Beautiful Thick Antique Japanese Merchant Ledger with Rope Binding rubber puppet The fact that a few

The fact that a few different companies produced these

Un-used cork stopper included

who carved this one in the 1920s or so

I find them poignant

with five slots in the box corresponding to five sets of blocks

Beautiful Thick Antique Japanese Merchant Ledger with Rope Binding rubber puppet The fact that a fewThis is a an old Japanase merchant ledger book that I believe would be known as a daifuku cho, with sumi ink characters on the front and back covers, handwritten tabs dividing sections, and many of its many many pages filled with ink writing. It is bound at the top with rope; I believe the binding would also be used for hanging it, as I understand it such that it and other ledgers could be quickly gathered up if there was a fire or emergency. Later