1873 Robun Illustrated Comic Travelogue of a 'Western Journey'

A rare set of three books from a fictional serialized comic travelogue written in the early 1870s by Kanagaki Robun. The series, titled 'Travels on the Western Road,' is a distinctive product of the early Meiji period, when fascination with Western technology and culture peaked, a phenomenon the book both reinforces and ridicules.

A Closer Look

The map seen above (image 2) covers the Old World and traces the legs of the journey undertaken by the story's protagonists, Yajirobē and Kitahachi, around the coast of Asia, through the Suez Canal and Gibraltar, on to London, and their return journey around the Cape of Good Hope. The following image is a multipart foldout including two separate illustrations, the first of foreigners eating aboard a steamship (蒸氣飛腳船), the second retelling a heroic French military engagement (probably derived from an 1872 Japanese book titled 'Popular French Military Tales' 通俗孛佛軍談). Additional illustrations depict scenes of the protagonists' misadventures from the story. These books constitute the second part of the story's fourth volume, detailing travels in and around Singapore, and the sixth volume, discussing travels between Goa and Aden.

Seiyōdōchū Hizakurige, A Journey to the West

The book Seiyōdōchū Hizakurige (西洋道中膝栗毛) is a fifteen part satirical travelogue written by Kanagaki Robun (with the last three volumes by Fuso Kan 総生寛, 1841 - 1894) and illustrated by several leading ukiyo-e artists of the day, including Hiroshige III and Kawanabe Kyōsai. The volumes were published between late 1870 and 1876. The title can be translated as 'Travels on the Western Road: Hizakurige,' derived from a popular early 19th century comic picaresque (kokkeibon) travelogue titled Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (東海道中膝栗毛) about a journey on the Tōkaidō highway between Kyoto and Edo. Seiyōdōchū Hizakurige updates the story to reflect the Meiji era fascination with Western culture and modernization. Hizakurige means, roughly, to 'travel by foot,' so the book's title is itself a joke since, in this instance, the protagonists primarily travel by steamship.

The book humorously explores the adventures of Yajirobē and Kitahachi (also the protagonists' names in Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige), two Yokohama merchants who decide to attend an international exposition in London, traveling there by way of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, Ceylon, Suez and Cairo, and finally on to London. As the characters navigate foreign lands and customs, the book offers a comedic critique of the Westernization occurring in Japan at the time. The work is notable for its blend of traditional Japanese storytelling with contemporary themes, reflecting the cultural and social changes of the Meiji era. Robun himself had never traveled outside of Japan but had mastered English and was able to use accounts of the outside world to craft his narrative.

Placed in a wider context, the book was contemporaneous with Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days and contains a similar mix of adventure, futurism, and comedy. The title and concept of a journey to the West would also have a special resonance in Japan, where any educated reader would be well familiar with the Chinese classic Journey to the West (西遊記), which also integrates comedy, satire, and adventure with more serious topics (religion and spirituality).

Publication History and Census

'Travels on the Western Road' was primarily written by Kanagaki Robun and published between 1870 and 1876 by Mankyūkaku (萬笈閣). The books presented here represent one full volume and half of another of the entire fifteen-volume (or chapter) set. The book is listed among the holdings of ten institutions outside of Japan in the OCLC, though it is difficult to know if these constitute complete or partial runs of the entire set.