Koetsu utaibon hyakuban
Koetsu utaibon hyakuban is a Japanese utaibon, a small libretto book of noh song texts, attributed to the Kyoto designer Hon'ami Koetsu and dated to around 1600, held by the Smithsonian Libraries. Its cover shows pale grey paper with white-reserved wisteria sprays and leaves, with a brown label bearing black calligraphic characters. A designer might take from it the restraint of reserved white motifs on tinted paper and the open, asymmetrical placement of drooping flower clusters.
