Manuscript on paper, entitled on upper wrapper: “1864. On kami suki. Tsutomekata issai hikae chō. Shōgatsu Jūichi nichi aratame. Tanaka Izaemon” 文久四年. 御紙漉. 勤方一切控帳. 正月十一日改. 田中伊左衛門. [“1864. Papermaking. Business Activities. Report to Government. January 11. Tanaka Izaemon”]

98 folding leaves. Small 4to (283 x 205 mm.), orig. wrappers, orig. stitching (with two other documents, described below). N.p.: 1852-67.


In the 19th century, papermaking mills in villages were common throughout Japan. This manuscript, a copy kept by the mill owner Tanaka Izaemon, records the business activities in 1864 of his papermaking activities. We have been unable to determine where he operated, but we find in the two accompanying documents the village names Shiraki 白木村, Yamanaka 山中村, and Tateyama 立山村 (all rather common place names). This manuscript provides the names of the employees, their lengths of employment, monetary and tax (truncated) matters, etc.


The second manuscript (22 folding leaves, 284 x 206 mm.) is entitled on upper wrapper “1863. On kami suki on hōkō baibai. Okuhan chō. Shōgatsu Jūichi nichi aratame. Tanaka Izaemon” 文久三年. 御紙漉御奉公売買. 奥判帳. 正月十一日改. 田中伊左衛門 [“1863. Papermaking. Wages for Employees. Review. Tanaka Izaemon”].


The third manuscript (45 folding leaves, 281 x 22o mm.) has no title but is concerned with the sale of papermaking permits from one owner to another, details of ownership, official forms, and contracts (hōkōnin ukejō) with employees (wages, living provisions, etc.).


In very good condition. Each manuscript has suffered from hungry mice (“horse bites” in Japanese), but the texts are very largely untouched. (Inventory #: 10949)