Album Box with Print of Kannon for the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces

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Album Box with Print of Kannon

for the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces

by unknown, 1925

Illustrated Account of the Sino-Japanese War, Volume 7

IHL Cat. #2414

About The Album Box

The Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces, published in June 1925 by Kanao Tanejirō (1879-1947) through his publishing company Bun'endō, consists of fifty-eight prints (forty-seven woodblock prints and eleven letterpress prints), plus a table of contents printed on a heavy-weight brown cardboard sheet. The prints and table of contents were housed in a red cardboard box with ribbon tie and sold for 25 yen.¹

The box itself is constructed of cardboard, dyed red (and subject to bleeding). The front of the box is decorated with a print carrying the album's title 西国三十三所巡礼画巻 (Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei gakan) and a depiction of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion who embodies the compassion of all buddhas and is venerated in almost all Buddhist traditions. The eleven-faced, or headed, Kannon depicted on the print bears witness to the multitude of suffering of all sentient beings.

Neither the album's colophon or table of contents tells us who designed the cover print, but it may well have been Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964), the artist who conceived the project with the publisher, as further described in the article on this site "Nakazawa Hiromitsu - Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces".

For the 1946 re-print of this album, as described in the above referenced article, a different album enclosure was used.

Overview of the Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces

On December 1923, only a few months after the Great Kantō Earthquake devastated the Tokyo area, Nakazawa Hiromitsu along with his two friends, the poet Ishikura Suiyō and the artist Akatsuka Chūichi, began their pilgrimage to the thirty-three temples comprising the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, taking seventy-eight days to complete the route. The result of their pilgrimage was Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces published by Kanao Tanejirō of the publishing house Kanao Bun'endō.

Album Box Laid Flat

The colophon is printed directly on the box - upper right image

Detail of Colophon Printed on the Inside of the Box

click on image to enlarge

大正十四年九月十五日印刷 Printed: September 15 1925

大正十四年九月十八日発行 Published: September 28, 1925

金貳五圓 Price 25 yen

編輯者　金尾種次郎 Editor: Kanao Tanejirō

合資会社金尾文淵堂代表者 Representative: Gōshi Gaisha [1] Kanao Bun’endō

発行者　金尾種次郎 Publisher: Kanao Tanejirō

彫刻及印刷者岡田清次郎 Carver and Printers: Okada Seijirō [carver]; 大倉藤太郎 Okura Tōtarō・西村熊吉 Nishimura Kumakichi・山縣秀助 Yamagata Hidesuki・松本兄弟堂 Matsumoto Kyōdaidō

製本及製函者 Bindery: 大杉菊平 Ōsugi Kikuhira・永井佐一郎 Nagai Miyaji

東京市麹町区永田町二丁目三〇番地 Tokyo address of publisher

大阪市西成区玉出町九七〇番地 Kyoto address of publisher

發兌元金尾文淵堂 Publisher: (hatsudamoto) Kanao Bun'endō

Notes: [1] Name romanizations in italics may not be accurate

[2] Gōshi Gaisha is a type of "unlimited liability" incorporation

¹ Approximately ten US dollars at the time or roughly 140 to 150 current US dollars.

The Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage (Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei)

Japan's most famous pilgrimage, originating in the 11th century, encompasses 33 Buddhist temples in Western Japan (Kansai region) dedicated to Kannon (bodhisattva Avalokitasvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who hears the cries of the world and assists anyone in distress.

The 33 temples on the approximately 1,000 kilometer pilgrimage route correspond to Kannon's ability to take on 33 different forms. One hundred thousand pilgrims navigate the route in its entirety or part each year.

Note: For a listing of all 33 temples go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigoku_Kannon_Pilgrimage. To access an interactive map of the route and its temples go to https://www.thetempleguy.org/p/saigoku-33-kannon-route.html and scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

About the "Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces"

First issued in 1925 and reprinted in 1946, the 1925 album contains 58 prints and the 1946 album 59 prints. For detailed discussion of the two editions and additional information on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage see this site's article Nakazawa Hiromitsu - Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces.

click on the image to go to the article

Print Details

IHL Catalog
#2413
Title or Description Album box with print of Kannon
Series Picture Album of the Thirty-Three Pilgrimage Places of the Western Provinces
西国三十三所巡礼画巻 Saigoku sanjūsansho junrei gakan
Artist unknown
Signature
not signed
Seal of the artist
no seal
Publication Date September 28, 1925 大正十四年九月十八日発行 as printed on colophon appearing on the inside of the album box.
Publisher 發行者金尾種次郎 publisher Kanao Tanejirō
發兌元金尾文淵堂 publishing house Kanao Bun'endō
Carver not applicable
Printer unknown
Impression print: excellent
Colors print: fair - toning has darkened colors
Condition print: poor - soiling throughout, some image loss and toning
box: poor - fading and discoloration of surfaces exposed to light; ribbon tiedown missing; separation along some folds of box
Genre shin hanga; shasei kikō (sketch-tour)
Miscellaneous
Format horizontal oban
H x W Paper
print: 9 7/16 x 12 7/16 in. (24 x 31.6 cm)
box overall dimensions: 10 7/16 x 15 1/2 x 3/4 in. (26.5 x 39.4 x 1.9 cm)
H x W Image
print: 8 11/16 x 11 3/4 in. (22.1 x 29.8 cm)
Literature Nakazawa Hiromitsu kenkyū: Hon karano kenshō, Hiromitsu Nakazawa, Mitsunobu Satō, et. al., Mitsui Kōkei, Tokyo, 2006, p. 46-48.
Collections This Print
National Diet Library Call Number 寄別7-8-2-5 (1925 album, no images displayed); Harvard Yenching Library HOLLIS number 990082993710203941 (1925 album, no images displayed)

last revision:

12/25/2020 created