My Lord Bag-O’ Rice, Japanese Fairy Tale Series ;
no.15 / told in English for children by B.H. Chamberlain. (Tōkyō : Kōbunsha,
Meiji 20-nen [1887])
This is one of a collection of classical Japanese fairy tales translated into English by B.H. Chamberlain
and Mrs T.H. James during the Meiji period. They contain colourful woodblock prints by well-known Meiji-period artists and are made of crepe paper with silk thread tied binding and double leaves folded Japanese style. To make the crepe paper books, the woodblock prints and text were prepared on regular paper, then interleaved with specially grooved cardboard moulds, moistened, and wrapped around the vertical post on a device known as a
momidai. A large amount of pressure was applied to the paper and the moulds created the unique crinkly texture of the pages and reduced them in size by up to thirty percent.
The books were bought mostly by foreigners as gifts or to learn about Japanese culture. Their popularity in North America and Europe was part of the craze for Japonoiserie in the late nineteenth century.
