Here is a picture of the 26 volumes that I’ve accumulated (Genshoku Nihon no Bijutsu) since publication for the Meiji Centennial in 1968:
The four volumes I need to complete this set are:
- 8 Emakimono
- 23 Men to Sho Zo
- 24
- 26
Long, long ago, when I was going to school at Sophia University in Tokyo, the Monbusho subsidized publication of a 30-volume series (Genshoku Nihon no Bijutsu pub by Shogakukan). Many of these were further discounted through the bookstores in Jimbocho, where I picked up about 16 of them.
Each time I visited Tokyo over the years I went through the Jimbocho bookstores, and finally got up to a total of 27 volumes.
One of my wife’s bone-headed friends spoiled No. 8 — so I’m back to 26 books.
Now, I’m looking for four non-sequential volumes to fill out the set of 30.
By the 1990’s the Jimbocho bookstores seemed to have exhausted their supply of these books. So, even if I visited Jimbocho today, I doubt that I’d find any of this series at all — and very unlikely to find the 4 volumes I am seeking to complete the set.