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Edo Illustrated Books - "the world's first comic books"
 The
art of Japanese woodblock printing is famous and well known throughout the
world. However, many people are unaware that enterprising Japanese Edo era
(1600-1868) publishers, seeking new markets with the
increasingly literate middle class, began applying their woodblock printing
capabilities to new and diverse forms of publication. One of the most successful of these was the "Edo
illustrated book" or e-iribon as it is called in Japanese. Not
unlike modern comic books, these short, richly illustrated works commonly dealt
with stories of heroism (kinpira-bon) and often featured larger-than-life
characters derived from Japanese classical literature. Other popular
subjects included erotic literature (koshoku-bon) as well as books that
showcased the lives of famous courtesans or Kabuki drama actors (hyoban-ki).
Edo illustrated books were fabulously successful (see the black and white image
below which shows a woman of old Japan reading an Edo illustrated book)
and are regarded by some authorities as the world's first comic books (read below to learn more).
The books were produced by dedicated publishing houses employing skilled
writers, artists, wood carvers and woodblock printing facilities. A single
book could be produced many times over until interest in the title waned or
until the carved wooden blocks used to make the books began to wear and the
quality of the impressions failed.
  Edo illustrated books were produced using traditional Japanese woodblock
printing methods. Publishing houses hired talented writers and
artists to create the storyline and illustrations for a new book. The
draft story and illustrations would normally need to be approved by the Shogun's
(military leader of Japan) official censors and receive a censorship stamp before proceeding to production.
Once approved, talented carvers would set to work carving the book's
illustrations and text into special wooden blocks which would then be used to
make multiple impressions of each of the book's pages. Several blocks
might be required for each page depending upon how many colors were to be
applied. Black and white pages needed only a single block while additional
blocks were necessary for each and every color thereafter. The completed
books were bound with thread or opened accordion-style.
 In
"The World of Japanese Comics" author Frederik L. Schodt notes that Edo
illustrated books (which he calls "yellow-cover" booklets) "...consisted of
monochrome prints and captions that told stories, often in a series...and were
popular at the end of the 18th century." Mr. Schodt goes on to note
that "In a pattern similar to the development of today's adult comics,
yellow-cover booklets grew out of illustrated books for children that stressed
fables and dealt with topical subjects for townspeople in a humorous fashion."
Edo illustrated books were frequently collected by their original readers who
often colored the pages and (in Mr. Schodt's words) "thumbed them to tatters."
Example Pages: *** click to enlarge ***
The world's first comic book?
Are
Edo illustrated books really the world's first comic book? That seems to
be the opinion of at least one authority. The following is a quote from
the book "The World of Japanese Comics":
"Woodblock printing in the Edo period (1600-1868) was also used to
manufacture what may have been the world's first 'comic books.' Like
earlier scrolls, they did not have sequential panels and word balloons.
Instead they consisted of twenty or more pages of pictures, with or without
text, and were either bound with thread or opened accordion-style."
Research on Edo
Illustrated Books:
Schodt, Frederik L. "The World of Japanese Comics." New York:
Kodansha America, Inc., 1983
Kobayashi, Tadashi. "Ukiyo-e, An Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Prints."
Tokyo, New York London:
Kodansha International, 1997
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