Itamiya Zenbe
Itamiya Zenbē (伊丹屋善兵衛, 前川善兵衛; c. 1785 - 1941), which was also known by several other names over its history, including Zenbei Maekawa (前川善兵衛) and Bun'eido Itamiya (Maekawa) [文栄堂伊丹屋（前川）], was a publisher based in Osaka. The proliferation of names for the firm is the result of its being an amalgamation of multiple distinct publishers belonging to the Itamiya and Maekawa lineages. The firm was an early adopter of selling books through catalogs and established a reputation as a publisher of Chinese classical works, tea ceremony books, divination books, maps, didactic works, fiction, and later for musical scores. After the Meiji Restoration, the Maekawa family also started to produce musical instruments, educational aids, and school supplies, while the family's publishing arm, rechristened Buneidō Maekawa Shoten (文栄堂前川書店 and later as Maekawa Gōmei Kaisha 前川合名会社 after a fire destroyed its building in 1912), became a leading publisher of educational books and textbooks in Osaka.
Osaka on the Eve of the Meiji Restoration.
改正增補國寶大阪全圖 / [Revised and Supplemented Complete Map of National Treasure Osaka].
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This is an 1863 large-format woodblock city plan or map of Osaka, Japan, prepared by Kawachiya Tasuke and Itamiya Zenbē. It offers a remarkably detailed overview of the city in the late Tokugawa period, when it was one of Japan's largest and wealthiest cities, second only to Edo (later Tokyo). In this era, Osaka remained a major center of commerce and finance despite heavy damage from an uprising in the 1830s. (more details)