Japanese Rare and Unique Collections at KU: Introduction

This online guide introduces the rare materials held by the KU Libraries. Although the number is small, KU has the variety of Japanese 「古典籍」; i.e., manuscripts and prints, produced up to the Edo period (1600-1868). Most of them are held at Kenneth Spencer Research Library, but some are stored at Art & Architecture Library, East Asian Collection (Watson Library), and Annex storage. KU Libraries also have other unique collections produced during and after the Meiji Period  (1868-). This online guide attempts to provide an overview of our collections so that researchers of interest can easily access to these materials. 

The materials in this online guide are organized by the subject, rather than the location or call number. To see the collections, please click the tab or click the images below. Please note some information may be incomplete due to the age of the materials or absence of original publication details

This Japanese paper scroll containing the second part of the Tale of Zegaibō, a well-known story from Japanese folklore, was created in the late mid-Edo period around 1789-1818. The story dates from the Late Heian period (794-1185) or earlier and concerns Zegaibō, the great tengu (a sort of bird-like goblin), who travels to Japan from China in 966 with the aim of halting the spread of Buddhism in Japan. The text is illustrated by lively colored paintings. The first scene shows Nichirabō, the leader of the Japanese tengu, sending Zegaibō to Enryakuji Temple on Mt Hiei, the headquarters of the Japanese Tendai sect. The Tendai warriors defeat Zegaibō in battle. The second scene shows the wounded Zegaibō on a stretcher. The third scene depicts the Japanese tengu treating Zegaibō’s injuries with a hot bath and a medicinal drink, which revive him. In the fourth and final scene, Nichirabō and the Japanese tengu prepare to bid Zegaibō farewell before he flies back to China.

The pictorial works on Zegaibō have several variations, and they are usually called either “Zegaibō emaki (picture scroll)” or “Zegaibō ekotoba (picture and texts).” The only complete scroll surviving today is held in the Manshuin Temple in Kyōto. The end of the scroll says 「冷泉　左中将　藤原為清　(The Reizei Family Left Lieutenant Fujiwara Tamekiyo)」with the date 「寛文五 (1665)」.  Therefore, this is a print copy of the work with Fujiwara Tamekiyo’s postscript dated 1665. The original of this scroll is currently held at Izumiya Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum which is famous for the collection of Sumitomo Kichizaemon VII.

As for KU’s collection, the box of the scroll reads  「二条為重本　是害坊絵詞　寛政文化頃寫 (Nijō Tameshige version Zegaibō Picture and Text, copied around Kansei-Bunka)」. 「寛政」 is from 1789-1801, and 「文化」is from 1804-1818. So, the box says this is a pint copy made approx. 1789-1818. The color may be added manually, but the outline of the illustrations and texts are printed. KU’s collection was once owned by Shigeo Sorimachi, an antiquarian bookstore owner and manuscript connoisseur. The online digital collection of this scroll through the Kenneth Spence Research Library can be found here.