Contact us

Reporting from: https://exhibits-prod.library.cornell.edu/asiaTreasures/feature/japan
Cancel

Treasures of the Asia Collections

Japan

Shinto shrine

Shinto shrine

Engelbert Kaempfer. Geschichte und Beschreibung von Japan, aus den Originalhandschriften des Verfassers, hrsg. von Christian Wilhelm Dohm. Lemgo [Germany]: Verlag der Meyerschen Buchhandlung, 1777-1779.

Illustration: Shinto shrine.

From the Charles Wason Collection

Panorama of the City of Edo

Panorama of the City of Edo (present-day Tokyo)

Arnoldus Montanus. Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen: der oost-Indische Maatschnappy in 't Vereenigde Nederland aan de Kaisaren van Japan. Amsterdam: Jacob Meurs, 1669.

Illustration: Panorama of the City of Edo (present-day Tokyo).

From the Charles Wason Collection.

Map of Japan

Map of Japan

Francois Caron. Fr. Carons, und Jod. Schonten Wahrhaftige Beschreibungen zweyer mächtigen Königreiche, Jappan und Siam. Nüenberg: M. und J. F. Endters, 1663.

Illustration: Map of Japan.

Matthew Calbraith Perry

U.S. naval officer Matthew Calbraith Perry headed an expedition in 1853–54 that forced Japan to enter into trade and diplomatic relations with the West after more than two centuries of isolation. Through his efforts the United States became an equal power with Britain, France, and Russia in the economic exploitation of East Asia.

Earlier, Perry had served as commanding officer (1837–40) of the first U.S. steamship, the "Fulton"; led a naval squadron to Africa to help suppress the slave trade (1843); and successfully commanded naval forces during the Mexican War (1846–48). In March 1852, President Millard Fillmore placed Perry—who was called by his honorary rank of commodore—in charge of a naval expedition to induce the Japanese government to establish diplomatic relations with the United States. With two frigates and two sailing vessels, he entered the fortified harbor of Uraga on July 8, 1853. Calling himself an "admiral," he refused to obey Japanese orders to leave and sent word that if the government did not delegate a suitable person to receive the documents in his possession, he would deliver them by force if necessary. The Japanese defenses were inadequate to resist him, and after a few days of diplomatic sparring they accepted his letter from the President of the United States requesting a treaty.

Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan

Matthew Calbraith Perry. Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan. Published by the order of the Congress of the United States. Washington: Beverley Tucker, Senate Printer, 1856.

Geishi

Geishi [All About Whales]

Yamase Harumasa. Geishi [All About Whales]. Osaka: Daikandō, 1760.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection

Shokoku zue nenjū gyōji

Shokoku zue nenju gyoji taisei [Illustrated Festivals of the Various Provinces]

Hayami Tsuneaki. Shokoku zue nenjū gyōji taisei [Illustrated Festivals of the Various Provinces]. Osaka: Kichimonjiya, 1806.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection.

Momiji hyakunin isshu himekagami

Momiji hyakunin isshu himekagami

This volume focuses on the Hyakunin isshu, or One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets. It is an ōraimono, which is similar to a textbook, and would have been read by young women. The only other known copy of this title is in the Tokyo University of the Arts.

Momiji hyakunin isshu himekagami. Edited and illustrated by Keisai Eisen. Edo: Izumiya, 1843.

Gift of Ann and Frederic Kotas.

Kaitai shinsho

Kaitai shinsho [New Book of Anatomy]

For much of the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), the Japanese had contact with the West only via Dutch traders in the port of Nagasaki. This small presence contributed to the development of studies of Western science and learning known as Rangaku—literally, "Dutch learning." This volume is a translation of Tabulæ Anatomicæ in ouibus corporis humani omniumque ejus partium structura et usus brevissime explicantur, by the Dutch scholar, Johann Adam Kulmus (1689-1745).

Kaitai shinsho [New Book of Anatomy]. Translated by Sugita Genpaku and others. Edo: Suharaya Ichibei, 1774.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection

Shunkan Szu shimamonogatari

Shunkan Sozu shimamonogatari [Story of Monk Shunkan on the Island]

This is a fictionalized account by Takizawa Bakin of Shunkan, a famous monk who plotted against the powerful Taira family. The conspiracy was eventually uncovered, and he was permanently exiled to the island of Kikaigashima.

Shunkan Sōzu shima monogatari [Story of Monk Shunkan on the Island]. Tokyo; Edo: Bunkeidō, 1808.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection.

Ehon hyakumonogatari

Ehon hyakumonogatari [One hundred illustrated tales (of monsters and ghosts)]

Ehon hyakumonogatari [One hundred illustrated tales (of monsters and ghosts)]. Illustrated by Takehara Shunsen. Edo: Kinkadō, 1831.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection.

Yokomoji hyakunin isshu

Yokomoji hyakunin isshu [One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets, in "horizontal script"]

All the poems in this unusual block-printed version of the classic anthology are in roman script.

Yokomoji hyakunin isshu [One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets, in "horizontal script"]. Tokyo: Bun'endō, 1873.

From the William Elliot Griffis Collection

The Maeda Collection

In 1998, Cornell acquired the personal library of Maeda Ai, one of the most important critics and scholars of Japanese literature of the postwar period. Consisting of approximately 13,000 volumes, the Maeda Collection features rare early postwar publications and Japanese translations of European literature. Although it focuses mainly on Japanese literature, literary history, and criticism, the collection contains many volumes on all aspects of Japanese cultural anthropology, social history, and popular culture. It also includes 3,000 volumes of pre-20th-century works with folded, stitch-bound leaves in traditional format. The Maeda collection enhances Cornell's reputation as a center for the study of modern Japanese literature and culture.

All items from the Maeda Collection.

Late Edo-early Meiji Fiction

These volumes offer a selection of various genres of fiction from the 19th century, for example, yomihon and ninjōbon. Yomihon were "books for reading"—so called to distinguish them from works enjoyed mainly for their illustrations; ninjōbon were what we might call "romance novels." Although identical in appearance, the earlier publications were block-printed; later volumes were printed with movable type. The Maeda Collection contains more than a thousand volumes of this genre of popular fiction.

All items from the Maeda Collection.

Early Meiji Publications in Western format

These volumes illustrate a selection of late 19th-century Japanese publications with Western bindings. The Maeda Collection includes several hundred volumes of this type of publication, including some of the earliest translations from Western literature.

All items from the Maeda Collection.

Diary of Narushima Ryuhoku

Diary of Narushima Ryūhoku

Pages from the personal diary of Narushima Ryūhoku (1837-1884), a Confucian scholar in the service of the Tokugawa government. Following the Meiji Restoration, Ryūhoku refused service with the new government. After a brief visit to Europe in the 1870s, Ryūhoku made a name in early Meiji journalism as editor of Chōya shinbun, a newspaper frequently at odds with the Meiji government. Ryūhoku is also known for his essays and critical works, sometimes the target of Meiji censors.

From the Maeda Collection.

Help us redesign!