Accueil

Yamato Bunko
倭文庫

This is a fictionalized biography of Buddha written by Mantei Oga (万亭應賀) and illustrated by Toyokuni III (豊国) and Utagawa Kunisada II (二世歌川國貞). Toyokuni III signs 外題豊国 on the cover and 一陽斎豊国 on the first page of vol 21 and 24. The work was published in 58 volumes by Joshu-ya Juzo (上州屋 重藏) between 1845 and 1871. The present volumes were published between 1851 and 1854, although there are discrepancies between the dates and the date seals (see below).

The full title is Shaka Hasso Yamato Bunko 釋迦八相倭文庫, which can be translated as : Eight Aspects of the (Life of Buddha) Shakayamuni from the Archives of Japan.

The complete series has been digitized by Waseda University library and can be found here. On that page vol 21 is in section 7, vol 24 in section 8, and vol 26 and 27 in section 9.

Volume 21 second part Volume 21 first part
Volume 24 second part Volume 24 first part
Volume 26 second part Volume 26 first part
Volume 27 second part Volume 27 first part

Vol. 21, 24, 26 and 27 were published in 1851, 1853, 1853 and 1854 respectively. The dates of publication refer to the date given on the second page of of part one of each volume. The date seals (on the same page), when present, give another date, in the zodiacal calendar : rat 7 for vol 26 and rat 9 for vol 27 (see censor seal image for that volume). The last page (colophon) gives yet another later date. All dates are in the early 1850's.

Censor seals

The censor seals provide a range of dates, corresponding to the period in which such censors were active. We given below the full names, seals and dates.

first partsecond partcensorsdates
Volume 21 Muramatsu/Fuku Muramatsu Genroku
Fukushima Giemon		 1851-1853
Volume 24 Muramatsu/Fuku Muramatsu Genroku
Fukushima Giemon		 1851-1853
Volume 26 Watanabe/Mera Watanabe Shoemon
Mera Ta-ichiro		 1851-1853
Volume 27 Hama/Magomi Hama Yahei
Magomi Kangeyu		 1849-1853