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45 results
The Constitution of Japan (The Official Gazettes, a Special Edition)
This publication is an extra edition of the Official Gazette in which the Constitution of Japan was promulgated. It was preserved in the archives of Irie Toshio (1901-72), director-general of the Bureau of Legislation under the first Yoshida Shigeru cabinet in 1946-47. The revised bill of the Imperial Constitution passed the Japanese House of Representatives on October 7, 1946. The constitution was promulgated on November 3. On the cover page of the Gazette can be seen the autographs of Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru (1878-1967), Minister of State in Charge of ...
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One Million Small Wooden Pagodas and Dharani Prayers
Hyakumanto Darani (The one million pagodas and Dharani prayers) is the oldest traceable publication in the world whose production date is clearly identified. In 764, the Empress Shōtoku (718-770) ordered the donation of Hyakumanto Darani, each containing a small scroll printed with four Buddhist Dharani sutras, to ten major temples. The National Diet Library holds several of the scrolls that were donated to the Hōryūji Temple in Nara prefecture in western Japan. These three-tiered pagodas were painted with white clay. It is unclear whether the printing blocks were of wood ...
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A View of Mimeguri Shrine from the Sumida River
This work by Shiba Kokan (1747-1818), a famous Western-style painter of the late Edo period (1600-1867), is the first copperplate etching by a Japanese artist. It depicts the landscape of Mimeguri Shrine at Mukōjima, eastern Edo (present-day Tokyo), as seen from the bank of the Sumida River. Because the etching was made for a peep-show box, left and right are reversed. Kokan was interested in Western science and wrote works on astronomy and geography. In this picture, he uses Western perspective drawing technique.
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100 Poems by 100 Poets
This illustrated book of Ogura hyakunin isshu (One hundred poets, one hundred poems) is a collection of one hundred 31-syllable classical Japanese poems (waka), each by a different poet. The collection is organized chronologically from Emperor Tenji (626-671) to Emperor Juntoku (1197-1242). Each of the poets is depicted by a woodblock print created by Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-circa 1694). Morobonu is often considered the first Ukiyo-e artist.
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The Tale of Genji
This book is an old movable-type edition of one of the best-known classic works of Japanese literature. It is said to be the first printed version of Genji monogatari (The tale of Genji) and appears in 54 volumes produced in the Keichō Era (1596–1615). This is one of the earliest books for which hiragana types were used, and only two others are extant as scribal copies. Hiragana is a cursive script of the Japanese syllabary. One of the oldest novels in the world, Genji monogatari was written in the ...
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Yoshitsune Leaving for Oshu Province
This picture scroll illustrates the story of Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-89), a military commander at the end of the 12th century, and his legendary retainer Benkei (?-1189). Yoshitsune’s older brother Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-99) became suspicions of his younger brother’s ambition after Yoshitsune achieved a series of military successes. Yorimoto had Yoshitsune expelled from Kyoto. Yoshitsune sought the protection of the Fujiwara family in Hiraizume, Oshū province, but in the end was hounded to death and forced to commit suicide by his powerful brother. The tragic story of Yoshitsune and ...
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Entertainments for Twelve Months
This colored, hand-drawn picture scroll presents annual events and seasonal plays in Kyoto, month by month. This particular drawing depicts children holding brooms and playing a ballgame called gicchō on a street in Kyoto. The style of the calligraphy and brushwork suggest that the scroll was made early in the Edo period (1600-1867). The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland, has the same type of picture scroll.
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Battle Standards
On this scroll are depicted uma-jirushi -- battle standards set up beside a military commander's horse to show his position -- of 170 soldiers. The illustrations are printed in color and also painted by hand. This scroll is important for marking the origin of multicolor woodblock printing (nishiki-e) in Japan. The sixth volume of this work, which was found only recently, is the only scroll still known to exist.
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The Origin of Tenjin
This is a large illustrated manuscript book of the type called nara-ehon. It depicts the life of Sugawara Michizane (845-903), a leading court scholar, political figure, and literary man of the Heian period (794-1185). Nara-ehon are illustrated manuscripts or hand-printed books and scrolls that were produced from the Muromachi period (1336-1573) through the middle of the Edo period (1600-1867).
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Soga's Robes
Nara-ehon are illustrated manuscripts or hand-printed books and scrolls produced in Japan from the Muromachi period (1336-1573) through the middle of the Edo period (1600-1867). This rectangular nara-ehon depicts the story of the Soga brothers, Soga Jurō Sukenari (1172-93) and Soga Gorō Tokimune (1174-93), and their quest for revenge for their father's death. The Soga Monogatari (Tale of the Soga brothers) tells how, after 18 years of hardships, the brothers fulfill their quest, but also how Sukenari is killed and Tokimune captured and executed by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-99), the ...
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The Diary of Moromori
This work is part of a series of diaries kept by Nakahara Moromori (dates unknown) in 1374-99. Moromori was an official of the imperial government who wrote his diaries in the margins and on the reverse sides of calendars. His memoranda on the military and social affairs of the day are among the best sources available for the study of late-14th century Japan.
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Satomi and the Eight “Dogs”
This epic novel, entitled Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (Satomi and the eight “dogs”) is a yomihon, or reading book, one of the popular genres of Edo-period (1600-1867) prose fiction. The story depicts the adventures of eight samurais whose last names begin with the Japanese word for dog. The author, Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848), also known as Kyokutei Bakin, worked around 30 years on this, his best-known work. This copy is a first printing, owned by Bakin himself, that shows his corrections of misspellings in the original printing.
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Imperial Diet
This multicolored print shows the second temporary Imperial Diet building. It was built in 1891 in Hibiya Uchisaiwaichō, central Tokyo, to replace the first temporary Imperial Diet building, which was destroyed by a fire. Its style combined elements of Japanese traditional architecture with Western elements attributable to its German architect. Imperial Diet sessions were held in this building 48 times before it too burned down, in 1925. The present National Diet building was constructed in Nagatachō, Metropolitan Tokyo, in 1936.
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Eight-Point Program for a New Government
This manuscript is the handwritten draft of proposals formulated by Sakamoto Ryōma (1836-67) and Gotō Shōjirō (1838-97), pro-imperial activists from the Tosa Domain (now Kochi prefecture) in western Japan, in 1867. In this document, Ryōma and Shōjirō proposed an eight-point program of political reforms to be undertaken by the new imperial government after the expected resignation of Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913), the last shogun. The proposed reforms included enactment of new fundamental laws, recruitment of capable people to serve as government advisers, establishment of diplomatic relations with foreign powers, and establishment ...
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Morning Glory Flowers
This pictorial book from 1854 is known as one of the best books on morning glories published in Japan. It reflects the morning glory mania that began in 1847 and that was widespread among the people of Edo (present-day Tokyo) at that time. The book features colored prints of 36 morning glory flowers and leaves with strange shapes, by Hattori Sessai (1807-?), a Japanese painter known for his naturalist works. The descriptions were written by Bankaen Shujin, also known as Yokoyama Masana (1833-1908), who was a retainer of a Tokugawa ...
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Folk Dances of Japan
This hand-painted picture scroll contains illustrations of eight kinds of Japanese folk dances: Sumiyoshi Odori, a dance handed down at the Sumiyoshi Shrine in Osaka; Oise Odori, a dance from Ise Province, where the Ise Shrine is sacred to Amaterasu, the principal female deity of Shinto; Kake Odori, in which a group of people dance toward the edge of a village or town to exorcise its evil sprits; Kokiriko Odori, in which folk dancers clack bamboo sticks in each hand; Komachi Odori, in which a group of girls in beautiful ...
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Images of Bishamonten
This work is a print of Buddhist images called syubutu or inbutsu. The print was originally placed in the internal cavity of a wooden standing statue of Bishamonten, considered a protector of the teachings of the Buddha. This particular Bishamonten was housed in a statue at the Yamato Nakagawa Temple, which prospered in the late Heian period as a branch of Kōfukuji Temple in Nara. The print has seven Bishamonten impressions, four on the upper part of the page and three on the lower part, each approximately 17 centimeters tall ...
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Manuscript of Swordsmiths' Signatures and Sword Connoisseurship
This document is the oldest existing manuscript relating to swordsmiths in Japan. The text contains a description of the year 1316, which indicates that the original was written in the late Kamakura period. However, the postscript gives the date as December 21, 1423, which means this is a copy made in the Muromachi period. The document gives a genealogy of swordsmiths from the most ancient of times to the late Kamakura period, and describes the swordsmiths of the day. The section of the manuscript entitled Kokon shokoku kaji no mei ...
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Record of an Imperial Visit in the Kan’ei Period
This picture scroll depicts the procession of Emperor Gomizunoo (reigned 1611–29) on a visit to Tokugawa Hidetada and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who were both among the most prominent lords of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa shoguns were a family of military leaders who were the real power in Japan from 1603 until 1868, although nominally appointed by the emperor. The emperor and his extensive entourage are shown on their way to Nijō-jō Castle, the Tokugawa residence in Kyoto in September 1626 (the third year of the Kan'ei era, which ...
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
This 17th-century scroll recounts the story of Taketori Monogatari (The tale of the bamboo cutter), famous as the earliest piece of prose fiction in the Japanese literary tradition and originally written around the 10th century. In the scroll, flowers are drawn on the paper of the main text. The main preoccupation of the story is Kaguyahime, discovered as a tiny infant inside a mysteriously glowing bamboo stem by an elderly bamboo cutter. He and his wife raise her as their daughter, and Kaguyahime quickly becomes a beautiful young woman, a ...
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Daietsu
Daietsu is a story with a happy ending, in which an affectionate and dutiful son, Daietsu-no-suke, becomes a rich man blessed with many descendants by the grace of Kiyomizu Kannon (the goddess of mercy) and Daikokuten and Ebisu (the gods of wealth). The story dates from the 16th century, but this pair of picture scrolls appears to have been painted in the 18th century by Sumiyoshi Hiromori (1705–77), an artist of the Sumiyoshi school. The scrolls are gorgeously colored and richly adorned with gold leaf on a traditional high-quality ...
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