Akiko Ishida
Book Service Division, Public Services Department

This article is a translation of the article in Japanese of the same title
in NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 567 (June 2008).

*Click on the figures for larger images

An ocher cover and dark brown back strap (Photo 1 and 2)—what do you think this book is made of? Though the cover looks like thick washi (Japanese paper), it is actually a thin layer of bark. Surprisingly, the back strap is a mosaic made of cut-open cases of bagworms pasted together.

This binding was designed by Shozo SAITO (1887-1961), a book lover who called himself a "book freak." He was interested in banned books and books on the earthy side of culture, and wrote and edited Meiji bungei sokumen sho (『明治文芸側面鈔』) (1916) and Kindai bungei hikka shi (『近代文芸筆禍史』) (1924). He also had a deep interest in arts and crafts connected to books, such as ex libris stamps and books with unusual bindings, and headed up the fun magazines titled Imozuru (『いもづる』) (1923-1941) and Aisho shumi (『愛書趣味』) (1925-1930).

In December 1931, Saito started a book-review magazine titled Shomotsu tembo with his friends. He also began to issue books with unique bindings from the publisher of the magazine, Shomotsu tembo sha. The first book was Shimi hanjo ki (『紙魚繁昌記』) written by Roan UCHIDA (1932). Based on the title, he pasted an old paper with worm holes on the endpaper and printed an illustration of bookworms (Shimi in Japanese) in silver. In his work titled Shochi no sanpo (walking of a book freak) published in the same year, he used the paper from old umbrellas as a cover. Kunio YANAGITA, a folklorist, described such special bindings as "gete (bizarre) tastes." Saito himself also called them "gete (bizarre) bindings" and published books one after another using strange materials such as mosquito netting, the sheaths of bamboo shoots and laver. These special-bound books are called "Shomotsu tembo sha bon (books published by Shomotsu tembo sha)" or "Tembo sha bon" combined with other superb or limited books.

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The support of a bookmaker was necessary in order to make books with special materials. Shigeyoshi NAKAMURA, a bookmaker, collaborated with Saito. Saito brought in materials such as salmon skin, snake skin and old newspapers and asked for ideas on using them for binding, and Nakamura enjoyed contriving it. Saito's idea and Nakamura's techniques created many books published by Shomotsu tembo sha.

Though "gete (bizarre) bindings" are startling, Saito seemed to have chosen the materials of binding not only for being novel, but also for their relevance to the content. Shosai no gakujin (Mountain climber in a study) is no exception. The author Usui KOJIMA (1873-1948) was a specialist in old books and block prints of various countries, and knew Saito. Kojima was also a pioneer alpinist in modern Japan, who worked for the Yokohama Specie Bank, Ltd. This work is an anthology of mountaineering, old books and block prints; and the bagworms were used on the book strap for the reason that they also live in mountains. The bark used on the cover is timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania, which corresponds to a sentence in the book about Paul Gauguin, the painter who depicted Tahiti. A drawing of Walden Pond, near which Henry Thoreau, the U.S. writer, lived his "Life in the Woods", is printed on the front end paper, a drawing by Hokusai is on the off end paper, and a drawing of the Tateyama mountains is on the inside cover (Photo 3). All of these drawings relate to the content of the book.

Photo 3: Inside cover

Doho HATTORI, a student of Basho Matsuo, wrote the following haiku, "蓑虫の音を聞きに来よ草の庵" (Come to my thatched cottage to listen to the sound of autumn bagworms.). Usui KOJIMA enjoyed the subdued and elegant binding and quoted this haiku in the preface of the book. 30,000 bagworms were used in publishing this book. Saito wrote humble words in the editor's note of the Shomotsu tembo, September 1934, that "I must hold a memorial service for bagworms some day in the future."

• Usui Kojima, Shosai no gakujin, Shomotsu tembo sha, 1934
• NDL call no.: 新別し-4
• Note: The above material is designated as a rare book and an extra copy (without the case) is provided for use. (NDL Call no: 663-83)

• Reference:
  • Fukujiro Yagi, Shochi Saito Shozo to Shomotsu tembo sha, Heibonsha, 2006 (GK123-H49)
  • Nihon kosho tsushin, vol. 27, issue 2, Nihon kosho tsushin sha (YA5-1135)
  • Shozo Saito, Kanpan shokoku junreiki, Shomotsu tembo sha, 1933 (656-51)
  • Shozo Saito, Gete sohon no hanashi, a privately printed book of Seienso, 1943 (Not in the National Diet Library)
  • Shozo Saito, Shintomicho tayori, Imogoya sanbo, 1950 (UE9-4)

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