Ehon (Picture Books) of Edo (1)

Ehon, as referred to here, are picture books printed from woodblocks (as a general rule excluding those with hand-drawn illustrations) that were produced in the Edo period (1603–1868) for the illustrations contained within to be enjoyed. While there are many books making abundant use of illustrations, such as novels, including kibyoshi (illustrated storybooks with yellow covers), and practical works such as cookbooks, for all these, the text is primary and the illustrations ancillary. Accordingly, such works are generally not included in the category of ehon. Saga-bon editions of works such as Ise Monogatari (“The Tales of Ise”) and Sanjurokkasen (“Thirty-six Poet Immortals”) published by Koetsu Honami and others in the early-Edo Keicho era (1596–1615) could potentially be viewed as ehon with their illustrations as well, yet for these, too, it is the narrative passages that form their core. This makes it hard to deem them ehon in a pure sense.

             When considering works such as O-umajirushi (“Compendium of Samurai Heraldry”) and Kanei Gyoko-ki (“Record of the Kanei-Era Imperial Visit”) published in the Kanei era (1624–1644), however, the former has the distinction of being the oldest Japanese book printed in color from woodblocks, and the latter is a typeset edition with both text and illustrations featuring the use of kokatsuji (old movable type). While both are scroll-style books, they can be considered examples of printed Japanese ehon with a primary focus on pictures from the very earliest periods.

             Under this heading, Ehon (Picture Books) of Edo (1), ehon from up through the mid-Edo period — specifically, through the Anei era (1772–1782) — starting with the two aforementioned Kanei-era works, are presented. Artists include Moronobu Hishikawa (?–1694), Kiyonobu Torii (1664–1729), Masanobu Okumura (1686–1764), Sukenobu Nishikawa (1671–1750), Shunsho Katsukawa (1726–1792), Harunobu Suzuki (1725?–1770), and Shigemasa Kitao (1739–1820).