Post-War Japan as Inscribed by the Printmaker's Knife - Two Movements in Popular Woodcut
In Factories, Rice Fields, and Classrooms; We All Were Print Artists Once!
Basic Information
| Exhibition Period | Saturday 23 April - Sunday 3 July 2022 (Scheduled for 62 days) |
|---|---|
| Closing Day | Mondays |
| Opening Times | Weekdays: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (last admissions 4:30 p.m.) Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (last admissions 5 p.m.) |
| Organizer, Venue, etc. | Organizer: Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts Venue: Temporary Exhibition Rooms 1 & 2, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts Tour destinations: none |
| Admission Fees | General: 900 (700) yen/ University and senior high school students: 450 (350) yen/ Junior high school students and below: free Fees given in brackets are those for groups of 20 or more people Holders of identification booklets for those with physical, intellectual, or mental disabilities, plus one accompanying person, pay half price |
| Free Shuttle Bus | Free shuttle buses will run from in front of Machida Station on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and Silver Days! |
Exhibition Overview
Chapter 1 Impact of Chinese woodblocks 1947 onwards
Summary of Chapter 1
In February 1947, exhibitions introducing Chinese woodcut (woodblock) prints were held in Kobe and Tokyo, where the scars from World War II were still evident. The one in Kobe was sponsored by the New Group of Print Association of Chinese Residents in Japan, and the one in Tokyo by the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute. As the first large-scale exhibitions of Chinese woodblocks in Japan, they made a great impression to people at the time when they were seeking a democratic society.
Advocated by the novelist and thinker Lu Xun, Muke Yundong (the Woodblock Movement) started in the 1930s in China and spread during the Anti-Japanese War. With woodcuts that could be appreciated by all, including those who were illiterate, the artists promoted the independence of ethnic groups, resisted imperialism and feudalism, depicted the lives of farmers, and educated common people so that they could lead prosperous lives. They also created a number of Lianhuanhua, sequential drawings that tell stories.
After the exhibition in Tokyo, the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute held traveling exhibitions, lending the woodblocks to venues across Japan and getting help from local volunteer groups. Exhibitions of Chinese woodblocks were frequently held in north Kanto in particular, as a branch of the Nihon Bijutsu Kai (Japan Art Society) was located there. The All Japan New Woodblock Conference and Woodblock Festival held in Daigo-machi, Ibaraki, in October 1947 greatly heightened the momentum of the woodcut movement. Lecturers and workshop instructors were sent to the traveling exhibitions in an effort to promote printmaking among common people. The Japan Council to Promote Woodcut was formed mainly by the individuals who were involved in these traveling exhibitions.
1-1 From fire-devastated Kobe and Tokyo
Led by Li Pingfan, a teacher at the Kobe Chinese School who sympathized with the Woodblock Movement, the New Group of Print Association of Chinese Residents in Japan (later the Chinese National Woodblock Association, Japan Branch) held the Exhibition of Early Creative Print of the Republic of China at Kobe Daimaru Department Store from February 3, 1947. On another front, from the 19th of the same month, the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute, led by journalist Saburo Kikuchi, held the Chinese Woodblock Exhibition at Ginza Mitsukoshi, Tokyo. Simultaneously introduced in two cities by coincidence, the new art created for laborers during the Sino-Japanese War evoked a great response.
Kakichi Uchiyama, who once jointly held a woodblock workshop with Lu Xun in Shanghai, described the exhibition in Ginza as follows: “On the burnt-off walls that were barely covered in black curtains on the third floor of war-devastated Ginza Mitsukoshi, only about thirty pieces of artwork in a mishmash of unpainted or glassless frames that must have been scraped together showcased the individualities of the artists who were fostered by the influence of master Lu Xun’s philosophy, clearly indicating the greatness of the master's leadership.”
1-2 Chinese woodblocks introduced in Japan
Initially, the strong influence of German printmaker and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz and Belgian painter Frans Masereel were seen in Chinese woodblocks. Then they gradually developed their own uniqueness and started to gain popularity from the late 1930s. From the late 1940s to the mid 1950s, an assortment of Chinese woodblocks was introduced in Japan, such as ones from the “Anti-Japanese War” era, ones depicting the “Jiefang District”; an area that was under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, and others depicting the construction of the new nation after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Depicting a wide range of subjects from propaganda art to peaceful rural lifestyles, the multifaceted aspects of Chinese woodblocks with its unique style developed to express light and shadow greatly influenced Japanese printmakers.
1-3 Traveling exhibitions of Chinese wood engravings and the emergence of the Woodcut Movement
With Shanghai and Tokyo as its bases, the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute was established in 1946 by Saburo Kikuchi, who was the China correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun, along with Sinologist Masao Shimada and thinker Kazuo Fukumoto. After the success of the Chinese Woodblock Exhibition in 1947, they embarked on nationwide traveling exhibitions. In a year from February 1947, a total of 76 exhibitions were held in Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aomori, Iwate, Hokkaido, Okayama, and Fukuoka. They loaned artworks in bundles containing around 30 items each, sending workshop instructors and lecturers in theory/history on demand. To promote the movement in western Japan, they partnered with the Japanese branch of the Chinese National Woodblock Association, led by Li Pingfan. The individuals who were involved in these traveling exhibitions later became the main members who established the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut. The traveling exhibitions inspired the spread of newly formed woodcut groups from north Kanto across the nation.
Chapter 2 Post-War Woodcut Movement Art that immediately responds to the current of the times 1949 onwards
Summary of Chapter 2
The Japan Council to Promote Woodcut was established in October 1949 within the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute. While its main players were theorists to start with, printmakers, including Jiro Takidaira, Koshi Ota, Kenji Suzuki, Hiroharu Nii, and Makoto Ueno, gradually took over as the leading figures. Many of the printmakers were into proletarian art or satirical comics before the war. Similar in style to comic and picture stories, Lianhuanhua was the perfect medium for them. Forming a group called Osunita, an acronym for each member, they went on research trips and produced Lianhuanhua booklets such as the Picture Book Tale of Hitachi and Tale of Hanaoka. They interacted with local farmers, laborers, and cultural figures for research to make the booklets.
From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, Hiroharu Nii and Kenji Suzuki interviewed people for research on the disputes in Takahagi and Hitachi in Ibaraki to produce the works. They also produced woodcut prints to depict many other labor/peasant movements of the same era.
From 1952, peace movements calling for the end of the Korean War had gathered momentum. In the art world, the Peace Exhibition was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 1953, showcasing works by a number of artists with different production styles and political positions. Inspired by this, local artists held their own peace exhibitions across the nation, starting from Osaka. Members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut were also actively involved in this movement. When the crew of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru was irradiated from a hydrogen bomb experiment in the Bikini Atoll in 1954, the anti-atomic and hydrogen bomb movement became popular across the nation, prompting the production of works themed on anti-atomic and hydrogen bombs or the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These works were born from their wishes for peace as well as their objection to the circumstances of Japan's autonomy and independence not being restored despite Japan regaining its sovereignty, while the number of the US military bases was increasing and the nation was rapidly Americanized.
2-1 Establishment of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut
Initially, theorists, including Saburo Kikuchi and Kazuo Fukumoto of the China-Japan Cultural Research Institute, took leading roles in the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut. They started the newsletter Woodcut Movement (No. =, =), but the publication was suspended after the second issue came out in January 1950. After fissions and fusions due to the political environment, they resumed activities by publishing the newspaper-style Woodcut Movement Newsletter (later renamed as the Japan Print Newspaper) in May 1951. The leading figures, including Koshi Ota, Jiro Takidaira, Hisashi Mitsui, and Makoto Ueno, gradually built a network between Tokyo and rural areas. Under the philosophy of “art for common people”, they not only produced prints themselves, but also engaged in the promotion of printmaking among community groups of laborers, farmers and young people.
2-2 From proletarian art and manga to prints
Although the proletarian art movement was suppressed in 1934, they still managed to publish satirical comics after that. Artists, including Kenji Suzuki, Koshi Ota, Jiro Takidaira, and Koichi Kume, contributed political cartoons and illustrations of people’s lifestyles or theatrical performances to cartoon magazines such as Caricare and Manga no Kuni (The Country of Cartoons). Since before the war, the exhibitions by the Creative Print Association, led by Tadashige Ono, took on the works by artists who were into proletarian art and satirical comics.
Influenced by Chinese woodblocks after the war, these artists began to introduce prints with highly ideological themes similarly to their satirical comics. In particular, the style of Lianhuanhua, which is similar to Japanese comics, picture stories, picture books, and picture-card shows, bore fruit in the Tale of Hanaoka, where the expression of the Osunita artists flourished. Seeing it as an effective way for conveying messages to the public and stirring their emotions, many aspiring realism artists as well as printmakers experimented with Lianhuanhua.
2-3 Involvement in labor movements along with peasant movements
When labor movements were let out of the crackdown that had been going on since before the war, numerous labor/peasant movements were set off against the instability of the political environment, food supply, and employment. Members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut illustrated the scenes of the labor/peasant movements in their prints and taught printmaking wherever they visited. Hiroharu Nii and Kenji Suzuki visited the Takahagi coal mine and Hitachi factory in Ibaraki to interview the laborers involved in the labor unrest. As well as depicting the unrest, they also produced woodcut posters for the labor/peasant movements. On another front, Masaji Yui of Minamisaku-gun, Nagano, who had been participating in the peasant movement since before the war, joined the print movement and began to depict the local peasant movement in his prints.
2-4 In pursuit of peace
In the early 1950s when the Cold War structure was being bolstered in Japan, the Korean War broke out on the neighboring Korean Peninsula, setting off an intense battle. Japan’s rearming started in the wake of the Korean War, provoking the so-called “Reverse Course.” In an era when the memories of the war were still vivid, peace movements gathered momentum for fear of possible uses of the atomic bomb in the Korean War as well as the possibility of Japan becoming involved in the war. The Daigo Fukuryu Maru Incident of 1954, which took place off the coast of the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean triggered movements for nuclear disarmament across the nation. Members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut also produced works in solidarity with these peace movements. In protest against the plan for the US military base expansion across Japan, they also produced works that resonated with people whose farmlands and fishing grounds were threatened by the plan. The peace movement in the art world reached fruition in the Peace Art Exhibition and Nippon Exhibition, featuring works by artists with different production styles and political principles. Artists from the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut actively participated in these exhibitions as well.
Chapter 3 Printmaking Education Movement and Lifestyle Printing 1951 onwards
Summary of Chapter 3
Having taught printmaking as an elementary school teacher before the war, Koshi Ota, one of the core members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut, saw the potential for nurturing people through printmaking. In 1951, a young teacher called Seikyo Muchaku published Yamabiko School, a book showcasing the outcome of his educational practices that utilized the lifestyle writing (composition) at Yamamoto Junior High School in Yamamoto-mura in Yamagata. His book attracted much attention with his innovative educational method for children based on their lifestyle in a mountain village and was made into a movie that went on to receive a great response. Aiming to “develop the ability to acknowledge social issues and recognize reality through creation with a focus on daily life,” his educational practices with a spirit of realism were welcomed by people who were seeking the new education style for postwar democracy.
An essay collection with woodcut prints published by Yamamoto Junior High School also drew attention. Giving the nod to this movement, Ota forged ahead with the Printmaking Education Movement that aimed to incorporate printmaking in education. After establishing the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking in 1951 with the cooperation of Un-ichi Hiratsuka and Koshiro Onchi, who drove the creative print movement before the war, Ota traveled all over Japan to promote printmaking.
In the early stage, printmaking education was dubbed “lifestyle printing” and was combined with the teaching of writing. When he started the Printmaking Education Movement, Ota often used the phrase; “Printmaking is the younger brother of writing.” The Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking was involved in the publication of Writing Gazetteer (No. =), which aimed to pass on the history, geography, and culture of Japan through writing, poetry, and prints by children around the nation.
Members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut also went on to cooperate with the Printmaking Education Movement. As well as visiting places where events of social upheaval and disputes were happening to produce works, they also started to create pieces depicting the joys and concerns in daily life.
3-1 Realism depicted in writings and prints
As the lifestyle writing used in Seikyo Muchaku’s educational practices at Yamabiko School stole the limelight, lifestyle printing, which depicted reality, also started to draw attention after “Charcoal Story,” an essay and print collection by the students of the school, was published in Beautiful Lifestyle Notebook (No. =), while the prints for an essay collection by the pupils of Nakatsugawa Elementary School in Gifu were introduced in Asahi Graph (No. =).
Having served as the secretariat of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut, Koshi Ota handed over the role to Takidaira and Ueno, then established the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking in December 1951. The target audience of printmaking promotions shifted from laborers to children. He published Learning Printmaking - Lifestyle Printing Guide (No. =) in conjunction with The First National Convention of The Japan Composition Association, held in Nakatsugawa, Gifu in August of the following year. In an attempt to increase the number of teachers who could teach printmaking, he communicated the appeal of prints to composition teachers.
One of the teachers who sympathized with the early Printmaking Education Movement was Shinji Makita, who was teaching at Suehiro Junior High School in Shizuoka City. Having been taught by Makita, Mitsuhiro Unno became passionate about printmaking as well as composition while he was in junior high school. He developed not only artistic techniques but also understanding and involvement in society (No. = - =).
Thanks to Ota, who advocated the potential of prints in education, along with teachers across the nation who responded to him, the Printmaking Education Movement went on to develop further in the late 1950s.
3-2 The intersection of two popular woodcut movements
Influenced by the Yamabiko School, members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut also started to shift their focus on the theme of their pieces from the scenes of daily life to social issues. My Town My Village (No. =) by Kenji Suzuki and Ichiro Koguchi showcases works about their respective hometowns.
Makoto Ueno, the secretariat of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut at the time, also participated in The First National Printmaking Education and Research Conference held by the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking in 1954. The exchanges between the two groups had deepened after Ueno featured the conference in the newsletter. In his book Lifestyle Printing (Meijitosho Shuppan Corporation) (No. =), Ueno teaches printing techniques while he introduces works by laborers' groups, printmaking teachers and junior high school students equally with those by professional printmakers. The organizational activities of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut are believed to have ended sometime in the autumn of 1956, shortly after the publication of this book. As a result, the book serves as an activity summary of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut.
Chapter 4 Local and global networks connected by woodcut
Summary of Chapter 4
Since it has multiple original copies and is printed on paper, woodcut is a medium that is easy to carry around and replace. Woodcuts can also be produced with tools that are readily available in any region. Taking advantage of these characteristics of woodcut, the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut carried out various activities locally and globally.
In the 1950s, when television was yet to become a source of entertainment for the general public, a number of employee volunteers, local youths, and students' clubs were eagerly engaged in cultural activities. Many started woodcut groups, while people fostered solidarity against oppression and for peace through poetry and Utagoe (chorus) woodcut print magazine, and painting was a popular hobby in the entertainment-hungry ambiance of the time. Professionals and amateurs participated equally in the groups that members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut were involved in. The mimeographed group newsletter features a number of prints that are simple yet beaming with the pride of the creators who had a desperate need to express.
The exchanges deepened not only at the grassroots level, but also internationally from soon after the war. In the 1950s, works by the members of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut were exhibited in countries such as China, the USA, Mexico, Belgium, Poland, and Bulgaria. Led by Kenji Suzuki and Tadashige Ono, a traveling exhibition across the Soviet Union was held in the 1960s.
While prints from the field of education were initially introduced overseas as supplements to professional works, once the activities of the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking were on track, it started to foster international interactions on its own. It also participated in international conferences as one of Japan's leading art education organizations. Human exchanges among artists and teachers were also expanded in the 1980s when diplomatic relations between Japan and China were normalized and it became easier to move between the two countries.
4-1 1950s Grassroots Cultural Movement
For the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut that advocated “art for common people,” bolstering woodcut groups nationwide was a main aim of their activities. In support of newly formed woodcut groups, the secretariat introduced their activities in the newsletter, visited them to give workshops, and responded to their letters that requested its guidance. Networks across different regions were also established, with some groups featuring prints given by others in their newsletters. The Workplace Art Exhibition held yearly at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the Japan Independent Exhibition in Japan gave opportunities for woodcut groups to showcase their works as well as to actually meet people whom they were interacting with via letters and newsletters.
The newsletters introduced in this section include those by groups that the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut was directly involved in as well as other groups. At the time, the mimeograph was the most widespread regular printing method. Both requiring manual labor, woodcut and mimeographing worked harmoniously in the production of group newsletters. Many of the groups that the Council was involved in were formed as a result of the Chinese woodblock traveling exhibitions or the workshops held along the exhibitions.
4-2 International exchange
Since prints could be mailed or carried by travelers without any special transportation permits, people were able to interact by sending their works to each other since immediately after the war, even though the restrictions on travel and distribution of goods were still severe. In this section, we will focus on (i) interactions between the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut and China in the early 1950s, (ii) an exhibition held in New York, USA in 1952, and (iii) the Soviet Exhibition in 1961 led by Kenji Suzuki and Tadashige Ono.
After the activities of the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut were suspended, their works were often introduced in contemporary Japanese print exhibitions held overseas by the Nihon Bijutsu Kai. The works by Makoto Ueno and Ichiro Koguchi were highly acclaimed in East Germany. Looking closely into the contemporary print exhibitions and Japanese print exhibitions around the world that are mentioned in this section, international networks of realism art that differ from those of modernism or abstract art can be identified clearly.
Chapter 5 Pursuit of lifework and new expressions
Summary of Chapter 5
The Japan Council to Promote Woodcut is believed to have suspended its organizational activities sometime in the autumn of 1956. The Cold War structure was being bolstered while the 1955 system was being established at the same time. With the USA promoting abstract expressionism to rival realism as a form of artistic expression, the Cold War structure was becoming more visible in the cultural context as well. This was likely due to the downfall of realism theory seen in reportage painting, a major force in the art world after the end of the war, and the art movement that promoted “art for common people.” Rather than sharing common themes and researching incidents, those who belonged to the Japan Council to Promote Woodcut started to pursue their respective lifeworks while retaining the network of artists.
For instance, Kenji Suzuki moved to Mashiko and produced works depicting local potters, and continued to portray day laborers after moving to Tokyo. During the 1970s, when pollution and environmental problems became social problems, Ichiro Koguchi produced works illustrating the Ashio Copper Mine pollution disaster that took place in the Meiji era in his hometown of Tochigi, exposing the contradiction of industrialization and modernization that are supposed to enrich people’s lives. Makoto Ueno interviewed the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and created a series of works themed on them, wishing for peace. Many artists such as Hiromichi Kagekawa, Gyojin Murakami, Masaji Yui, and Kimiko Kobayashi, created works about their communities and daily lives. Jiro Takidaira worked on picture books, using paper cutouts to illustrate nostalgic rural villages that were disappearing, and gained popularity among the masses. As such, each individual artist enriched the own art style and prospered.
Among the amateur artists in woodcut groups, there were ones who, exerting themselves to support and promote local culture, started a movement to build a local community center with their works as a starting point.
Chapter 6 The spread of the Printmaking Education Movement 1950s-90s
Summary of Chapter 6
After the establishment of the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking in 1951, Koshi Ota started to hold print workshops for teachers across the nation. He offered encouragement in the newsletter and responded to letters that requested his guidance. As introduced in Chapter 3, the effort attracted many teachers from all over the country, and the National Elementary and Junior High School Print Competition hosted by the Yomiuri Shimbun and sponsored by the Institute started to be held from 1953 (until 1964). While multiple private educational groups tried hard to promote their own art education, the potential of incorporating prints in education began to attract attention.
In order to make prints more popular, Ota devised the paper block prints that even children in lower grades could handle. On another front, teacher groups and study groups in different regions brought out curriculum plans for each school year suitable for children's developmental stages. With these achievements as a boost, printmaking became recommended for all elementary school years in the curriculum guideline by the Ministry of Education, which was established in 1958 and implemented in 1961. As a result, many children across Japan went on to experience printmaking at school.
While teachers who are passionate about the “nurturing of people” through printmaking carried out their original lessons, collaborative production became more commonly taught from the late 1950s. The uniqueness of children's daily lives and local communities shines through the masterpieces created throughout Japan, including print collections, essay and print collections, plywood-sized large prints, and yards of printed picture scrolls. Traditional vocations, festivities, and historical lifestyles in each region were illustrated by rural children, while urban children depicted industrial cities and towns under development in the era of rapid economic growth. When pollution became a social problem in the 1970s, children started to produce works expressing concern about environmental problems in their surrounding areas. With the increase in the number of children living in the city as a result of restructuring in industrial structures, daily lives became more separated from the workspace, changing the reality for children as well as what they depicted in their works.
Although never given much attention formerly, prints produced in the field of education are engraved with the scenes that mirror the times and society, which can be defined as an “alternative version of postwar Japan” from a collective perspective of teachers and children.
6-1 Printmaking for all children across Japan
When printmaking became widely known as part of the new art and craft learning through the National Elementary and Junior High School Print Competition, the membership of the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking increased nationwide. As well as the Institute, other private educational groups, such as the Creative Art in Education Society and the New Painting Group, were also popular at the time. As if the seeds sown by Ota had burst into bloom, the number of enthusiastic teachers increased everywhere, and the movement gradually became independent.
Since the paper block prints that Ota devised taking a hint from Koshiro Onchi's lifelike prints were disseminated, printmaking had become an activity that could be taken up even by children in lower grades as it does not require the use of a chisel. Backed by the support for the research and practice of the curriculum for each school year by teacher groups and study groups nationwide, “printmaking” was added as a new article that applied to all elementary school years in the curriculum guidelines that were revised in 1958 and implemented in 1961.
From the 1960s onward, children around Japan came to experience printmaking, while at the same time teachers who were dealing with the human development of children started unique educational practices through printmaking.
6-2 Essay and print collections, folktale print collections, picture books, and picture-card shows from around the nation
Since the Printmaking Education Movement developed along with lifestyle writing (composition) education, the production of essay and print collections or picture books in classes and activity clubs was always seen as important. As their works were compiled in booklets, children were able to share and discuss them. Although most essay collections were mainly made up of compositions with few print illustrations in the early 1950s, production of essay and print collections that focused on prints gradually became popular. They had evolved into print collections on the subjects of social studies and local learning, such as geography and history, or the region’s traditional folktales, and picture books and picture-card shows inspired by stories that the children read in Japanese textbooks.
The teachers who belonged to the Japan Institute for Education in Printmaking sent the compiled booklets to Ota seeking his guidance, and many of the works were introduced and reviewed in Hanga (print) magazine. Today, more than 500 works of such collections are archived in Shika-machi, Hakui-gun, Ishikawa. From this old collection of Ota, 82 booklets from 36 prefectures are introduced in this section. Completed by hand after multitudinous shared processes such as mimeograph printing, woodcut printing, bonding, and binding, the booklets convey the passion of the teachers and children all over Japan for printmaking.
6-3 Communities and children’s minds depicted in collaborations
Most of the large-scale collaborations are of 90 x 180cm sized plywood, made by children in the upper grades of elementary school and junior high school. While it takes up to six months to complete such a collaboration, the children take the initiative in making plans, selecting themes, and conducting research in their communities under the teachers’ supervision. The print production process can be divided into tasks of drawing, carving, and printing, which are allocated among the children. From the educational point of view, collaborative production was also regarded as important because it gives those who are not good at drawing a chance to work, and it also supports children’s development through group activities.
In this section, we will introduce large-scale collaborations produced in Fuchu City, Tokyo; Kawasaki City, Kanagawa; Aomori; and Shika-machi, Hakui-gun, Ishikawa, focusing on the award-winning works of the Japan Printmaking in Education Competition (1965-1994, held independently by the Institute after the competition hosted by Yomiuri Shimbun had ended). Also on display are printed picture scrolls produced in Goshogawara City, Aomori, and Shika-machi, Hakui-gun in Ishikawa. We will also track the changes in prints for education, as fantasy elements were added to what was started by depicting realism through people’s daily lives, as represented by “Ship flying over the Rainbow” (No. = - =).
Days with Free Admission/ Discounts
| Free admission | Free admission on the opening day, Saturday 23 April Silver Days [free admission for those aged 65 and over] Wednesday 27 April, Wednesday 25 May, Wednesday 22 June |
|---|---|
| “I Used to Be a Print Artist, Too” discount | 200 yen off all admission fees For anyone who brings a print which they made when they were a child. Please check the “I Used to Be a Print Artist, Too” event for details. |
| Discount for repeat visitors | 200 yen off all admission fees Please show your ticket stub from this exhibition at the ticket counter. |
| Share Cycle discount | 100 yen off all admission fees Please show the usage history screen of your Share Cycle app at the ticket counter. * See [here] for more about Share Cycle. |
| Taxi discount | 100 yen off all admission fees * Only one person will receive a discount for each taxi receipt |
| Passport discount | 100 yen off all admission fees Please show the cover of a non-Japanese passport at the ticket counter. |
| Web coupons | We are currently distributing “100 yen off” coupons, valid throughout the exhibition period. Please either save or print out [this coupon screen], and show it at the ticket counter. * Discounts cannot be used together. |
Related events
1. Call for Prints “I Used to Be a Print Artist, Too”
Do you have any prints which you made at elementary, junior high, or senior high school lying around at home?
We will display the works of art brought to us by visitors in the Entrance Hall.
* Where to present your works of art and claim your reward: the Reception on the First Floor of this museum. You will receive 200 yen off your admission fee.
(You are eligible for the discount simply by showing your work at the Reception, even if it is not displayed.)
* Duration of the call for prints: throughout this exhibition period
* How to display your print: before submission, please write the period in which you made this piece and the grade you were in, the prefecture in which you lived, and a caption about your memories about the time you made it. Works of art which have your name written directly on them will be displayed as they are.
* Size of eligible prints: B4 size (25.7 x 36.4 cm) or less(prints which fit into a “Kaku 1 size” envelope)
*How prints will be returned:please bring an envelope for return postage (self-addressed, “Kaku 1 size” or less, no stamp needed).
We will return your prints after the exhibition finishes.
* Only your own works of art are eligible.
* Prints submitted may not be continually on display, due to constraints of space and other events.
2. Talk “Printmaking Education as Seen by an Artist”
2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Saturday 21 May
Featuring Katsutoshi Yuasa (woodcut artist), in conversation with Haruka Machimura (curator in charge of the exhibition)
Katsutoshi Yuasa is an internationally renowned artist, delivering images which capture the contemporary era using traditional woodcut techniques.
Together with the artist, who has also been carrying out research exploring the place of woodcut prints in Japan in recent years, we will delve into the appeal and uniqueness of Printmaking Education pieces.
Venue: Lecture Hall/ An admission ticket for this exhibition is required (ticket stubs are acceptable)/ 60 places available on a first come, first served basis
3. Children’s Class - Take a Look, then Try Making One!
“Time Travel to the Showa Period! Try Making a Mimeograph”
1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday 7 May
Lecturer: Sachiko Sugiura (Professor, Department of Arts Policy and Management, Musashino Art University)
Look at the exhibition, then try making your own mimeograph using the same technique as the works of art on display!
Venue: Lecture Hall/ Participation fee: 1,000 yen/ For: children who will enter grades 3-6 of elementary school in April
Prior booking required (16 participants will be chosen by lottery)
Machida City Event Dial (042-724-5656)
Bookings can also be made via the Machida City Event Application System “EVESYS”
Booking period: 24 March - 18 April (from 12 noon on the first day only), event code: 220324H
4. Story Time
A storytelling session using picture books and picture-card shows on display in the exhibition will be held at the Serigaya Adventure Playground in Serigaya Park.
・“Story Time” * Primarily for preschool children and their parents and guardians
From 11:30 a.m. each Thursday during the exhibition period
* Cancelled in the event of bad weather warnings from the Japan Meteorological Agency
・“Stage Performance for Everyone” * Unaccompanied adults are also very welcome
2 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Saturday 14 May
* Cancelled in the event of rain
Venue: Serigaya Adventure Playground/ Free admission/ No reservations required
Please check the website of Serigaya Adventure Playground for details such as whether or not the events will be held in case of bad weather.
5. Showing of the Educational Movie “Fun Block Prints,” Together with a Commentary
2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m., Saturday 4 June
“Fun Block Prints” (1955, Daiichi Eigasha, around 20 minutes) was made in order to spread the Printmaking Education Movement. The showing will be accompanied by a commentary by the curator in charge of this exhibition.
Venue: Lecture Hall/ An admission ticket for this exhibition is required (ticket stubs are acceptable)/ 60 places available on a first come, first served basis
6. Talk Illustrated with Slides, by the Exhibition Curator
2 p.m. - 3 p.m., Sunday 8 May and Saturday 18 June
* The content of each event will be the same
Venue: Lecture Hall/ An admission ticket for this exhibition is required (ticket stubs are acceptable)/ 60 places available on a first come, first served basis
7. Promenade Concert ♬
“Revisit Your Youth at Our Sing-Along Coffee Shop”
Performers: Hiroki Okumura (tenor), Itaru Udonishi (piano)
From 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday 19 June (each performance will last around 30 minutes)
Venue: Entrance Hall/ Free admission/ No reservations required
* Entry to the venue may be limited as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Greetings
We are holding the exhibition “Post-War Japan as Carved by the Engraver’s Chisel - Two Popular Woodcut Movements.” This exhibition introduces two popular woodcut movements which developed in post-war Japan. One of these was the “Post-War Woodcut Movement” (1947-late 1950s), which communicated social movements through woodcuts, and spread woodcuts to amateurs. The other, which derived from the Post-War Woodcut Movement, was the “Printmaking Education Movement” (1951-late 1990s). In this movement, elementary and junior high school teachers across Japan spread printmaking within school education. Through the influence of these cultural movements, many children in Japan came to make prints at school.
One of the origins of these movements was the introduction of Chinese woodblocks (woodcuts) across Japan in 1947. The realism of Chinese woodblocks, which framed snapshots taken from reality, had a great impact on people at that time, who were troubled by the wounds of war and the hardships of their lives.
The works of art produced within these two popular woodcut movements depicted wishes for peace, perspectives on society, work in factories or in agriculture, and daily lives in various regions, from the countryside to the city, in a realistic spirit. Through a rich selection of around 400 works of art and other materials, we hope to shine a light on a facet of block print history which has been relatively little known until now. By doing so, the “other Japan” which existed alongside post-war growth and development will surely emerge.
In closing, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the art galleries and individuals who have lent precious works from their collections for display in this exhibition, as well as to everyone whose cooperation we have received.
Junichi Okubo, Director,
Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts
