Shijō Taiheiyō Ryokō (A Trip to the Pacific on Paper)

US$280.00

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Shijō Taiheiyō Ryokō ["A Trip to the Pacific on Paper"]

Gunji, Jirōmasa [handwritten by].

[Japan, ca. early to mid-Shōwa period (1940-1950s?)]. In manuscript.

A draft of an article for All Women (Ōru Josei) magazine handwritten by author and lyricist Gunji Jirōmasa (1905-1973). In the article, the author takes the role of a guide, leading the readers (which, the guide notes, playing on the title of the magazine, are all women staying in first class cabins, "like a group bound for a Pacific Women's Conference") on a tour from Yokohama to San Francisco, with a stop in Hawaii. The description of the ship, a new N.Y.K. vessel, and the on-board features and entertainment are extremely detailed. The reason for this becomes clear in the last few sentences of the article: "Everyone, try repeating this [story] back to your friends. People eavesdropping next to you will really think that you spent the summer in the Pacific". Jirōmasa's most famous work, Samurai Nippon (often known as Samurai Japan), was first published in a magazine in 1931 and later appeared as a novel and a film. It is unclear whether this article he penned was ever published. 

A set of five leaves, penned on rectos only, complete. Folds, annotations, stamps, and rust marks from a now absent paperclip. [5] leaves. Each leaf measures approximately 25.7 x 35.9 cm.

Shijō Taiheiyō Ryokō (A Trip to the Pacific on Paper)
Price: $280.00 (USD)