Wikipedia
Kuchi-e are frontispieces of books, especially woodblock printed fronticpieces for Japanese romance novels and literary magazines published from the 1890s to the 1910s.
They usually portrayed women and were bounded into the book's spine or inserted into literary magazines to give readers a sense of what type of stories were to unfold. Most Kuchi-e were woodblock prints in romance novels intended for a female audience. However, some were lithographs, and some were inserted into other types of literature. Most measured either 22 x 30 cm or 14 x 20 cm, the former being folded in thirds, and the latter being folded in half. In the kuchi-e by Mizuno Toshikata, note the two horizontal fold lines and the margin on top for binding. Artists who designed kuchi-e include Hirezaki Eiho, Ikeda Shoen, Kaburagi Kiyokata, Kajita Hanko, Mishima Shoso, Mizuno Toshikata, Odake Kokkan, Ogata Gekko, Suzuki Kason, Takeuchi Keishu, Terasaki Kogyo, Tomioka Eisen, Tsutsui Toshimine, Utagawa Kunimatsu, Watanabe Seitei, and Yamada Keichu.