Shogaku Jorei Shikizukai [Elementary Illustrated Etiquette Book for Young Women]

(Etiquette Manual)

Shogaku Jorei Shikizukai [Elementary Illustrated Etiquette Book for Young Women].

Tokyo: Sonbe Okura, 1880.

Composed and pictured by Adachi GINKO (1853-1908).

12mo, 7 inches high; 10 double-page accordion-style binding with vertical printed label on colored pictorial wrappers (small splits in a few folds, a couple neatly mended).

First edition.

Highly elaborate series of hand-colored woodblock diptych illustrations depicting etiquette lessons at a "finishing" school for young Japanese women. This comprises a series of illustrated "how to" lessons regarding talking with elders, praying, opening doors, conducting a tea ceremony, playing Go, &c. The final illustration shows women receiving their certificates after training is completed.

The artist GINKO worked between 1873 and 1908 under several studio names and is best known for his prints in the ukiyo-e style as a member of the Utagawa school. Working in a variety of genres, he often depicted beautiful women and actors, landscapes, book illustrations, and contemporary events. In 1889 he was jailed and fined for satirically depicting Emperor Meiji as a skeleton.