Woodblock, carved on both sides, of an advertising flyer issued by the courier service Kago roku かご六, owned by the Kagoya family 籠屋 & located in Nara & Osaka.
Woodblock (218 x 168 mm.). [Japan]: late Edo.
This text of this woodblock, accompanied by recent print-offs of both sides on two sheets of paper, announces the new office locations of the courier service Kago roku, which transported both valuables and goods between the Nara and Osaka regions. The flyer announces that the younger generation had succeeded in the business and were able to deliver day and night. We learn that they were capable of transporting gold, silver, bills of exchange, other precious items, luggage, and general goods, as they advertise in this flyer, entitled “Kingin nimotsu chūya hikyaku” 金銀荷物大和昼夜飛脚.
Such courier services — hikyaku 飛脚 (“flying feet” or “fleet of foot”) — were part of a sophisticated system of express couriers and running messengers operating throughout Edo Japan. There were several types of specialized couriers, including those carrying documents between high government officials, others carrying news of rice prices from the Osaka rice exchange to interested parties in the countryside, and general delivery services.
A fine example of a fugitive item. The woodblock is preserved in a chitsu.
Price: $1,750.00
Item ID: 11528
