Antique Meiji Japanese book with woodblock kuchi-e - Kuroda Kenji, Mizuno Toshikata, 1897

Kuroda Kenji is a late Meiji-period Japanese fiction work by Murakami Namiroku, published by Aoki Suzando in 1897, with a color woodblock kuchi-e frontispiece by Mizuno Toshikata.

Title: Kuroda Kenji, from Tosei gonin otoko no uchi
Author: Murakami Namiroku
Frontispiece artist: Mizuno Toshikata
Publisher: Aoki Suzando
Period: Meiji period, 1897
Format: antique Japanese printed book with color woodblock kuchi-e frontispiece

This antique Japanese book belongs to the late 19th-century culture of popular fiction and illustrated publishing in Meiji Japan. Its main interest is the color woodblock kuchi-e placed at the beginning of the volume. Kuchi-e frontispieces were produced as refined printed images for books and literary publications, and many examples by major Meiji artists are now collected as independent woodblock prints.

The frontispiece is attributed to Mizuno Toshikata, one of the important artists of Meiji-period kuchi-e and a pupil of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. This attribution is supported by several independent references. The Ota Memorial Museum of Art records a Mizuno Toshikata woodblock frontispiece for Murakami Namiroku’s Kuroda Kenji, published by Aoki Suzando in Meiji 30, November 1897. The National Library of Australia also catalogues a separate sheet from Tosei gonin otoko no uchi Kuroda Kenji as a picture by Mizuno Toshikata. Arts of Japan records Kuroda Kenji kohen as a Meiji-period kuchi-e by Mizuno Toshikata, connected with Murakami Namiroku and Aoki Suzando. Bunsei Shoin also lists separate Kuroda Kenji kuchi-e prints by Mizuno Toshikata, confirming the independent collecting interest of these frontispieces.

This copy preserves the book context of the kuchi-e, which is important: the image is not an isolated print removed from a volume, but remains connected with the literary publication for which it was made.

Condition

Antique condition. Natural age-related wear is present, including paper toning, signs of time to the cover and edges, and general handling wear consistent with an authentic old Japanese book. Please review the photos carefully.

Size

Size approx.: 15 x 22 cm.

Shipping

Safe and tracked shipping from Latvia. Protective packaging.

For US buyers

This item enters the United States duty-free.