First published in 2005. This concise and comprehensive guide to the reading and interpretation of Japanese proper names, dates and other formal expressions was first published in 1923. Intended for the use of art collectors and students who wish to find the identity of signatures in Japanese ideographs, the book offers instructions on counting the strokes of a character, analysing sounds, predicting consonantal and vowel changes, reading dates, and analysing signatures. Also included are listings of Emperors, personages, and provinces, an index of names, and a dictionary of characters used in names.