Tsuru no Chitose: Soga no Kadomatsu [Thousand Years of the Crane: Kadomatsu of Soga]

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Tsuru no Chitose: Soga no Kadomatsu ["Thousand Years of the Crane: Kadomatsu of Soga"]

Katsu, Genzō, Takeshiba, Tōji [text by]; Kawatake, Kisui [concept by]; Utagawa, Kunisada [illustrated by].

[Edo (Tōkyō)]: Kōeidō, Genji 2 [1865].

A gōkan on the story of the dangerous but chivalrous man Nozarashi Kosuke, illustrated by Kunisada. The original story, inspired by Santō Kyōden's Honchō Suibodai Zenden, was written as a kabuki play for the actor Ichimura Kakitsu IV by Kawatake Mokuami. In early 1865, the same year as this gōkan was published, the play was performed for the first time at the Ichimura Theatre in Edo. Skull motifs and the skull-and-bones pattern on Nozarashi's kimono are juxtaposed with auspicious New Year imagery scattered throughout the illustrations. The fascinating interplay between text and illustration is particularly prominent in the sparsely illustrated double-page spreads. Blurred advertisements for books published by Tsutaya Kichizō feature on the pastedown of each volume. No original copies traced in OCLC. 

Three parts in six four-hole-bound (yotsumetoji) volumes, complete, on double leaves, traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji). Original wrappers lightly worn, with a few wormholes, some binding threads cut. Occasional wormholes, thumbing, and small marks internally. Light bumps and creases to corners. Original fukuro (book-envelope) of part 3 present. 20; 20; 20 leaves (each series continuously paginated). 17.8 x 11.7 cm. 

Tsuru no Chitose: Soga no Kadomatsu [Thousand Years of the Crane: Kadomatsu of Soga]
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