First edition. 40 lithograph plates. Folio. Original boards with title label on front cover. Endpapers unstuck from pastedowns showing waste paper prints used in binding, overall a very good copy. Tokyo, Useido (Koshiba Eiji), dated: Meiji 20, 1887.
This rare album of lithographs is attributed to two Western style (yoga) artists, namely Asai Chu (1857-1907) and Takahashi (aka Yanagi) Genkichi (1858-1913). The female artist Watanabe Yuko (1856-1942) may also have contributed.
The plates show an interesting range of professions and social classes in Japan, and documents the transition of manners and customs during the Meiji period. It was published by one of the pioneers in early Meiji lithographic printing as a souvenir for foreign visitors. Only two copies in OCLC (National Diet Library and Waseda).
