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[絵本] 〔８〕 さるかにかたきうち

坂田善吉 編 · 1879 · 坂田善吉 · 13 pictures

This is a Meiji-era Japanese picture book (ehon) compiled by Sakata Zenkichi and published by him in 1879, presumably for a general readership, retelling the folk tale of the monkey and the crab. The woodblock-style prints show figures in dark kimono in garden settings, with vertical columns of kana text beside them; a designer might take from them the bold silhouetted figure groups, the stark black-and-white contrast of ink against paper, and the compact framing of text and image in a single panel.

Japanese picture books (ehon)

National Diet Library, Japan (国立国会図書館) · Public Domain Mark (PDM), National Diet Library · More from this library