ÍUCHI, YOAN (TÍSAI) / TAZAKI SÍUN (Artist) / UTAGAWA SADAHIE (Artist): - "T›kai yawa" Higashiezo yobanashi (Eastern Ezo Night Tales). Three volumes. Edo (Tokyo), Bunen-kaku, Harimaya Katsugor›, Bunkyu 1 (1861).

. Complete in three volumes. Title and colophon + lvs 44, 31, 36. Text in Japanese. With forty-six illustrations. Woodblock printed on thin washi paper and bound in the Japanese fashion (fukuro-toji) in original blue paper wrappers, title labels on front cover. Ex-ownership stamps. Neat pencil annotations in English above illustrations. First edition.An important and rare account of the Ainu people. The author was a medical doctor sent by the Tokugawa government on a three-year journey to Ezo (Hokkaido) to treat the Ainu (1856-9). His report vividly describes the people's everyday life, customs, flora and fauna, and folk tales. Contains six nautical maps and forty illustrations including many bird's-eye views, dwellings, rituals, bear hunting, cooking, etc. Many depict coastal views, including one with "Ainu attacking foreign ships from Kunajiri Island" (Sakhalin) according to pencil annotation. The beautiful woodcut prints are made by the famous artists Utagawa Sadahide and Tazaki S›un. The wrappers have some stains but overall, a fine set. Housed in custom made slipcase. Edgren 556.