Japanese poster collection
Scope and Contents
The collection contains posters on the following topics: Japanese products and design; railways, ocean liners and tourism; Japanese art and design exhibitions; Japanese imperial modernity (including colonies in Korea, Manchuria, and northeastern China); and Japanese Ministry and Telecommunications campaigns. The posters reflect both Japanese painting techniques (nihonga) and Western painting techniques (yōga). Pictorial styles range from neo-traditionalism derived from woodblock prints (ukiyoe) to modernism. The prominence of beautiful women (bijin) as an aesthetic category in the collection is of note. Most of the posters were produced using the offset lithographic printing technique. They were created by prominent designers, commissioned by large Japanese corporations and government ministries, and produced by Japan's major offset printing companies.
Dates
- 1915 - 1929
Creator
- Asai Shiten (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body, Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access. Please contact Japanese Studies Librarian, Dr. Rebecca Corbett [rcorbett@usc.edu].
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the East Asian Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Extent
3 Linear Feet (3 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
Japanese
Chinese
Custodial History
The provenance of the USC Libraries Japanese poster collection is unknown, as is the date of acquisition. The collection, consisting of 45 posters (including some duplicates) was uncovered during an inventory process of an off-site storage facility in 2013.
Processing Information
This collection was previously named the "Asian poster collection" and included description for three boxes of Chinese posters (numbered 4, 5, and 6). The description for the Chinese posters was removed, as they will be described separately. "Asian poster collection" still appears as a collection title in the USC Digital Library metadata for digitized posters from this collection.
- Asai Shiten (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body)
- Commercial art -- Japan -- Taishō period, 1912-1926 -- Posters
- Dainihon Seito Kabushiki Gaisha -- Posters
- Design -- Japan -- History -- Taishō period, 1912-1926
- Gōshi Kaisha Chidoriya Shōten (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body) -- Posters
- Ichida Ofusetto Insatsu Kabushiki Kaisha (Ichida Offset Printing Co., Ltd.) (Osaka, Tokyo, and Shanghai) (Printer) -- Posters
- Kabushiki Kaisha Tōkyō Tsukiji Kappan Seizōsho (Tokyo, Japan) -- Posters
- Machida, Ryūyō, 1871-1955 -- Posters
- Mayama, Kōji, 1882-1981 (Artist) -- Posters
- Mitsuma Insatsu Gōmei Kaisha (Tokyo, Japan) (Printer) -- Posters
- Mitsuma Insatsujo (Mitsuma Printing Works) (Tokyo, Japan) (Printer) -- Posters
- Mitsumura Printing Co., Ltd. (Kobe, Japan) (Printer)
- Nagahara, Kotaro, 1864-1930 (Artist) -- Posters
- Nakayama Taiyodo (Issuing body) -- Posters
- Nippon Shuzō Kabushiki Kaisha (Yonezawa, Japan) (Issuing body) -- Posters
- Offset lithographs
- Offset lithography -- Japan -- Taishō period, 1912-1926 -- Posters
- Okano, Sakae, 1880-1942 -- Posters
- Posters
- Posters, Japanese -- Taishō period, 1912-1926 -- Archival resources
- Printing -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
- Propaganda, Japanese -- Taishō period, 1912-1926 -- Posters
- Sugiura, Hisui, 1876-1965 (Artist) -- Posters
- Sugiyama, Sueo (Artist) -- Posters
- Tada, Hokuu, 1889-1948 (Artist) -- Posters
- Travel posters -- Japan -- Taishō period, 1912-1926 -- Archival resources
- Tōkyō Inshokan (Printer) -- Posters
Creator
- Asai Shiten (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body, Organization)
- Dainihon Seito Kabushiki Gaisha (Issuing body, Organization)
- Gōshi Kaisha Chidoriya Shōten (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body, Organization)
- Ichida Ofusetto Insatsu Kabushiki Kaisha (Ichida Offset Printing Co., Ltd.) (Osaka, Tokyo, and Shanghai) (Printer, Organization)
- Kabushiki Kaisha Tōkyō Tsukiji Kappan Seizōsho (Tokyo, Japan) (Issuing body, Organization)
- Machida, Ryūyō, 1871-1955 (Artist, Person)
- Mayama, Kōji, 1882-1981 (Artist, Person)
- Mitsuma Insatsu Gōmei Kaisha (Tokyo, Japan) (Printer, Organization)
- Mitsuma Insatsujo (Mitsuma Printing Works) (Tokyo, Japan) (Printer, Organization)
- Mitsumura Printing Co., Ltd. (Kobe, Japan) (Printer, Organization)
- Nagahara, Kotaro, 1864-1930 (Artist, Person)
- Nakayama Taiyodo (Issuing body, Organization)
- Nippon Shuzō Kabushiki Kaisha (Yonezawa, Japan) (Issuing body, Organization)
- Okano, Sakae, 1880-1942 (Artist, Person)
- Sugiura, Hisui, 1876-1965 (Artist, Person)
- Sugiyama, Sueo (Artist, Person)
- Tada, Hokuu, 1889-1948 (Artist, Person)
- Tōkyō Inshokan (Printer, Organization)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Japanese poster collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Rebecca Corbett and Bo Doub
- Date
- 2020 April
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries East Asian Library Repository
Doheny Memorial Library
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-1825 United States