Inspiring Young Readers
The Japanese Fairy Tale Series published by Hasegawa Takejirō
Originally published by Hasegawa Takejirō in 1885 – the date when the first volume of what turned out to be six complete collections was made available – these exceedingly rare and extraordinarily beautiful books were designed explicitly for the western market. Translated initially by Reverend David Thompson, Hasegawa commissioned some of the very best contemporary Japanese artists of the day to illustrate and decorate the books, including Kobayashi Eitaku, and the results are breath-taking.
The enterprise was also very popular and profitable and Hasegawa was able to expand the enterprise, inviting in a wider range of translators and artists. There was also some suggestion that the ‘translators’ were actually creating their own stories but the majority of the content was traditional and based on Japanese fairy tales.
The arrival of these books in the West alongside a booming curiosity for all things Japanese created a fashion in the UK that spread to influence what became known as the Aesthetic Movement. Copying Japanese fashions, artwork and ceramics became the trendy thing to do and the impact of Japanese art on illustrators of the day was profound. This influence is particularly apparent in the children’s illustrations of Walter Crane who made a serious and quite formal study of the art of the Japanese print. Crane’s so-called toy books, books which new printing techniques enabled publishers to produce for the first time in bold colour with large illustrations, were particularly influenced by the Japanese aesthetic and used a colour palate that positively burst from the page.
The other attraction of these books, which now adds to their rarity, was their mode of production. Printed on a form of crepe paper using a wood-block printing process, they were not bound into hard covers but quite roughly sown in their paper form and probably ill-suited to the rough handling of younger children.
Many of the illustrations in these books are stunning in both execution and conception. The pictures fill a page or even a double page spread and bleed off the edges giving a feeling of total immersion. The experience of leafing through the pages is similar to being able to plunge into a 19th century Japanese print and take a look around the various dimensions. This very useful Youtube short film helps to convey the experience rather well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0qcZx1RXno
As I’ve already indicated, getting your hands on an original from this series is really difficult and when it can be done it’s eye-bleedingly expensive. I haven’t really explored the possibility of a more modern reprint because I’m pretty sure the experience would be wholly different. Like me, you’ll have to enjoy these beautiful books from a distance and simply dream of the day you stumble over one in some remote junk shop……….
Terry Potter
March 2017