Akito NAKAZAWA
Rare Books and Old Materials Division
Reference and Special Collections Department

This is a translation of the article of the same title
in the NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 559 (October 2007).

[Fig. 1] *click for larger image

This item is composed of two booklets, into which colored paintings of the people’s life and Buddhism in the end of Edo period are pasted. The title comes not from what was written on the booklets but from the slip on the cover of the folding case, which was made afterwards. The slip also reads "Oranda-fū gokusaishiki / Josefu Hiko kyūzō (Dutch-style full color / previously owned by Josef Heco.)" "Dutch-style" might mean that the paintings came under the influence of Western art of painting that was introduced in Nagasaki. The details of the painters remain unknown. However, the cover of the first volume reads "painted by Shiba Kōkan（芝公漢）," which could be a parody of "Shiba Kōkan（司馬江漢）," who painted vues d’optique (perspective paintings meant to be viewed with optic glasses), introducing a Western style of painting.

Of these 29 x 24 cm booklets, vol. 1 contains 39 genre paintings, and vol. 2, 40 paintings related to Buddhism. Some paintings have descriptions of the scenes. In the upper right of the first painting on the inside cover of each volume can be seen "Heco," the signature of Josef Heco, the previous owner. (See the upper right of Fig. 1)

Josef Heco (Hikozō HAMADA (1837-1897), commonly known as "Amerika Hikozō" (American Hikozō) was born in Harima province. The ship he was on board happened to drift, and he reached the United States at a young age. He was educated there, and was christened Joseph as a Catholic. In 1858 he was granted citizenship of the United States, and became Joseph Heco. His was the first case of a Japanese becoming an American citizen. Later he returned to Japan, and was active as an interpreter in the scene of diplomacy at the end of the Edo period. He also came to publish the first private newspaper in Japanese "Kaigai Shimbun" (foreign newspaper).

[Fig. 2] *click for larger image

The only remaining point of contact with Hikozō　and this item at the moment is his signature, which arouses our interest in why he owned these volumes. The description of the painting below in fig. 1, for example, reads "nihon inaka no nanushi hausu (house of a village head in rural Japan)," and on some paintings the word "taikun" (tycoon), to mean "shōgun" to foreigners, is seen. The upper picture in fig. 1 may be a scene of bookbinding. For the Buddhist paintings, religious sects and the meanings of the actions of the monks who appear in the scenes are added. The sentences on fig. 2 read "jōdoshū no sō / kaitori wo hanashi / kuyōsurukoto nari (monk of Jōdo sect / sets the caged birds free / for saying a mass)." Could this be intended to explain the scene to foreigners or could this a memory tickler for himself, who drifted away when he was too young to know much about his old country? Each painting could possibly be a copy of an original, which merits further research.
Received by the NDL in 1987. (Call number: W166-72)

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