西川滿在日治時期的臺灣文壇是個相當活躍的作家，他的著作相當豐富而且多元，包括童話、詩集、小說、民話等。西川氏不但是一位文學家，也是一位浪漫唯美的出版家。他一生致力於出版美麗的書，其裝幀作品最大的特色就是承繼了早稻田大學老師吉江喬松博士「地方主義」文學的理想，充滿了浪漫的異國風情與臺灣色彩。

1934年，西川滿在台北開設「媽祖書房」，開始製作限定版的手工書。西川氏書籍裝幀藝術的生涯最早可以說是受到旅臺藝術家塩月桃甫的啟發，之後又一路受到武井武雄、恩地孝四郎等人的影響，而他對書籍「限定版」和創作版畫、插圖設計的狂熱，又與近代歐洲和明治以來的文藝思潮及出版文化息息相關。

Nishikawa Mitsuru, a writer active during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan, wrote many poems, fiction, fairy tales, and so forth. In addition to being a writer, Nishikawa was a publisher and book jacket designer, and many of the books he designed were issued as limited editions. Nishikawa’s book designs are marked by exotic aesthetics and the influence of Yoshie Takamatsu’s régionalisme, and the vestiges of Shiotsuki Tōho, Takei Takeo, Onchi Kōshirō, among others. This article will discuss Nishikawa’s fanaticism for limited editions, creative woodcut prints, illustration, and how his book design is strongly related to the publishing cultures of modern Europe and Meiji Japan.