Fukushoku Zukai. Colour Illustrations of Notable Japanese Samurai's Attires.

Fascinating illustrative work which explains the significance of the colour details for the attire of the especially notable Japanese samurai who gained an official title in government - the Bukekani, written by Imaizumi Sadasuke, a scholar of the Kokugaku movement which emphasized Japanese classical studies, drawing information and art from a manuscript written in Bunka 13 (1816) by Honma Hyakuri who wrote several works on Japanese textiles for court attire. Woodblock print. The complete work. 8vo. 2 volumes, opening from left to right, 54 pages combined, replete with hand-painted full colour woodcut images. Text is in Japanese. Each volume with red ink stamp to margin of last leaf, and title noted in manuscript to bottom fore-edge. In publisher's original yellow striped paper boards, each volume with title slip to front. Traditional karitoji binding ("semi-bound" meaning title page and contents without a book cover) string-stitched at spine, fukurotoji style ("bound-pocket" with folded leafs bound into spine), and opening from left to right. Each volume measures approximately 18 x 25 x 0,5 cm. Indication of additional small label removed from covers, otherwise in very good and original condition, a stellar work with vivid, meticulously coloured, woodcut illustration, internal crisp and clean. The various components and the significance of specific colours for the garments of a bukekani, the latter being an elite class of samurai who had been chosen for an official role in the Japanese Imperial Court, are illustrated and described in these volumes. Among these samurai, there were also classes, denoted by colour and ornamentation of their costume. The rank and position of each samurai would be easily discernable by not only by the colour of clothing they donned, but also by the colour and design detail with which their accoutrements were adorned. Such meticulous detail was highly significant. Numerous elements of the official attire are shown with woodcut illustrations, each featuring explanatory text. Accoutrements include ogi or sensu (folding fan), footwear, headwear, belts and sashes, as well as some military arms including the katana (curved sword), the tachi (traditional sword), the hirao (hanging strap), and even a shitozutsu (portable urinal). "Bukekani" was the title given to samurai who were appointed to official positions. The term derives from the following: "Buke" refers to the collection of various powers which support the authority of a bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), and this word sometimes also refers to a Shogun family or general samurai. "Kani" was an official rank system in the Japanese Government. The purpose of the Kani official rank system was to avoid the heredity of government positions and to employ the most suitable person for each position by appointing him a position in connection with his Ikai. Imaizumi Sadasuke (1863-1944), sometimes seen as Imaizumi Teisuke, was a Kokugaku scholar, an educator and shintoist of the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods.