The Art of the Book in Japan

In the early 17th century, Japan entered into a 250-year period of peace and political stability with the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). The Edo period (1603-1867) was characterized by urbanization and social change on a vast scale, fostering a distinctive popular culture that had its roots in urban economic prosperity and the spread of literacy among the merchant class and "townspeople" (chonin). In this newly evolving milieu, woodblock printing became the medium for artistic expression.The subjects of books, which had previously encompassed Buddhist texts and volumes of classical Chinese and Japanese literature, expanded to include light fiction, guide and travel books, practical instruction manuals, pattern books, and erotica. Illustrations were also added to printed books to increase the reader's interest. Eventually, the relationship of text and image was modified, sometimes to the point where books consisted only of images, perhaps with a prefatory text.

This exhibition includes a variety of printed materials, both in book form and as single sheets from books. Early 18th-century prints illustrate how text and image might be combined, as in Shunsho's depiction of episode two of the Tales of Ise on this wall. By contrast, in the Harunobu pages to the left of that print, poetic texts have been incorporated into the overall design of the page/sheet. Other prints are drawn from artists' books (gafu) that transmit compositions associated with particular painters or schools of painting; from deluxe albums of prints; and from botanical works. The examples in the cases assume two different formats: the folding book (orihon) and the book with sewn binding (fukurotoji, or "thread-sewn bag binding"). Book publication was an integral part of the very significant evolution of woodblock printing in Edo-period Japan. This selection of works from the Museum's collection is only a small indication of the printing culture that thrived during this era and continues even today in contemporary Japan.