A highly experimental, tactile book and binding by Kawakami Sumio (1895–1972). Though 50 copies were printed, only 8 have a special binding. The present copy is no.3, complete with two protective boxes; one in card with a woodblock printed title, which nests within an elegant, signed wooden box.
The book itself if a series of poems by Kawakami on the theme of Hirado, decorated with illustrative borders. During the Edo period, Hirado was the port at Nagasaki where foreign merchants were allowed to trade, before they were only permitted to enter at Dejima. Kawakami had a fascination with this particular period, when interactions with the West were highly limited due to Japan's isolationist policy (sakoku). He produced a number of books on this theme, including Hirado Genso 'Hirado Fantasy' in 1950, which illustrates imagined scenes of Dutch merchants mingling with Edo-period Japanese natives. Kawakami was an advocate for cross-cultural collaboration, which he expressed through his books, often with historical East-meets-West narratives.
The printing and binding of this particular copy is among one of Kawakami's more experimental achievements. Each plate is printed entirely in woodblock using silver ink on laminated black paper, which would have been technically challenging due to the slipperiness of the surface. In terms of style, Kamakami has oped for a far busier and finely detailed composition than many of his other works, and he does not apply his usual hand-colouring. The special binding of this copy uses calfskin with a motif of a map and ship. It is not explained in the bibliography, but it is likely that Kawakami used a soldering iron to create the outlines, as they seem to be indented burn marks (somewhat like a tattoo). He has then accentuated these lines with hand-painted colouring. As such, each of the 8 special copies would have been slightly different.
Extremely rare. OCLC does not record any copies of Hirado Genso, and while it is known that there are 8 special copies, no examples appear in online searches.
N.B. The style of poetry is known as chikushi, as written in the title, which is a form of gafu – songs relating to a locality and its customs, which have a minyo folk song-like feel.
