A remarkable original schoolbook from Meiji 20 (1887), titled Jinjō Shōgaku Tokuhon (尋常小学読本 – Common Elementary Reader), compiled by the Japanese Ministry of Education (文部省編纂局). This book was part of Japan’s first nationally standardized curriculum, designed to teach children moral values, literacy, and the foundations of modern science during the country’s rapid modernization.
Printed with traditional woodblock illustrations, this volume combines reading lessons, stories of daily life, and scientific explanations — from tales of honesty and compassion to diagrams of silkworm cultivation and color theory. One page even features a hand-colored color circle, symbolizing the early integration of Western knowledge into Japanese education.
The book retains its original brown wooden covers and stitched binding, characteristic of Meiji-era craftsmanship. Inside, the pages — printed on handmade washi paper — remain well preserved, with fine linework and kanji in vertical columns. The red 文部省 (Ministry of Education) approval stamps and 明治二十年 (Meiji 20) colophon make it a certified and highly collectible first edition.
A historically important and visually beautiful artifact of Japan’s modernization — ideal for collectors of antique Japanese books, Meiji-era education, or woodblock-printed literature.
