Bakumatsuya Rare Books & Photos

At Bakumatsuya, we deal in rare books, manuscripts, dictionaries and phrase books, photos, woodblock prints, maps and other printed items relating to Japan mostly from the 1600s to the 1930s with a special interest in items from the 1850s to 1870s when Japan was opening up to the West. Our clients include private collectors, dealers, museums, universities and other institutions both public and private in Japan and overseas.

We issue e-catalogues of items every few months so if you would like to receive them, please let us know and we'll happily add you to our mailing list. Our focus is more on quality and/or rarity rather than quantity so we are always looking for rarities to buy as well. If you have any such items, feel free to contact us at info at bakumatsuya.com. Also, if you are searching for any particular items, we can keep an eye out for you so let us know your areas of interest. Currently the business is run from a private residence in Yokohama, Japan, so please make an appointment if you'd like to see a particular item.

The Bakumatsu Era was, arguably, one of the most interesting periods in Japan's long history. It mainly covers the period when Perry's ships came in 1853 until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Just fifteen years but full of huge change and a period when so many beautiful things were produced here in Japan. 'Baku' is short for 'Bakufu' (Shogunate) and 'Matsu' means 'end' so the word 'Bakumatsu' means 'end of the Bakufu'. Finally 'ya' means 'a shop'. Welcome to Bakumatsuya.