Illustrated manuscript on paper, entitled in a manuscript note on final opening: "Wayō ryō zukō " 和陽陵図考 ["Japanese Emperors' Tombs, Illustrated & Described"]

39 fine double-page landscape paintings. 40 folding leaves. Small 4to (265 x 190 mm.), in orihon (accordion) format, orig. boards. [Japan]: on final opening (in trans.): "Copied in the summer of 1833 by [last name indecipherable] Hairi, a resident of Washu sakurai [part of today's Nara]."




There are nearly 900 Imperial tombs in 457 locations in Japan, ranging from simple burial mounds to cemeteries to small temples. This manuscript contains landscape images of a selection of 34 Imperial burial sites, along with four famous landscapes and one ancient imperial residence area, all located in Yamato Province (today's Nara Prefecture).


Each of the sites, with surrounding grounds, moats and lakes, and plantings, is beautifully depicted in rich pigments, using the Chinese "wrinkled rock" style of illustration. The sites range from mounds, planted with just a few trees, to sites for cremated bodies, to more complex sites where several emperors are buried. Each illustration has notes on which emperor (or in one case, empress) is buried there (four of the sites contain unknown emperors), topographical and architectural remarks, along with dimensions and heights of sites, their addresses, names of the owners of the properties, outstanding features, nearby temples, etc.


The first five scenes depict a beautiful landscape in Tatsuta (known for its maple trees), Yoshinoyama Mountain (famous for cherry blossoms), Unebiyama Mountain, Ama no kaguyama Mountain (where the Jitō emperors are buried), and Miminashiyama Mountain.


Fine and fresh copy. The quality of the paintings is excellent. The final image has a tiny bit of worming.