Almanac of news nishikie and related topics
 Introduction  Newspapers  News nishikie  Other nishikie  Who's who  Glossary
Other nishikie

The line between "news" and "non-news" is not always clear. Numerous nishikie were published in a timely manner to show in images, if not also narrate in text, something that was "new" at the time.

Some of the more interesting quasi news nishikie are listed here. They are mostly series that were intended to instruct or inform while entertaining. Some were newspaper supplements. Others were sold at print and book shops.

Kinsei jinsei shi, a supplement rather than a news-related nishikie, is introduced here, partly because it figures in the history of news nishikie and related newspapers, but also because the prints in this series featured personalities who were either in the new or recently in the news at the time they were published.

A few other non-news nishikie series are introduced here, mostly because some prints in the series tie-in with the rise and fall of news nishikie.

Eimei nijuhasshuku
英名二十八衆句
Eimei nijuhasshuku
Twenty-eight plebeian verses about glorious figures
Muzan'e
Bloody encounters by notorious historical and legendary figures
Drawn by Yoshitoshi and Yoshiiku.
Written by various writers, including Sansantei Arindo.
Published by Kinseido.

This series was published in 1866 and 1867.

See Eimei Nijuhasshuku for further details.

Eimei nijuhasshuku table
There are 28 prints in this series, half by Yoshitoshi, half by Yoshiiku.
Issue Date Seal Themes Title, summary, and comments
Shirai 1866 Serial murder Shirai Gonpachi is said to have murdered over 130 people before he was executed in 1679.
Tenbo 1866 Murder Ten'ichibo killed an old woman to steal a document and sword which would prove that he was a Tokugawa heir. For this he was beheaded in 1727.

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Kinsei jinbutsu shi -- Yamato shinbun furokuKinsei jinbutsu shi galleryYamato shinbun
近世人物誌 -- やまと新聞付録
Kinsei jinbutsu shi -- Yamato shinbun furoku
Accounts of recent-age personalities -- Yamato news supplement
Shinbun furoku (newspaper supplement)
Last major newspaper nishikie supplement

Drawn by Yoshitoshi.
Carved by Enkatsu, Yamamoto, and others.
Published by Yamato Shinbun Sha.
Office at Kyobashi-ku, Owaricho 2-1.
Distributed free to monthly subscribers. (Tsuchiya 1995:24)
1886-10-12 First supplement -- No. 1.
1888-5-25 Last supplement -- No. 20.

The Kinsei jinbutsu shi consists of a series of twenty nishikie that Yoshitoshi drew as supplements for the daily Yamato shinbun. The supplements were published once a month, and in addition to their number in the series, they bore the issue number and date of the paper they were distributed with. See below for all a list of all the prints in the series, with their numbers, dates, and titles.

The Kinsei jinbutsu shi prints are not news nishikie. They differ in a number of ways from the Tonichi and Hochi nishikie and their Osaka counterparts. They were planned from the start as newspaper supplements and were published regularly. They did not focus on news events but on a broad spectrum of influential early Meiji male and female news makers, most deceased, a few still living. And while news nishikie were sold like other woodblock prints and books, the supplements were distributed to readers who subscribed to the paper by the month. (Tsuchiya 1995:24)

The Kinsei jinbutsu shi supplements also differ from news nishikie in that, whereas news nishikie featured on-scene illustrations and written accounts of an incident that had been reported in the news, the supplements presented graphic portraits and narrative profiles of famous people.

The lives of a some of the people chosen for the series were fraught with conflict and a few ended in violence. Some supplements show or hint at the trauma. Most, though, capture tragic heroes in moments of quietude.

Who chose the personalities to feature in the series? Jono? Nishida? Or Yoshitoshi himself?

The series reflects a certain nostalgia for recent times, barely a decade or two earlier, when Japan was not as stable as it had become by the late 1880s. As both witnesses and participants, Jono and Yoshitoshi were undoubtedly keen observers of the feats and failures of the men and women who figured in the uncertainties and changes.

As an analogy, imagine a writer like Ishihara Shintaro founding a newspaper, and commissioning a drawer like Yokoo Tadanori to produce a series of caricatures of historical figures both men respected for their thoughts and actions. An odd couple, you might say, but apart from that, who would they choose? Nogi Maresuke and Mishima Yukio? Matsui Sumako and Abe Sada? How would Yoshitoshi have depicted such personalities in a latter-day version of Kinsei jinbutsu shi?

For a good introduction to seven of the Kinsei jinbutsu shi prints, see Cathrine E. Lowther's Yoshitoshi Tsukioka: The Lives of Modern People, 1887-1988 -- though the series began from 1886.

Kinsei jinbutsu shi -- Yamato shinbun furoku tableKinsei jinbutsu shiKinsei jinbutsu shi gallery
There are 20 issues in the Kinsei jinbutsu shi (Accounts of recent-age personalities) series. (Ono Collection)
Print
number
Paper
issue

Date

Themes

Personality, summary, and comments
 1 2 1886-10-12 Tensho Inden
 2 23 1886-11-6 Nakamura Shikan's wife
 3 52 1886-12-11 Isobayashi Taii
 4 92 1887-1-30 Tokugawa Yohimegimi
 5 109 1887-2-20 Eto Shinpei
 6 139 1887-3-29 Kinbei Daikoku's courtesan Imamurasaki
 7 167 1887-4-30 Sumo wrester Mumegaya Totaro
 8 187 1887-5-24 General Nanigashi's mistress
 9 210 1887-6-19 Danjuro Fukusuke Ryoyu's haiku
10 236 1887-7-20 Nishigori Takekiyo
11 263 1887-8-20 Nanai Omume [killing Kamekichi]
12 293 1887-9-25 Bando Hikosaburo V
13 311 1887-10-16 Egawa Tarozaemon
14 333 1887-11-13 The Konoe family's old woman Muraoka
15 357 1887-12-13 Kido Suiko Inden
16 386 1888-1-20 Takeda Kounsai's other woman Tokiko
17 414 1888-2-24 Saigo Takamori
18 438 1888-3-24 Kawase Sore's wife
19 464 1888-4-25 Tomobayashi Rokuro Mitsuhira
20 490 1888-5-25 Tokugawa Keikiko Gorenchu

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Kyodo risshi no motoiKyodo risshi no motoi galleryKyodo risshi no motoi table
教導立志其
Kyodo risshi no motoi
Foundations of learning and achievement
Inspirational nishikie
Featured people deemed to be models of education and success
Drawn by various drawers.
Published by Matsuki Heikichi.
This series ran between 1886 and 1890 and featured a long list of heroes and heroines, from antiquity to contemporary times, who were regarded as standards of moral leadership and self-realization.
Kyodo risshi no motoi tableKyodo risshi no motoiKyodo risshi no motoi gallery
There are over 50 distinct prints in this series, and some variants.
Issue Date Seal Themes Title, summary, and comments
21 1885-12 Suicide, loyalty Kesa Gozen. Endō Moritō about to slay Kesa Gozen's husband not realizing she has fooled him into killing her instead.
45 1885-10-26 Civil war, Journalism Fukuchi Gen'ichiro. Fukuchi takes field notes in wake of raging battle as war correspondent during Satsuma rebellion.

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Kenjoden -- Onna shinbun furokuKenjoden galleryOnna shinbun
賢女傳
Kenjoden
Foundations of learning and achievement
Inspirational nishikie
Featured women memorialized as models of female and wifely behavior
Story written by Uchida Kayoko (tentative reading)
Drawn by Seisōjo (seal unread)
Published and printed by Suzuki Hansaburō
Edited by Saga Jun'ichi
Only one print is known, hence whether "Kenjoden" was intended to be a series is a matter of speculation. Assigning cartouche containing the "Kesa Gozen" story an overarching thematic title suggests -- but does not prove -- intention of a series.
Kenjoden -- Onna shinbun furoku tableKenjodenKenjoden gallery
Only one known print is known.
Print
number
Paper
issue

Date

Themes

Personality, summary, and comments
None 15 1888-9-23 Loyalty, suicide Kesa (袈裟), unable to resist the advances of Endō Moritō (遠藤盛遠), cuts her hair and retires to quarters she has told Moritō her husband will be sleeping. Moritō kills the sleeping figure only to learn it was Kesa.

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Outlander spottings   Ikoku-e, ijin-e; Yokohama-e, Nagasaki-e

Outlander spottings

What I call "outlander spottings" featured pictures of aliens on the loose in the few port towns that had extraterritorial foreign settlements. Prints that focus on foreign countries are "ikoku-e" (異国絵), while those that focus on foreigners are "ijin-e" (異人絵). When classifying such prints by place, they are called Yokohama-e (横浜絵) or Nagasaki-e (長崎絵) and the like.

Roughly 1,000 such drawings were produced in the form of woodblock prints during the last decade of the Edo era, which ended during 1868, and the first decade of the following Meiji period.

Some foreigner prints feature their subjects mingling together in a foreign settlement. In this respect, the are townscapes with with local denizens.

Many foreigner prints, however, depict their subjects against a plain background, usually individually or paired. Some show a couple from the same country. Some show a couple with children. A few show denizens of imaginary countries with those of actual countries. Prints with plain backgrounds are reminisencent of anthropological sketches of native peoples with captions, in that they exhibit their subjects as specimens from the country named in the cartouche beside them.

Some differently titled series include the same or very similar pictures. The above series, while different, share similar features. Most pictures identified their subjects with cartouches showing only the name of the country. A country name might be followed by a status or status of the people depicted in the prints. Some, however, had stories. Most stories were unsigned, but some were signed -- such the story attributed to Kanagaki Robun on Yoshitora's Kokui / Nankin fujin print.

Glossary of terms in titles

  1. gaikoku (外国) refers to an "outer" or "other" country or land. This is a fairly early use of the word to refer to a political entity outside Japan. Prior to such usage, "ikoku" (異国) was used to refer to a non-Japanese territory, while "gaikoku" denoted another domain within Japan. Ditto for "gaikokujin / gaijin" and "ikokujin / ijin". As "gaikoku / gaikokujin / gaijin" shed their domestic senses and acquired the senses of "ikoku" and "ijin", the "different" metaphor "i" (異 kotonaru) fell out of use in favor of the "outside" metaphor "gai" (外 soto).
    1. While the title has no furigana, the contemporary reading of 外国 was グワイコク (gwaikoku), reflecting the w-glide associated with the historical Sino-Japanese pronunciation of 外. W-glides survive today in some fossilized kana readings romanizations.
  2. jinbutsu (人物) refers to "people" or "persons" generically. This usage has more the feeling of "hitobito" (人々) than "jinmin" (人民), which would mean "people" in the sense of "affiliates" (subjects, nationals, or citizens) of a country.
  3. yūkō (遊行) means to go somewhere for pleasure or leisure, such as when strolling about town or sightseeing, or on a pilgrimage, or just wandering around. "Foreigners spotting" was somewhat of a sport among Japanese residents of port towns, and for Japanese who made it a point to visit the vicinties of a foreign settlement when traveling to a port town. Woodblock prints depicting foreigners, like landscape, kabuki, and practically all other woodblock prints, were sold as souvenirs. I think of them as akin to the souvenir photographs or postcards that would soon replace them at popular tourist spots.
  4. zukushi (尽 dzukushi づくし) is a voicing of "tsukushi" used as a suffix to signify "all" of whatever it follows. "Shinbun-zukushi" (新聞尽) would mean "all the news". "Hana-dzukushi"花尽" would be "all flowers".
  5. zu (図 dzu づ) refers to a drawing, whether a sketch or a painting or a woodblock print, or a map or diagram.
  6. zuga (図画 dzugwa づぐわ) similarly refers to a drawn image of something. While here the compound is marked to be read "dzugwa" with a voiced "tsu" and a w-glide "ku", it is sometimes marked to be read "dzuye" or "zue", the former with a voiced "tsu" and a y-glide "e", though this word is usually graphed 圖絵 (図絵).

In standard Japanese today, "dzu" (づ) is pronounced the same as "zu" (ず), hence its conflation with "zu" in both New Hepburn and Kunrei romanization rules. However, voiced "tsu" is "dzu" in romanization that strictly refects kana orthography.

On this website, I use "Z" to represent 図, "Zg" to represent 図画 read "zuga", "Zge" to represent 図画 read "zue", and "Ze" to represent 図絵.

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Gaikoku jinbutsu zugaGaikoku jinbutsu zuga galleryGaikoku jinbutsu zuga gallery table
外國人物圖画
Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga
[ Outland people pictures ]
Pictures of people from foreign countries

Prints titled Gaikoku jinbtsu zuga were drawn by Yoshiiku. The earliest prints were koban impressions published by Yamashō. Later prints were ōban impressions published by Marutetsu, and at least one ōban impression showing 4 aliens, with the same seal as the Marutetsu prints, was published by Shōbundō. While these prints share the same title, I am inclined to treat them as separate series.

Moreover, several prints in the Gaikoku jinbuzu zuga series were produced by other publishers, with different cartouches and other design elements, in the Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi series (see below).

Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga tableGaikoku jinbutsu zugaGaikoku jinbutsu zuga gallery

The following prints are only a few of many other known prints.
I have focused on "Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi" (GJZ) prints but shown examples of "Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga" (GJZg) and "Gaikokujin yūkō no zu" (GjYnZ) issues to show how GJZ succeeded the earlier and more elaborately designed GJZg and GjYnZ series and how the publishing was handed off from Yamashō (Yamadaya) to Wakayo (Shiba Wakayo).

GJZg koban printsDrawn by Yoshitora (芳虎) and published by Yamashō (山庄)

Story Date Seal Printer Carver Titles Descriptions and cartouches
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Amerika
亜墨利加
"America" man in Navy uniform, standing beside (Oriental?) woman sitting in chair. He is smoking a cigar(?). She may be holding a cigar (?).
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Furansu
仏蘭西
"France" man sitting in chair, drinking wine, woman standing beside him with flask.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Igirisu
英吉利
"England" man and woman standing and jointly holding an opened umbrella or parasol.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
Reissued as GJZ edition sans cartouche (below).
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Nankin
南京
"Nanking" (China) man sitting, probably non-Chinese woman standing beside him.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Roshia
露西亜
"Russia" man sitting with accordion, facing standing woman who is holding but not playing trumpet.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.

GJZg ōban prints Drawn by Ichikeisai Yoshiiku (一惠齋芳幾) and published by Marutetsu (丸鉄)

Unsigned 1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Marutetsu Amerika
亜墨利加
Two "America" men standing, apparently in conversation, one smoking, the other holding a walking stick.
Story speaks of San Francisco as a port in California.
Black-on-orange rectangular cartouche with clipped corners.
Unsigned

Image
GJZg
Igirisu
1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Marutetsu Igirisu
英吉利
An "England" couple standing. The man is holding a walking stick and resting a closed umbrella or parasol on his shoulder. The woman appears to be talking while pointing in the opposite direction to where both are looking.
The story speaks of "Eikoku" aka "Buritaniya" as a big island in "Ourappa-shiu".
Black-on-red square cartouche with clipped corners.
Unsigned 1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Marutetsu Nankin
南京
Furansu
仏蘭西
A "Nanking" (China) man is standing and making a point with is finger while speaking to a "France" man who is sitting and drinking (perhaps wine).
Black-on-orange rectangular cartouche with clipped corners.

GJZg ōban prints Drawn by Yoshiiku (芳幾) and published by Shōbundō (正文堂)

Unsigned 1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Shōbundō 1. Oranda
   紅毛
2. Amerika nyonin
   亜米利加女人
3. Oroshiya
   魯西亜
4. Amerika
   亜米利加
Four prints on one
1. A "Holland" man sitting and drinking.
2. An "America woman" standing and holding a bottle of wine.
3. A "Russia" man standing by a table with a lamp on it.
4. An "America" man with a walking stick, by a white dog.
All prints separately titled without cartouches.
Signed "Yoshiiku" (芳幾), not "Ichikeisai Yoshiiku").
Published by Shōbundō (正文堂), not by Marutetsu (丸鉄).

Variations of English-couple-with-parasol print

GJ zuga

Original version

Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga edition
with elaborate title cartouche and blue at top

Copped and cropped from
National Diet Library, Digital Collection
GJ zukushi

Simpler version

Gaikoku jinbutsu zuga edition
with no title cartouche but blue at top

Copped and cropped from
National Diet Library, Digital Collection
GJ zukushi

Simplest version

Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi edition
with no title cartouche and no blue at top

Copped and cropped from
unattributed webpage

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Gaikokujin yūkō no zu Gaikokujin yūkō no zu table
外國人遊行之圖
Gaikokujin yūkō no zu
[ Drawings of outlander pleasure outings ]
Drawings of foreigners out and about
Gaikokujin yūkō no zu tableGaikokujin yūkō no zu

GjYnZ printsDrawn by Yoshitora (芳虎) and published by Yamashō = Yamadaya (山庄 = 山田屋)

Story Date Seal Printer Carver Titles Descriptions and cartouches
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Amerika nyonin
亜墨利加人女人
One "America" woman standing beside boy on stilts.
Yellow-bordered black-on-orange title cartouche.
Reissued as GJZ edition sans cartouche (below).
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō
Yamadaya
Amerikajin
亜米利加人
Two "American" soldiers standing with muskets, one mounted with a bayonet.
Yellow-bordered black-on-red title cartouche.
Reissued as GJZ edition sans cartouche (below).

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Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushiGaikoku jinbutsu zukushi galleryGaikoku jinbutsu zukushi gallery table
外國人物盡
Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi
[ Outland (other country) people of all kinds ]
Various people from other countries

Most prints titled Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi were drawn by Yoshitora but produced by two two publishers. The first publisher appears to have been Yamadaya Shōbee (山田屋庄兵衛), aka Yamadaya Shōjirō (山田屋庄次郎), hence "Yamashō" on many prints. The second publisher was Wakayo (若與), aka Wakasaya Yoichi (若狭屋與市), who presumably bought the blocks from Yamada. Some Wakayo prints show "Shiba Wakayo" (芝若與), which probably alludes to the location of his shop in the Shiba area of Edo in today's Minato-ku in Tokyo. Both publishers were especially active during the last decades of the Edo period.

Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi tableGaikoku jinbutsu zukushiGaikoku jinbutsu zukushi gallery

GJZ printsDrawn by Yoshitora (芳虎) and published by Yamashō (山庄)

Story Date Seal Printer Carver Titles Descriptions and cartouches
1861-01/02 Saru 12
萬年 1-12
Yamashō Igirisu
英吉利
"England" man and woman standing and jointly holding an opened umbrella or parasol.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
GJZ reissue of GJZg edition sans cartouche (above).
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō 1. Amerika
   亜墨利加
2. Furansu
   仏蘭西
Two prints on one
1. Two "America" soldiers standing, one with a musket mounted with a bayonet resting on a shoulder, the other brandishing a saber.
2. Two "France" women standing and apparently talking.
Each has a curled banner title cartouche and seals.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō 1. Amerika
   亜米利加
2. Nankin
   南京
Two prints on one
1. "America" woman riding horse.
2. "China" couple (man and woman? two men) talking.
Each has a curled banner title cartouche and seals.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō 1. Igirisu
   英吉利
2. Roshia
   露西亜
Two prints on one
1. "England" man and woman standing.
2. "Russia" man sitting and playing accordion, woman standing and playing trumpet.
Both have their own titles and seals but no title cartouches.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Amerikajin
亜米利加人
Two "American" soldiers standing with muskets, one mounted with a bayonet.
GJZ reissue of GjYnZ edition sans cartouche (above).
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Hori Take Amerika nyonin
亜墨利加女人
"America woman" riding a horse.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Hori Take Amerika
亜米利加
"America" man riding horse.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Hori Take Igirisu
英吉利
Two "England" men sitting at a table. Both have eating and drinking. The man facing front in the background, who appears to be of higher status, is reading.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Hori Take Oranda
阿蘭陀
"Holland" couple standing. The woman is holding a round fan.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-02/03 Tori 1
文久 1-1
Yamashō Hori Take Roshia nyonin
露西亜女人
"Russia woman" riding a horse.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Yamashō Igirisu
英吉利
Two "England" men, one on a horse, one standing with a flag.
No cartouche.

GJZ printsDrawn by Yoshitora (芳虎) and published by Wakayo / Shiba Wakayo (若與 / 芝若與)

Kanagaki 1861-03/04 Tori 2
文久 1-2
Wakayo Kokui
黒夷
Nankin fujin
南京婦人
A "black barbarian" called a "kuronbou" (クロンボウ) with a "Nankin" (China) lady.
Curled banner title cartouche.
Unsigned 1861-06/07 Tori 5
文久 1-5
Shiba Wakayo Amerika
亜墨利加
Two "America" standing soldiers, one with a saber, the other with a bolt-action rifle.
Rounded corner black-on-yellow title cartouche.
Unsigned 1861-06/07 Tori 5
文久 1-5
Shiba Wakayo Furansu
仏蘭西
"France" woman riding horse.
Notched corner white-on-black title cartouche.
Unsigned 1861-06/07 Tori 5
文久 1-5
Shiba Wakayo Igirisu
英吉利
Two "England" women (queen and attendant?) standing.
Rounded corner black-on-yellow title cartouche.
Unsigned 1861-06/07 Tori 5
文久 1-5
Shiba Wakayo Igirisu
英吉利
An "England" man and woman standing, he with a cane.
Notched corner white-on-black title cartouche.
Unsigned 1861-06/07 Tori 5
文久 1-5
Shiba Wakayo Minami Amerika
南亜墨利加
"South America" woman standing beside a sitting man.
Rounded corner black-on-yellow title cartouche.

Some other prints in series

The "Gaikoku jinbutsu zukushi" series includes also the following prints among others. The following unsorted list will eventually be collated into the above list by date and other particulars.

Igirisu 英吉利 "England" man on horse.
Integrated furled and curled cartouche.
Hori Take Yamashō

Amerika 亜米利加 American man standing with walking stick and dog.
Amerika 亜墨利加 "America"n man riding horse.
Amerika nyonin 亜米利加女人 "America" woman standing with bottle.
Igirisu 英吉利 Two "England" men sitting.
Kōmō 紅毛 "Red-hair" (Hollander) sitting and drinking.
Roshia 魯西亜 "Russia" man standing by table with lamp on table.

Furansu 仏蘭西 "France" man sitting back to front with wine cup,
               woman standing beside him with wine bottle.
Unsigned. Rounded corner black-on-yellow title cartouche.
Maybe Shiba Wakayo printer cartouche.

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Gaikokujin no zuGaikokujin no zu galleryGaikokujin no zu gallery table
外國人之圖
Gaikokujin no zu
[ Drawings of outlanders ]
Drawings of foreigners

Prints in the Gaikokujin no zu series were drawn by Yoshitomi and vary in size. At least 2 of the prints depict people from fabulous places along with people from actual countries.

Gaikokujin no zu tableGaikokujin no zuGaikokujin no zu gallery

GjnZ printsDrawn by Yoshitomi (芳富) and published by Kiya (木屋)

Story Date Seal Printer Carver Titles Descriptions and cartouches
1861-04/05 Tori 3
文久 1-3
Kiya Hori Take Amerika
   英吉利
Woroshiya
   ヲロシヤ
Uminkoku
   ウミン國
"America" woman with bouquet standing beside "Russia" man with cane as two cherubs from "Winged-people country" hover above them.
Simple rectangular title and country cartouches.
Some prints have blue grounds, others unpigmented grounds.
1861-04/05 Tori 3
文久 1-3
Kiya Hori Take Nankin
   ナンキン
Woranda
   ヲランダ
Kobitoshima
   小人島
Southern China "Nanking" man sitting at table holding a cup, and "Holland" woman standing by table, watching two Lilliputian-esque men from the "Island of little people" poor tea into the cup, from a pot as high as they are tall.
Some prints have blue grounds, others unpigmented grounds.

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Iku kotobaIku kotoba gallery
いくことば
Iku kotoba
Many words
Educational nishikie
Featured images of foreigners with lists of Japanese words and their equivalents in a foreign langauge
Drawn by Keisai Yoshiiku (Saru 11 / 1860-12/1861-01)
Carved by Hori Chō
Published and printed by Kinkyū
This series includes several prints, each of which is dedicated to a single foreign language. Some languages have more than one print.
Iku kotoba tableIku kotobaIku kotoba gallery

Yosha Bunko has only one print in this series, and it is one of at least 2 prints in the series that show Dutch words, as described below.

IK oban printsIku kotoba いくことば

Story Date Seal Printer Carver Titles Descriptions and cartouches
1860-12/1861-01 Saru 11
萬年 1-11
Kinkyū
近久
Horichō
彫長
Iku kotoba
いくことば
Rango
らんご
The title cartouche shows 23 basic words in Japanese and Dutch related to astronomy, meteorology, and geography (see below).
The country cartouches show a "Fance" (Furansu 佛蘭西 ふらんす) woman in a long dress and hat, sitting on the railing of a veranda (?) or the deck of a ship (?), observing a "Holland" (Oranda 和蘭 おらんだ) man sitting in a chair smoking a cigar, against a backgroud of a harbor with ships.

Glossed country cartouches

The cartouches labeling the man and woman show their countries in Sino-Japanese graphs followed by their Japanese readings in hiragana, as described above. Country cartouches showing both the Sino-Japanese graphic name, and the Japanese name in moraic script, is a bit unusual.

23 Japanese-Dutch words

The 23 pairs of Japanese and Dutch words are equivalents of English sun moon heaven earth rain wind cloud snow mountain sea river east west south north heat cold left right front back up down.
The Japanese words are all single Chinese graphs.
    日 月 天 地 雨 風 雲 雪 山 海 川 東 西 南 北 暑(あつさ) 寒(さむさ) 左 右 前 後 上 下
All could be read in Sino-Japanese or in Japanese.
But the pronunciations are shown for only 2 of the graphs.
    暑 is read あつさ (atsusa) [heat].
    寒 is read さむさ (samusa) [cold].
Both "atsusa" and "samusa" are Japanese words.
And both words are nominalized with "-sa".
The Dutch equivalents of the Japanese terms are shown in hiragana.
The equivalencies of paired Japanese-Dutch terms are expressed as sentences.
    X (Japanese) を Y (Dutch) といふ
    X (Japanese) wo Y (Dutch) to ifu
    Say X (Japanese) as Y (Dutch)
    X (Japanese) is Y (Dutch)

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