Japanese Word of the Day: Kibyōshi

Kibyōshi were a form of illustrated book popular in Japan around the year 1780. Relying on both text and picture to convey a story, they veer very close to modern-day manga. The example above is from a draft version of a kibyōshi by Santō Kyōden about how writing a novel compares to giving birth, and is particularly comic-like insofar as it has cartoons in the place of the more formal woodcut figures of the final version. You can browse both versions here at the National Diet Library.