Ashurajō 阿修羅帖 - Chronicle of demons, Taisho 9 (1920) 3volumes, each volume contains 100 woodblock printed scenes
Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 (1867-1954) Kokusui Shuppansha 国粋出版社
Title: Ashurajō 阿修羅帖 A chronicle of demons - 3 out of 5 volumes, here for auction volumes 2, 3 and 5
Date: 1920 (Taishō 9): 1921 (Taishō 10)
A superb collection!
Caricatures of demons and monsters drawn by the eccentric architect Chuta Ito, with a strong connection with the political events at the time (WWI). Each page contains half page woodcut print illustration and a satirical commentary. End of each volume contains the list of illustration's titles and the names of the commentator. The theme of these pictures are the world situation at that time when the WW I was about to start. Each country in the world is depicted as a demon, an animal, or a comic figure to interpret the situation, speculation etc. between countries.
Artist: Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 / Kokusui Shuppansha 国粋出版社
Author (text): Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村広太郎
Description: 3 volumes, musubitoji (knot binding) woodblock printed; ink and color on paper; paper covers, each volume contains 100 woodblock
Dimensions: 25.6 x 21.5 x 3.5 cm (each volume)
The volumes can be seen in Pulverer collections here: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/645/title
The covers are worn but inside everything is alright: no wood worm holes, no stains (some dirty corners in volume 2) Any damage can be seen in photos. About half of the content scanned
Chuta Ito is famous for being the architect of Tsukiji Honganji Temple, one of the most fantastical buildings in Tokyo. He has created a very personal "cartoon" that satirizes the situation around World War I with his charming characters.
This book can be considered Chuta's personal "picture diary." In the preface to the first volume, he says that he never intended to publish it in the first place.
The original form of "Asuracho" was a large number of postcards drawn by Chuta. Based on the ever-changing war situation of World War I, the postcards depict the turbulent society of the time .
The postcards are drawn in the form of demons and monsters , and the address side records events and statistical data that are the subject of satire. The five-volume set, "Asuracho," uses only the illustrations, and the address side is not published. One can see here the entire collection:
http://news-sv.aij.or.jp/da2/hagakie/gallery_3_hagakie2.htm
Incidentally, Ito Chuta continued to draw postcards until 1950 (Showa 25), totaling an astounding 3,717 in total. You can view the full collection on the aforementioned website.
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