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Meiji prints

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	Design:	Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912)
	Print title:	Title page/Table of contents
	Album/series title:	Azuma Fūzoku (Customs of the East)
	Size:	23.4 x 33.8 cm (ōban)
	Original woodblock print
	Photography:	Jacques Commandeur

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Enlargement

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Special effects: gold metallic pigments splashed onto the print in two separate horizontal bands.

This print displays the title page and table of contents of the Azuma Fūzoku album, including the titles of the twelve prints designed by Chikanobu. The album was published in 1901 in Tokyo by Matsuki Heikichi (firm name Daikokuya).

Artist’s name in the first column on the right:

Character	Reading	Meaning	Translation
楊	yō	leaf
洲	shū	discipline
周	chika	circumference
延	nobu	prolong	By the brush of
筆	hitsu	brush	Yōshū Chikanobu

Followed by the name of the series/album in the second column from the right:

Character	Reading	Meaning	Translation
安	an	peace
津	tsu	harbor, ferry
末	matsu	end
風	fū	style
俗	zoku	customs	Customs of the East

And then followed by the titles of the twelve prints in the next four columns from the right:

Character	Reading	Meaning	Translation
歌	ka
留	ru	Karuta (Japanese
多	ta	playing cards)
あ	a
そ	so
び	bi	play	1 - Playing cards
庭	niwa	yard
の	no	’s
櫻	sakura	cherry	2 - Backyard cherry tree
遊	yū	enjoy oneself
歩	ho	walk	3 - Enjoying a walk
春	haru	spring
雨	ame	rain	4 - Spring rain
愛	ai	love
児	ji	child	5 - Beloved child
化	ke	change
粧	shō	adorn one’s person	6 - Make-up
夕	yū	evening
立	tachi	stand up	7 - Sudden evening shower
観	kan	view
月	getsu	moon	8 - Moon viewing
菊	kiku	chrysanthemum
の	no	’s
花	hana	flower	9 - Chrysanthemum flowers
紅	momi	deep red
葉	ji	leaf	10 - Red autumn leaves
宮	miya	shrine
詣	mairu	visit a temple	11 - Visiting a shrine
雪	yuki	snow
見	mi	view	12 - Snow viewing

The eight prints in this series that I was able to acquire (i.e., ‘Playing cards’, ‘Backyard cherry tree’, ‘Spring rain’, ‘Beloved child’, ‘Make-up’, ‘Sudden evening shower’, ‘Moon viewing’, and ‘Visiting a shrine’) together with the four remaining images in this series that I was able to recover from the internet can be seen here:

Azuma Fūzoku 1 - Playing cards	Azuma Fūzoku 2 - Backyard cherry tree	Azuma Fūzoku 3 - Enjoying a walk
Azuma Fūzoku 4 - Spring rain	Azuma Fūzoku 5 - Beloved child	Azuma Fūzoku 6 - Make-up
Azuma Fūzoku 7 - Sudde evening shower	Azuma Fūzoku 8 - Moon viewing	Azuma Fūzoku 9 - Chrysanthemum flowers
Azuma Fūzoku 10 - Red autumn leaves	Azuma Fūzoku 11 - Visiting a shrine	Azuma Fūzoku 12 - Snow viewing

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References

• Coats, Bruce A. (2006). Chikanobu. Modernity and nostalgia in Japanese prints. Leiden: Hotei publishing.

• Gary’s Chikanobu website.

• Newland, Amy Reigle (2021). Printed and painted. The Meiji art of Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920). Leiden: Hotei Publishing.

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Provenance: Shōgun Gallery