Haniwa and Hokusai - Great Video

Here's a video I found on Japanese art known as Haniwa.

There is also some nice information on Hokusai's supernatural print series known as 100 Ghost Stories - though he only dud five prints in the series.

More information on the ukiyo-e series can be found HERE.

This video also explains the ghost stories that inspired the art.

The video is quite well done, and I urge you to view it and learn.

Cheers
Andrew Joseph

Museum Confirms Discovery Of 5 Hokusai Prints

The Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto-shi (Matsumoto City), Nagano-ken (Nagano Prefecture) has determined that five wood block prints (ukiyo-e) in its possession are original prints from 1831 drawn by famed artist Hokusai.

Why is this important? Aren't there plenty of examples of his artwork still around? 

Apparently few examples of this rare set - Hyaku-monogatari (Ghost Tales) - from 1831 actually exist, with it being one of the most faked or copied set around. 

Fake copies have been circulated since the Meiji (post 1868) era, but with this great discovery, this museum becomes the only one to actually own an original set of the five pieces. 

While news agencies such as the Japan Times have reported on this story, none have offered a look at what the pieces look like. 

Let Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife set the record straight. 

They are each 26 centimeters tall by 19 centimeters wide, and are indeed based on popular ghostly legends from the era. 

The authenticity of these ukiyo-e was proclaimed by Sato Satoru (surname first), a professor at Jissen Women's Educational Institute, and Matthi Forrer, a researcher with the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, the Netherlands

Here are the images - from a set made in 1893. It won't be exactly the same as the original 1931 set that the Museum has, as the colors will be slightly different, along with different publisher seal and censor stamp, but at least you can see what the ukiyo-e look like.

 Hyaku-monogatari ('Ghost Tales')

 Shunen
('Haunted Revenge')

Sara-yashiki
('The Plate-mansion Ghost')

O-Iwa-san
('The Ghost of O-Iwa')

 Kohada Koheiji
('The Ghost of Koheiji')

Warai-Hannya
('Laughing Demon')

Breathtaking! Images 3-5 should scare the crap out of anyone!

The works are on display at the museum until May 31, 2012.

Files by Andrew Joseph

A Hiroshige Ukiyo-e View Of The Tokaido

The image above is an ukiyo-e I own - a Japanese woodblock print - originally created by Hiroshige Ando (surname first), a master artist who lived between 1797 and October 12 1858.

He was born Andō Tokutarō (安藤 徳太郎) east of Edo-jo (Edo castle) in the Yaesu area of Edo-shi (Edo City), which  is present-day Tokyo.

Fact or legend, Hioroshige may have been inspired to become an ukiyo-e artist after seeing the artwork of ukiyo-e great Hokusai, whose seminal Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji were published in 1832, the same year that Hiroshige began to devote all of his time to art. Until that time, he was a fireman - a low-level of samurai - in the Edo-jo, much like his father before him.

What you see above is a scene from The Fifty-Three Stations Of The Tokaido (Tokaido Gojusan Tsugi Meisho Dzuye). Now, when I purchased this artwork 21 years ago, the first time I saw the piece a week earlier, I was skeptical. I had heard of this particular ukiyo-e series before - it was that famous - but all of those prints were landscape (horizontal)... this one was a portrait (vertical) in design.

So I spent a week asking around. Surprisingly enough, common everyday people (like myself) knew about what I was asking and provided me with decent information.

I was told that this was a later series done by the same artist - same stations, just different scenes.

What I didn't know was that Hiroshige made many different sets of this famous series, including:
Hoeido Edition (1831-1834); Kyoka Edition (Late 1830s); Gyosho Edition (1841-1842); Pairs Edition (Mid 1840s); Aritaya Edition (1844-1848); Reisho Edition (ca.1850); Kichizo Edition (ca.1850); Jimbutsu Edition (1852); Fujikei Edition (1852); Tate-e Edition (1855, The Vertical Tokaido); Tokaido by Two Brushes (1857); and Tokaido Harimaze Zuye (Ibasen).

Guess which one I have? That's right. The ukiyo-e above is print #40, the Chiryū-juku station of the Tokaido Tate-e edition from 1855 - the Vertical edition.

Although known as the 53-Stations of The Tokaido, there were 55 drawings in the set published by Tsutaya done in the Oban tateye (vertical) format.

My certificate of authenticity for this particular ukiyo-e.

The station itself, Chiryū-juku (池鯉鮒宿 Chiryū-shuku) was actually the 39th of the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, and is located in present-day Chiryū in Aichi-ken (Aichi Prefecture), Japan.

The station itself was 330 kilometers (210 miles) from Nihonbashi, the start of the Tōkaidō highway, and thus, for the average traveler, Chiryū-juku would have been reached in 10 days.

Regarding my ukiyo-e... the image above is missing the lower edging of the portrait, owing to not having a scanner large enough. However... my actual ukiyo-e does indeed have the proper sizing, and is, in fact, a damn fine example of this series, with a bright whiteness to the cherrywood paper.

What's it's value? No fricking idea? 

And there you have it!
Cheers
Andrew Joseph

Homer Simpson's Haiku

A haiku is a specialized Japanese three-lined poem consisting of a five syllable line, followed by one that is seven syllables and then a second five syllable line).

I've done quite few of them on Godzilla, which if you search this blog, you will see them and get a good snicker.

Anyhow I recently heard this haiku on TV from the brain cell (singular) of one Mister Homer Jay Simpson.

In the March 18, 2012 episode The Simpsons, Homer has apparently promised his daughter Lisa that he would help her create a haiku for class.

Because he is completely sober for the first time since he was a teenager, Homer is flabbergasted. Upon hearing that he promised to do something wholly unlike himself, Homer says out loud:

Why did I do that?
It sounds so dull and boring.
What was I thinking?

Very good, Homer. 5-7-5 syllables!

I think we've all had days like that... much like coming up with a blog built around a bastardization of a classic Jimmy Stewart movie. D'oh, my little Zuzu's petals! 


My personal favorite haiku d'jour is:

Haiku are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

And just for laughs... I found this image on-line... check out the post mark. Yup. Where I currently live. And no, it's not my image.That's the Great Wave Off Kanegawa, originally drawn by Hokusai, the master ukiyo-e artist for his seminal 36 View Of Mt. Fuji series.

Cheers!
Andrew Joseph

Hokusai Manga

Welcome to another blog featuring something from Andrew's (Hey! That's me!) closet of wondrous delights.

Today, I want to share with you a wonderful ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock print) I own that was draw originally by Japan's most famous such artist - Hokusai Katsushika (surname first) who lived between 1760 - 1849. I say famous, mostly because he drew the famous 36 View Of Mt. Fuji series (that actually had more than 36 views) - which you can see in its entirety on THIS blog of mine via my Picasa image gallery. His iconic Great Wave Off Kanagawa is perhaps one of the most-well-known images people have of Japanese art.

You may also wish to view the Wikipedia entry on Hokusai (where you can see an image of the Hokusai wave, as I have called it for over 35 years when I first learned of it as a child) which is a good starting point for anyone who wishes to learn more about the artist. 

The ukiyo-e image above was published circa 1814 by Eira Kunya - or something pretty close to that... it's tough to read the the writing!

It's a piece from a manga (a so-called comic book) he produced showing various styles of bridges.

In 1811, at the age of 51, Hokusai changed his name to Taito and entered the period in which he created the Hokusai Manga and various etehon (art manuals). These etehon, beginning in 1812 with Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing, served as a convenient way to make money and attract more students. The first book of Hokusai's manga is a collection of sketches or caricatures that influenced the modern form of comics known by the same name (manga) and was published in 1814.

Together, his 12 volumes of manga published before 1820 and three more published posthumously include thousands of drawings of animals, religious figures, and everyday people. They often have humorous overtones, and were very popular at the time.

The Hokusai Manga (北斎漫画, "Hokusai's Sketches") is a collection of sketches of various subjects, including landscapes, flora and fauna, everyday life and the supernatural.

The word manga in the title does not refer to the contemporary story-telling manga (comic book), as the sketches in the work are not connected to each other.

The drawings inside are block-printed in three colors (black, gray and pale flesh). 

The image above is from Volume 1 of the Hokusai Manga, page 64, I believe. It was published in 1814.

I bought it in 1992 when a traveling salesman of fine art came by Ohtawara Chu Gakko (Ohtawara Junior High School) in Ohtawara-shi (Ohtawara City), Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture), Japan.

I waited until the crush of teachers had a glance—rolling their collective eyes at the prohibitive cost of purchasing such items... and then I moved in. I had been collecting ukiyo-e since I entered my first antique and art store in the country back in late 1990.

My mother and I were always trying to learn about antique furnishings back in Canada, but I always preferred art. My father tolerated our exposure to antiques realizing that if we were rich we would be considered eccentric rather than poor and crazy. But I know what I like, and I like art - specifically paintings, but also artistic things... things that it seems we no longer take the time to do. Has anyone created a gargoyle on a building lately? Can anyone still carve one with the same skill as the artisans of the past? Regardless... I like art.


And that's what I wanted to see in this guy's collection. Unfortunately, he had none of the typical ukiyo-e art.

And then I spotted the image above. It was framed (in what I still have it in now), but I had him remove it from the frame so I could better examine it.

Visually, I could tell immediately that this was no modern copy. I only had 12 lessons from the once-a-month trips I made to an antique and art dealer I buy from in Nikko-shi, Tochigi-ken... but when it comes to my hobbies (my hobby is hobbies), I am a fast learner... at least learning how to discern a copy from a print, and modern prints from original prints. I knew I would never, ever get my hands on an original piece of ukiyo-e art (the actual paintings).

But this... I knew as soon as I laid eyes upon it that I had seen the art style before. Once or twice in the hidden upper levels of Takamoto's shoppe that he allowed me to sit in by myself for hours as I poured over print after print of his voluminous collection. It was definitely Hokusai - and I queried the seller as much to confirm my suspicion.

His jaw dropped as he said I was correct. The teachers in the teacher's lounge suddenly got quiet as they slowly crowded around the seller and the gaijin (me, the foreigner). He asked how I knew it was Hokusai's work. When I said that I recognized the way he drew the bridge second from the top as something similar to one of the 36 Views Of Mt. Fuji, he smiled and then bowed deeply—either showing great respect for my knowledge or thanking the gods he had found a sucker (a buyer).

As an aside, I have been seriously collecting comic books since I was 10, and have a decent enough eye in discerning the art styles of a plethora of artists. And, no... I barely have the skill to draw a stick-figure.

The art seller told me that the image of the bridges was a 'How-To' drawing on the various way a Japanese bridge could look after construction. It sounded correct, but the hodgepodge placement of bridges was not pretty as a picture like a standard ukiyo-e.... then again, I was never going to be able to afford an original woodblock... they were in the 10s of thousands of dollars... and this was only ¥7,500 (which at the time was about US$75 - and in 2012 is now $90).  

Why so cheap? Because it wasn't your standard ukiyo-e. Because it wasn't a vista or a portrait.  

Still... this was my one and only chance to own an original Hokusai woodblock. So I bought it.

What's it worth? Who knows... I've seen two-pagers of a single scene published some 40 years later going for $300. This woodblock of mine is not a scene - its a single page, but is far older.

I like bridges. I like architecture. I like my 198-year-old piece of art by one of Japan's greatest, if not most famous ukiyo-e artist. I hope you do, too.

Cheers
Andrew Joseph