Exhibition Themes > East Asian Collections > 22. Urashima Tarō
22. Urashima Tarō. Japan: s.n., 16--? Painted scroll, (48 x 1,105 cm.) C. V. Starr East Asian Library
This scroll, which has seven illustrations, including two contiguous pictures, is another version of the folk tale of Urashima Tarō. The story progresses as the scroll is unrolled, from right to left. It is an example of illustrated manuscript material that continued to appear even as the development of popular printed book publications began to expand. The combination of text and illustration has a long history in Japan, with popular books of the Edo period (1600-1868) developing integrated text and picture to a high degree-the forerunner of today's manga, or cartoon books.
Gift of Bertha Margaret Frick, 1959
