Eighth Day

I have finished the course. I have to be honest however and say that I couldn't keep up the same level of motivation throughout the course, to the point where my posts couldn't have amount of quality that I know they could have had. Especially if I wanted to make this blog a detailed summary of the course. There was also the fact that I didn't feel the need to write down many thoughts as I went through the course. There were times where I felt the blog even distracted me from it.

I have heard that Keio University will prepare a new course, one on China and Japan. I will use this blog further to document my progress through that course.

It will be awkward however with the title and all. I will have to use a different titling format for the new course.

Seventh Day

Week 3 is focused on Edo period book publishing.

Hyakumantoudarani is the oldest printed work which can be confirmed with certainty, with the actual item and references to it in records both available. It was made by the second half of the 8th century.

However by that time, printing in China and Korea was widespread.

A copy of the Diamond Sutra at the British Library was printed in China at around 868 and is considered the world's first printed book.

Printing in Japan initially was done mostly by Buddhist monks for Buddhist works, one aspect of it being that sutra printing, like sutra copying, was a form of devotion.

Waka and monogatari works were never printed during the 800-year period up to the Edo period. They were written mostly in Hiragana and they were enjoyed by small elite circles with means to produce luxurious handwritten works.

Printing initially produced mostly official Chinese works. Japanese works by Japanese people made a tiny percentage of printed works in Japan in the past.

Sixth Day

For codexes, titles are placed either on the left or in the center.

For poetry books, the title is placed usually on the left, and for prose books the title is usually placed in the center. According to the lesson, this has to do with how titles are placed on scrolls. On scrolls, titles are placed on the left on the outer side because if it were placed in the center, they would be covered, at least partially, when rolled up.

So for a codex to have its title on the left, it would mean that its quality is comparable to a scroll.

It is also important to take a look at the physical appearance of the book itself.

The shapes and sizes of old Japanese books are formats themselves. They are:

1. Yotsuhan-bon
2. Mutsuhan-bon
3. Yokonaga-bon
4. Yatsuhan-bon
5. Masugata-bon
6. Oversized books

 The formats are usually created by how a large rectangular sheet is folded and cut. This large rectangular sheet must have been how sheets of paper was made at least for a certain period of time in Japanese history. Fold a sheet into four sections and you get a Yotsuhan-bon, six and you get Mutsuhan-bon, eight Yatsuhan-bon. The rectangular books are called Yotsuhan-bon due to the shape of the second fold. Mutsuhan-bon are square because of how the three folds are done. Rectangular books were usually poetry books, while square books were usually prose books, and poetry was held in higher regard than prose books.

I did not get the two quizzes I've had on Week 2 right the first times so far... :(

Since hishi cannot be made in high quantities, maniai-gami ("makeshift paper") was used as the substitute. However it seems like lower-quality pictures could only be made on maniai-gami, compared to the beautiful pictures I've seen on hishi.

Week 3 will move on to the printed format.

Fifth Day

This week the course will be looking at illustrations in Japanese books from the 9th century to the 17th century. Reformating and rebinding will also be covered.

There are five types of conversion and two of them are not converting to scrolls. But one of them could then follow one of the to-scroll conversion types. Detchōsō 粘葉装 is the only major format not involved in any of them.

Here are the five.

1. Scroll to accordion
2. Accordion to scroll
3. Tetsuyōsō to scroll
4. Fukurotoji to scroll
5. Fukurotoji to tetsuyousou

It's also quite important to see the signs of format change, to know whether an accordion book was a scroll in a past life, and vice versa. Of course, after a certain amount of time, physical signs will be there, like a scroll that used to be an accordion book will have folded creases no matter what. The properties of the materials used will affect physical signs.

For formats that have writing on both sides, like the detchōsō 粘葉装 and tetsuyōsō 綴葉装, in order to convert them to the scroll, where writing is only on one side, one has to perform a process called aihagi 相剥ぎ, which is splitting the sheet into different layers.

One can perform aihagi by running one's finger through gaps and slowly peeling off the layers that make up a single sheet. Nothing complicated.

Since there are many ways to convert books to the scroll format, it speaks of the scroll format's prestige. And the fact that there is a way to convert fukurotoji books to tetsuyōsō speaks of tetsuyōsō's higher status than the fukurotoji.

It's important to know whether a book has changed formats, not just for the sake of seeing the physical signs and having a good eye for detail. It is important to know for research purposes, since if one fails to see that a scroll was once of another format, and assumes that the scroll was the most authoritative and reliable version, due to the prestige of the scroll format, the chances of making mistakes would be high.

In Japanese bookbinding, there are both gedai (outer title) and naidai (inner title). In Chinese and Korean printed books, the titling format most used is the naidai where the title is inside the book before the text. Many Japanese books do not have inner titles, which is a problem when covers were frequently replaced. This problem leaves books without titles altogether, and the books would go by working titles or aliases, without any way to determine the proper title. It strikes me odd that the Japanese wouldn't use inner titles to circumvent this problem.

So far I've gone up to [2.8]. I'll do more later. I'm going to do some review right now.

Fourth Day

I've forgotten to list the names of those teaching this course, lead educator Takahiro Sasaki and Wataru Ichinohe. Thank you.

[1.13] Less Common Binding Methods

Tatamimono (fold-up books) Unit: ho

-An interesting binding method where a large sheet is folded several times until covers are added.

Tan'yousou ("single leaf" binding)

-Where single leaves are stacked on top of each other and bound.

Musubitoji ("knot" binding)

-Sometimes referred to Yamato-toji, but since tetsuyousou was known by that term as well, musubitoji is more commonly used.

Houhaisou ("wrapped-spine" binding)

-A single piece was used as the front cover, spine, and back cover. Much like the books I see nowadays, paperback or hardcover.

[1.14] Identify the Binding

It seems like I only had to answer just one question. I just had to look at the provided pictures closely and remember the lessons before to identify the correct binding. I guess one question is enough.

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So this concludes the third section of Week 1: Binding Styles.

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So I am now at the final section of Week 1:

Summary of Week 1

This activity reviews what we have covered during this week ( history of writing in Japan, binding methods) and introduces the libraries of Keio University.

[1.15] Welcome to the Library
[1.16] Summary of Week 1
[1.17] Closing Discussion of Week 1

To say something on the founding of Keio University as a school for Dutch studies, which was pretty much Western studies at the time in 1858, I am going to be taking courses on Dutch and Frisian later on FutureLearn.

I'll do some review before moving on to Week 2.

Third Day

Today I do the third section of Week 1.

Binding Styles

In this activity, we will explore the main book-binding methods and some less common ones.

[1.8] Main Binding Methods 1 - Scroll
[1.9] Main Binding Methods 2 - Accordion Binding
[1.10] Main Binding Methods 3 - Detchousou
[1.11] Main Binding Methods 4 - Tetsuyousou
[1.12] Main Binding Methods 5 - Fukurotoji
[1.13] Less Common Binding Methods
[1.14] Identify the Binding (Quiz)

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[1.8] Main Binding Methods 1 - Scroll

Traditional bookmaking methods in Japan were were first invented in China, coming into Japan in successive waves much like Kanji pronunciations.

Printing was more widespread in China and Korea compared to Japan. In Japan, literacy was limited and distances were shorter, so printing was reserved for Buddhist monks.

It was because of printing being more widespread, binding methods suited to printed books were mostly for sake of efficiency, since publishing is a form of mass production. Japanese binding methods were more varied since printing and literacy weren't as widespread. There was no need to be concerned about efficiency so varieties of formats and binding methods were permissable, according to content and aim of each book.

I would say the scroll would be cumbersone. It would be hard to just hold the scroll right out in front of you, especially with having to progress through the book and there being a risk of tearing or similar risks. One is best reading a scroll on top of a flat surface.

For the five main binding methods, the first three have their sheets bound with glue, with the latter two with thread or string. The latter three are codex-style formats, and called soushi. Formats III and IV have writing on both sides usually, but not so for I and II, although I don't know how it would be possible at all in the first place for I, especially depending on how the individual scroll is made. No word on V.

The anatomy of the scroll:

Any writing on the rear side is called uragaki "rear inscription".

The dowel that makes the hassou, the long, thin half-moon shaped bamboo dowel, is called a takehigo.

One advantage a scroll has over the codex is that the viewing area is larger, which makes it better for illustrations, charts and diagrams. A drawback is one can't just go to the section or "page", one has to scroll through.

One reads a scroll by rolling up the opening end, starting with the osaedake, and moving the scroll to keep the desired text right in front of the reader. It seems like one keeps the rolled front end the same width as the end with the jikugashira. Of course this wouldn't be possible as one gets closer to the end of the book.

The counting unit for this is called 'jiku'.

[1.9] Main Binding Methods 2 - Accordion Binding

II. Orihon (concertina or accordion-style binding)

Unit: jou

Orihon looks like a precursor to the codex proper. And it is a little better than the scroll, since there was no need to rewind an orihon, and since one can read an orihon even with both hands not holding it down. One can either open up an orihon completely like a scroll, or open up a particular section like a proper codex. However with the folded creases, using the orihon format for illustrations was not favorable.

Because like the scroll, the orihon has larger page area and can still be read with both hands off, the orihon is still used for calligraphy manuals. I wouldn't know honestly about calligraphy manuals.

II-a. Orijou

The orijou is an orihon, but with thicker paper. The thicker paper is achieved with two sheets pasted together, and is too thick to be rolled up in a scroll. The thick paper allowed pasting on various other things.

II-b. Gajousou

Similar to the orijou in its two-sheet pages, but the edge of the front cover sticks out to protect the spine, according to the lesson page. The format was introduced in late Edo, and was used for pictures at least. In the video, I think the professor also called them gajoutoji.

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Although China and Korea may have created the codex, and similar formats to best fit mass-printing, Japan's lack of widespread literacy in the past may have been a blessing in disguise, in the fact that other bookmaking formats were created to serve a variety of purposes. Especially in orihon still being used today, which speaks of its practical usefulness, despite not being the codex which is the format mainly used today.

[1.10] Main Binding Methods 3 - Detchousou

III. Detchousou (oriental style binding)

Unit: jou

This book binding method was achieved by folding sheets in the middle, stacking them on top of each other, and pasting near the folds. To be more precise, according to the video the folded leaves are glued to each other side by side. This method was brought to Japan by Kukai, from the books he brought back from China. This format had weaknesses, such as the glue being prone to coming off easily, and the books themselves being vulnerable to being eaten by insects. The shinamushi lay their eggs on detchousou books and the larvae feed on the parts with the glue, which is most nutritious. So by the Kamakura era this method mostly fell out of use, save for the Shingon sect which continues to use it to the modern day. Possibly due to Shingon being Kukai's sect and continuing to use detchousou out of tradition.

The detchousou is probably the oldest codex-style binding.

What attracts the shimi and other bugs, like shiba(n)mushi, that feed on the detchousou?

[1.11] Main Binding Methods 4 - Tetsuyousou

IV. Tetsuyousou ("multisection" binding)

Unit: jou

Also known as retsujousou, tetchousou, or retchousou. It was also called Yamato-toji because the format is closely associated with Japan, and was initially believed to have been developed in Japan, until the discovery of pre-Tang books in China.

The format used mostly hishi, and specially made choshi.

It is similar to the detchousou, but instead the sheets are stacked on top of each other, five sheets per stack, and folded. More stacks are added, and with holes opened near the creases, and the covers are then added, with threads passed through the holes to bind the stacks of sheets and covers together.

[1.12] Main Binding Methods 5 - Fukurotoji

V. Fukurotoji ("bound-pocket" or "pouch" binding)

Unit: Satsu (learned this one in Japanese class :) )

The sheets are folded in two, crease-side out, stacked on top of each other, and fastened using paper strips called koyori, and covers are added and all is bound together using thread.

Only one side was written on, so usually thin paper was used.

Books bound in this style but are without covers are called Karitojibon ("semi-bound" books).

A variant of fukurotoji where the folding is done at the bottom of the sheet and the binding is done at the right side is called nagachou-toji (wide-page binding).

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I think I'll complete the rest of Week 1 tomorrow.

Second Day

So far for Week 1, I've finished two sections:

Japan, Country of Books

Let’s take a first look at Japanese book culture and explore the various types of books and scripts that have been used in traditional Japanese bookmaking.

• [1.1] Introduction
• [1.2] What is the Oldest Book in Your House?
• [1.3] How to Handle Japanese Rare Books
• [1.4] Glossary

Japanese books, writing, and papers

We will learn about the history of writing in Japan and main types of paper used in Japanese bookmaking.

• [1.5] Japanese Books and Writing
• [1.6] The Introduction of the Chinese Writing and the Origins of Kana
• [1.7] Types of Paper Used in Traditional Bookmaking

I will continue Week 1, with the next section tomorrow. I am also going to change the format of note taking for this blog. Make it more refined.

I wonder if it's possible to proceed to the next week of lessons before the next calendar week.