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an old chinese book with pictures of people and animals on it
Premium Jeschke Jádi Auctions Berlin

Estimate €750 - €1,000
Sale commission
Description
Japan Kobayashi, Kiyochika (Naichi zakkyo kokkei sugoroku). Single-sheet print, folded several times (sugoroku game sheet), comprising a title cartouche and an adjoining grid of 15 numbered vignettes arranged in a grid pattern (three rows of five panels each). Japan, Meiji period (1852–1912), Namikawa Zenroku 1899. 78.5 x 48.5 cm. Multicoloured woodblock print (nishiki-e) on thin washi paper, printed over the entire surface, with a typographic colophon on the left-hand margin. Cf. Kato Yasuko / Matsumura Rinko (eds.): *Bakumatsu, Meiji no e-sugoroku*, Tokyo 2002 and Edo Tokyo Museum Collection 96201174 - A very rare, precisely datable sugoroku board game (kokkei sugoroku) from the late Meiji period, dealing with the historically controversial topic of naichi zakkyo (‘mixed-race marriage within the country’) - the lifting of the previous restrictions on residence, travel and trade for foreigners outside the historic treaty ports (Yokohama, Hakodate, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata). The revised trade treaties with the Western powers came into force on 17 July 1899, thereby bringing an end to the previous system of extraterritorial foreign settlements; a reform that had previously been the subject of fierce domestic political debate for decades, centring on the desire for cultural self-assertion versus international openness. This sheet was published on 10 March 1899 – some four months before the reform actually came into force – and is thus one of the earliest known examples of a small group of popular sugoroku sheets that took a satirical approach to the same theme. The 15 square picture squares on the game board depict typical encounters between Japanese people and foreigners, depicted in Western dress, in the everyday life of a society opening up to the world: a salon scene with European gentlemen playing music, a greeting scene between a geisha and foreign guests (titled ‘A gathering of warm and friendly encounters between locals and foreigners’), a rickshaw ride with a female passenger dressed in European style, as well as scenes of street vendors, craftsmen and traffic (bicycle, mendicant monk, shop scene). Each panel is accompanied by a brief Kana caption in red ink, which presumably serves to number the playing fields in the course of the Sugoroku game. The large-format title cartouche bears, alongside the calligraphic main title line, a contemporary gloss written in Latin letters, intended to convey the meaning of the title into German – an indication that the print was introduced to the European art and collectors’ market at an early stage. Iconographically and functionally, the print follows in the tradition of the Meiji-period ponchi-e and kaika-e genres, which, under the influence of Western satirical magazines (including Charles Wirgman’s *Japan Punch*) commented on the social upheavals of *bunmei kaika* (“Civilisation and Enlightenment”), though here with the specific function of a board game designed to playfully popularise the new “mixed society” and familiarise the public with it. The paper shows slight crease marks in places; there are contemporary handwritten annotations in Sütterlin script and Japanese; there is a minimal tear along the fold – Overall, still in good condition. – Extremely rare. Single-sheet print, folded multiple times (sugoroku game board), consisting of a title cartouche and an adjoining grid of pictorial fields with 15 numbered vignettes arranged in a grid (three rows of five fields each). Japan, Meiji period (1852–1912), Namikawa Zenroku, 1899. 78.5 x 48.5 cm. Polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e) on thin washi paper, printed to the full sheet, with a typographic colophon along the left margin. Cf. Kato Yasuko / Matsumura Rinko (eds.): *Bakumatsu, Meiji no e-sugoroku*, Tokyo 2002, and Edo-Tokyo Museum Collection, inv. no. 96201174 – A very rare, precisely datable sugoroku board game (kokkei sugoroku) from the late Meiji period on the historically charged topic of naichi zakkyo (‘mixed residence in the interior’) — the abolition of the previous restrictions on residence, travel and business activity imposed on foreigners outside the historic treaty ports (Yokohama, Hakodate, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata). The revised commercial treaties with the Western powers came into force on 17 July 1899, thereby ending the former system of extraterritorial foreign settlements; the reform had previously been the subject of a fierce domestic political debate for decades, pitting cultural self-assertion against international openness. This sheet was issued on 10 March 1899 – roughly four months before the reform was actually implemented – making it one of the earliest known examples within a small group of popular sugoroku sheets that addressed the same subject in a satirical manner. The 15 square pictorial fields on the game board depict typical scenes of encounters between Japanese people and Western-dressed foreigners in the everyday life of a society opening up to the world: a musical salon scene featuring European gentlemen, a welcoming scene between a geisha and foreign guests (captioned ‘Society for the Warm and Friendly Encounter of Japanese and Foreigners’), a rickshaw ride with a female passenger dressed in European style, as well as scenes featuring street vendors, crafts and transport (bicycle, mendicant monk, shop scene). Each panel bears a short kana caption in red ink, presumably serving to number the panels within the sugoroku game sequence. In addition to the calligraphic main title line, the large-format title cartouche bears a contemporary gloss written in Latin script, which appears to be intended to convey the title’s meaning in German – evidence of an early transfer of the sheet into the European art or collectors’ market. Iconographically and functionally, the sheet belongs to the tradition of the Meiji-period ponchi-e and kaika-e genres, which, under the influence of Western caricature magazines (including Charles Wirgman’s ‘Japan Punch’), commented on the social upheavals of bunmei kaika (‘civilisation and enlightenment’) – here, however, with the specific function of a board game intended to popularise the new ‘mixed society’ in a playful way and familiarise the public with it. Some slight creasing to the paper in places, contemporary pencil annotations in Sütterlin script and Japanese, a minor tear at the fold – overall still in good condition. – Extremely rare.
See original version (German)
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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