An original Meiji 27 (1894) edition of Kōtō Tokuhon (高等読本 巻五), a government-approved advanced reading textbook compiled by Yamamoto Seizaburō (山本惟三郎) and published by Bungakusha (文学社) in Tokyo.
This beautifully preserved volume reflects Japan’s educational ideals during the Meiji Restoration—a time when the nation sought to balance Western modernization with the preservation of traditional virtues. The text features literary essays, historical biographies, and patriotic anecdotes, teaching both literacy and moral values through refined prose.
Each page is printed in vertical woodblock typography on washi paper, occasionally accompanied by fine black ink illustrations depicting samurai, scholars, and Meiji-era events such as natural disasters and acts of heroism. Its cream washi cover with stitched binding (fukurotoji) remains intact, a testament to 19th-century Japanese craftsmanship.
This is a rare educational artifact, valuable to collectors of Meiji literature, Japanese education history, or prewar textbooks.
