1934 Japanese Haiku Kukai Archive – 6 Manuscript Notebooks with Original Ink Drawings – Doyokai

Rare coherent archive of six original manuscript notebooks documenting meetings of a Japanese haiku circle in 1934, early Showa period.

The collection combines poetry, calligraphy, original ink drawing and social history. Each notebook was individually assembled from washi paper and hand bound with thread. The illustrated covers were drawn in ink specifically for the corresponding meeting and relate directly to its seasonal or literary themes.

The notebooks record six gatherings held during 1934, from the New Year meeting through December. One volume is explicitly dated Showa 9 (1934); the New Year notebook carries the corresponding cyclical year designation, and the remaining volumes form a closely related chronological series with recurring participants, format and meeting structure.

The manuscripts preserve the working process of a traditional haiku kukai rather than a later copied anthology. They include numbered poems, poetic pen names, themes announced in advance, subjects given during the meeting, selections, scoring and result tables. One notebook also retains an original working or submission sheet.

Subjects recorded throughout the collection include New Year celebrations, sugoroku, hanetsuki, the autumn moon, autumn rain, repapering shoji, departing autumn, fallen leaves, winter fertilizing, buri, returning cold, vegetable pickling, wind and a visit to the barber.

The illustrated covers include New Year imagery with Hotei, autumn and winter landscapes, seasonal scenes, birds, and a humorous barber-shop scene. These drawings belong directly to the literary context of the meetings and reflect the close relationship between haiku, calligraphy and ink painting in Japanese visual culture.

The notebooks identify the circle as Doyokai. Historical research also suggests a possible connection with the Gunsan Doyokai documented in contemporary Japanese-language newspapers in Korea during the 1920s and 1930s, including in 1934. Japanese haiku circles are historically documented in Gunsan during this period. This geographical connection remains a research attribution rather than confirmed provenance and is therefore presented cautiously.

As a group, the six notebooks form an unusual primary record of private literary activity in the early Showa period: not simply manuscript poetry, but the surviving internal archive of a functioning haiku society.

Period: Early Showa
Date: 1934
Format: Six manuscript notebooks
Material: Washi paper
Technique: Brush and ink, handwritten calligraphy and original ink drawings
Binding: Original hand-threaded bindings
Language: Japanese
Size: approx. 17 × 24 cm each

Condition

Original vintage condition with visible traces of age and use. Toning, scattered staining and foxing, folds, edge and corner wear, occasional small tears, and wear to the original bindings and ties. The notebooks retain their working annotations, corrections and other contemporary marks.

Please examine the photographs carefully. The photographs form part of the condition description.

Shipping

Safe tracked shipping from Latvia by Riga Gallery of Japanese Art CloudyYokomido. The collection will be carefully and securely packed for international transport.

For US buyers: US customs processing is prepaid through the shipping service, so no additional customs processing payment is required upon delivery.

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