Kokoku Ema Collection (Japanese Votive Plaques), 2 Vol. Set / Nishizawa Fuetune

This fabulous accordion book style collection is both an academic’s treasure trove and an artistic achievement, featuring colorful hand-painted woodblock prints of ‘ema’, Japanese Shinto and Buddhist shrine plaques or offerings.
 
An ema (絵馬) is a small wooden plaque used for writing prayers or wishes, often featuring painted images. These are a way for people to connect with the spirits or deities (kami) and express their hopes and desires. E means ‘painting’ and ma ‘horse’, a name stemming from the tradition of donating live horses to temples as offerings centuries ago. Eventually, wooden plaques were introduced in the shape of a horse or with images of horses by those unable to afford the largesse of donating live horses. As times changed, many other designs came into style.
 
The author, who we believe is Nishizawa Fuetune, muses about the history of the ema and the evolution in its design since the 700s, which is the time he traces back to the first such wooden offerings. 
 
Each accordion folded page in the book features recreations of ema artwork from a woodblock print then colorfully hand-painted. 
 
The collection was published by art publisher Naosaburo Yamada, who founded Unsodo in Kyoto in 1891 to focus on art and design book publishing, using the name Yamada Geishodo. According to Amazon Japan, this study was published in 1917. According to Google Translate, our set was printed May 1, 1919.
 
We found only one identical listing online, sold by Amazon.co.jp after asking ¥73,210 (approx. $ 495).
 
We believe this was purchased by the Burr sisters during a trip to Japan in the 1920s or 1930s. 
 
It is very good condition for its age although the cover of the set is a bit worn, pages may be a bit warped (more visible in photos than on the actual pages), and there are rusty paperclip marks on two pages inside the first volume as shown in photos demonstrating that it is accordion style.
 
H 9 7/8” x 7 1/4” x D 1 1/2” as a boxed set.
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.