Miyako Odori (The Miyako Dance)

US$1,280.00

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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 (maiko) dancers and those involved in the production, a translation of a song sung at the dance, and other relevant information. However, the majority of the booklet comprises photographic illustrations of the dancers (captioned with their names in Japanese and English) and advertisements for Japanese companies (including Asahi Beer, the Kyoto Railway Co., etc.) and products (watches, bicycles, lacquerware, books, silk, porcelain, paper, perfume, sake, etc.), similarly in Japanese in English. The photographs were probably taken specially for the booklet by Kajima Seizaburō, the author and the younger brother of the prominent photographer Kajima Seibē (1866-1924). Seibē was friends with the artist Kawanabe Kyōsai and, together with acclaimed photographers including Ogawa Kazuma, William Sturgis Bigelow, and William K. Burton, founded the Japan Photographic Society in 1889. This work was published by the Kyoto branch of Seibē's original Genrokukan photographic studio built in Ginza, a luxurious photography studio and publisher of several magazines on kabuki and photography. Seizaburō moved to Kyoto after studying photography in London at his elder brother's bidding and seems to have run the Kyoto Genrokukan for several years. No copies traced in OCLC or major Japanese library databases.

One stab-bound (musubitoji) volume on single leaves, complete. Original wrappers worn, creased, and with minor stains, chips, and wormholes. Occasional marks, light stains, and thumbing internally. Two small continuous wormholes to text. One page printed upside-down. [Unpaginated]. 26.5 x 20.3 cm. Text in English and Japanese.

Miyako Odori (The Miyako Dance)
Price: $1,280.00 (USD)