Thursday, October 09, 2008

Yotsume Toji

"Japanese Bookbinding" by Ikegami was the first bookbinding book that I ever bought and I've always loved its focus on technique and process. I got it the day after my first bookbinding class and I read it cover to cover and gradually made everything in it including all the books, boxes, and scrolls. Just recently I did a few simple stab bindings, shown here, and I still think these bindings are the epitome of style and structure.

Shown right to left: basic four-hole binding yotsume toji; then the embellished corner variation called the Kangxi binding; the third is the tortoise-shell variation called kikkō toji; and then the hemp leaf pattern called asa-no-ha toji (which usually includes the Kangxi corners, I think).


5 comments:

Kristin Saegaert said...

These are so elegant! I also love your pink pages in the books posted previously. Thank you for sharing your talent!

tulibri said...

... there must be some cross-atlantic morphogenetic field ;-) Only today did I start with some stab-bindings after a long abstinence. The handmade papers you used suit the binding style very well - very pretty, all of them!

lori vliegen said...

this was my first bookbinding book too! and, i totally agree with you...the simplicity and elegance of these stab bindings is wonderful! thanks for sharing this!

MyHandboundBooks said...

thanks kristin, tulibri, and lori!

i wonder how much power the morphogenetic field really has over us...?!

Anonymous said...

I love these bindings on the handmad paper they really show up well.

Billie