Birds of Edo

Book excerpt: Admire exquisite birds from an eminent Edo-period nature field guide. As a sequel to "Flowers of Edo", we are pleased to present "Birds of Edo". Of all the illustrated encyclopedias of flora and fauna from the Edo period, "Baien-Kinpu" which was compiled by Baien Mouri, a samurai and a scholar of herbal medicine, was said to be most outstanding nature field guide in terms of its realistic depiction and its beautiful and sensitive brushwork. We have carefully selected 86 images from "Baien-Kinpu", supplemented with explanatory text on the origins of each bird's Japanese name, classification and scientific name, along with information on Japanese literature in which these birds appear. The lively and radiant birds beloved by the people in the Edo period, now return to life in the Reiwa era! As in the previous book, this title is designed in landscape format, enabling the illustrations to be clearly seen in a single page. Art direction is by Kazuhiko Tajima, who designed our bestselling title Bonsai (9784756248299).