Illustrated Edo period woodblock printed books containing humorous poems known as kyōka 狂歌.
Early examples include the 1679 Kokon kyōkasen 古今狂歌仙, compiled by Aikō Ken 愛香軒 and published in Kyoto, and the 1681 Bokuyō kyōkashū卜養狂歌集, written by Nakarai Bokuyō 半井卜養 (1607-78), with illustrations by Hishikawa Moronobu 菱川師宣 (c. 1618-94). Kyōka became very popular in Edo during the Tenmei 天明 era (1781-89) and continued to be popular among both townsmen and samurai. Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 (1753-1806) and other prominent *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 masters produced eiri kyōkabon, and many finely produced, multi-colored versions were turned out by the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō 蔦屋重三郎 (1750-97). The finest eiri kyōkabon were produced during the Tenmei and Kansei 寛政 eras (1781-1801). An early example is the Azumaburi kyōka bunko 吾妻曲狂歌文庫, complied by Yadoya Meshimori 宿屋飯盛 and published in 1786.
Just after the turn of century, the painter and print designer Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) produced a type of design where the kyōka runs as an inscription at the top of the picture, rather than the previous style in which the picture held a prominent position with the kyōka following. This style of composition by Hokusai is more properly called kyōka ehon 狂歌絵本. At the end of the Edo period, eiri kyōkabon were still being produced in great numbers, but with light coloring in contrast to the richly colored works of the earlier period.