Shonen shojo [Boys and Girls].

KAWAKAMI (Sumio).

Published by 1952]., 1952

About this Item

First edition, no.22 of 30 copies, signed. 11 hand-coloured woodblock plates. 120 by 180mm. Yamato-toji binding, hand-coloured woodblock printed paper wrappers, blue yabane (arrow) pattern  to rear cover, original hand coloured woodblock printed chemise, light foxing to edges and slight wear to chemise, otherwise a very good copy. Unpaginated, [24]pp. Tochigi, privately printed, Showa 27 [i.e. Kawakami's nostalgic ode to childhood.   In the present book Kawakami illustrates typical games played by children in Japan, such as hanetsuki (a game similar to badminton), ohajiki (a game with flat glass marbles) and otedama (small bean bags used for juggling). In some games we see boys and girls playing together, in others they are separated. As the book progresses, the children become young men and women. In the penultimate plate two have grown up and become a married couple, and in the last pages two children wave goodbye to one another, 'Goodbye, farewell, sad to see you go'.   Rare. No copies in OCLC.

Seller Inventory # 255962

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Shonen shojo [Boys and Girls].
• Publisher: 1952].
• Publication Date: 1952
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)