Kyokuba Shaseicho Book

"Kyokuba" (曲馬) refers to a circus or equestrian show — a touring entertainment that became a regular fixture in Japan's open ports from the late nineteenth century onward — and "shaseicho" (写生帖) denotes a sketchbook or album of observed drawings. The title indicates a bound print album recording scenes from such a touring show, likely seen in Kobe, where Western and continental performers regularly disembarked. The album format permitted Kawanishi to assemble multiple compositions on a single subject — bareback riders, acrobats, animal acts, audience views, tent exteriors — at modest individual cost, and aligns with the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) preference for self-published, artist-conceived projects over commercial single-sheet publishing. Each print would have been carved and printed by the artist, in keeping with the movement's principle of unified authorship. As subject matter, the circus extends Kawanishi's broader interest in the cosmopolitan visual life of his port city: international performers, Western-style entertainments, and the heterogeneous crowds they drew. The album sits among his more unusual works, blending reportage with the decorative compression characteristic of his style.