Japanese Sweets

CONFECTIONARIES & SNACKS.

An album in orihon (accordion) format with 57 pasted-in sheets, almost all containing two or more paintings of various confectionaries & snacks.

Large 4to (303 x 237 mm.), orig. boards covered with patterned silk (the silk has become quite worn). [Japan]: Meiji–Taisho eras.

A wonderful survey of the confectionaries and snacks manufactured throughout Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Many items are identified with the manufacturers’ names and their cities. Most of these companies, especially in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka, are still active, more than a century later.

These sweets and snacks are very regional, made from special ingredients found only in that part of Japan. The geographical range of manufacturers is from Hokkaido in the north, through the main island of Honshu, to Shikoku and Kyushu in the south.

Some of the foods illustrated including rice crackers coated with regional soy sauce (Irifunedo Co. of Tokyo), pickled crab roe (from Nemuro City in Hokkaido), special pickled eggplants (from Yamagata Prefecture), kinzanji-miso (a traditional preparation using miso and vegetables (Horikawaya Co. in Wakayama Prefecture), candied fish (various manufacturers from Gifu Prefecture and Kyoto), baked miso (Shimaya Co. in Tokushima), candied apples (from Aichi Prefecture), uiro (steamed cakes from Mochigen in Nagoya), and kinsenpin (a Chinese cookie from Nagasaki).

Apart from the binding wear, a fine collection in excellent condition.

Price: $4,500.00

Item ID: 8894