Ranpu to onna [Lamps and Women]

£2,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A beautiful copy of this intimate little book. For Kawakami, lamps were a theme that he continued to return to in his books. They symbolised the sense of enlightenment that came with the opening of Japan in the Meiji period (1868-1912), when there was a great influx of cultural and technological influence from the West. He was also fascinated by the earlier period of nanban ‘southern barbarians’ (but essentially Western traders) who travelled to Japan in the 17th century and brought with them unusual goods. While there is no narrative text in the present book, each page shows a woman stood next to a lamp, perhaps a symbol of natural and man-made beauty paired together. The present book touches upon Kawakami’s fascination with early Western interactions with Japan history, and one plate depicts a Western (possibly Dutch) woman next to a lamp. Extremely rare. No copies in OCLC.

• Year: 1965

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.