BOJI YOJYO KAGAMI: A MODEL OF WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE & RULES OFSEXUAL LIFE: An Anat

by UTAGAWA, Yoshitsuna. [Ittosai]

[Japan c. 1848]. A single large sheet, woodblock printed in vegetal colors by hand on hand-made paper, 38 x 51.5 cm., minor but mended pin holes, old folds weak, minor scuffing, but excellent condition for such a RARE grand size print. This superb and most rare example, shows a Japanese woman smoking a Kiseru pipe, as she holds a black & gold lacquered box with tissues over the handle. The whole print is done like a pictorial map of bodily functions, with a large crew of tiny women workers performing the work of making the body perform digestion and all related functions. . From the top, as the woman inhales the smoke from her Kiseru pipe, there are (truncated) two women who operate the mechanical bellows [often used in metal & Japanese sword production] by pushing & pulling to "pump" & fan lung activity. One just rests while the woman is at ease. Another pair of female workers have hand held fans as an auxiliary to lung pumping. . The heart is surrounded by flames, indicating this is the source of emotions: greed is displayed by a woman who is the book-keeper, who counts the money, another is in charge of actual money or gold Ryo coins. . These two areas are in her breast area, and the breasts are shown, the right side shows a mother scolding a child for taunting cats. . The process of digestion begins just under this area with a team of women who haul buckets of food. . Another pair of women tend the Kama or rice cooker made of metal held over a fire with another woman who blows through a bamboo tube to force the fire to surge, thereby cooking the rice. . This is also the origin of the "fires" of the emotions of the heart. Others haul rice, tea & other workers prepare things to eat on a small road leading towards a stone grain [grist] grinder, attended by two other workers who turn the grist mill while the other rakes the grain. . Other organs are represented by a woman who fans the hot food to cool it before it proceeds along the digestion path. The results of the grist mill is poured into what appears as circular intestines dividing the results into liquid and solid. . The solid is raked into fields, the liquid goes down to be discharged. Adjacent to the uterus are the fallopian tubes, which shows an elder women in fine Kimono dress holding fans; This is the source of sexuality, one illustration shows a very old woman with a cane being tended by a younger woman. . All internal organs are identified from the top: lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, stomach and the small & large intestines. . There is a profusion of descriptive text surrounding and within the illustration, oval paragraph markers. Each paragraph explains the function of each organ. In the heart, GREED is the subject of the illustrated, as a woman worker brings Gold down a ladder from above the throat. . This is a superb example created for the common Japanese woman to understand the complex biological process with a visual aid, and in simple Japanese context. *** THE PAIR AS A COMPLETE SET: The male counter part to this print was also issued at about the same time by the same artist. The matching pair were produced to give the Japanese common people a simple way to understand the complex system of human anatomy, digestion and the workings of internal organs. Although the female version was surely sexual in nature, there are no examples of this print being signed by the artist nor is there any Shogun's censor's seal present. The work was the production of an underground effort. *** SUPPRESSED PRINT, LACKS SHOGUN APPROVAL SEAL: One can only assume this was unsigned because the artist knew that such exposure of women's private and internal sexual parts were prohibited by the Bakufu, thus this work would never have been approved by the censors. The work is therefore lacking the artist's name, censor approval seal. . This and its companion male example were very likely published in a very small printing. This male counter part print [executed by the same artist] with title: INSHOKU YOJYO KAGAMI] was not signed, but the first male example was signed and censor sealed. All subsequent examples and variants lack any artist signature and censor seal. Thus they were considered "contraband" and those associated with the artistic work, printing production and distribution subject to death under the Shogun's prohibition against "licentious" or works critical of the Shogun. By virtue of the lack of signature and censor's approval seal, this work was already known to be too licentious to be approved by the Shogun for publication. . Suppressed by the censors, what few were printed, were coveted and surely kept out of public view. Items like this were secretly coveted, and traded privately. Both the male and female print examples are considered exceptionally and very RARE ! *** GRAND SIZE KAWARA-BAN PRINT, DELUXE EDITION ON LARGE PAPER: . It is also obvious that the publication of this set of prints was an expensive production. By virtue of the fact that no other single broadside [Kawara ban] was issued in this grand size on a single sheet paper. Large maps of the era were printed on small sheets then glued together, and other Kawara ban never approached this size of single sheet. Thus, the cost of special order extra large handmade paper, in addition to a set of 7-8 cherry wood blocks to complete all colors would have pushed the cost factor to a extra ordinary high level. * Ordinary woodcut prints were typically about 9 x 14 inches, [23 x 36 cm.] and called Oban. This print is two & one third larger. The standard production off a set of wood blocks is known to be about 200 with no gaps in between the printing process, as the blocks dry they begin to warp and check, rendering them useless for any quality reprinting. Thus, the printing of this set of prints must have been done at a very fast pace, without rest time to print the complete multi-color work and all copies before the blocks became useless. The larger the blocks the faster they warp and become useless. One may deduce from all of these factors, that who ever initiated this clearly was a person of means. One can also presume that a Japanese physician or Rangaku-sha [Scholar of Dutch learning] was behind this in an effort to teach the public about basic health and sexual hygiene & functions, as well as other subjects. This was contrary to Shogun law. *** REFERENCES: . Gordon Mestler: A GALAXY OF OLD JAPANESE MEDICAL BOOKS WITH MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON EARLY MEDICINE IN JAPAN. After careful perusal of this work, one is at a loss to learn that Mestler some how missed this and the male companion woodcut print. * Sen Nakahara: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF DENTISTRY IN UKIYOE: see p.143 and plate #113, also for the male version, see pp. 144-145, #'s 114 & 115. with brief explanation on p.156. * OBSCURE REFERENCE: Richard Lane.: ASIA SCENE, December 1967, POPULAR ANATOMY AND POPULAR PIONEER SURGEONS. Illustrates the male and female prints. pp.113-114, Lane attributes the artist to be the "Utagawa school ca. 1840's" and he penned in the copy of this article to us the name to be Yoshimune as a guess, but that was incorrect. Yoshimune [1817-1880] could not be the artist because we later acquired a copy of the male version which clearly states the artist's name to be Utagawa Ittosai, but surely of the same Utagawa Kuniyoshi school. Ittosai was a star pupil of Kuniyoshi. pp.113-114, Lane attributes the artist to be the "Utagawa school ca. 1840's" and he penned in the copy of this article to us the name to be Yoshimune as a guess, but that was incorrect. Yoshimune [1817-1880] could not be the artist because we later acquired a copy of the male version which clearly states the artist's name to be Utagawa Ittosai, but surely of the same Utagawa Kuniyoshi school. Ittosai was a star pupil of Kuniyoshi. * An another illustration of the male print companion was found in an obscure & unknown newspaper [?] announcement of a Smithsonian MUSEUM OF HISTORY & TECHNOLOGY exhibition, no date cited. * L.P. Laurance: A DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE ARTISTS, p.204 for details. Ittosai [worked 1848-1868] was his "studio" or painter's name. He was a fine pupil of the famous Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Ittosai was known as an Ukiyo-E printmaker. * Sen Nakahara.: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF DENTISTRY IN UKIYOE: illustrates this on p.143 as #113, by Yoshitsuna Ittosai who is same as Utagawa Yoshitsuna]. Also on pp.144-145 are the examples of the male version of this work. Brief explanation on p.156. * [GRMEK, M.D. ] et al. LA MEDECINE JAPONAISE. Who illustrates the male counterpart of this print as his plate III. * P. Huard et al: CHINESE MEDICINE, page 85, it cites this wood engraving as "the physiology of digestion according to Chinese & Japanese theories." He wrongly attributes this to Utagawa Kunisada. This example shows the male companion to the female example. *** In all cases these prints are exceptionally rare & important examples for the male and female anatomical knowledge. Always RARE ! when found. * . (Inventory #: 21155701)

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BOJI YOJYO KAGAMI: A MODEL OF WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE & RULES OFSEXUAL LIFE: An Anat

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Rare Oriental Book Co., An Art and Intellectual Property Company Since 1967, ABAA, ILAB

ATLAS CHINENSIS: BEING A SECOND PART OF A RELATION OF REMARKABLE PAFFAGES IN TWO

AN EMBASSY FROM THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES, TO THE GRAND TAR

The ABAA Promise

The ABAA
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