It is simple-minded perhaps to propose the example of Japanese tourists from the recent past as a proof of the cultural importance of travel in traditional Japan... Eyewitnesses to a world "beyond history" in the 90s, tourists from Japan cruised everywhere, armed with wonderful cameras and a desire to duplicate every "wish you were here" postcard ever created.... but with a personal touch of some loved one giving the peace sign in front of Versailles or the Kremlin or Victoria Falls.…
One may laugh at such a comparison, but the desire to record the beauties of nature, to participate in sampling local cuisine, local customs, local handcrafts of great skill has not disappeared. Spend some time with everyday TV in Japan and you will see much that resonates with that desire to explore…. From home, virtually, as well as in reality. And the brush.... through scrolls and paintings, could be seen as the virtual tool/media of the day as the computer/TV is today... Read More
1960. Okamura Kichiemon 岡村吉右衛門 TOKUJIRÔ SHÔGYÔ 徳次郎正業 Privately printed. Shōwa 35 [1960]. 29.9 x 21.3 cm. One of 100 copies, signed by Okamura. The work, printed in stencil in color on handmade paper is string-bound, Japanese-style, fukuro-toji. Okamura was Serizawa's most important student and excelled at producing compelling livre d'artiste..... More
1956. Okamura Kichiemon 岡村吉右衛門 ZAYÛ SANBÔ NO SHÔ 座右三宝之頌 3 v. 32.2 x 20.4 cm. Privately published in 100 copies by Okamura Kichiemon 岡村吉右衛門, a remarkably talented and prolific artist and scholar, who recorded the arts and crafts of postWar Japan using the stencil techniques of katazome dyeing on beautiful..... More
1960. Okamura Kichiemon 岡村吉右衛門. DATE MONIWA NO SHINANUNO 伊達茂庭之榀布. N.p. Shōwa 35 [1960]. 30.4 x 20.8 cm. One of 200 copies, signed by Okamura. (Other reading of title is Date Moniwa no Shinanuno.) Tipped-in fabric sample approx 17 x 9.5cm. The work, printed in stencil in color on handmade paper..... More
1959. OKUMURA Kitchizaemon, artist. MUTSUGAMI ZANBO^ROKU: WASURE NO KOSARESHI MUTSUGAMI NO HANASHI. Sho^wa 34 [1959]. 30.0 x 21.3 cm. String-bound, Japanese-style. Stencil printed with textual illustrations on records of hand papermaking from the provinces of the far north in Japan. One of 50 copies printed. About fine condition in the..... More
1919. Ôtani Sonyû 大谷 尊由(1886-1939) & Iguchi Kashû 井口華秋 (1880-1930), artist TOKAIDÔ GOJÛSAN-TSUGI EMAKI 東海道五十三次絵巻 Kyoto Taisho 11 [1922]. Eight handscrolls with woodcut coloring over collotype, complete.The scrolls have bone jiku with brocade covers and sumi over gold title labels. The pictures of the stations of the old Tôkaidô alternate..... More
19. [papermaking sample book] Masaki Unryūshi 正木 雲龍紙 Inogami Kabushiki Kaisha 伊野紙株式会社 [Shikoku] C. 1950’s-60’s 15 x 22.5cm oblong, ribbon-bound collection of Japanese paper samples from the Inogami Paper company, Inogami Kabushiki Kaisha 伊野紙株式会社, on Shikoku Island. Unryūshi 雲龍紙 [Cloud Dragon Paper] is a wonderful..... More
1950. [PAPERMAKING] SERIZAWA Keisuke. KAMI WO TSUKURU HITOTACHI. Privately printed by Serizawa in Showa 25 [1950] in an edition of 50 copies. 30 x 28 cm. 7 pages, katazome prints in wrappers with a printed paper title label. Enclosed in a hand printed folding cover which is a work of..... More
1923. [PHOTOGRAPHY - JAPAN] ALBUM OF 85 SNAPSHOTS OF JAPAN 1916 - 1923, FUJIYAMA AND MORE, PLUS SIX LOOSE PHOTOGRAPHS AND A PHOTO POSTCARD. 5 1/2 x 8 inch flexible black cloth covers, cord-bound, with "Photographs" in gilt on front cover. Black paper mounts, neatly captioned in white ink, mostly..... More
[PHOTOGRAPHS]. 141 HAND-COLORED & BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS OF 19TH CENTURY JAPAN AND ASIA. Archive consists of six groups of photographs. Most are mounted and are disbound from albums, four have ink and watercolor illustrations on the mounts, and 19 are loose b/w prints, probably early 20th century. A few..... More
1951. SEKINO Jun'ichiro^, artist. YUKIGUNI. To^kyo^, Privately self printed by Sekino, Sho^wa 26 [1951]. 16.0 x 11.6 cm. #3 of 100 copies. Bound western-style in printed boards and quarter leather, all in the original printed box. Bucolic little prints on the theme of "Snow Country". Signed by Sekino. Fine condition..... More
1944. SERIZAWA Keisuke, artist. SHIKIBA Ryu^zaburo^, author. MINGEI TO SEIKATSU. To^kyo^, Sho^wa 19 [1944]. Privately published by the author and printed in To^kyo^ before the disastrous air raids to come. Bound Western-style, 26.8 x 19.0 cm., printed on over 400 pages of wonderful Japanese hand-made paper, with many illustrations by..... More
1934. [SHIN HANGA] Kosugi Ho^an & Nakazawa Hiromitsu. MANSHU^ ZU-E. Dairen, Sho^wa 9 [1934] Japan Tourist Bureau. Ptinted by the important woodblock artisans, Takamizawa of O^saka. There are 5 o^ban size prints of views and genre scenes in Manchuria. Kosugi (1881-1962) was one of the most important artists of the..... More
1919. [Sketch Tour Book] Starr, Frederick Sanyō Angya Tōkaidō Angya 山陽行脚 東海道行脚. Bunen'dō 文淵堂, publisher Taishō 8 [1919] [Sketch Tour Book] Starr, Frederick. Sanyō Angya Tōkaidō Angya 山陽行脚 東海道行脚. Tokyo: Bunen'dō 文淵堂, Taishō 8 [1919]. 6th printing (the first printing appeared in 1917). Small 8vo., 18..... More
1911. [SKETCHTOUR BOOK]. JU^NIN SHASEI RYOKO^ Tokyo: Kashima Cho^jiro^ [Ko^bunsha], Meiji 44 [1911]. Printed paper over boards, cloth spine, gilt. Small 8vo., 19.3 x 12.8 cm. See Johnson's article in ANDON p. 15 for an extensive description of this book's importance. With 10 zincographs, 2 lithographs, 18 photo-lithographs and 4..... More
1911. [SKETCHTOUR BOOK] KANAO Tanejiro^, publisher. KINAI KEMBUTSU. 3 volumes: YAMATO, KYOTO, and OSAKA. 22.8 x 15.4. (Larger than most examples of the genre.) Bound western style in printed paper covered boards (without the printed slipcases). T.E.G. For details on the importance of this work, see Scott Johnson's article in..... More
1916. [SKETCHTOUR GENRE] Kanao Bun'endô 金尾文淵, publisher. HANSHIN MEISHO-ZUE 阪神名所図会. A folding album of 30 ôban-size color woodcut prints, printed by Nishimura Kumakichi and published by Kanao Bun'endô in 1916-17. There are two prefatory pages: a map of the trip around western Japan depicted herein, and a table of contents, plus..... More
1922. [SKETCHTOUR GENRE] Nakazawa Hiromitsu, artist. NIHON TAIKAN. [Views of Japan] Tokyo: Bunendoo, 1922. 38 x 27 cm, oblong folio in size. 50 single sheet color woodblock prints of views, primarily in the Kyoto/Osaka area, with prefatory descriptions, in a tied portfolio with a woodblock cover. This massive work..... More
1861. SMITH, George, Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong). TEN WEEKS IN JAPAN. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861. First edition. Illustrated with eight tinted wood-engraved plates by G. Pearson, five of which are after photographs from Negretti and Zambra's "Views in Japan", with tissue guards, plus a fine folding..... More
1958. [SÔSAKU HANGA] OKAMURA Kichiemon, artist. IYOMANTE KUMA MATSURI AINU. A privately printed portfolio with a printed paper title label. 35.2 x 30.1 cm. Each of the 5 b+w woodblocks prints on washi is signed and sealed by Okamura, the group is further dated to 1958 and has a woodblock..... More
194. Tokuriki Tomikichiro 徳力富吉郎 SHIKI TÔKYÔ FÛKEI 四季東京風景 FOUR SEASONS OF TOKYO, Kyoto. N.D. [c.40s?] Four original multicolor woodblock prints 21 x 28cm, laid in with matted frames 25.5 x 35cm and housed in a portfolio 26 x 35.5cm. Printed title slip in Japanese and English on portfolio cover..... More
1911. [TRAVEL - YOKOHAMA]. (AMENOMORI, N.) THE GRAND HOTEL, LIMITED. H. E. MANWARING, MANAGER. (GUIDE BOOK FOR) YOKOHAMA AND VICINITY. (Yokohama: "Japan Gazette" Press, 1911). A small pocket-size guide (14 x 10.5 cm) in color illustrated paper wrappers, that show the Grand Hotel on the front and a view of..... More
1822. Tsuji Hōzan 辻鳳山, artist. BITCHÛ MEISHÔ-KÔ 備中名勝考, 2 VOLS [Report on Famous Places in Bitchū]. n.p. Gyokushō-en 玉松園. Bunsei 5 [1822]. 2 volumes 26.4 x 18.5 cm string-bound Japanese style, fukuro-toji with light blue-gray blindstamped wrappers and housed in a modern chitsu-clasped case. 18 very appealing, double page illustrations..... More