Maggs Bros.

An extremely rare work even in the second edition. Akamatsu Sotan (1806-1862) was trained as a doctor and obstetrician. In his spare time he instructed children in reading and writing, educating them in the Confucian classics. In 1838 he moved to Nukawa village on the west bank of the Tonegawa river. The Tonegawa basin lies to the north-east of Tokyo in present-day Chiba and Ibaraki Prefecture. In 1840 work commenced on changing the course of the river in order to prevent flooding in the capital. It was an ambitious project which involved digging a canal between Lake Inban and Edo Bay. This would also allow ships loaded with goods from the Tohoku region to reach Edo directly. Sotan understood that these plans would have a huge environmental impact on the region and although most of the plans were not executed, he wanted to leave a record of the Tone River’s appearance.

This work follows the ‘meisho zue’ genre of illustrated books and gazetteers published in the first half of the 19th century and it includes much information on the trade, history, towns and villages along the river, providing much information on local habits and festivals. However this book is not so much written for the purposes of tourism but draws attention to the natural history of the area with numerous detailed maps of the river basin. Much of the focus is given to the flora and fauna, especially to plants and fishes. The first edition was published in 1855. Hokusai is credited with supplying designs for the plates and it includes a famous rendition of a kappa water spirit, a humanoid being with webbed hands.

Neither edition in Kerlen. Only 3 copies of the 1st edition in OCLC. No copy of the Taisho edition in OCLC.