Oriental pictures with text, any ideas?

I have a pair of pictures that appear to done in pen and ink and wash, with what may be a story by each one and a possible artist signature top right.

They are about 18" by 24" in plain ebonised rounded edge frames, paper covered backs look failrly old.



Signature like a Japanese woodblock print,



and a text panel on the left



I will insert a couple of pictures of the other one later, the camera ran out of battery while I was working on the pictures.

I'll be sending them off to the saleroom but it would be nice to know if they are any known genre or period. My guess is late Mejii but they may not be Japanese, even.

 

Certainly Japanese; note the hiragana notation alongside some of the characters.

On Asian works, signatures are most commonly lower left.