Scholarship on crepe-paper books, or chirimen-bon, tends to rely on the same few sources, such as Frederic Sharf’s seminal volume on Hasegawa Takejirō.
While works like these are important, we have tried to include many more voices and resources to make our research more complete. This includes the work of several researchers in Japan who are actively working on the medium.
Below, you can filter our bibliography by general topic to find what you are looking for. We hope that our research helps other scholars interested in crepe-paper books or the fascinating network of people involved in their production.
General Information
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Authors/Translators
Blanck, Jacob. “Lafcadio Hearn.” In Bibliography of American Literature, 75–106. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.
Chamberlain, Basil Hall. Letters from Basil Hall Chamberlain to Lafcadio Hearn. Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1936.
Chamberlain, Basil Hall. More Letters from Basil Hall Chamberlain to Lafcadio Hearn and Letters From M. Toyama, Y. Tsubouchi and Others. Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1937.
Hearn, Lafcadio. The Japanese Letters of Lafcadio Hearn. Boston, New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1910.
Hearn, Lafcadio. The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn. Edited by Elizabeth Bisland. Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906.
Hearn, Lafcadio. Some New Letters and Writings of Lafcadio Hearn. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1925.
James, Grace. “Japanese Fairytales and Folklore.” In Japan Society London: Transactions and Proceedings, XXX:29–38. 42. London: The Japan Society London, 1932.
Koyama, Noboru. “Grace James (1882-1965) and Mrs T.H. (Kate) James (1845-1928): Writers of Children’s Stories.” In Britain & Japan Biographical Portraits, IX: 472–80. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, Renaissance Books, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781898823278.043.
Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. “Koizumi Setsu—Living as Lafcadio Hearn’s Wife.” Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.hearn-museum-matsue.jp/exhibition-setsu.html.
Resources in Japanese
Hasegawa, Takejirō. “Export of Woodblock Prints” (木版画の輸出). Bijutsu shinpō (美術新報) 13, no. 3 (January 1914), 26-30.
Herring, Ann. “The Dawn of International Publishing – Meiji Western Literature” (国際出版の曙 －明治の欧文草双紙). Special Exhibition Crepe Books and Kusazōshi – Illustrated Japanese Books from the Late 19th Century (特別企画展 ちりめん本と草双紙－19世紀後半の日本の絵入本). Fussa City Local Materials Room (October 1990), 1-44.
Ishizawa, Saeko. Meiji-period Illustrated Books in Western languages: All About Crepe Books (明治の欧文挿絵本 : ちりめん本のすべて). Tokyo: Miyai Shoten, 2005.
Otsuka, Nanae. “From Myths to Heroic Tales – A Comparison of Retellings from the Kojiki by Chamberlain and Mrs. James in the Crepe Book Series ‘Japanese Old Tales’” (神話から英雄譚へ―ちりめん本「日本昔噺」シリーズにおけるチェンバレンとジェイムス夫人による『古事記』からの再話の比較―). Bulletin of the Institute for Humanities Research 80 (September 2023), 75-86.
Otsuka, Nanae. “Japanese Woodblock Illustrated Books in the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900: ―The Cultural Impact of L’école de village: Terakoya and Other Books in Europe―” (木版挿絵本のインパクト ―1900 年パリ万博に出品された「寺子屋」―). The Bulletin of the Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies Nihon University 14 (2013), 13-19.
Ozaki, Rumi. “Background to the Birth of Kobunsha’s Chirimen Book Series “European Japanese Old Tales” – Collaboration between Hasegawa Takejiro, David Thompson, and Kobayashi Eitaku” (弘文社のちりめん本『欧文日本昔噺』シリーズ誕生の背景――長谷 川武次郎・デイビッド・タムソン・小林永濯の協働). Studies of Research Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, Shirayuri University 23 (March 2020), 19-38.
Ozaki, Rumi. “Development of Hasegawa Takejiro’s Chirimen Book Publishing Activities: Until the “European Japanese Old Tales” Series Reached 20 Volumes” (長谷川武次郎のちりめん本出版活動の展開：『欧文日本昔噺』シリーズが20冊に達するまで). Studies of Research Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, Shirayuri University 25 (March 2022), 29-54.
Ozaki, Rumi. “From Kobunsha’s Chirimen Book Series “European Japanese Old Tales” Formation and Beginning of the “Western Old Stories” Series” (弘文社のちりめん本『欧文日本昔噺』シリーズの形成と『西洋昔噺』シリーズの開始). Studies of Research Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, Shirayuri University 24 (March 2021), 1-34.
Ozaki, Rumi. “Karl Florenz and Hasegawa Takejiro — Disseminating Japanese Poetry Overseas through Crepe Books” (弘文社のちりめん本『欧文日本昔噺』シリーズの形成と『西洋昔噺』シリーズの開始). Studies of Research Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, Shirayuri University 26 (March 2023), 57-99.
Ozaki, Rumi. “Research on B. H. Chamberlain’s Romanized Japanese Reader – Focusing on the Relationship with The Matsuyama Mirror and The Hare of Inaba in the Crepe Book ‘European Japanese Folk Tales” Series‘” (弘文社のちりめん本『欧文日本昔噺』シリーズの形成と『西洋昔噺』シリーズの開始). Studies of Research Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, Shirayuri University 27 (March 2024), 27-60.
Websites
“The Crepe Paper Books of Takejiro Hasegawa,” Linda Lear Center Digital Collections and Exhibitions, Connecticut College.
George C. Baxley, “Takejiro Hasegawa/Kobunsha Publications “Chirimen-bon” (Crepe Paper Books) And Plain Paper Books,” Baxley Stamps.
Marc Kahn, “Hasegawa Takejiro and Nishinomiya Yosaku,” Shotei.com.