Futaba ["Budding leaves"]

Tabata, Kakudō [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Yamada Unsōdō, Meiji 40 [1907].

An album of thirty full-page woodblock-printed illustrations by Tabata Kakudō. Kakudō studied under the artist Suzuki Hyakunen (1828-1891) and later became a teacher of dyeing design in Kyoto. He contributed illustrations to Unsōdō's Bijutsukai and Sh ...

Gokuraku Dōchu-zue ["Illustrations of the Roads to Heaven and Hell"]

Ōno, Kōtarō [edited by].

Tōkyō: Ōno Kōtarō, Meiji 31 [1898].

A guidebook describing the roads, places, and significant landmarks on the course of the soul to Buddhist Hell or Heaven, offered together with the one-leaf print Seija Ryōdō Reikon no Yukue Zukai Setsumei ("Explanation of the ...

Goshomotsu ["Books"]

Kashiwaraya Takesuke [produced by].

Ōsaka: Kashiwaraya Takesuke, [ca. late Edo (1830-40s?)].

A woodblock-printed advertisement for the Osaka-based bookseller Kashiwaraya Takesuke, a firm which was active from the mid-seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century. The leaf advertises Chinese books, Japanese books, scriptures, "sto ...

Grand Concert Parisien, Rentree de Mme Bonnaire [...] 

[Concert Parisien (produced by)].

[Paris: Concert Parisien, 1890?]. 

A chirimen (crepe paper) poster advertising various acts at the Concert Parisien. One of the acts is the famous cafe performer Yvette Guilbert (1865-1944), who joined the Concert Parisien around 1889 after leaving the caf&ea ...

Hakurei gakuhyō ["Pleasurable critiques by the Hakurei"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Tōkyō?: Hakureisō-ren, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1770-1870s)?].

A carved woodblock used to print advertisements for a poetry competition. The text seems to invite submissions for the contest, which is to be judged by Senryū Sōshō (possibly Karai Senryū (1718-1790 ...

Hamaogishū ["Collection of Seashore Reeds"]

Seisei [Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by]. 

[Japan: publisher unidentified], Meiji 18 [1885].

A short selection of poems accompanied by one woodblock-printed karazuri (blind-embossed) frontispiece signed and stamped in the block by Kyōsai. The collection of poems (probably privately printed by those in the ...

Hana momiji ["Flowers and autumn leaves"]

Yamashita, Kōsen [illustrated by].

Kyōto: Miyata Toyamadō, Meiji 34 [1901].

An album of 37 colour woodblock-printed designs for kimono by Yamashita Kōsen. The designs present a creative array of themes including rabbits, birds, umbrellas, landscapes, and insects, and occasionally feature metallic pigments and kar ...

[Hand-painted fan design] 

Inouye, Toshio [produced and/or hand-painted by].

Kyōto: Toshio Inouye, [ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1900-20s)?].

A hand-painted draft of an elegant fan design produced by "Toshio Inouye" of Kyoto (probably a fan shop or design studio). The design has been painted on fabric and shows strong Art Nouveau influences; ...

[Hand-painted fan design] 

Inouye, Toshio [produced and/or hand-painted by].

Kyōto: Toshio Inouye, [ca. late Meiji to early Shōwa period (1900-20s)?].

A hand-painted draft of an elegant fan design produced by "Toshio Inouye" of Kyoto (probably a fan shop or design studio). The design has been painted on fabric and shows strong Art Nouveau influences; ...

Hatsugoromo ["First garments"]

Kumagai, Keiun [created by].

Kyōto: Gōmei Gaisha Unsōdō, Meiji 41 [1908].

An album of thirty colour woodblock-printed textile designs produced by the textile artist Kumagai Keiun and the little-known Futaba-kai group. The brief biography of Keiun on p. 28 of the "Ku" section of Dainihon jinbutsushi: ichimei gendai jinmei ...

Hitojichi Henkan: Jizai Kyōikuhō Zukai ["Transformation of a Person's Temperament: Free Education Method, Illustrated"]

Mihara, Muneaki [book being advertised authored by].

Okayama: Ritsuma Akiko, [ca. Meiji 21 (1888)].

A copperplate-engraved advertisement for the publication of a work on phrenology by Mihara Muneaki. The misspelled English subt ...

Hōnen Gokoku Matsuri: Rikai Shinbun ["A Five-Grain Festival for the Abundant Harvest: Understandings of the New Culture"]

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

Tōkyō: Kobayashi Kiemon, Meiji 5 [1872] - [Meiji 6 (1873)]. 

One of the earliest Kyōsai-Ōga novels, on the importance of agriculture. Steele (2010) notes that ...

Tsutsumimono Orikata Hinagata ["Examples of Ways to Fold Envelopes"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. Meiji period (1868-1911)?].

A collection of 54 samples of papers folded in specific ways for various occasions. Rules for the correct pre ...

Shinpan Ji-amari Shin-monku ["New Ji-amari Phrases, Newly Published"] 

[Creator/s unidentified]. 

Iigura Shinmachi, [Tōkyō]: Fukudaya Kichigorō, [ca. Bunka 7 (1810)?].

Two issues of humorous phrases and jokes, bound in one. Ji-amari refers to poetic compositions in which the typical number of syllables is exceeded. The word monku has an unfortuna ...

[百人一首歌留多
(Hyakunin Isshu Karuta, “Cards of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets”)]

[Keisai, Eisen (illustrated by)].

[Tōkyō]: Shiba Senichi, [ca. 1850-60s].

A complete set of two hundred uncut hyakunin isshu cards (one hundred poem cards and one hundred poet cards) in eight leaves. The publisher and printer was Shiba Senichi (芝泉市), ...

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 were cu ...

Kaiunbashi Daiichi Ginkō ["Kaiunbashi Bridge and the First National Bank"]

Kobayashi, Kiyochika [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. early to mid-twentieth century?]. 

A later printing or re-carved edition of arguably Kiyochika's most famous work: a snowy scene featuring the First National Bank and Kaiunbashi Bridge in Tokyo. A se ...

Kanadehon Chūshingura, Dai-Kudanme ["The Treasury of Loyal Retainers: Act Nine"]

Kōchōrō [Utagawa], Kunisada [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Yorozuya Kichibē, [ca. Edo period (1830-40s?)].

A scene from Act 9 of Kanadehon Chūshingura, one of Japan's most popular plays, illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III, 1786–1864). The work seems ...

Kanegura Sandaiki ["Three Generations of Treasuries"]

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

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

Three Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound in one, complete, on a family's economic struggles revolving around their pawnshop Iseya. The title of the moralistic work on t ...

Kanzeon Reigenki Hyakuban Mokuroku ["Record of the Miracles of Kannon: Index of the One Hundred Pilgrimage Sites"]

Ōju Mantei, Ōga [text by]; [Utagawa], Toyokuni [III], [Utagawa], Hiroshige [II] [illustrated by]. 

[Edo (Tōkyō): Nanden Nisanshō, Ansei 6 (1859)]. 

The index print for a series of nishiki-e listing one hundred temples from three pil ...

Katsuron Gakumon Suzume ["A Vigorous Debate by the Sparrows of Learning"]

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

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

The first issue (of three), in two parts, of Ōga's response to Fukuzawa Yukichi's famous work Gakumon no Susume ...

Kishō Shinbun ["Journal of Collected Laughter"]

Hashizume [Baitei], Kinzō [Kinga] [edited by]; Ōju [Tsukioka], Yoshitoshi [illustrated by]. 

[Tōkyō]: Kishōsha, [Meiji 8 (1875)]. 

Issues three, four, and seven of this scarce zasshi produced by the novelist Baitei Kinga and artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Issue three is titled Karikashi Mondō ("Questi ...

木曽路之山川
[Kisoji no Yamakawa, “Mountain River on the Kiso Road”]

[Utagawa], Hiroshige I [illustrated by].

[Japan: unidentified publisher, ca. early to mid-20th century].

A set of three unused postcards delicately woodblock-printed with Hiroshige's famous illustration of the snowy Kiso Valley. Originally printed in 1857, Mountain River o ...

Kokkei Usaharashi ["Humorous Distractions"]

Itō, Kyōtō ... [et al.] [text by]. 

Tōkyō: Kokkeidō, Meiji 15 [1882]. 

Issue seven of Kokkei Usaharashi, a magazine of short stories and kyōka, haiku, and dodoitsu poems. The publishing house that produced the magazine, Kokkeidō, was owned by Akiyama Buemon (d. 1900), a pupil of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and ...

"皇国雷名の諸君見立力競"

[Katsushika?], Masahisa [illustrated by].

Tōkyō : [publisher illegible], Meiji 15 [1882].

An engrossing triptych featuring over three hundred famous people engaged in bouts of kubihiki. Kubihiki was a Japanese game in which a looped string was placed around the necks of two people and a trial of strength would ensue. In this work, cel ...

Kudanzaka Satsuki no yoru ["A night in May at Kudanzaka Hill"]

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 rainy night at Kudanzaka. Figures seem to disappear off the edge of the world as they descend the steps i ...

Kutsu no Hiai = This Misery of Boots

Wells, H.G. [original text by]; Ōya, Sōichi [translated by].

Tōkyō : Nihon Febian Kyōkai, Taishō 14 [1925].

A translation by journalist Ōya Sōichi (1900-1970) of a work published in 1907 by the socialist Fabian Society, of which Wells was a member. In the work - an extended edition of an article published in December ...

Kyōjin Bikkuribako ["The Prideful Person's Box of Inevitable Fear"]

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

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

The first fascicle of a three-issue series produced by Ōga and Kyōsai. The two other issues in the series, Bikkuri Ch� ...

[Kyōka Momochidori ("A Flock of Kyōka Poems")]

[Yanagawa, Shigenobu (illustrated by)]; Shakuyakutei, [Nagane] [preface by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. 1830s?].

A book of kyōka poems illustrated by Hokusai's pupil and son-in-law Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787–1832), who was known for his surimono and book illustrations. This album features thir ...

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 ...

Light in darkness = Anchū no kōmyō

Loomis, Henry, Yoshimasu, Takasaburō [text by].

Yokohama: Beikoku Seisho Kaisha, Meiji 39 [1906].

A pamphlet recounting the story of Yoshimasu Takasaburō's conversion to Christianity, by Henry Loomis (1839-1920), a Presbyterian missionary from the US working in Japan. The short work shows through correspondences how ...

Magobē Kakkeiron ["Magobē the Manager"]; Kyōjin Bikkuribako ["The Prideful Person's Box of Inevitable Fear"]

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

Tōkyō: Yamazaki Seishichi ... [et al.], Meiji 7-8 [1874-1875].

Two Kyōsai-Ōga zasshi bound together by an ex-owner. The first issue in the volume, Magobē Kakkeiron, ...

Majinai Hyakkajo ["One Hundred Charms"] 

[Author/s and illustrator/s unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1840-60s?)].

A collection of one hundred spells (majinai), "revised and reprinted", for medical ailments like toothache, earache, chilblains, colds, seasickness, burns, and insect and dog bites. Other charms address ...

Makura Jidō: kabukiza shinkyōgen ["Makura Jidō: new kyōgen at the kabuki theatre"]

Kōchōrō [Utagawa Kunisada III] [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, Meiji 25 (1892)?].

A triptych by Utagawa Kunisada III (1848–1920) depicting the eponymous Kiku Jidō (Jidō of the Chrysanthemum, also known as Jidō of the Headrest) from the play Makura Jid ...

Manpō Eitai Shin-zassho: Nihon-zu-iri ["New Miscellany of Countless Eternal Treasures, with a Map of Japan"]

[Tokanshi (selections by)?].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. Bunka 8 (1811)].

This encyclopedic sheet, woodblock-printed on both sides, provides astrological, historical, and geographical information about Japan to the reader. The sheet could be ...

Mitate Hakkei: Yashima Sekishō ["Selection for the Eight Views: Evening Glow at Yashima"]

Ichiyusai [Utagawa], Kuniyoshi [illustrated by].

[Shibamishima-cho, (Tokyo)]: Wakasaya, [1846].

An unusual triptych from Kuniyoshi's Selection for the Eight Views series, featuring a scene from the Battle of Yashima of the warrior monk Benkei peering through ...

Miuchi-zoroi ["Collection of Beauties"]

Kikukawa, Eizan [illustrated by].

[Japan: Iwatoya Kisaburō, ca. Edo period (1800-20s)].

A courtesan adjusts her tortoiseshell hair ornaments in a pocket mirror, tissues tucked under her chin. This print seems to be from a different series than Eizan's similarly named Shoshoku Miuchi-zoroi and Fūryū Miuc ...

Miyako nishiki ["Brocades of the capital"]

[Ueno, Seikō (illustrated by)?]. 

Kyōto: Honda Ichijirō, Meiji 32 (1899)].

A collection of inventive designs by an unidentified artist or artists, previously owned by the acclaimed designer and artist Ueno Seikō (1871-1943). The woodblocks for the prints were carved by Kinoshita Yūnosuke and printed by S ...

Miyako Odori ["The Miyako Dance"]

Kajima, Seizaburō [text by].

Kyōto: Genrokukan, Meiji 35 [1902].

An illustrated guide to Kyoto's famed Miyako Odori dance, for distribution to Japanese and foreign tourists in April of 1902. The album-like program includes information in English and Japanese on the history of the dance, the names and roles of the (maik ...

Mizugaki manji sōshi ["Notebooks for brush-andwater calligraphy"]

Asai, Shigemitsu [produced by].

Tōkyō: Manjidō, Meiji 17 [1884].

A Meiji period advertisement for mizugaki paper produced by the Tokyo firm Manjidō. Mizugaki is a type of calligraphy practice in which the brush is dipped in water instead of ink.

One loose leaf, printe ...

Mongata Kiriyō-den ["Stencils for Crest-Cutting"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. mid-Meiji period (1870-90s)?].

A playful woodblock-printed work on cutting kamon (family crests) from folded paper in a process called monkiri ("crest-cutting"). This process involves cutting out the desired template from the book, laying it on to ...

Muyōsei ["The Six Personalities"] 

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

[Tōkyō: Ibasen, Kaei 6 (1853)].

A complete set of uchiwa-e (fan prints) illustrated by Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) for the publisher and fan shop Ibasen (founded 1590). Each beautiful woman in this series represents one of the six days from the traditional Japanese fortune-te ...

"新形友禅模様"

[Illustrator unidentified].

[Tōkyō]: Shiseidō, [ca. 1900-1920s].

A chiyogami paper illustrated with a design for yūzen dyeing of waves, flowers, and shallow sake cups marked with the character 壽 ("lucky"), woodblock-printed with a metallic pigment.

One leaf, complete. Browned, light creases, a few bumps to extremities ...

Nigatsu Yōka Kinshō no Hito Uke ni Iri ["February 8th, Luck to Those Born Under the Metal Element"]

[Kawanabe], Kyōsai [illustrated by].

Nihonbashi, [Tōkyō]: Takekawa Seikichi, [ca. Meiji period (1875-1890)?]. 

Uke-e - lucky prints - were presents sent to people entering their year of luck (whether a year was lucky for an individual was divined using ...

Noshi Shinpon ["New Book of Noshi"]

[Compiler unidentified].

[Japan, ca. early Meiji period (1870-90s)]. 

An album containing approximately 265 tipped-in examples of woodblock-printed noshi. Noshi are folded paper decorations designed to be affixed to wrapped gifts. In earlier times, noshi were strips of dried abalone (symbolising longevity) attached ...

Ōiri ["Full House"]

Kubo, [first name illegible] [produced by]; Sogai [illustrated by?].

Kōbe: Shinyūren, [ca. Taishō to early Shōwa period (1910-30s)?].

A set of six woodblock-printed match labels featuring illustrations possibly associated with kabuki or another form of traditional performance. The term ōiri (大入) which appears on each of the match car ...

Ōmi hakkei ["Eight views of Ōmi"]

[Artist unidentified].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo to early Meiji period (1840-70s)?].

A set of eight woodblock-printed nishiki-e featuring the famed Eight views of Ōmi (Ōmi hakkei). The prints use the same circular theme, decorative circular border, and poems employed by Utagawa Toyohiro in his Eight view ...

[Documents Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (text by)].

[Ibaraki, Japan], Meiji 4 [1871]. Manuscript.

A handwritten draft or record of a text produced by authorities regarding the granting of official licenses to booksellers, on stationery woodblock-printed by the Koga Domain (present day Ibaraki Prefecture).

Two folded leaves, considerab ...

Oguri Hanguwan ["Oguri Hangan"]

[Author/s unidentified].

Niigata: Chida Tasaku, Meiji 27 [1894].

Issue one only of a hiragana version of the legend of the hero-warrior Oguri Hangan, printed by the Niigata-based uta-hon publisher Chida Tasaku. The fact that the edition is in hiragana suggests it was published for children.

Part one on ...

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 ...