bound together, each feature several short humorous stories on topics i ...

Shiroto Jōjuri Shikata Mitate: Chūshingura Nanatsume Monku ["Methods of Jōjuri Amateurs: Seven Phrases from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers"]

[Creator unidentified].

Teramachi, [Kyōto]: Kashiwaya Sōshichi, [ca. late Edo period (1830-40s)?].

A woodblock-printed sheet of words and phrases, often humorous, used by amateur players in jōjuri (puppet) theatre. ...

Shōbatsu Tenkarafuru ["Reward and Punishment: Fall from Heaven"]; Bikkuri Chōmen-bako ["The Surprise Box of Punishment"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 8 [1875].

Two Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound together by an ex-owner. The title of the first issue in the volume ...

松竹映画シナリオ 惜春鳥

Kinoshita, Keisuke [screenplay and direction by].

Tōkyō: Eiga Taimususha, Shōwa 34 [1959]. First edition. 

A highly illustrated booklet on Kinoshita Keisuke’s film Sekishunchō, or Farewell to Spring. The film, released in 1959, is frequently referred to as the first LGBTQI+ themed film produced in Japan due to the close emo ...

Shochū O-utagai ["Summer Greetings"]

Oda, [Hidekazu] [produced by].

[Tōkyō]: Oda [Hidekazu], Shōwa 8 [1933].

A set of twelve woodblock-printed matchbox-sized cards featuring fans illustrated with summer flowers. The text on each card records the name Oda - the individual who produced the set for an unidentified group of matchbox card enthusiasts. Oda' ...

Dōgu-zukushi Sucharakapokupoku Yoshikonobushi ["Various Tools, Gobbledygook Yoshikono Ballads"]

[Author/s unidentified].

Hacchōbori, [Tōkyō]: [Rōben?], [ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?].

A short collection of humorous songs on themes including alcohol, counting money, oiran, and the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Susan Miyo Asai notes in Nōmai Dance Drama: ...

Shinpan Geisha Hauta ["Geishas' Short Songs, Newly Published"] 

[Creator/s unidentified]. 

[Japan: Kikuyama, ca. late Edo period (1830-50s)?]. 

A collection of ten short hauta songs popular with geisha, who often performed such ditties in the pleasure quarters. The booklet is a prime example of comical street literature of the Edo period ...

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 ...

Shuzenji Onsen Meishoki ["Famous Places in Shuzenji Onsen"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

[Shizuoka]: Gotō Senzō, Meiji 13 [1880]. 

One of the few non-satirical works Ōga and Kyōsai produced together, Shuzenji Onsen Meishoki is an illustrated guidebook to Shuzenji Onsen in Izu, Shikuoka Prefecture. ...

"日英博覧會見物 世界一周双六"

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. Locations including Rome, Paris, Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty, and the United States Capitol are pict ...

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 ...

"武村式安全搾乳・哺乳兼用器"

Ōsaka: Takemura Shōkai, [ca. late Meiji period (1890-1910s?)].

An advertisement for breast-pumps made by Ōsaka-based company Takemura Shōkai, featuring a photograph of a woman using the device.

One card, photograph tipped-in. Mild foxing, corners lightly bumped, small tear to photo. 19.5 x 13.3 cm.

Tanemaki Gonbē no Atotsugi: Tarobē Mizukakeron ["Tarobē the Waterer, Successor of Gonbē the Sower"]

Hattori [Mantei], Ōga [text by]; Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

Tōkyō: Yamazakiya Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7 [1874].

The middle fascicle of a three-issue parody of a family history produced by Ōga and Kyōsai - Gonbē Tanemakiron ("Gonb ...

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 ...

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 ...

Tsutamoyō Chizome no Goshuin ["The Ivy-Patterned Blood-Stained Seal"]

[Kawatake, Shinshichi III (original play by)].

Shintomi-machi, [Tōkyō]: Shintomiza, Taishō 3 [1914].

A shibai banzuke playbill for a performance of the nanshokuthemed kabuki play Tsutamoyō Chizome no Goshuin at the Shintomi-za theatre, Tōkyō, at 3 p.m. on October 8, 1914. Four vignette ...

[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 illustrated envelopes]

[Ogawa, Usen (original designs by)].

[Kyōto]: Kineya: Kyō-tsukushiya, [ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1930-40s)?].

Three woodblock-printed envelopes based on designs by Ogawa Usen (1868-1938). The leftmost illustration seems to depict a person dancing with a fan at night in front of a large statue of a religious or historical ...

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 ...