絵本赤穂義士銘々伝
An 1887 Japanese woodblock-style picture book titled 絵本赤穂義士銘々伝, published by Shinshindō, illustrating the lives of the forty-seven loyal ronin of Akō for a general readership. The pictures are black-and-white line prints with dense hatching and patterned textiles: a kneeling figure beside a lacquered tray, a samurai with a long spear and a rolled fabric bundle, and a group of seated men in a richly patterned interior. A designer might take the bold woodblock contour lines, the geometric lattice and kimono motifs, and the tight compositions of figures against plain or patterned grounds.
