Jōruri zue woodblock-printed book

  Jōruri zue (Illustrated Jōruri Chants) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), woodblock-printed book, published posthumously in 1891   Jōruri is a form of storytelling which is accompanied by shamisen (a three-stringed instrument), and is particularly associated with bunraku puppet theatre.  Audiences would have bought books like this because they liked to chant along with their favourite scenes.   Japanese texts were read vertically from top to bottom and from right to left - starting from what non Japanese readers would consider to be the back of the book.