{"product_id":"nanbansen-ki-narrative-southern-barbarian-ships-usiw8b4b","title":"Nanbansen ki [Narrative of southern barbarian ships]","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn unusually large-format Kawakami Sumio book. This particular copy comes from the library of Sakamoto Kazutoshi (1912-1999), a distinguished collector of \u003cem\u003egentei-bon\u003c\/em\u003e (limited edition books).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSakamoto served as the president of the Japan Bookplate Collecting Association and was well-known for commissioning bookplates from the leading artists of the day, including Kawakami Sumio. The bookplate on the present book is woodblock printed and hand-coloured by Kawakami, with a lovely design of a man driving a horse-drawn carriage. Sakamoto protected this book in an additional \u003cem\u003echitsu\u003c\/em\u003e folding case, bound in \u003cem\u003esarasa\u003c\/em\u003e (chintz) cloth. This was no doubt a nod to the contents of the book, which mentions imported cloth by Western traders.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of Kawakami’s books on the theme of \u003cem\u003enanban\u003c\/em\u003e people ‘Southern Barbarians’ – a term used to describe early Western visitors to Japan (mainly Portuguese, Dutch and English merchants). The text vividly describes the arrival of Westerners to Japan, with the exciting array of goods and culture that came with them. Stylistically, this book seems to borrow design elements from medieval European manuscripts, such as the use of historiated initials. What is also lovely is the map design used for the wrappers, which shows Japan and its neighbouring countries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis would have been a sensitive book to print during the WWII. Around the time Kawakami made this book in 1942, the Japanese government had banned the teaching of English from the national curriculum. Until this point Kawakami had been working as a high school English teacher and lost his job as a result of these new policies. He devoted himself fully to printing and bookmaking, and the books he made between 1942 and 1945 are particularly rare and very poignant. The present title is a celebration of the West and the mixing of culture that happened in Japan before the Edo period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo copies in OCLC.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Maggs Bros.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67650930737461,"sku":"264027","price":5000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0669\/0045\/9677\/files\/264027_10.jpg?v=1791386100","url":"https:\/\/store.maggs.com\/products\/nanbansen-ki-narrative-southern-barbarian-ships-usiw8b4b","provider":"Maggs Bros.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}