About this Collection
The Wahon Literacies collection comprises a selection of 23 titles from UCLA’s collection of premodern Japanese books, in 81 volumes, including three duplicate titles which demonstrate variations in coloration, provenance, or marginalia between copies. Selected in 2015 for the purpose of a hands-on workshop on wahon (Japanese premodern books) taughtby Takashi Nakajima, Professor of Literature at Waseda University, this collection introduces many of the key bibliographicterminology to understand the physical characteristics of wahon. Printed in several parts of Japan including Kyōto, Ōsaka,Mount Kōya, Ise, Yokohama, and Edo (Tōkyō) from 1627 to 1868, it offers a glimpse into a world of the wahon history during the early modern period. Various types of printing, binding, publishing, and genre are included in the collection, such as 古活字版[kokatsujiban], 木活字版[mokkatsujiban], 銅版[dōban], 画帖装[gajōsō], 巻子本[kansubon], 求板本[kyūhanbon], 重刻本[jūkokubon], 浮世草子[ukiyo-zōshi], and 草双紙[kusazōshi]. The collection illustrates a wide range ofpublishing culture of the Edo period when the publishing industry first flourished in Japan.