2025 INH DH Activity: Understanding Yoshiwara, the setting of "Berabou," through "collaboration transcription"
Tsutaya Juzaburo is the protagonist of the 2025 taiga drama Berabou. Did you know that the bestselling book he published is actually housed in the Osaka University Library?
In this workshop, even beginners can experience the joy of reading, even without prior knowledge of kuzushiji, with the support of the latest AI technology (NDL-OCR Lite). Lecturer Yuta Hashimoto, a leading figure in the Digital Humanities (DH), will teach participants the modern transcription process, in which AI-read text is then edited and structured by humans.
Why not try and bring to life with your own hands the world of parodies and beautiful illustrations created by the Edo media mogul.
Event Overview
- Name: UOsaka Rare Book Transcription Workshop - Understanding Yoshiwara, the setting of "Berabou," through "collaboration transcription" -
- Date and time: Monday, February 16, 2026 14:00-17:00
- Venue: UOsaka Toyonaka Campus, Language and Culture Studies Building A, 2nd floor, Large Lecture Room
- Eligible participants: Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, and people from outside the university (maximum of 30 people, priority given to students and library staff)
- Participation fee: Free
- Organized by: INH (Interdisciplinary Network in the Humanities)
- Cooperation: Osaka University Library
Lecturer/Facilitator
- Lecturer: Associate Professor Yuta Hashimoto (National Museum of Japanese History / Developer of Minnade Honkoku)
- Facilitator: Natsuko Yoshiga (INH, Graduate School of Humanities, The University of Osaka)
Materials used (owned by Ninchoji Bunko)
The following IIIF public documents will be used as teaching materials.
- "Hana Sumai (Real: A Thousand Books at a Glance)": Tsutaya Juzaburo's debut work. Perfect for beginners.
- "The Geography of the Prostitutes": A parody of geography that portrays Yoshiwara as a fictional country. Practice interpreting context and deciphering metaphors.
- "Itamu Tosaku-o Ikyoku-uta: Kyoka Poems in Memory of Master Tosaku": Advanced material related to supporters of Tsutaya Juzaburo (reference exhibit).
Timetable for the day
| time | Content | detail |
| 14:00 | opening | Purpose explanation: Connecting the digital and the physical |
| 14:15 | Introduction | Lecture "Why read with AI now?" Operation lecture |
| 14:50 | Exercise 1: Reading the names of flowers | Beginner: Complete the list of courtesan names |
| 15:30 | break | Visualization of communication and progress |
| 15:50 | Exercise 2: Deciphering the Map of Another World | Application: Deciphering geography parodies and constructing modern language maps |
| 16:40 | Sharing results/comments | Today's results presentation and comments from the lecturer |
| 17:00 | end | dissolution |
Application
Please apply using the form below.