Author: Gomeiro Tamasuke & Ito Senzo
Title: [Kaimeikidan Shashinnoadauchi].
Description: Tokyo?, Hiyoshido 1887 (Meiji 20) 19x12cm publisher's cloth backed colour illustrated boards; 100pp, one double page, four full page illustrations. Smudges and minor signs of use, rather good. ¶ A murder mystery revenge tale in which a photograph both identifies the killer and can curse that killer. Stabbing portraits has a long history in the west but usually in fury, for wish fullfilment and, in a few cases, as practice for the real thing. Witchcraft didn't come into it. As far as I'm aware using a portrait to curse someone was not much of a thing in Japan, there were plenty of other ways. And photographs? Is there any earlier use of photos to curse someone?This is a reprint; it first appeared, I think, in 1884 in two parts. It is a sokkibon, a stenographic book, from a story told by Gomeiro transcribed by Ito. And it's a 'ball cover' (boru hyoshi) book - a symbol of modernity and the Japanese equivalent of a yellowback: flimsy western style bindings with lithograph covers that rarely survive in decent shape. Worldcat finds no copies of any edition outside Japan.

Keywords: literature fiction thrillers detective mystery c19th Japan photography occult