Condition. Part First is in Fair condition. The back cover is missing and the front cover is detached, soiled and has an inscription at the top. Part Second is in Very Good+ condition. There is a broken area at the head of the spine and light soiling and small stains on the front and back covers. Internally both of the books are in Fine condition. All woodblock prints are clean and bright and free of tears or faults.

 
Toyodo Publishing Company:
Scenes and Customs in Japan, Part First and Part Second, a set consisting of two books, Tokyo (Jorishngokucho, Kanda), Toyodo Publishing Company, 1902, 8vo (6 7/8 x 10 1/8 in - 17.3 x 25.7 cm), 12 color woodblock plates per Part, illustrated paper wraps (color woodblock), gold speckled endpapers, 25 pages per Part. The color woodblock plates span two pages. Each plate has the number in the left hand corner and sometimes the title in Japanese centered at the top. The front and back covers are illustrated with a color woodblock and the front cover lettering is in English. The page opposite the inside back cover is a blank page that has an English language paste-on (covers 85%) listing the titles to the plates Some of the titles are supplemented with descriptive text. With these paste-ons and the titles in English, clearly these books were intended to be marketed to Westerners. I suspect that Japan language only versions were also produced.

Seals. In Part First two plates have distinct red seals (plates 3 and 12). A third plate (plate 11) has an indistinct red seal. In Part Second three plates have distinct red seals (plates 4, 8 and 11).

Dating the Books and a Similar Book. I have examined a book (Part Second) that had a colophon. It indicates the book was first printed and distributed in Meiji 31 (1898). The colophon also lists a subsequent edition in Meiji 35 (1902).

Toyodo Publishing Books/Works. Another very similar book was produced by the Toyodo Publishing Company. It is titled Japanese Children. A German language color woodblock book titled Nishiki-No-Mihata (Bilderbuch des Boshin-Kriges) was published by Toyodo in 1907. Information on that book is here. You find books published by the Toyodo ranging from the very late 1880s through ca 1915. Toyodo Engraving works (maps) are found dated in the late 1880s. The zenith of the Toyoda publishing operations appears to be at the close of the 19th century into the very early 20th century. I believe that this is the same Toyodo in Tokyo that published Fuzoku Gaho, a monthly journal that began publication in 1889. For information on that publication, click here.

Composition of the Binding. The book is bound accordion style. However, the front cover wraps around the prevents the pages from being laid out. When the spin covering is broken, the 24 pages (12 double page woodblocks) can be opened out into a continuous 13+ foot panel (6 7/8 in + 6 7/8 in x 12 plates). Each plate is a single sheet which is folded in the middle to make two pages of the book. The plates are joined at right and left edges to the adjoining plate. However, the plates are not glued directly together. A blank stiffener sheet is sandwiched between them. This provides greater strength by add an extra layer of paper at the outside edges of the pages.

 
List of Plates, Scenes and Customs in Japan, Part First (With Images)

1.  Ebisuro, a Hotel in Enoshima, Sagami 
     

2.  Vernal Showers
    
   
3.  Taking cool at a restaurant looking into the sea
    
    
    Clear Seal at Bottom Left

4.  Hyakkwaen in Mukojima, Tokyo
    

5.  The Gate of Zojyoji in Shiba Park
    

6.  The Buddhist images in the Temples, Tenyoin, in Shiba Park
    

7.  Kurohonzondo in Shiba Park
    

8.  The Interior View of the Front-Hall of the Tomb of Bunshoin
    
 
9.  The Interior view of the Nogakudo in Shiba Park
    
 
10. The Street of Yanagiwara Kanda attached to the river
    
 
11. View of Benkei-Bashi (Kojimachiku Kioicho Tokyo)
    
    
    Indistinct Seal at Bottom Left

12. The Enoshima Shinto Temple
    
                                                    
                                        Clear Seal at Bottom Right

 
List of Plates, Scenes and Customs in Japan, Part Second (With Images)

1.  Spring-Time on the Banks of the Sumida River
    

2.  A Lady Watching Mandarin Ducks
    

3.  A Country Scene
    

4.  The Villa of a Merchant in the Late Spring-Time
    
                                                     
                                         Clear Seal at Bottom Right

5.  The Lotus Pond
    

6.  Fire-Fly Hunting
    

7.  An Evening Autumn
    
   
8.  The gate of Peeress School
    
                                                          
                                         Clear Seal at Bottom Right

9.  Market of Groser at Kanda, Tokyo
    

10. Singer Women's House
    

11. Preparation of the Hoshimatsuri
    
                                                     
                                         Clear Seal at Bottom Right

12. A New Year in the Okugoten in the Castle of Tokugawa
    10. Singer Women's House
    
    
    
    Contents and Inside Back Cover w/Colopon
    
    
    Colophon (paste on)
    
    Printed:  Meiji 31 (1898).12.15
    Distributed:  Meiji 31 (1898).12.18
    Later Distribution:  Meiji 35 (1902).9.2

 
List of Plates, Part First (Without Images)

 
 1.   Ebisuro, a Hotel in Enoshima, Sagami 
 2.   Vernal Showers
 3.   Taking cool at a restaurant looking into the sea
 4.   Hyakkwaen in Mukojima, Tokyo
 5.   The Gate of Zojyoji in Shiba Park
 6.   The Buddhist images in the Temples, Tenyoin, in Shiba Park
 7.   Kurohonzondo in Shiba Park
 8.   The Interior View of the Front-Hall of the Tomb of Bunshoin
 9.   The Interior view of the Nogakudo in Shiba Park
10.   The Street of Yanagiwara Kanda attached to the river
11.   View of Benkei-Bashi (Kojimachiku Kioicho Tokyo)
12.   The Enoshima Shinto Temple

 
1.   Spring-Time on the Banks of the Sumida River
 2.   A Lady Watching Mandarin Ducks
 3.   A Country Scene
 4.   The Villa of a Merchant in the Late Spring-Time
 5.   The Lotus Pond
 6.   Fire-Fly Hunting
 7.   An Evening Autumn
 8.   The gate of Peeress School
 9.   Market of Groser at Kanda, Tokyo
10.  Singer Women's House
11.  Preparation of the Hoshimatsuri
12.  A New Year in the Okugoten in the Castle of Tokugawa