p3
Exhibition - Nagoya 1910. 第十回関西府県連合共進会全図 [Daijikkai Kansai fuken rengen kyoshinkai zenzu]. Nagoya Yodatsu Goshigaisha 1910 (Meiji 43]. Colour lithograph 54x78cm with b/w map and photos of Nagoya on the back. Rather good with illustrated outer wrapper. Au$200
A handsome large birds-eye view. The 10th Kansai Prefectural Union Exhibition was a big jump from previous shows, held every three years since 1883. This was meant to put Nagoya on the map and so it did. Apparently more than two and a half million visitors went through.
Sugoroku. 新版 動物ポンチ雙六 [Shinpan Dobutsu Ponchi Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Tsunashima Kamekichi 1911 (Meiji 44). 49x67cm colour broadside. Rumpled with repairs to folds, still acceptable. Au$350
This is called a new edition of the Animal Punch Sugoroku but I don't know whether that means a new printing or a new version of an older game. I can't find a record of any version, including this one. In either case it does seem a bit old fashioned for 1911. 'Ponchi' outlived the original Japan Punch (1862 to 1887), was used in other titles and became more or less a generic term for cartoon social satire.
Kamekichi was a busy two generation publisher of prints that are politely described as tending towards the popular end of the cultural scale; ie cheap and lurid.
The snarky spoiler account
Tada Keiichi. 南極探検日記 [Nankyoku Tanken Nikki]. Tokyo, Maekawa Bun'eikaku 1912 (Taisho 1). 19x13cm later (c1940) hand lettered plain wrapper; 19 (of 29 plates). A used but solid copy. The wrapper is made from some war artist's colour print with the printed side inside. The colophon date is a slip pasted over the Meiji date; the Emperor died only five days before this was published. Au$150
A cheap incomplete copy missing several plates (as did the Ross copy sold a couple of years ago and a copy sold by Bonhams the year before that). This was Tada's counter history of the Japanese Antarctic expedition published a year before Shirose Nobu's official account. Tada apparently ran for it the moment the expedition ship hit Yokohama and beavered out two books in the next few months. I haven't found out what caused the rupture between leader Shirose and deputy Tada but being demoted gave Tada grudge enough.
Hosokibara Seiki. 初夢双六 [Hatsuyume Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Shojo Gaho 1918 (Taisho 7). Colour broadside 47x64cm. Somewhat used with some small splits and repairs to folds; just acceptable. Au$100
The new year gift from the girl's magazine Shojo Gaho in which we can follow either of two sister's first dreams of the new year (hatsuyume). Both see some action but I prefer the blue sister's dream which at least has a lion and a flying car driven by a turtle.
Hosokibara, as well as being a busy and successful manga artist, pioneered manga studies with his 1924 history and pioneered the schism among manga artists: those who saw manga as a continuation of traditional Japanese humorous drawings and those who rejected the notion and insisted that manga was a new international graphic language.
Sugoroku. Kawabata Ryushi. 少年未来旅行双六 [Shonen Mirai Ryoko Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Nihon Shonen 1918 (Taisho 7). Colour broadside 78x54cm. Some browning and minor signs of use; not bad. Au$500
The New Year gift from the boy's magazine Nihon Shonen. A view of travel in the future, this is among my favourites of the travel adventure sugoroku and hard to find in anything like one piece. Doubtless it was a favourite with many others too.
Kawabata did several of the best, most captivating, sugoroku of the period. His career took a curious turn during a 1913 stay in America to study western painting. Apparently he was so impressed with the Japanese art he saw in Boston he switched to being a Nihonga painter. Still, he remained being an illustrator for magazines for quite some time. As did most of the early to mid 20th century artists now revered.
Nakano Shuji. [ かお?] 道化遊び双六 [Kao?] [Doke Asobi Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Nihon Shonen 1920 (Taisho 9). 55x79cm colour broadside. Signs of use: some brown spots, small holes in folds. Au$150
I'm baffled by the first two characters in the title. I find that most references transcribe them as 日本 (Nihon - Japan) or 少年 (shonen - boy) and I don't know why, since that's the source, not the title. Only one gives us かお (Kao - face) which bears some resemblance to the actual characters but really doesn't seem satisfactory.
Anyway, this a game of boys' games - games that involve physical antics and clowning such as forehead wrestling - and was the new year gift from the magazine Nihon Shonen and you know how that translates if you've been paying attention.
Takanashi Yoshitaro [ed]. 文化村の簡易住宅 [Bunkamura no Kan'i Jutaku]. Tokyo, Koyosha 1922 (Taisho 11). 19x15cm, publisher's stiff wrapper with mounted illustration; title, 19pp of text and 54 plates printed on one side: photo illustrations, floor plans and renderings, one double page. Some marks and minor signs of use. Au$300
Fourth printing, two months after the first, of this architectural guide to Japan's model Culture Village (Bunkamura) of 'simple' housing built for the 1922 Peace Exposition; the purposeful introduction of idealistic westernised homes, rather than mansions and commercial buildings. Western mostly on the outside, not so much inside. Fourteen houses were built by different builders that had to meet 15 guidelines which did not stipulate that the outside had to be western but did demand windows rather than shutters and paper screens and that decoration should be avoided. Living spaces had to be chair style and kitchens and bathrooms thoroughly up to date. After that it was up to the designers and builders and the results are what's usually called ecleticism, hybrid, or borrowing, but isn't so simple in intent. And, as usual, what was borrowed from the west was often a reclamation of what the west had borrowed from Japan: arts & crafts in England, craftsman in America, nouveau, seccesion, werkstatte, and whatever else in Europe.
At much the same time as this, across town another Bunkamura - the Mejiro Bunkamura development by Tsutsumi Yasujiro - was being launched, reportedly inspired by the streetscape of Beverly Hills. The houses in both villages were for the new middle classes but Tsutsumi's village was for the upper middle class. Much of what was built during the twenties was destroyed during the war but the remaining fragments show shared characteristics which I'd say, from the bit I've read about him, had nothing to with any idealism in Tsutsumi.
CAPEK, Karel & Suzuki Zentaro. R.U.R ロボット [R.U.R Robotto]. Tokyo, Kinseido 1924 (Taishi 13). 18x12cm publisher's illustrated wrapper; title page with Simonson's poster design for the New York production in red and black, photo frontispiece. A nice copy. Au$800
The introduction of 'robot' to the Japanese language and they've gone mad with it ever since. It isn't, however, the first published Japanese translation or adaptation of Capek's play: in 1923 that appeared titled Jinzo Ningen - artificial human - by Uga Itsuo. He seems to have been a haiku and theatre enthusiast who was working for a Japanese company in New York when the Theater Guild did their production. He has pretty much vanished from history except as a translator of RUR. And he deserves it, discarding what might be the most evocative word of our times.
I presumed Suzuki, a writer of greater consequence, produced his version as a reaction but it seems more a matter of zeitgeist. Suzuki went on a cultural world tour in 1920 and came back armed with Capek, Molnar, Eugene O'Neill, and who knows what other stage weapons. He wrote a long article on the play in 1923 and this translation predates the first production of Uga's version. It seems neither of them knew of the other's work.
Worldcat finds no copies of this outside Japan.
Shop architecture. 商店建築及店頭計画図案 [Shoten Kenchiku Oyobi Tento Keikaku Zuan]. Tokyo, Kenchikushoin 1924 (Taisho 13). Oblong folio, 26x39cm publisher's decorated cloth (a couple of nibbles) and mildly battered printed card case; [10]pp, 50 b/w plates, [4]pp. A nice copy. Au$1350
Modern and moderne shop buildings and store fronts; essential if you want to rebuild Tokyo after the earthquake and before the fire bombing. This is, of course, part of the post earthquake reconstruction effort: the results of a competition held by the equivalent of the Tokyo chamber of commerce. The plates, elevations and floor plans, are reproduced from measured drawings and look ready to build but I wonder about one (by Shibahara Niro) which, the facade at least, seems to be taken straight from Bruno Taut's crystal alpine architecture. The requirements: frontage, height etc, are spelt out in the introduction and I presume fit an average commercial lot. At the end are designs for shop fronts.
Architecture competition. 国際謝恩塔 [Kokusai Shaonto]. Tokyo, Koyosha 1924 (Taisho 13). 19x13cm, loose as issued in publisher's printed boards; 50 leaves, mostly plates printed on one side (actually 48 as two are double page carrying two numbers); renderings, elevations and plans. An excellent copy. sold
One of the apparently endless series of small architecture monographs, Kenchiku Shashin Riuju. I wonder if anyone knows how many there were. Some are intriguing and some are pretty drab. Many require a dogged love of gateways and tea rooms. This one is up top.
Here are the winners and honourable mentions from a competition for a tower of gratitude for international aid after the 1923 earthquake. First and second prizes are graced with overwrought dramatics but are hardly radical. Things get more interesting after that.
Outside Japan, Worldcat finds an entry at Queensland University, dated 1929 for some reason, but the university's four entries for the title, including a microform, don't actually locate a copy.
Ikebe Hitoshi & others. お国自慢名物踊面白双六 [Okunijiman Meibutsu Odori Omoshiro Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Omoshiro Kurabu 1925 (Taisho 14). Colour print 54x78cm. Rumpled and sometime laid down on old paper; acceptable enough. Au$100
This uncommon manga game celebrates traditional national dances with all the gusto and pizazz of nightclub chorus lines. It was the new year gift from Omishiro Kurabu (Fun Club) magazine. This seems to have been a team effort: four artists are named.
Maruo Shiyo. 名探偵功名競べ双六 [Mei Tantei Komyo Kurabe Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Omoshiro Kurabu 1926 (Taisho 15). Colour broadsheet 55x79. A couple of small repairs on the back, pretty good. On the back is a monochrome baseball game that looks dull. Au$400
An elusive and captivating detective sugoroku. This was the new year gift from the magazine Omoshiro Kurabe - the Interesting Club.
Enomoto Horeikan. 義賊毒婦傳 妖魔の情艶 [cover title: 妖魔の艶]. [Gizoku Dokufu Den : Yoma no Joen?] Osaka, Enomoto Shoten 1927 (Taisho 16). 19x13cm publisher's colour illustrated wrapper; 350,[2]pp, illustrated title and frontispiece. Browning of the cheap paper and a hint of staining of the bottom edge at the beginning. Pretty good for such a disposable book. Au$120
A charming and substantial example of Dokufu - poisonous women - literature. The title sort of translates as Life Story of a Dokufu Robber : Demon's Passion. Put that together with the cover and no more needs to be said. Especially as this is a cheap pulp once you get inside.
From what I can glean Enomoto Horeikan is a series from Enomoto Matsunosuke who produced cheap pulp like this that, along with akahon (red books - luridly printed cheap kid's books), manga and suchlike, by-passed the usual distribution chains and were sold directly at railway stations, festivals and stalls.
I can't find a record of this anywhere.
Hayashi Taidichi. 少年未来双六 [Shonen Mirai Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Nihon Shonen 1927 (Taisho 16). Colour broadside 54x79cm. Rather good. Au$450
This is a future to look forward to. Mostly. The gas warfare is not so inviting but at least the horses get protective suits. And it's only fair that giant edible frogs should have a chance to eat us. This was the new year gift from the magazine Nihon Shonen - Japanese Boy.
Hayashi redesigned Tokyo after the earthquake and fire - in 1924's new year sugoroku - to be a wonderful utopia for boys of all ages. Mostly there is no Taisho 16 but this was produced the year before, before the change in emperors.
Yokohama Temperance Association. 禁酒 カレンダー [Kinshu Karenda]. 1929. Yokohama Kinshukai 1928. 38x17cm publisher's colour illustrated wrapper with (crooked) metal strip along the top; 12 leaves printed on one side, each with a color illustration and advertisement. Au$100
This is the reason why someone with even my momentary attention span can remain fascinated with Japan in the late 19th and early 20th century. There is always something I never imagined might exist. Here we have the 1929 Temperance Calendar from the Yokohama Temperance Association. If there are any for other years or from other local associations I haven't find them yet.
The temperance movement arrived in Japan with American Christians, of course, and blossomed despite some anti-Christian schisms early in the 20th century. They never achieved prohibition but did get the still current under age law passed in 1922, setting the legal drinking age at 20.
One of the leaders of the early temperance movement was Ando Taro, former Consul General in Hawaii. He, on his own account, had been a heavy drinker from his early teens until his wife put an end to his drinking in Honolulu. Seems to me that despite being on the wrong side in the Boshin War and a year in prison, becoming Consul General in Honolulu before the age of 40 shows that the boozing was, at least, not so harmful, maybe beneficial.
Hamada Masuji, Sugiura Hisui and others. 現代商業美術全集 [Gendai Shogyo Bijutsu Zenshu - The Complete Commercial Artist]. Tokyo, Ars 1928-30 (Showa 3 - 5). 24 volumes quarto, publisher's cloth or wrappers, printed card slipcases for a few wrappered volumes; thousands of illustrations, most colour. A used but solid mixed set, most of the wrappered volumes have chipped spines; the cloth volumes dulled and rubbed - but they are never pretty anyway. Inside all quite good. Au$2500
A complete set of the Shogyo Bijutsu, one of the great monuments of Japanese modernism. Largely the work of Hamada Masuji - credited with the invention of design as a profession in Japan - it is an encyclopaedic gathering of all that is new and exciting in Russia, Europe, Britain and America from art nouveau to bauhaus and constructivism, with futurism, expressionism, dada and everything else along the way lavishly mixed with Japanese responses to, and digestion of, these western ideas. Any number of exciting artists and designers contributed.
Each volume is devoted to a topic or related topics and commercial design here means more than it does to us. So as well as volumes on posters, advertisements, billboards, typography, and similar graphic arts (like bookbindings, magazine, brochure and catalogue covers, packaging, labels, trademarks and placards), there are volumes devoted to the architecture of the shop from the mightiest department store to the most chic Parisian shop window and the display within. Exterior and interior design, showcases and fittings - shops, restaurants, cinemas, even a barber shop or beauty parlour is laid out. One volume is devoted to lighting: neon lights, the lighting of commercial spaces and illuminated signs. Another volume is devoted to kiosks, pavilions and floats, festive decoration, facades, gateways and entrances, while the following volume continues into international exhibitions. Volume 22 is devoted to traditional Japanese shop signs and banners, a treat in itself, while volume 14 explores photography and humour in graphic art - so German photo-montage and French caricature share a volume.
*Rather than do any work I've re-used old photos of the contents of these. The outside picture is new, the inside not so much.
Kon Wajiro. 新版大東京案内 [Shinpan Dai Tokyo Annai]. Tokyo, Chuo Koronsha 1929 (Showa 4). Octavo publisher's illustrated boards and slipcase; 380pp and four double page maps, illustrations throughout, several full page. Inner front hinge cracked, a rather good copy of a smart but badly put together book. Au$300
First edition of a new guide to a new Tokyo by the founder of Modernology. This is not a guide to carry round, the flimsy construction puts paid to that if you try. Tokyo is divided into culture, purpose and theme more than districts. It comes out of the years spent documenting Tokyo and its people after the 1923 earthquake - what is now called urban ethnology - and work done with other designers and architects shaping the new Tokyo. It is sort of an adjunct and a preface to the Modernologio books to come in the next couple of years.
Wakamoto sugoroku. わかもと - 漫画健康すご六 [Wakamoto - Manga Kenko Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Wakamoto [c1930]. Colour poster 63x46cm. Minor signs of use, a smallish hole in the bottle, upper left. Au$850
An early bit of advertising from the health supplement makers and I don't think they've ever done better. The company started in 1929 in Shiba and opened a new plant in 1932; here the address is Shiba.
This is a sugoroku, a racing game, and it's a succinct lesson in economics and industrialisation. The body as a machine had been explored by more than one graphic artist but here is not so much an intermediate step as a rational alternative. A production line may be useful but when labour is cheap why would you spend money on machinery? A decent length of sewage pipe, some vats and a manned treatment pond will do the job.
Shikoku & Wakayama. Nakamura Kisen, Inoue Seiji & Yokoyama Kei. 漫画旅行 - 日本全国 [Manga Ryoko - Nihonzenzu ... ]. [Tokyo c1930?]. Colour printed broadside map 55x77cm. Right margin trimmed as often, a nice copy. Au$125
A fun tourist map of the coast from Shizuoka around to the Mie prefectures, ie around Nagoya. Nakamura, Inoue and Yokoyama collaborated on a series of these manga maps of Japan, thirteen altogether, which can be put together if you have plenty of space to more or less make a complete map of Japan.
