A striking Meiji-period Japanese woodblock-printed storybook (草双紙 / kusazōshi), richly illustrated with vivid ukiyo-e scenes and narrative text in traditional vertical calligraphy.
The hand-colored cover depicts a Kabuki actor in full costume aboard a boat with the rising sun and distant mountains — a symbolic motif of hope and theatrical renewal during Japan’s Meiji modernization.
Inside, the book contains multi-panel illustrations of Kabuki actors and domestic interior scenes, drawn in the ukiyo-e style with exquisite attention to textiles, expressions, and props such as writing desks, teapots, and folding screens.
The dialogue is written in kuzushiji-style Japanese script, interspersed with elegant decorative borders, floral motifs, and classical furnishings.
During the Meiji era (1868–1912), woodblock publishers adapted the Edo-period tradition of kusazōshi — popular picture books combining text and art — to a new audience fascinated by Kabuki, literature, and modernization.
These hybrid works bridged ukiyo-e artistry and early Meiji storytelling, preserving the charm of Edo narrative illustration while introducing new forms of realism and theatrical expression.
Books like this were mass-produced in small batches by hand, using carved woodblocks for both text and image, then hand-colored in vibrant pigments such as vermilion, indigo, and yellow ochre.
This book embodies the vibrant transition from Edo to Meiji aesthetics, where woodblock art began blending with realism and Western perspective.
Each page serves as a visual archive of Kabuki performance culture, actor portraiture, and 19th-century Japanese interior life.
An authentic piece for collectors of ukiyo-e prints, Edo–Meiji literature, or Japanese visual storytelling.
