SIGNED ILLUTRATED HISTORY & TOURIST ATTRACTIONS OF JAPAN. We Japanese, being descriptions of the characteristics, history, legendry [sic], tradition, drama, images, shrines, temples, customs, manners besides numerous other subjects. Vol. I, 200 pages, 355 illustrations; Vol. II, 200 pages, 389 illustrations.

Yokohama, Japan: Yamagata Press, 1947. First editions, later 1947 printings.

PUBLISHED 2 YEARS AFTER END OF WW2: HISTORY AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS OF JAPAN--2 ILLUSTRATED VOLUMES IN TRADITIONAL JAPANESE BINDINGS SIGNED BY AUTHOR, PRESIDENT OF FAMOUS HOTEL.

Two volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall, silk-covered paper wrappers, traditional Japanese string binding with folded rice paper pages, decorative vertical paper label to covers. Volume 1 signed in ink on front endpaper by Alsuharu Sakai (collaborator) Tokyo, Xmas 1948, with Japanese characters; Volume 2 signed on pictorial frontis by K.M. Yamaguchi, President, Fujiya Hotel, Miyanoshita, 20th Jan, 1949, with Japanese characters. Vol. 1 cover edges worn, top edge soiled, overall good+; Vol. 2 minimal wear to cover edges, text edges darkened, otherwise very good. Both volumes in archival custom mylar covers.

MIYANOSHITA is one of the Seven Hot Springs of Hakone, Japan. The hot springs have been an attraction for tourists and pleasure-seekers for hundreds of years going back to the beginning of the Edo period. The Fujiya Hotel is one of the oldest in Japan, founded in 1878. Notable guests include Charles Chaplin, Helen Keller, John Lennon, and Prince Albert (later George VI) of the UK. The Main Building, the Comfy Lodge, Restful Cottage, the Flower Palace, and the Annex Kikka-so Inn are all registered as important cultural assets. These books, signed by an author hotel president, respectively, were printed 2 years after the end of World War II. The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent.