Asia Bookroom

    Member of ANZAAB - Australia

    Asia China Ephemera Japan Maps South East Asia

Asia Bookroom specialises in books on Asia with smaller sections on the Middle East and the Pacific. Our stock ranges from antiquarian and secondhand books through to ephemera, prints and maps and even some new books. We sell to private customers and institutions around the world. Join our mailing list to receive tailored offerings of new arrivals in your particular area of interest and visit our shop next time you are in Canberra.

Contact Information
Phone: +61 2 6251 5191
Website: http://www.asiabookroom.com
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Lawry Pl Macquarie, 2614 Australia Get Directions

Store Hours

Hours are generally:

Tuesday - Friday: 10.00 - 5.30;

Saturday: 10.00 - 5.00

Sunday: Closed

However, times can vary.

Please check our website to be sure before making a special visit.

Highlights
栗林徳一 [Kuribayashi Tokuichi]. 1943. 秘庫ニューギニア [New Guinea, Hidden Places].
$850
This scrapbook contains a series of newspaper articles by Kuribayashi Tokuichi on his travels in New Guinea shortly before the Pacific War. Once held by a teacher’s college in Yamagata Prefecture, the volume is neatly arranged with articles carefully laid down on to each page.
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[Japanese Declaration of War on America and Britain]. 1941. 詔書 [Imperial Rescript].
$650
Handwritten scroll reproducing the Imperial Rescript issued on 8 December 1941, when Japan declared war against the United States and United Kingdom at the beginning of the Pacific War. The text was copied in full in a neat hand, apparently by a member of the public, perhaps as an expression of support for the Emperor’s words and the national war effort.
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Ishihara Shinobu. 1932. The Series of Plates Designed as Tests for Colour-Blindness.
$300
Early English-language edition of Dr Ishihara Shinobu's landmark work for the detection of colour vision deficiency. The Ishihara plates remain the foundational method for colour-blindness testing in clinical and occupational settings to this day.
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[Japanese Pan-Asianism in Shanghai]. 1944. 上海東亜同文書院大学在籍日本人学生による書簡 [Letters Home from a Japanese Student at Tung Wen College].
$1750
A fascinating collection of Japanese wartime letters sent between members of an Okayama-based family named Takei, dating from the last two years of the Pacific War. The eldest of the three sons of the family was at that time a student at the Tōa Dōbun Shoin University (also known as Tung Wen College) in Shanghai, a Pan-Asianist higher educational college established in 1939.
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Cunningham, Joseph Davey. 1849. A History of the Sikhs, From the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej.
$6250
Joseph Davey Cunningham (1812-1851) wrote this landmark English work on the history of the Sikhs whilst serving as a Captain in the Bengal Engineers and the Political Agent to Bhopal. He had gathered extensive first-hand knowledge during eight years of service as a political assistant on the Sikh frontier. The work gained notoriety for Cunningham's criticism of Sir Henry Hardinge's management of the Anglo-Sikh War - the subsequent disgrace led to his professional ruin and is reported to have hastened his early death at the age of 38.
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[Australia's Wool Trade Through Osaka]. 1935. 大阪ト海運ニテ貨物五千噸以上ヲ取引スル各地 [Ports Trading Over 5,000 Tonnes with Osaka].
$450
This fascinating map of the world shows amounts and import/export trading ratios from the Port of Osaka as of 1935. Around the period, Osaka was one of the major trading ports in Japan as textile and manufacturing industries thrived in the area. The map provides excellent visual cues of the bulk of trades and ratios of import/export with various overseas ports.
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Landor, A. Henry Savage. 1899. In the Forbidden Land. An Account of a Journey into Tibet.
$750
Profusely illustrated account of Landor’s 1897 expedition to Tibet, a region then closed to foreigners. It details his attempts to reach Lhasa, his eventual capture by Tibetan soldiers, and descriptions of the torture and imprisonment he and his servants endured before their release.
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徳力富吉郎 [Tokuriki Tomikichiro]. (Circa 1940s). 富士見高原の富士 [Fuji from the Fujimi Tableland].
$550
Appealing woodblock print by Tokuriki Tomikichiro, one of Japan's leading printmakers, being No. 7 from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. The series was inspired by Hokusai's Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji and Hiroshige's works, while being depicted with a modern sensibility. Mt. Fuji is depicted in early spring from the Fujimi tablelands with the forest at its foot and fields with some remaining snow in the foreground.
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内田勇太郎 [Uchida Yutaro]. 1941. 水盤生花指導書 [Guide to Arranging Flowers in a Water Dish].
$375
Japanese flower arrangement has two main styles according to the types of containers they use: basin and vase. This instruction book shows how to arrange a variety of flowers in various types of basins. Double page illustrations feature arrangements in colour on the left and in black and white with numbers on the right. The numbers on the indicate the correct sequence of putting the flowers together.
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合信氏 [Hobson, Benjamin]. 1858. 西醫略論 [First Lines on the Practice of Surgery in the West].
$3000
Missionary Benjamin Hobson's seminal work on Western medicine, prepared for a Chinese audience. The book covers a wide range of medical subjects, discussing various medical problems and their remedies. The second of the five medical textbooks in Chinese written by Hobson between 1881 and 1858 - it is generally regarded as his best.
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