Edo Books

The book contains three introductory biographical essays by Hass, that help to place the masters in a historical context and help to understand the development of their styles.

so refreshing to learn
many Issa's haiku
were quite bad

It also contains several poetic prose fragments by all three poets that put their haiku in context of their journeys and events from their lives. The last part of the book includes fragments of Kyorai's "Conversations with Basho." It is always a treat for me to be provided with some insights about an artistic process. Needless to say, the book is full of pearls, diamonds and snowflakes. Translations (or their "versions," as Haas would say) are exquisite and very poetic; it was enough for me to read a few to feel inspired. A truly a marvelous book.

I love this collection of haiku. I've marked several favorites with Post-It flags and thumb through it often. I recommend it to anyone, especially people who are knew to haiku, because it includes a variety of themes and the poems were all written by true masters of the art. It's simply wonderful.

I am new to haiku and was looking for a few books to give me an idea of the traditional haiku. The translations in some books made me think that haiku is not for me. However, this book is amazing. Not only does the editor select the most representative of Basho, Buson, and Issa, but the translations make poetic sense. There is additional material, such as a short biography on each poet and some exerpts of their prose (such as Issa's "A Year of My Life" and coversations with Basho). Five stars without hestitation.

I fully believe in the translating philosophy that poems should be rendered in the most contemporary language possible. Translating archaic language with archaic equivalents doesn't necessarily convey what it was like for contemporary audiences of the originals to read and experience them.

And that is what I like most about this collection. Robert Hass decided to use contemporary language for these haiku, and in this case, his contemporary language: American English. The haiku are highly readable and accessible. I've read criticisms to the contrary, namely that he loses the tone of the originals and takes some liberties with meaning. While I think it may be helpful to point this out, I don't think it is fair criticism, per se. There had to be a compromise, and Robert Hass consciously made a decision and consistently stuck to his preferred style. These aren't academic translations, and thank goodness. As a result, we have fresh translations of wonderful classics.

I bought this book over ten years ago on the recommendation of a professor. At the time, I was translating haiku from Japanese, and he suggested I take a look at Robert Hass' style of translating. It was timely advice for a fledgling translator. Hass' haiku renderings sometimes stray a little too much from the original meanings to satisfy the needs of scholars, but they are always clear, always graceful, and- after ten years of continually returning to the book- always fresh. I think part of the success of these translations comes from their colloquial language. There is nothing awkward about them, nothing in the language to draw attention to it as a translation. And aren't the best translations like that?-- unobtrusive, inconspicuous, almost like dopplegangers of the original. I believe so, and I believe these translations will have quite a long shelf life.

I have nothing to add. It's a very good quality title. If you now "Water margins", and you like it, you will have a fun with this book.

The prints in this book are fantastic, large with great color reproduction. It also an excellent read for anyone interested in japanese woodblock printing. An all round excellent book.

Of all the superb books published by Hotei on the subject of Japanese woodblock prints, Inge Klompmakers' "Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden" is far and away my favorite. This reflects not only my enthusiasm for the 19th-century artist Kuniyoshi but also an appreciation of the rich symbolism embedded in his treatment of the "Suikoden" heroes.

The "Suikoden" (the term is the Japanese rendition of the original Chinese title of "Shuihu zhuan") is a epic Chinese novel that is known in English as both "The Water Margin" and "All Men are Brothers." The novel, which lionizes an outlaw band of 108 men who commit crimes on behalf of the common people, was first translated into Japanese in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, a reworking of the novel brought it to an even wider Japanese audience, and at this juncture a number of leading print artists--including Hokusai and Yoshitoshi--illustrated it. However, it is the treatment of the bandits by Kuniyoshi--who depicted 75 of the 108 heroes--which has enjoyed the most enduring popularity and influence.

In the original Chinese novel, six of the 108 bandits are described as tattooed. In Kuniyoshi's series, covering just 75 of the bandits, that number was expanded to 15, and Kuniyoshi's "Suikoden" series became the leading evolutionary influence on Japan's complex style of tattooing.

Recently the "Suikoden" has enjoyed a major renaissance of popularity. Kuniyoshi's prints are revered by the international tattooing community, and the novel itself has inspired a series of fantasy games. Beyond these considerations, it is worth examining Kuniyoshi's accomplishment within its historical context. In the late 19th century, the Japanese enjoyed increased access to literature from abroad, had an urbanized population that supported a vigorous publishing industry, and perfected the technology of woodblock printing. These three developments jointly produced an extraordinary marriage of text and art, a marriage that enriches us all today.

The cover even makes me kind of wonder. Its paperback although the pages are pretty durable. I like the little stories about each character. The pictures are breathtaking and beautiful.

As you might know, Japan was closed off from the rest of the world for around 200 years (Up to 1868!). One of the few countries that kept up close economical ties with Japan throughout that time was Holland (Europe).

That is probably one explanation why in Holland you will find large collections of Japanese Art, and also why the University of Leiden (a city in Holland) has got a very good reputation world-wide for all Japanese-related studies.

The publishing company of this book, Hotei Publishing (www.hotei-publishing.com), is also based in Leiden and has over the past few years managed to create an excellent reputation for itself regarding Japan-related publications. I have about a dozen of their books, and can wholeheartedly recommend all of them.

My interest in Japanese woodblock prints started because of my love for traditional Japanese tattooing. Doing a little research on Japanese tattooing, one will eventually come across the great ukiyo-e Master Kuniyoshi, on whose prints most of the traditional tattoo designs are based.

If, like me, you want to delve deeper into the history of those designs: this book is a must-have. For the untrained eye it will at first be difficult to see the connections between the prints and the tattoos - but after a while you will understand better.

If, on the other hand, you are "only" interested in Kuniyoshi and/or his Suikoden prints: this book is also a must-have for you! The prints are re-produced in large size and full colour.

Besides, you get background information regarding the technique of woodblock prints, Kuniyoshi's life, his work, how the Suikoden prints came about, and a lot more.

If you would also like to see how some of those prints where "transferred" onto human skin, I can recommend the following books to you: 1. Takahiro Kitamura, "Bushido - Legacies Of The Japanese Tattoo", Schiffer Publishing, (over 200 photographs of works by one of today's greatest tattoo masters: Horiyoshi III). 2. Sandi Fellman, "The Japanese Tattoo", Abbeville Press.

A great resource if you wish to get a better grasp of the many Japanese ghosts and supernatural elements which appear in woodblock prints. Well researched. I enjoyed it very much.

As the preface to "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" notes, this book is the fruit of interdisciplinary studies undertaken by the Spencer Museum of Art and the University of Kansas at Lawrence. And it is the results of just such an interdisciplinary approach that have lifted this book out of the realm of an ordinary exhibition catalogue and propelled it into the rarified ranks of an art history classic.

In historical terms, the focus of the book is the Edo period. This long (1615-1868) and peaceful period saw a concatenation of several important trends, including the perfection of the woodblock print, a democratization of art that--for the first time in Japan--served the masses, the rise of the kabuki theater, and a diffusion of popular literature and tales that often focused on the ghostly and the supernatural. The fusion of these trends was most clearly seen in the woodblock prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Utagawa Kunisada, and Ichiryusai Kuniyoshi, many of which are reproduced here. These three giants of the late woodblock period not only made a major contribution in documenting the theatrical and literary trends of the Edo period but also provided many of the visual models still employed in Japanese-style tattooing.

Apart from the rich feast of art presented in this book, "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" will nourish the souls of those interested more in the fields of anthropology and comparative religion. Even today, when Japan has emerged as one of the most technologically advanced nations on earth, fundamental cultural beliefs are still strongly informed by a sense of mutability. "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" makes an important contribution to explaining this phenomenon, in which the boundaries between the living and the dead, humankind and animals, the animate and the inanimate, and the sacred and profane are far more permeable than is believed to be the case in the modern West. Several thousand years ago, before the rise of the three great monotheistic religions, most of the world's societies believed in a universe more pregnant with magical possibilities, a type of universe that this book helps us better understand.

"Japanese Ghost and Demons" is something I really wish I could have been a part in making. A college with a fine collection of supernatural-themed Japanese art, in a variety of mediums, decides to offer an interdisciplinary study class with each group producing papers on a folklore theme, with supporting artwork from the collection. Brilliant.

Each of the chapters is incredibly insightful, providing a complete education on the topic. Along with the traditional subjects such as the Oni, Ghosts and Tengu, there are many less-often covered subjects such as Sennin: The Immortals of Taoism and Shoki the Demon Queller. I was particularly pleased to learn about Shoki, as I was browsing a print shop in Kyoto and was able to recognize the Demon Queller himself in a few prints.

The plates are, of course, beautiful, and cover an incredible range of medium, from the familiar prints to the drawings, paintings and netsuke carvings. The reproduction quality is high, and the size of the book is "coffee table" size, allowing for nice sized images. The majority of the plates are in full color.

As someone who has read quite a few books on Japanese supernatural folklore, I recommend "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" as one of the best. It would be hard to be disappointed by this treasure.

I almost hesitate to add a review since there are two other reviews here that do such a fine job. I actually attended the University of Kansas and was therefore able to visit the Spencer Museum of Art and see some of these works on display. I purchased my copy of this book at the museum and used it as part of my source material for a theses I wrote while matriculating at KU, so I am very familiar with this book.

This is a very, very impressive book with loads of gorgeously rendered and reproduced wood-block prints. If you like Japanese art you will wish to have this book simply to look at the pictures. My children actually like to get this book down and look at the pictures, half because it is truly amazing art and half because the art is focused on the creepy-crawly and supernatural. An element of Japanese culture and psychology is viscerally on display in these fine prints and it is easy to see that this form of art is the precursor to the Manga that is so popular today.

This book is much more than a simple visual display though. There is a wealth of information, meticulously researched, presented here on the creatures that make up the pantheon of the eerie and supernatural in medieval Japan. For serious students, or even those with a surfeit of Hobbits just wanting a better grounding in an alternate milieu of the supernatural, this is an excellent tome, well-written, easy-to-follow, and chock-full of information. Buy it for the pictures, buy it for the text, or buy it for both, you won't be disappointed.

If you are looking for sources for traditional japanese art for tattooing purposes this is an excellent place to start. I was very suprised when I got this book and found it to be SO thorough and much nicer than I expected. If you're expecting a flimsy cheap paperback, this is not it. It is a quality book very thick and almost as sturdy as a hardbound, perfect for reference material for a tattooer!

Excellent book. But make a note, that unlike original French 2-vol. set, this book includes mostly b/w illustrations (only 21 in color). All 1885-1887 French Army magnificent uniform color plates by Detaille are b/w here.

The Impressionists are the most famous French Art Movement of the late 19th Century. At about the same time, France was also producing a great school of historical painters and illustrators. Edouard Detaille in my opinion was the greatest historical painter/illustrator of the 19th Century. Do not buy L'Armee Francaise for the text. It is an English translation of stilted and heavily baroque 19th Century French. However, the illustrations are simply amazing! This is one of my favorite books.

This is one of my favorite books in my Library. It is a feast for the eyes, laying out sketches and illustrations that are unmatched anywhere else.

As a Professional Army Officer and historian, this book also lays out, in detail, the very essence of the French Army during these times.

This book runs the gauntlet from being a coffee table book, to a real resource for true military historians.

An important source of 19th century military history is the beautifully illustrated, two-volume work, L'Armée Française, produced in 1883 by the renowned military artist Edouard Detaille, with text by Jules Richard. Through his remarkably detailed and beautiful artwork, Detaille has rendered a compelling look at this most dramatic era of warfare dominated by the French art of war, military organisation and uniform styles. This classic work has been known for over a century in its French edition and is now translated into English for the first time. This lavish reprint contains the entire two-volume translation, and is richly illustrated throughout with Detaille's original published artwork depicting accurate portrayals of uniforms and military life. The book has been further embellished with an additional full-colour section displaying other works by the artist.Contains the entire translation plus over 300 illustrations from the original artwork by the military artist, and gives background information on regimental histories, army organizations, recruitment, training, battledress and equipment.L'Armée Française is the only military history book of its kind, giving background information on regimental histories, army organisations, recruitment, training, battle dress and equipment of the soldiers of France. It is a guide to the French armies that fought in the Napoleonic Wars, Crimean War, the Mexican Expedition, the Conquest of North Africa, and the Franco-Austrian and Franco-Prussian Wars, as well as a contemporary look at peacetime army in the late 19th century.No one can make a serious study of military history without becoming familiar with the wars fought by the armies of France.

This book is superb. Profusely illustrated by French artist Eduard Detaille, it covers the French Army from 1790-1885, describing in great detail the combat arms, staff, schools, gendarmerie, the navy, and the 'bric a brac' of the arms and services.

There are numerous tables of commanders of units and orders of battle, and the text is comprehensive; trying to keep up with its pace is like being force fed with a firehose. Quite simply, it gives an amazing amount of detail is what is actually quite a small space. There are both color and black and white illustrations, and they definitely have the look and feel of the 'smell of gunpowder.' Detaille was one of the best military artists of all time, and this book shows of his work perfectly.

Having seen the original volumes in French, this translation and edition have lost nothing in the trasition. The detail and minutiae are amazing, from the formation of the not-properly-sanctioned 15th Cuirassier Regiment in Hamburg by Marshal Davout in 1813 to the conquest of Algeria, this volume has much information that was not available before in English. It is a definite must for the military historian.

Much of the book is about the French Armies of the Revolution and Napoleon's Grande Armee, which is fine with me, as it is my favorite period. You can ride once again with the cavalry of the Empire, work those terrible guns of the Imperial Guard that tore allied armies to pieces, or sweat in the ranks with the infantry of the line (infanterie du ligne) as they go on just one more forced march into the thunderous hell that was combat in the Napoleonic period.

Highly recommended and you won't be disappointed.

This book was suggested to me by a very famous tattoo artist when I was considering getting some work done. To say I was completely astonished by my own ignorance of the art form is an understatement. Although much of the book was a little too complex for me to understand, the pictures, process and artists were a great tool to study. The book also provided surprising information on American artist Ed Hardy--a fashionable rage right now--who apparently was one of the rare American artists to be allowed access into this world. Highly recommended

I just bought this over the weekend. If you like japanese tattoos as much as i do, you may wanna check out there other 2 books I also got last weekend.

The japanese Tattoo
Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo


It's worth every penny! I also want to get Horiyoshi III's book too but can't find one. =(

Takahiro Kitamura's "Tattoos of the Floating World" is far from a be-all and end-all guide to Japanese tattoos. However, it is for the moment without peer in providing a cultural context, and it thus adds depth to a reading of many other favorites, including Fellman's "The Japanese Tattoo," Addiss' "Japanese Ghosts and Demons," and Klompmakers' "Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden."

In this slender volume, Kitamura's primary focus is the linkage of the woodblock printing tradition of the Edo period (1615-1868) to the development of the tattoo as art. With such a focus, afficionados of the print artists Kuniyoshi, Kunisada, and Kunichika will find many illustrations to delight them, and there are as well photographs of the current artistry being worked by tattoo masters. Adding to the value of the book are a preface written by Donald Richie and an afterword by Don Ed Hardy. The first essay is elegiac and lyrical in tone; the second provides personal insights by a Western connoisseur of the tattoo art form.

The shortcomings of "Tattoos of the Floating World" concern what is not included. The book would have benefitted greatly from having an index as well as a more generously-executed glossary. Moreover, I regret that Kitamura, who as a tattoo artist is uniquely qualified to do so, did not more systematically and fully catalogue and explain the symbolism of Japanese tattoos.

Most tattoo afficianados are aware that Japanese tattoos are steeped in history and culture. But Tattoos Of The Floating World: Ukiy-o Motifs In The Japanese tattoo explores this history and culture in a way never done before. Takahiro Kitamura's research and unique insight combine to present the reader with not only a history of the Japanese tattoo, but also with an understanding of how it came to be, how it continued to maintain its traditions through centuries of persecution and cultural metamorphosis, and how it both influenced and was influenced by the contemporary arts of early Japan.

The first half of this excellent work explores the early history of the Floating World (as pleasure districts were known as Japan's Edo period), focusing on the "triumvirate of arts": ukiyo-e (wood block prints), irezumi (tattoos), and kabuki theatre. Ukiyo-e and irezumi are so closely intertwined that tattoos of the day were referred to as horimono (carved object) in deference to the process of carving a wood block print. Kabuki was the theatre of the people and expressed not only the history and mythology of Japan, but the people's innermost desires as well. Kitamura's exploration of the ways in which these three arts intertwined demonstrates his love of the topic and inspires a similar affection in the reader.

The latter half of Tattoos Of The Floating World details many of the themes so strongly connected with Japanese Tattoo today. Sections devoted to such heroes as Fudo Myoo, Fujin and Raijin, Kumonryu Shishin, and Tennin give a basic understanding of their characters themselves and their endurance as tattoo motifs. Details are also provided on such traditional images as dragons, koi, shunga, falcons, the Kurikaraken, tigers and the phoenix.

Illustrated throughout with ukiyo-e, original sketches by Horiyoshi III, and photographs by Jai Tanju, this work is as beautiful as it is educational. The pairing of sketches next to their finished tattoos highlights the artistry involved in Japanese tattoo while the presentation of ukiyo-e prints alongside tattoos of the same characters and motifs demonstrates the cultural and historic similarities.

As a special bonus, Don Ed Hardy weighs in with an essay exploring his own discovery of Japanese tattoo. Ed Hardy is the foremost American authority on Japanese tattoo and was one of the first Westerners to write on the subject. This essay follows his discovery of Japanese tattoo and his adventures in crossing the borders (both physical and cultural) between Japanese and Western tattooing.

Never has a book demonstrated so well the relationship between Japanese wood block prints and tattoos. Despite the seeming deluge of complex images that appear in large Japanese tattoos and body suits, the elements and themes are actually not that many and are readily recognized with practice. Tattoo artists will pour over this volume and collectors (both book and tattoo) shouldn't be without it.

Others have reviewed some of the academic aspects of this finely produced, indeed beautiful, tome on Japanese calligraphy through the ages. I agree that a few examples may not have been the best and that full inclusion of standard type kanji and kana would have been helpful. The short biosketches of each calligrapher brings some perspective of the context and content, particularly of the women writers. However, I also view the book as an artist who has studied with a Japanese Zen calligrapher and am hands-on familiar with brushes, their fluid motions, ink preparation, the arrangement and styles of characters, and the Chinese ideograms themselves. Here, the book is a treasure of personal interpretative art. Ten Post-its mark my own choice of inspirational pages, and I am certain that I will return again and again to study all aspects of line and space and to try my own hand. I truly appreciate this collection of calligraphy: its art, its history, its relationship to Japanese culture, and the personalities embedded, whether of academic seal or scribe script or of cursive styles, or of bold and direct Zen strokes. In short, I highly recommend the book to artists and art lovers and to students of Japan and Asian studies.

This collection is beautifully printed and is accompanied by perhaps the best and most sensitive descriptive analysis of visual works I've encountered. A rare chance to savor elegance and power in culturally nuanced writings created over a span of three centuries by masters in the several significant cultural styles developed in Japan. One should complement this with study and viewing of earlier Chinese calligraphy and modern practice.

Mel Strawn, Professor Emeritus, University of Denver

The book presents a selection of Japanese calligraphy over the indicated period. The related history of the art form is also reviewed. The author provides background for the works by rendering a picture of the lives of the artists. In addition, the reader is given ideas how to look at shodou drawn either by others or even by oneself.

I strongly suggest the book for both those just interested in shodou and in the related history as well as for those training the art themselves.

For the "GreatGreat, I-Love-It" -type of a review is never too useful, a few things I was left missing:
- Why were the characters of the 77 works not written out in standard font for reference? Such a minor extra would have been of a great value for me.
- Sure the 77 works were not intentionally selected but those accessible for the exhibition were all accepted. One may ask, whether a private letter really represents the artist better than an actual work of art.

What kind of art book has nothing but writing? Either a really poor one, or else an extremely nice one on the fine art of calligraphy--one such as "77 Dances" here. Indeed, this rather substantial tome is a beautifully printed book wonderfully showcasing this distinctive East Asian art form, particularly as it developed in Japan during the early modern period (mostly Edo/Tokugawa period and a bit before). Lavishly illustrated, it features seventy-seven full-page color plates of calligraphic art works, each by a different artist--along with a great number of supplementary figures and charts. The drawback to this format is that one can't really get acquainted with the work of each artist so deeply, but in compensation one gains a very vivid impression of calligraphy's overall astounding range in style, script, media, subject matter, purpose, and effect.

The book is well-written in more than one sense, too. Stephen Addiss draws upon his long-term experience in and regard for the art of calligraphy to provide this book with explanatory text of consummate clarity. He first draws the reader in, introducing the basics of calligraphy in Japan in a friendly and straightforward manner so that when we get to the actual works, neophyte and connoisseur alike are more or less starting on the same page. The works themselves are sub-divided into six somewhat overlapping but mostly distinguishable traditions, each of which Addiss describes and contextualizes historically: works of courtly waka poetry, those by Chinese culture enthusiasts, by Confucian scholars, by literati poets-painters, by haiku poets, and last but definitely not least Zen monks. And then each work and its artist are discussed in fine detail--often pointing out the techniques and particularities of a given calligraphy piece line by line. Even someone who's looked at calligraphy quite a bit before will find their eye being trained by his remarks to appreciate more consciously exactly what the artist is doing and why.

On a more personal note, I've long had an abiding interest in Japanese religion (especially Zen Buddhism), philosophy, and literature in Japan, and it was intriguing and fascinating to see many old familiar faces from these fields all show up in this different--and shared--context. In a new light, no less. And in their own handwriting, reflecting their individual personality and character in a manner the printed press can't quite convey. So while this is an excellent art book in and of itself, a real feast for the eyes, it's also quite relevant, useful, and informative for anyone who follows these other aspects of Japanese culture and history with any degree of enthusiasm and seriousness. Highly recommended.

I think Tony the Tiger put it best "It's Great! "

This book is truly a delight - it opens the eyes to the magic that Coney Island possesses, and forces you to see it in a completely new light. Told from the viewpoint of a man with strong Coney ancestry, this is really the "inside story" - from the Island's tawdry beginnings, through its turn-of-the-century glory days, the zany "nickel empire" of the 1920's, all the way into the 1950's. I wish it could go on further, but no need for complaint - that's practically where Charles Denson picks up with his marvelous book on Coney - but that's another review altogether.

Here, Edo McCullough talks honestly about Coney's glories, as well as its seamy underbelly - nothing is left out, and it isn't necessarily a "sentimental journey", after all. But all the better - the seamy side is half the fun, after all. From shifty politics, prostitution, crime and carnies, to the glories of Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase - the reader is in for a truly fascinating experience.

But be warned - once you pick the book up, you'll have a hard time putting it down. Despite it's being packed with solid history, it's a very quick read - which, I think, is a very good sign. Enjoyable education - who could ask for more?

For too many people--Brooklynites included--Coney Island is nothing but the ruins of an amusement park that only exists in choppy silent movie clips. Edo McCullough's "Good Old Coney Island: A Sentimental Journey into the Past: The Most Rambunctious, Scandalous, Rapscallion, Splendiferous, Pugnacious, Spectacular, Illustrious, Prodigious" debunks that view in an educating and enjoyable style.

What McCullough makes more than clear is that this five-mile strip of beachfront is as rich in its history as Cape Cod, perhaps moreso. From the early Indian villages to the Dutch settlers to the developers who saw in it a gold mine (once mass transit made the place accessible), Coney Island is a place of a million and one stories and histories. It was a place, as McCullough describes, wherein everything went: recreation, vice, entertainment (high and low), graft and sports. It was The Five Points and Fifth Avenue on a beach. In this sense, it could have only grown in New York because it was so much like it. However, it did offer one thing; fresh seaside air. Funny as it may seem, when the place first became popular, most New Yorkers didn't know how to swim--where could they swim, after all? In the polluted East or Hudson Rivers? By the time the rides and attractions, Dreamland and Luna Park arrived, Coney Island already earned its superelative, surreal reputation for escapism.

What I find interesting is McCullough's choice of the phrase "A Sentimental Journey" in the book's subtitle. Considering the book describes Coney Island warts and all, the sentimentality is often underplayed. And, finally, there is a nice sprinkling of illustrations throughout that helps to bring the now-faded playground of the masses back to life. Everyone will enjoy this book.

Rocco Dormarunno
author of The Five Points

This book was given to me as a gift by a dear friend who knew I had a deep interest in the communities of Gravesend and Coney Island being that I was born in Gravesend. The book is a paperback time machine. It starts at the humble beginnigs of the farming village of Gravesend in the 1600's and its founder Lady Moody and goes on to tell of the history of Coney Island, its land owners and people. This is not boring history lesson but an amazing recount of the highs and lows of the era. What's described within its pages can't fully be expressed within the small confines of this space. Its is a part of Americana as much as the Battle of Bunker Hill is. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who is curious how evil and how spirit lifting one place could be.

While a translation can always be disputed, it is the illustrations that make this book worth the having. The incredible images are supposedly cut from paper and layered into a collage, yet some could pass for silk screen prints with their intricate detail.

"The Narrow Road to Oku" is about as close to perfection as one can get. First you have Matsuo Basho, Japan's greatest poet, chronicling his hundred and fifty day journey into Oku to visit the grave of his mother, who had died the previous year. Translating this masterpiece is Donald Keene, possibly the greatest modern interpreter and translator of the Japanese mind. If this wasn't enough, Miyata Masayuki has taken Basho's poetry and created stunning works of Kiri-e, torn paper art, that provides a visual to match the written imagery.

"The Narrow Road to Oku" was the last of Basho's five travelogues, and he finally attained the essential balance between observation and inspiration, between prose and poetry. Along the narrow road he and his traveling companion, student Kawai Sora, experienced the highs and lows of ancient Japan. The Tokugawa Shrine at Nikko, the famed Bridge of Heaven at Matsushima and the ancient Ise Shrine were all stops on this fantastic voyage. As well as these wonders, he encountered poor prostitutes and fishermen, giving them equal time to his poetic genius.

Miyata Masayuki, as he has with other books in this series such as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" and "Love Songs from the Man'Yoshu," has created delightful and whimsical artwork that enhances rather than distracts from Basho's musings. There is a hint of Ukiyo-e in his style, but not enough to consider it redundant. The art is fresh and lively. sometimes powerful and bittersweet.

The original Japanese text is preserved alongside Keene's translation, which I think is essential of a work of this type. "The Narrow Road to Oku" is 100% authentic, and 100% beautiful. Definitely a treasure in my library.

If anyone adores the simple beauty and truth of haiku, this is the text to own. Not only are the Japanese characters printed alongside the inquisitive English translations, but the accompanying collages are breathtaking interpretations of the works. The entire book is a work of art.

This book is a must have for any fan of Kiri-E, or Masayuki Miyata. His illustrations are beautiful...it is easy to see why he has become one of Japans modern masters of this traditional artform. Great Stuff!

I'd been aware of Shunga, also known as "Images of Spring", an ancient Japanese euphemism for erotic art, for many years. It wasn't until I actually began collecting Shunga engravings that I could recognize which books were the better sources for information about the art. This finely printed volume includes many of the rarer, lesser known, and often shocking, by western standards, classic Japanese artworks. Like many people I began collecting this art form because it was beautiful, erotic, always over a century old, and relatively inexpensive because nobody actually knows how many examples of these pillow-book engravings still survive. World War II and the American Occupation led to many of the works being destroyed either by actual bombings and firestorms or by the imposition of Puritan values on the traditional Japanese culture. Although highly erotic in nature, a few of these Shunga engravings are among the most famous images in art history. Some, like "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" by Katsushika Hokusai are credited with introducing a whole new sexual language to the non-Japanese world. If a person only has time to examine a single book on the subject, this would be one of the better choices among many good volumes on the art form. Shunga art was done by the same master artists of the more well-known Japanese scenic woodblock prints.

Shunga are literally "images of spring." That is the time of recreation and procreation, the time that inspires man and woman to couple, as if anyone needed an excuse. Shunga appeared prominently in the works of Hokusai, Utamaro, and many other revered woodcut artists. This lovely book summarizes that honored tradition.

It starts with the early shunga of Settei (1710-1780) and Jihei (active 1680), and works up to the dawn of the 20th century (1899). The presentation, sequenced by time, creates an order that the originators could never have seen. The less important order has to do with drawing and coloring.

Colors, since the 1700s could well have faded. Even the best-preserved prints may have retreated into shades of orange and black, if those were the stablest dyes. Some, like p.29, simply omit color altogether, with no loss. Later prints, from the 1820s and on, show rich blues and greens. Some historians attribute these colors, at least some times, to imports of synthetic dyes. Other prints from the era use mica for a glistening effect, or use "blind" impressions of un-inked blocks to create depth. A print fan may only regret the loss of information regarding technical issues of image creation.

The rest of us, however, take the greatest pleasure in the egagement of the sexes, epitomized in a sumo fight of man vs. woman (p.57). Most of the prints show basic couplings of man and woman, complicated only by their improbable angles and their exaggerated organs. Others show man and woman at play with each other's genitals (p. 135, 156), or sometimes a woman at play by herself (p.112, 127, 139, 164, etc). At least one (p.56) displays man engaged with man, showing very different social gender even for the same physical sex. Some pictures demand three- or more-way couplings (p.31, 46-7), others suggest that tied partners sometimes enhanced an ecounter (p.76-7, 137). Still others, like Hokusai's octopus (p.115), invoke a uniquely Japanese mythology, leaving an image that a Western eye can only see in very strange ways. Others (p.118) express a humor that works wherever men and women exist together.

As the years advanced, I found the images sucessively more enticing because of the increasing nvolvement of the female characters. Early on, up to the mid-1700s, the woman was entirely passive, a receptacle (however grand) for the male advance (however grand). Koryusai and Shigemasa display women with needs and interests of their own. Toyokuni and Hokusai promote women to center stage, with fondlings, genital kisses, and other activities that focus wholly on the ladies' fulfillment, sometimes at their own hands (p.112, 127, 168).

This is a lovely book. I admit, I have given short shrift to its text, even though I found it interesting and informative in those few places I stopped to read. This book is about its pictures, carefully organized and captioned, and in historical order.

It is beautiful. I truly hope that you can see it for the cultural sample that it is, and also for the expression of physical happiness that it is.

//wiredweird

The print quality is almost as good as original
Japanese books.And if you want to know what I mean
you better go to Tokyo.

Marco Fagioli's "Shunga:The Erotic Art of Japan" is an incredible collection of prints and histories. He provides the reader with approx. 22 pages on the (well researched) history of Shunga, that include key names, dates and translations. The pieces shown in the book, give a wonderful overview/representation of the different schools within Shunga. All of the pieces are reproduced with great care, all in vivid color and clear detail. 90 percent of the pieces include a thoughtful caption about the artist, the piece itself, it's relationship to the period and to shunga as a whole. Some of the captions include translations of any text within the piece as well. Marco Fagioli has done a spectacular job of choosing and displaying these pieces so that both, a first time viewer and a great lover of Shunga, can see the intamacy, skill and grace that it has offer. This book is wonderful for a coffee table, home library, or as a late night picture book for lovers. It is not the best for research material, aside from the wonderful prints, but it can definately serve as a spring-board for further studies. I highly reccomend this book to any with even the slightest interest in Shunga or the art of Japan.

This work is the long awaited third installment in the series on the Japanese prints in the Art Institute of Chicago, the first 2 of which were limited to 500 and 1000 copies each and are now quite rare. This, more available, volume is a masterpiece and much worth the price--both cheaper and more informed than the earlier volumes. The Actor's Image was literally years in the making, and represents a vast amount of research and a lifetime of study by Timothy Clark, a true expert on Japanese prints. Don't let the price stop you--this work is worth a dozen of the common books on ukiyo-e.

Kabuki, the dance drama created by the Japanese in the 1600s has long fascinated the western world. Taking many movements and gestures from an earlier dramatic form patronized primarily by the nobility, the No plays, Kabuki is livelier, easier to understand, and marked by stylistically performed singing and dancing.

Today, Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating or passing world) paintings and prints, which are perceptive depictions of life in the entertainment and pleasure quarters of Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries are highly prized.

Also to be highly prized is The Actor's Image, a stunningly beautiful volume presenting a collection of woodblock prints of Kabuki actor portraits and theater scenes culled from the Art Institute of Chicago's excellent Buckingham Collection of Japanese Prints.

The full-color prints are visually arresting and enchanting, capturing richly costumed Kabuki actors often carefully posed to reveal the majestic materials they are wearing. The strong textile patterns and black outlines of the figures typify the style frequently used by these print makers.

As if the magnificent illustrations were not feast enough, Donald Jenkins' cogent essay defines printmaking and offers biographical notes re the lives of the Katsukawa school of print makers. The essay by Timothy Clark brings Kabuki theater to vivid life.

These lavish prints are emotional as well as decorative. The Actor's Image is a splendid volume in every way.

- Gail Cooke

Few books can match the quality of this production. The paper is first rate, and the color reproduction is as close to perfect as possible. There are no muddy images or inaccurate colors in this book.

The commentary is scholarly, as you would expect in a book from the Art Institute of Chicago. Other books, such as "100 Views of Edo" have more engaging and accessible descriptions. However, the lack of immediate appeal is more than made up for by the clarity, consistency and scholarship inherent in this entire book.

The prints reproduced in the book are especially rare, and the book is even more attractive because it contains so many of these rare prints. The Katsukawa School of print makers worked during a relatively early stage of the wood block era, and many of the prints shown in the book exist nowhere else. To top it all off, most of the prints are in excellent condition.

This is a book to be savored slowly. Page by page, line by line, each image adding to the impact of the last and the next.

It's worth the money.