The exhibits of the Digital Gallery of World Picture Books present a systematic series of the classics of world picture books. They make it possible to put these rare and valuable treasures on display, not only to visitors to the Library itself, but via the Internet to people around the world in both English and Japanese. This ambitious and pioneering project recreates the reading experience using computer technology and accompanying reproductions with reading and song in Japanese and English.

The fourth exhibit to be opened in this series, on the theme “Edo Picture Books and Japonisme,” features ten works selected from among kusazoshi-type books popular among the common people of the Edo period (1603-1867), presenting the stories and their illustration from the front to the back of each book. The commentary presents a richly illustrated outline of the popular culture and social conditions of that age.

We also look at the distinctive handling of space and other techniques of expression in the Edo picture books that, although little remarked until now, appear to have clearly influenced picture book artists in the West, the less-noticed manifestation of the “Japonisme” movement.

The art of the picture books of the West influenced by Japonisme, moreover, ultimately came back to Japan, as we can see in the strong influence of the art nouveau movement on the artists whose work was published in the magazine Kodomo no kuni during the 1920s. In this way, the arts and culture of countries influence those of others, in a constantly moving process. When this series of picture book exhibits is complete, we hope it will demonstrate, through the art of picture books, how images are transmitted down the centuries through interchange among cultures and the interconnectedness of the world.

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