‘Treasure every encounter'. Calligraphy in semi-cursive (gyōsho) style by Tsujimoto Tainan 辻本泰南 (1943-). Inscription dated 平成六年五月 [May 1994] on inside of box.
Kannon zō senju no yubi no kotogoto ni memashiniki kiyomi ga kagayaki 観音像千手の指のことごとに眼ましにき清みかがやき
Scope & Content:
Poem by Kitahara Hakushū 北原白秋 (1885-1942) inspired by a statue of the deity Kannon. Mixed kanji/kana calligraphy by Uchiyama Reiko 内山玲子 (1925-). Dated 平成十年一月 [January 1998] (on lid of box)
Seian de katta suzu no utsuwa ni Nihon no sake o mitashi sumi no hi de kan o shiyō Chōan ippen no tsuki no mukashi 西安で買った錫の器に日本の酒をみたし炭の火で燗をしよう長安一片の月の昔を偲ぼう
Scope & Content:
Poem by Kusano Shinpei 草野心平 (1903-1988) inspired by his memories of Xian. Mixed kanji/kana calligraphy by Yoshida Seidō 吉田成堂 (1931-). Inscription on box dated: 平成九年霜月[Heisei 9-nen shimotsuki = November 1997]
Riō busshoku zusetsu 驪黄物色図説 by Kurosawa Sekisai 黒澤石齋 (1622-1678)
Scope & Content:
‘An illustrated explanation of the selection of strong horses and cows’. An album depicting 97 horses and 14 cows, some with anatomical annotations, by Kurosawa Sekisai 黒澤石齋 (1622-1678), an expert adviser on horses to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Preface dated Shōhō 4 [1647] but possibly 18th copy.
Moshio yaku ama no iso ya no yū keburi tatsu na mo kurushi omoi taenade もしほやくあまのいそやのゆふけぶりたつなもくるし思たえなで
Scope & Content:
Waka poem on 'love in the evening' by Fujiwara Hideyoshi (Hidetō) 藤原秀能 (1184-1240) (Shinkokinshū. XII. no. 1116). Calligraphy in cursive (sōsho) style attributed to Nakamura Kyūetsu 中村久越 (died.c.1673-80).
Woodblock carved in relief on both sides, each side to be used for printing 2 pages of an unidentified Japanese work based on the sekkyōbushi story 'Karukaya' 刈萱 . The running title (hashiragaki) on the block reads 'Karukaya' かるかや and contains the numbers 3 and 4 indicating the folios.
Illustrated collection of jottings on manners and customs of the late Edo period with emphasis on costume. Original text written by Moriyama Takamori 森山孝盛 (preface dated Kyōwa 2 [1802]), copied by Saitō Gesshin 斉藤月岑 in 1848 [Kaei 1]. Colophon at end of text: 右友人豊芥子の蔵本をもて嘉永元年戊申九月 斉藤月岑子.
Pictorial scroll by an anonymous artist depicting scenes in the immediate postwar period witnessed as he travelled from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to the village of Ōshika 大鹿 in Nagano Prefecture.