[絵本役割] 明治20年3月刊
This is a Japanese illustrated book (ehon) compiled by Saitō Chōhachi and published in Tokyo in March 1887 by its own publisher, aimed at general readers of popular woodblock-printed picture books. Its woodblock-style pages show crowded interior and street scenes of seated figures, samurai in confrontation, and gatherings in halls, with dense calligraphic captions and name labels running down the margins. A designer might borrow the tight, busy compositions, the bold black patterned kimono and hakama textures, and the vertical Japanese lettering set in cartouches.
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