[ via Bitflux Blog ] An online exhibit of Edo Era (17th to Early 20th Century CE) woodblock prints is not as ‘pretty’ as Hiroshige’s work. Instead, these are annotated illustrations of the news of the day (as far as I can tell.) Some are rough sketches, others are detailed, colorful images of fires, battles, and the Imperial Court.
My favorite is the print of what appears to be an official procession:
The various personages along the march are called out with notes.
I don’t know if that’s supposed to be dialog, their names, or catty comments on what they’re wearing.
The pages don’t set an encoding, so unless you’re on a Japanese-localized system, the text will be garbled.
