Collection of Japanese Kawaraban

Published in Japan primarily during the Edo period (1600-1868), kawaraban are cheaply mass produced broadsides that report newsworthy events in writings and illustrations. According to scholars, all kawaraban share particular features: newsworthy content, commercially sold, printed very soon after the event, illegally published without government authorization, and published anonymously. The prints appeared in various formats and sizes and were printed in large quantities on cheap paper to keep costs down. As the material indicates, the prints were meant for short-term enjoyment rather than for preservation. Kawaraban addressed a range of topics, including natural disasters, superstitious happenings, murders, and occasionally political satire. Printers chose topics more to entertain readers than to educate them. Visual components such as illustrations, diagrams, and maps attracted the people to the print and helped them to understand the text, as well as sometimes offering additional information. The increase in publications coincided with the spread of literacy in both urban and rural areas.

While newsworthy events inspired the production of these broadsides, their journalistic integrity is somewhat questionable – kawaraban were prone to exaggeration and more in the vein of tabloid than newspaper, using humor, wit, and political satire to entice readers. It was for these aspects that the shogunate sought to quell the production of kawaraban. Throughout the Edo period the shogunate repeatedly restricted printing for a mass audience, particularly seeking to avoid rumors and political commentary. By the time Commodore Perry and the Black Ships arrived at the end of the Edo period in 1853, however, the system of censorship could not keep up with the number of prints in circulation. Banning the kawaraban proved nearly impossible because of their popularity and instead drove publishers underground, though these illicit broadsides could be found in just about every street and shop, particularly in port cities.